LeKPz M41

leKPz M41

M109G

Marder A1-

leKPz M41

M109G

Marder A1-

Germany

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.3	6.7	6.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

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This page is about the German light tank LeKPz M41. For other uses, see M41 (Family).

Description

The leKPz M41 is a rank IV German light tank with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB) and 6.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.95 "Northern Wind".

General info

Survivability and armour

The armor for this tank is non-existent. If your lucky a few shots may bounce off of the turret if at an angle but don't expect that to happen often. As for the rest of the tank it has no real armor and will be penetrated by anything at its BR. Due to it not having thick armor is creates very little spalling from APDS rounds that some tanks have at this tier which can be beneficial if the enemy doesn't aim well. The armor is thick enough though to trigger the fuzes on APHE rounds ending with normally a one shot knockout. The most vulnerable part of this tank is the turret. Three crew members are located here and most shots to the right of the gun will immediately send you back to respawn. The turret does have a lot of empty space on the left side of the gun causing most solid shots there to do no damage.

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	81	21	23.1	775	954	33.55	41.3
Realistic	73	19		442	500	19.13	21.65

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm M32					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	65	-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A	34.3	__._	__._	__._	__._	7.6	_._	_._	_._
Realistic					21.4	__._	__._	__._	__._

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
M319 shot	APCR	206	200	174	146	122	103
M331A2 shot	APDS	232	231	212	193	163	137
M352 shell	HE	12	12	12	12	12	12
M496 shell	HEATFS	254	254	254	254	254	254

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%
M319 shot	APCR	1,234	3.2	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
M331A2 shot	APDS	1,231	1.49	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
M352 shell	HE	732	6.8	0.1	0.5	867.2	79°	80°	81°
M496 shell	HEATFS	1,082	3.2	N/A	0.1	653.7	65°	72°	77°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
65	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Optics

LeKPz M41 Optics
	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	x7.2	x8.0
Comparable optics	___

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Commander's cupola	2,175 (200)	576	-10°/+70°	±60°

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Coaxial	4,900 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

There are few different ways to play this vehicle based on play style. You can use the leKPz M41 just like the American variant, you can use it in a scouting role by using binoculars or sniping view to scout targets or use it to destroy enemy vehicles. If you choose to play the role of a scout, try to get into a spot where the enemy is unlikely to spot you or look for you. However, make sure you are close to a route often traveled by enemy players, otherwise you will struggle as a scout as you will not see many enemy vehicles or could be too far away for the team to effectively find or shoot at the enemies you have spotted. If done properly, this can get you many assists. But what about kills? If you choose to not play the role of a scout, you can instead try to take out tanks yourself. Unlike the American variant of the M41, the leKPz M41 does not get a solid AP round. Instead, it gets APCR stock. This means you will have to get used to making accurate shots and aiming carefully. This will come in handy later though, as the next round (APDS) will need the same thing to work. The only noticeable difference between the two is penetration values, with APDS penetrating 231mm of armour compared to the 200mm of the APCR at 100m. The final round you can unlock is the HEATFS round, which penetrates 254mm at all ranges. All rounds require precision aiming as you will want to go for essential crew or ammo.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Airstrike
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	M331A2 shot	Elevation Mechanism	NVD
IV	Transmission	Engine		M496 shell	Artillery Support	Improved optics

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Extremely agile tank
• Good top speed 72 km/h (average speed is more around 35-40 kph)
• Fast turret traverse
• Fast reload rate
• Respectable firepower when loaded with APDS
• HEATFS shell is identical to the HEATFS on the T92
• .50 cal AA machine gun with good coverage
• .50 cal is handy when handeling AA trucks and light tank
• Equipped with smoke grenade launchers
• Can fulfil the role of the Ru 251 for players that don't have it

Cons:

• Absolutely massive for a light tank, about as big as a Tiger
• Low torque, without downhill the tank won't reach higher speeds than 50 km/h
• Bad armour, can be ripped to shreds by all the AA guns at the tier
• Armour is thick enough to activate the fuse of all APHE rounds
• Ammo storage in the front, next to the driver, carrying less ammo will mitigate this problem by emptying the rack
• APDS shot causes only punctual damage (aim carefully)
• No explosive filler on any AP shells
• Painful stock grind that begins with an APCR stock shell
• The HEAT shell's penetration is far worse than the Ru 251's HEAT shell
• Is outclassed by the Ru 251 in virtually every measurable metric

History

Development

The U.S. Army light tank in the latter part of World War II, the M24 Chaffee, was a promising design but was deemed not effective for the future of armour encounters. Though its role as a scout was seen as needing the 75 mm gun, the army wanted a tank with a better gun to have a more equal chance against tanks. The project began as the T37 program in 1947 with the focus of being air-transportable with an anti-tank capability in the form of a 76 mm gun and a rangefinder. The adoption of a simplified rangefinder had the project designation changed to the T41. After testing and evaluations, the T41 model was accepted into service as the M41 Little Bulldog , with production starting at Cadillac Cleveland Tank Plant in 1951. The name Little Bulldog stayed until General Walton Walker, the first commander of the 8th US Army in Korea, died in a car accident, so the tank was renamed into the M41 Walker Bulldog in remembrance. Production went from 1953 to somewhere in the late 1960s with about 3,728 units produced.

The M41 light tank would go on to replace the M24 Chaffees by 1953. The M41 had a crew of four, commander, gunner, loader, and driver. The tank had a profile of under 9 feet and 19 feet long. The tank was lightweight at 23.5 tons and thus had rather thin armour, with the front armour only 25.4 mm thick (sloped at 60 degrees for about 50 mm effective). However, the tank was very agile with its torsion bar suspension and Continental AOS 895-3 series 6-cylinder gasoline engine of 500 hp which could deliver a road speed of 45 mph with a 100 miles operating range. Unfortunately, the tank was criticized for being noisy, a fuel-guzzler, rather heavy, and the American crewman found the Bulldog's interior to be quite cramped. Despite that, it delivered speed, firepower, and reliability in a light tank format. Several upgrades were made on the M41 with better technology, the M41A1 had a hydraulic turret traverse with more ammo storage, the M41A2 had a new fuel system, and the M41A3 are old M41A1 tanks with the new fuel system from the M41A2.

Combat usage

The M41 Walker Bulldog first saw use in Korea in a limited combat run. The tanks, still labelled their experimental designation T41, were sent for field testing on design deficiencies. It is unknown what other purposes they served there except for the tests. Their first major conflict once adopted by the U.S. Army was in Vietnam, mainly by replacing the M24 Chaffees in service with the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) at the time. The M41A3 tanks arrived in January 1965 and were instantly popular; not only for their advantages, but the previously cramped interior for American crews were actually a perfect fit for the smaller Vietnamese armour crewman. The Bulldog went on to fight in the Vietnam War as a reliable war machine. The Bulldog had an advantage due to its lightweight in manoeuvring in the jungle terrain of the region. In 1971, Operation Lam Son 719, the disruption of the North Vietnamese Army supply lines had the M41 Bulldogs play a major role, accompanied by two airborne battalions and two cavalry regiments. Penetrating deep into enemy lines, the 17 M41 tanks engaged and destroyed six Soviet-designed T-54 tanks and other lighter armoured vehicles. This engagement came at a loss of 5 M41 and 25 armoured personnel carriers. By 1973, the ARVN still used about 200 M41 tanks while the transition of the American unit over to the M48A3 Patton tanks in Europe and Stateside. The M41 light tanks were also exported to various other countries. Today, Guatemala, Somalia, Taiwan, Uruguay, and Vietnam still use the M41 Walker Bulldog, some via upgrading the tanks to extend their service life.

The M41 Walker Bulldog design was advanced for the time, giving a relatively lightweight tank the firepower to take on other tanks of its time period. The chassis was even used on the M42 Duster Anti-Air gun and the M75 Armored Personnel Carrier. The drive, engine, transmission, and auxiliary engine also were used in the M44/M52 155 howitzer. By 1969, the US Army began replacing the M41 with the newer M551 Sheridan Armored Airborne Reconnaissance Assault Vehicle (officially not a "light tank") which had a 152 mm cannon that could fire shells and anti-tank missiles. The M551 Sheridan could be used in roles that the M41 Walker Bulldog couldn't do, such as be air-dropped and amphibious but was rather unreliable. This made the M41 Walker Bulldog to be the last American "light tank" produced and the last made before the classification between tank classes based on weight and role ended.

Usage by the Bundeswehr (leKPz M41)

The leKPz M41 (short for leichter Kampfpanzer M41 (light MBT M41) was the Bundeswehr variant, serving in the West German Army from 1956 to 1969. The leKPz M41's served in Panzeraufklärungsbatallionen (tank reconnaissence batallions) and Panzerjägerbataillionen (tank destroyer batallions). Very few served in Panzergrenadierbataillionen (tank grenadier bataillions). From 1969, the leKPz M41 was replaced by the Leopard 1 in reconnaissence bataillions and by tank destroyers like the JPz 4-5 and the RakJPz 2 in tank destroyer bataillions. Variants with a slightly modified chassis of the M41 remained in service in the form of SPAA (Flakpanzer M42) as well as in the form of tank howitzers (lePzH M52 and mPzH M44).

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

• [Panzerbaer.de] DER SPÄHPANZER M41 (Bw)