Breda 501

Breda 501

▄M24

▄M18

Breda 501

▄M24

▄M18

Italy

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.7	5.0	5.0

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:40 000

Purchase:135 000

Show in game

Description

The Semovente Ruotato da 90/52 Breda 501 (shortened as Breda 501) is a Rank III Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB) and 5.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

The Breda 501 represents a large and poorly-armoured target for any enemy vehicle. The crew members, barring the driver, are extremely exposed to machine gun fire and players will regularly find themselves being strafed into oblivion by aircraft.

The vehicles' internal modules are spread throughout, with the engine and ammo racks being placed high up at the rear behind only 8 mm of armour. This makes it possible for the Breda to be immobilised entirely by machine gun fire. As well as this, the Bredas' gun breech is totally exposed and rises above even the minimal side armour, making it incredibly easy to knock out from the sides.

The thickest armour on the vehicle is the 30 mm gun shield and frontal plate. This protects from heavy machine guns but does little to stop any kind of tank shell, making the Breda easy to penetrate even for lower-rank SPAA.

Despite the Breda's thin armour and large size, these traits can often work in the tank destroyer's favour. The thin plating of the vehicle means that shells will often overpen, and the large size of the truck and the well spaced crew means that if a shell does hit the truck, the damage is minimized and often non-lethal. Additionally, the nature of the Breda as an open-top tank means that enemy tankers will often instinctively attempt to kill it not with their main cannons, but rather their MGs, which require precise aiming to hit the 4 exposed crew members. Most of said rounds will often just bounce off the 30 mm gun shield, which can buy valuable seconds to either kill the enemy or to run away.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	66	8	8.9	202	267	22.7	30
Realistic	61	8		126	140	14.16	15.73

As a wheeled vehicle the Breda 501 struggles on any kind of soft ground such as snow, sand and wet mud. It also cannot turn on the spot as a tracked vehicle can, making turning the vehicle around in a confined space extremely time-consuming when combined with its very slow reverse speed.

However, the Breda 501 does boast a high straight-line speed, and can easily hit 50 kph on flat smooth ground allowing it to outrun the majority of vehicles it faces. It can also corner quickly when moving forward, allowing it to zip around the streets of urban maps at high rates of speed, perfect for a flank-minded playstyle

Armaments

Main armament

90 mm 90/53 mod.41					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	30	-4°/+21°	±45°	N/A	9.7	13.4	__._	__._	19.2	7.80	_.__	_.__	6.00
Realistic					6.6	7.7	__._	__._	11.0

Ammunition

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
Granata Perforante da 90	APCBC	132	130	121	110	101	92
Granata da 90	HE	14	14	14	14	14	14
Granata Perforante mod.43	APCBC	158	156	146	134	124	114

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Granata Perforante da 90	APCBC	758	12.1	1.2	14	520	48°	63°	71°
Granata da 90	HE	850	10.1	0.1	0.5	1,000	79°	80°	81°
Granata Perforante mod.43	APCBC	773	11.1	1.2	14	180	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Breda 501

Last updated: 1.101.1.16

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
30	16 (+14)	1 (+29)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle mount (Rear left)	1,680 (24)	600	-8°/+35°	±20° (facing backwards)
Pintle mount (Rear right)	1,680 (24)	600	-8°/+35°	±20° (facing backwards)

The small calibre of the Breda Mod. 38 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. Facing backwards, it can't even be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.

Usage in battles

The Breda 501 boasts a very effective high-velocity gun for its rank, offering high penetration and excellent post-penetration damage. This combines well with the vehicles' high top speed and allows players to quickly get into strong flanking positions early in the game. The Breda can heavily punish enemy vehicles from a variety of ranges in these positions.

The Breda can also be used in a more aggressive role on some urban maps. The 90 mm gun has an excellent horizontal traverse range, meaning players can get their gun sighted around corners without fully exposing the vehicle. With a high top speed, the Breda can knock out enemy tanks before quickly disengaging, although players must beware of the slow reverse speed when planning an ambush.

The Breda will often encounter the Sherman Jumbo, whose thick, angled frontal armour presents a significant challenge. If possible the Breda should look to flank the Jumbo, where its gun can easily obliterate the US tank from the side. If forced to engage an angled Jumbo from the front, the Shermans' machine gun port represents a small weak spot. Aside from this, shots into the turret ring can penetrate the Jumbo, but this may not be reliable.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tires		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Granata Perforante mod.43
IV	Transmission	Engine

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent gun with a fast reload, good penetration and high explosive mass
• Wide horizontal gun traverse for a tank destroyer
• High top speed and excellent agility on flat hard ground
• Great gun horizontal guidance, can shoot diagonal easily

Cons:

• Very poor armour and exposed crew - ammunition racks are easily targeted
• Stout recoil combined with the vehicle's high profile and low weight means that each shot, especially when firing to the sides, will violently shake the vehicle and throw off the aim
• Poor depression of only -4 degrees hinders use of hulldown positions behind hills
• Machine guns only fire over the back of the vehicle with limited arcs of fire and very small magazine capacity; effectively useless in most situations
• Very poor mobility on soft ground and lacks neutral turning
• Painfuly slow reverse speed

History

The Italians had truck-mounted their heavy AA guns beginning in 1927 with the Autocannoni da 75/27, mounted on an unarmoured Ceirano chassis. 24 of these were manufactured and used during the Spanish Civil War, and some were still in service in the early stages of the North Africa campaign. The first Autocannone da 90/53 was a similar Lancia 3 RO 4x4 heavy truck with bolt-on frontal armour and the 90mm AA gun, and intended to be used as a dual-purpose anti-tank weapon as well. Somewhere around 50 may have been built, and they served throughout the Italian War, beginning in early 1942 with the 132nd Artillery Regiment in the Ariete Division. The Italians planned a change to the Breda Dovunque 6x6 truck in its place, which would have made the Breda 501 shown in game.

During the North African campaign, the Italian military quickly realized the effectiveness of their 90mm heavy AA cannon, commonly mounted on utility trucks. The cannon turned out to be just as good at dealing with enemy tanks as it was combating aircraft, being able to pierce the armor of virtually any allied tank it faced in the deserts of North Africa. However, whilst the mounting on truck chassis allowed the guns to be moved around with relative ease, the large silhouette and lack of armor protection heavily exposed these vehicles and their crews to even rifle-caliber fire, yet alone to shrapnel from nearby explosions. In 1942, the military top brass came up with a set of requirements for a new vehicle which would build up on the proven gun truck concept used in North Africa by increasing protection and mobility. The new vehicle would be designed as a dedicated SPG, intended solely to provide support to armored regiments in combating enemy tanks. Shortly after, the Breda company began work on a vehicle around those specifications. Breda based their new design on a chassis of an existing utility truck and added armor plating to the vehicle’s front and sides. The 90mm cannon would be installed in an open fighting compartment in the vehicle’s rear. In 1943, the prototype was finished and began undergoing testing as the Breda 501. Although the Breda 501 had successfully proven itself during testing, further development and potential mass production was hindered by Italy’s capitulation in late 1943. The project was ultimately cancelled with the signing of the armistice in late 1943 with only a couple prototypes of the Breda 501 being built of which none saw any combat use.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Breda 501 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Best tank destroyers discusses the Breda 501 at 1:53 - War Thunder Official Channel

Breda 501 - MagzTV

Breda 501, Italian, Tier-3, Tank Destroyer - Angry Nerd Gaming

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same gun

• 90/53 M41M

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• 8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl.
• YaG-10 (29-K)

External links

• [Devblog] Breda 501 - When Looks Deceive
• [Forum] Official Forum Thread for Breda 501.