T54 (90 mm)

T54

Information

Tank cannonType

USA Country of Origin

General Characteristics

90 mmDiameter

L/66.6Length (calibers)

5.94 mLength

1,542 kgMass

FixedAmmunition

14.4 sReloading Rate

AP/HE/APCBC: 975 m/sMuzzle Velocity

APCR: 1143 m/s

Production History

Experimental / PrototypeProduction Status

1945Produced

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Make an air or ground vehicles list on which this weapon is installed in our game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• M26E1

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available shells

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
AP Shot	AP	210	208	193	177	162	148
HE Shell	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13
T41	APCBC	224	221	206	188	172	157
HVAP Shot	APCR	335	330	304	274	248	223

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
AP Shot	AP	975	10.9	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1	47	60	65
HE Shell	HE	975	10.6	0.4	0.5	925	+0	79	80	81
T41	APCBC	975	10.94	1.2	14	137.2	+4	48	63	71
HVAP Shot	APCR	1143	7.6	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5	66	70	72

Comparison with analogues

• M3A1 (90 mm): The M3A1 and T54 share a lot of the same ammunition options, with the M3A1 having access to the M348 HEAT-FS shell as a benefit. But the T54 fires all of its shells at a much higher velocity, giving it more penetration, although it has a slower reload than the M3A1.
• KwK 43 (88 mm): The T54 cannon has many similar characteristics to the Tiger II's main armament, with almost identical muzzle velocity for the APCBC ammunition. The T41 shell for the T54 has slightly less penetration than the PzGr 39/43, but the T41 does have slightly more explosive filler. The HVAP for the T54 is also markedly better than the PzGr 40/43.
• BK 90 (90 mm): The BK 90 has access to more modern ammunition, such as HESH and HEAT-FS, which make it more versatile and it also reloads far faster than the T54. However, the BK 90 does lack any AP/APCBC round.
• Ordnance QF 20-pounder Mk.I (84 mm): The 20pdr Mk.I has access to APDS ammunition as well as a two-plane stabilizer and does reload much faster, but it also does not have any shell with explosive filler such as the T41.
• D-70 (85 mm): The D-70 cannon has a slightly faster reload and access to 3BK7 HEAT-FS as well as having slightly better penetration on BR-372 APCBC, but the BR-372 has far less explosive filler and no APCR ammunition.
• D-10T (100 mm): The top APCBC round for the D-10T, the BR-412D, has slightly more penetration than the T41 but has a lower muzzle velocity and less explosive filler. the BR-412P APCR is also far worse than the HVAP Shot on the T54. The D-10T does reload a few seconds faster.
• Type 61 (90 mm): The Type 61 is a near-exact copy of the M3A1, and so shares all of its advantages and disadvantages with it.
• Type 62-85TS (85 mm): All of the ammunition available for the Type 62-85-TS has a lower velocity than the T54 as well as much lower penetration, although it does get access to the Type 1956 HEAT-FS.
• SA45 (90 mm): The SA45 uses a rotating drum loading system, giving it a reload far faster than the T54, although the drum magazine has a limited number of shells and the ammunition available for the SA45 is slightly worse than the T54 and no explosive-filled rounds are present on the SA45.
• Cockerill Mk.3 (90 mm): The Cockerill Mk.3 uses HEAT-FS and HESH ammunition but it is low velocity and there is no APCBC/APDS round available, although it does reload faster than the T54.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against the main opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarize and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of this weapon. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

• T15E1 (90 mm) / T15E2 (90 mm): The T54 cannon is a modification of the T15E1/2, using one-piece ammunition instead of two-piece and using shorter, stubbier rounds to facilitate faster reloading.

External links

• Hunnicut, R.P. Pershing: A History of the Medium Tank T20 Series. Berkeley: Fiest Publications, 1971.

USA tank cannons
20 mm	M139
25 mm	LW25 · M242
37 mm	M3 · M5 · M6
57 mm	M1
75 mm	M2 · M2 Howitzer · M3 · M6 · M1897A4 · XM274
76 mm	M1 · M7 · M32 · T185E1
90 mm	M3 · M3A1 · M36 · M41 · M54 · T15E1 · T15E2 · T54 · T208E9
105 mm	M4 · M68 · M68A1 · M68A1E8 · T5E1 · T5E2 · T140E2 · T140E3 · XM35
106 mm	M40A1C
120 mm	M58 · M256 · T53
152 mm	M81 · M162 · XM150E5
155 mm	M185 · T7
165 mm	M135
	Foreign:
20 mm	Rh202 (Germany)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III (Britain) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	IMI MG251 (Israel)