T-III (USSR)

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RANK 5 FRANCE
Somua SM PACK
This page is about the Soviet medium tank T-III (USSR). For the other captured medium tank, see T-V (USSR).
▂T-III
ussr_pzkpfw_iii_ausf_j_l42.png
GarageImage T-III (USSR).jpg
ArtImage T-III (USSR).png
▂T-III
AB RB SB
2.3 2.3 2.3
Purchase:700 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
Show in game

Description

During the Polish campaign, Red Army soldiers found a damaged Pz.III tank, abandoned by its crew, which was secretly transported to the USSR and thoroughly studied. With the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union, Red Army soldiers began capturing other Pz.III tanks. These were then repaired and put into service with Soviet units under the designation T-III (Type-3). They were successfully used until 1943, when, due to insufficient penetration of the main gun and a limited supply of captured ammunition, they were withdrawn from service.

The Soviet T-III was introduced in Update 1.43. Being a copy of the German Pz.III J, it also boasts a powerful 50 mm gun, which allows it to engage even the most heavily armoured combat vehicles encountered in battles. Its decent mobility allows it to both keep up with light tanks, supporting them with fire, and to take up advantageous firing positions. One of the tank's key drawbacks is its mediocre survivability: the crew is compactly arranged, and the upper glacis plate and sides are easily penetrated. Therefore, for increased protection, the tank should be angled with a corner towards the enemy.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades
Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle
Armourfront / side / back
Hull53 / 30 / 53
Turret30 / 30 / 30
Crew5 people
Visibility88 %

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Barrel shroud, Cupola)
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (12°) Front plate
25 mm (86°), 50 mm (52°) Front glacis
50 mm (23-69°) Lower glacis
30 mm 50 mm (14-46°) Top
50 mm (10-66°) Bottom
15 mm
Turret 50 mm (10-25°) Turret front
50 mm (12-62°) Gun mantlet
30 mm (20-25°) 30 mm (12-15°) 10 mm
Cupola 50 mm 50 mm 50 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.

With only a vertical 50 mm armour plate at the front, even some rank I guns can penetrate the T-III's armour. Angling will not really help, as you will expose your even thinner side armour. However, the lower glacis is quite angled, and most small-calibre rounds will bounce off harmlessly. The ammunition is stored in the back of the tank, minimizing the threat of being ammo-racked.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB60 / 12 km/h
RB and SB54 / 10 km/h
Number of gears6 forward
1 back
Weight21.8 t
Engine power
AB572 hp
RB and SB300 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB26.2 hp/t
RB and SB13.8 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 60 12 21.8 465 572 21.33 26.24
Realistic 54 10 265 300 12.16 13.76

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB857 Sl icon.png
RB428 Sl icon.png
SB495 Sl icon.png
Crew training2 300 Sl icon.png
Experts15 000 Sl icon.png
Aces115 Ge icon.png
Research Aces320 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 40 / 40 / 50 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 112 / 112 / 112 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement ussr.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank ammo.png
50mm_kwk_38_39_APCR2_ammo_pack
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods smoke screen.png
Smoke grenade
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition99 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
5.2 → 4.0 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 20°
Main article: KwK L/42 (50 mm)
50 mm KwK L/42 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 99 -10°/+20° ±180° - 11.4 15.8 19.2 21.2 22.6 5.20 4.60 4.24 4.00
Realistic 7.1 8.4 10.2 11.3 12.0

Ammunition

  • PzGr 39 - APC - This is your main ammo type, use it whenever you think it has enough penetration to penetrate your target. It deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
  • PzGr 40 - APCR - this variation of APCR is lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration (up to 132 mm). Use it against heavily armoured beasts. However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration. It only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path, due to the fact that it has no explosive filler.

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
PzGr 39 APC 80 76 62 48 38 29
PzGr 40 APCR 116 107 74 47 30 19
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%
PzGr 39 APC 685 2.05 1.2 9 28.9 48° 63° 71°
PzGr 40 APCR 1,050 0.9 - - - 66° 70° 72°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-III (USSR)
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
99 74 (+25) 48 (+51) 33 (+66) (+98) No

Notes:

  • Racks disappear when all shells in the rack have been loaded/shot.
  • Racks 1 to 3 emptied: 33 (+66) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition4 350 rounds
Belt capacity150 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate900 shots/min
Main article: MG34 (7.92 mm)
7.92 mm MG34
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 4,350 (150) 900 - -

Usage in battles

This tank is a captured Pz.III J, and plays similarly. While it does have significantly better armour on the front than its predecessor, the higher battle rating means it faces tougher, more well-armoured opposition in uptiers. The T-34 (1940) is almost impenetrable, except for some weak spots around the turret and flat-on below the tracks. M4A1s are similar in speed to you, have better sloped frontal armour that you cannot penetrate, more powerful guns, and stabilizers. APCR post-penetration damage is not sufficient enough to be counted upon when you need it the most, plus neither PzGr.40/1 or PzGr.40 can frontally penetrate a Sherman or T-34. The best way to attack these tanks is to flank them with your good mobility, or wait for them to overextend, then shoot at their weaker side armour. Furthermore, the high fuse sensitivity makes many lightly-armoured tank destroyers equipped with strong guns your worst nightmare, since you'll over-penetrate repeatedly in most cases, allowing easy return fire from the enemy. Enemy SPAAGs, in particular, are very dangerous because of your 15 mm turret ring weak spot, enabling them to spray all over you to incapacitate your gunner and loader.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Accurate and decently powerful gun
  • Good -10° gun depression
  • Decent mobility
  • APCR ammo has very high speed and good penetration, making shooting at long range easier
  • Armour can reliably protect against low calibre guns
  • Panzer III profile may trick some enemies into ignoring this vehicle

Cons:

  • Relatively low armour penetration for regular ammunition
  • Slow turret traverse speed
  • Flat frontal armour and thin side armour
  • Large commander's cupola can attract enemy fire
  • Panzer III profile will attract friendly fire in Simulator mode

History

The T-III (USSR) is the Soviet designation for a captured Panzer III, which saw extensive service during the early phases of Operation Barbarossa. After the battle of Moscow, the Soviet army got a hold of lots of German equipment and it was subsequently evaluated. The T-III was mostly issued as a command vehicle due to its increased comfort and reliable radio. Often times captured vehicles would be refitted with Soviet parts for logistical reasons. It saw combat in the battles of Kursk, Leningrad and Stalingrad, earning themselves a great reputation. The T-III was operated by the Red Army until late 1943 after which they were dropped out of service in favour of newer Soviet vehicles or newly captured Panther tanks.


Archive of the in-game description

The designation used for the captured Pz.Kpfw.lll German medium tank in the Red Army arsenal. The tank was an early modification of the Pz.Kpfw.lll Ausf.J that was armed with a short-barrel 50 mm KwK.38 L/42. The Ausf.J differed from previous modifications by its enlarged frontal body armour (50 mm) and certain mechanical changes. These tanks were popular with Soviet tank crews due to their excellent scopes, their loadout, and the convenience of the crew.


Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Related development

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


USSR medium tanks
T-28  T-28 (1938) · T-28 · T-28E
T-34-76  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1940) · T-34 (1941) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34 (1942) · T-34E STZ · T-34E
T-34-57  T-34-57 · T-34-57 (1943)
T-34-85  T-34-85 (D-5T) · T-34-85 · T-34-85E
T-34-100  T-34-100
T-44  T-44 · T-44-100 · T-44-122
T-54  T-54 (1947) · T-54 (1949) · T-54 (1951)
T-55  TO-55 · T-55A · T-55AM-1 · T-55AMD-1
T-62  T-62 · T-62M-1
T-64  Object 435 · T-64A (1971) · T-64B
T-72  T-72A · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-72B · T-72B (1989) · T-72B3 · T-72M2 Moderna
T-80  T-80B · T-80U · T-80UD · T-80UK · T-80UM2 · Т-80U-Е1 · T-80BVM · Object 292
T-90  Т-90А · T-90M
Trophies/Lend-Lease 
Germany  ▂T-III · ▂T-V
Great Britain  ▂МК-IX "Valentine"
USA  ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2

USSR premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  BA-11 · RBT-5 · BT-7A (F-32) · T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-26E · T-126 · PT-76-57 · 2S38
Medium tanks  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34E · T-34-57 (1943) · T-34-85E · T-34-100 · T-44-122 · TO-55 · T-55AM-1 · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-80UD · Т-80U-Е1
  ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2 · ▂T-III · ▂T-V · ▂МК-IX "Valentine"
Heavy tanks  SMK · T-35 · ▂MK-II "Matilda" · KV-1E · KV-2 (1940) · KV-2 (ZiS-6) · KV-122 · KV-220 · IS-2 "Revenge" · Object 248 · IS-6 · T-10A
Tank destroyers  BM-8-24 · BM-13N · BM-31-12
  SU-57 · SU-76D · SU-76M (5th Gv.Kav.Corps) · SU-85A · SU-100Y · SU-122P · Object 120
SPAA  ▂Phòng không T-34 · ZUT-37