QF 3.7 Ram

QF 3.7 Ram

QF 3.7 Ram

Britain

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.3	5.3	5.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Tank destroyer

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The OQF 3.7-inch AA on Ram Mounting (QF 3.7 Ram) is a gift rank III British tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.95 "Northern Wind" in the Operation F.R.O.S.T. event. It features a heavily modified Ram chassis with a powerful 94 mm AA cannon, playing as a British counterpart of the German VFW and the two can often face each other in the battlefield.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour

The QF 3.7 Ram consists of light armour composed of Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA) and structural steel.

File:ARMOR RAM.jpg

Frontal armour of the Ram SPG

The QF 3.7 Ram possesses light armour in the upper area of the turret (10 mm thickness), that might only cover your crew for small caliber machine guns.

Lying hidden in the back of the turret, its heavy 94 mm cannon is protected by 20 mm of structural steel located lower the cannon gun. Inside it the vertical aim drive is located. If a shot goes through and detonates inside this boxy structure, it will cause damage to your crew and the vertical aiming drive. This is the most common damage the QF 3.7 Ram will get, as the enemy often shoots at the area below the 94 mm cannon.

The thicker part of the armour is located in the cannon structure, visible in the centre of the turret (60 mm thickness). But due to the structural steel armour type, its armour remains insignificant for the heavy shells it can face, making cannon breach damage a routine situation as shells with explosive filler detonate within the structure

More armour is located in the lower central area of the transmission. There, the transmission mounting provides 50.8 mm of armour thickness, thick enough that it is possible to stop awkwardly angled shots or HE shots, but won't save you from a frontal encounter. Damages through here also will damage the transmission module.

Cannon structure armuor

Due to the QF 3.7 Ram's provided armour, any cannon shell sent its way can completely cripple your ability to retaliate. However, the QF 3.7 Ram's crew helps provide a factor in the vehicle's survivability on the battlefield.

The crew

The QF 3.7 Ram is managed by a 7 man crew.

• 1 Gunner
• 2 Loaders
• 2 Machine gunners
• 1 Commander
• 1 Driver

This gives the QF 3.7 Ram one more crew member over the VFW for an edge in crew surviability, though the trade-off is that the Ram's crew is more heavily exposed. Both loaders are the most vulnerable targets as they stand back uncovered. The driver and a machine gunner remain in the safest spot within the vehicle chassis. The gunner it well placed but often gets knocked out. High crew skills are a must to ensure higher chance of resisting explosive effects or shrapnel, while performing gun reloads and field repairs even faster to fight back against the opponents.

The best way to utilize the armour to protect the crew is to aim the gun from the front, as it provides cover to both loaders in the back. However, avoid getting hit once as the proximity of the crew members, modules, and ammo racks within each other on the QF 3.7 Ram means a single hit has a chance of crippling the vehicle's performance enough for follow-up shots to finish the QF 3.7 Ram off.

Mobility

Mobility is decent for a SPG with such gun, thanks to its light armour. 43 km/h in AB, 40 km/h in RB/SB

The QF 3.7 Ram is able to reach its maximum speed of 40 km/h (RB) in off road terrain quite easily. Not enough to do a flanking maneuvre, but enough to get a good sniping location or position early in the match.

Its reverse speed is quite poor, 5.7 km/h in arcade and 5.2 km/h in RB/SB. However, this is enough for retreating from a sniping position effectively.

Close quarters should be avoided as the condition would just make the QF 3.7 Ram vulnerable to enemy machine gun fire, as well as being quickly spotted and flanked.

Armaments

Main armament

The 94 mm cannon provides very lethal penetration for all the enemy it faces. It's different from any other cannon in the British tree until battle rating 5.0, as this cannon holds a lower muzzle velocity than your usual 17pdr. Therefore some practice should be made to familiarize with the new cannon ballistics.

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Shot Mk.1	APCBC	204	202	192	180	169	159
Shell Mk.1	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
44	34 (+10)	23 (+21)	12 (+32)	1 (+43)	No

Left side ammo racks only : 23 shells

Usage in battles

In Realistic/Simulator battles, the best approach is the sniping role. Quickly find an appropriate spot at the beginning of the match. The vehicle is tall and the gun depression is only of -5° so keep that in mind when positioning. Covering the allies flanks, long roads, taking down enemy snipers, or keeping the enemy from capturing a point shall be your duty.

A good tactic is to wait enemies expose their sides. Tiger and Panther tanks don't have the armour to resist the 94 mm cannon, and so one shot will usually be enough. The 44 shells it can carry is sufficient for prolonged sniper duties. The same can be said of Soviet vehicles, as their frontal armour tends to ricochet rounds, so it's recommended to aim at the sides as well. As enemies pass by, wait for the right moment to shoot, but make sure to correctly range the targets and lead the gun to successfully land the first shot.

This tactic can be more successful with camouflage on the frontal armour. Concealing the QF 3.7 Ram in the woods as well as hiding the exposed loaders in the back from easy picking.

Shooting the enemies frontal armour is possible, but the risk of shots bouncing off is still high, despite the gun's penetration capabilities. This will also expose the QF 3.7 Ram's position, which will lead enemies to pour down machine gun fire, artillery, and aerial strikes to suppress and eliminate the QF 3.7 Ram.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful gun
• Capable of penetrating every enemy it can face from the front
• Decent survivability due to high crew amount of seven
• Decent mobility for its powerful gun
• Elevation of +80°

Cons:

• Horizontal gun traverse limited to 90° on each side
• Not very fast
• Slow gun traverse
• Weak armour, only protected against light machine guns
• Long reload compared to its German counterpart VFW
• Poor gun depression of -5°
• Lower muzzle velocity than the usual 17pdr

History

In 1941, General Frederick 'Frank' Worthington, founder of the Canadian Armoured Corps, proposed that a 3.7 inch anti-aircraft gun be mounted on a Ram chassis to act as a mobile anti-tank gun. The OQF MK II was the primary British heavy AA guns during World War II. The Canadians used this gun for experimenting, mounting it on the Ram chassis. Few examples were made and one was sent to Great Britain for trials, but no further development came of it.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.

Britain tank destroyers
Infantry tank derivatives	Archer · Gun Carrier (3-in)
Light tank derivatives	Alecto I
M10 Achilles	Achilles · Achilles (65 Rg.)
Centurion derivatives	FV4005 · Conway
ATGM	Swingfire · Striker
Other	Tortoise · ▄M109A1
Canada	QF 3.7 Ram
South Africa	G6 · ZT3A2