CA Lorraine
Contents
Description
The Canon d'assaut Lorraine de 100 mm (100 mm Lorraine assault gun), or abbreviated CA Lorraine, is a rank IV French tank destroyer
with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB) and 6.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It presents a very classic TD design: Casemate gun platform and powerful armament. While lacking in terms of armour, it compensates with both excellent mobility and a very strong gun.
The CA Lorraine is an intermediate between a SU-85 and a lowered Jagdpanther. It is distinguishable for having rubber road wheels instead of metal ones, two huge fans atop the engine deck (much like the German Jagdpanther), a very pointy gun mantlet pointing outwards from the casemate and quite a large, rounded commander's cupola. In some ways, it is quite similar to the fearsome AMX 50 Foch, and this can scare away some cowardly foes.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (casemate, cupola)
- Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)
- Wheel (tires)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 50 mm (54°) Front glacis 35 mm (61°) Lower glacis 60-150 (0-88°) + 35-60 mm (2-88°) Gun mantlet |
30 mm (15°) Top 30 mm Bottom |
25 mm (23°) Upper glacis 25 mm (54°) Lower glacis |
20 mm Front 20 mm (7°) Rear 8 mm (7°) Radiator and engine vents |
| Cupola | 50 mm (spherical) | 20 mm | ||
Notes:
- Suspension wheels, tracks and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
Its sloped, medium thickness frontal armour will not protect you from anything bigger than SPAA shots (some may even get through in close quarters) but it is certainly sufficient for what it is designed to do: protecting from stray bullets in long range engagements. Side and top armour are also quite weak, so don't expect to survive any kind of surprise coming from side or top. Still, this tank has 5 crew members, which can often save it from a quick destruction.
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 | 68 | 18 | 25 | 973 | 1,307 | 38.92 | 52.28 |
| Realistic | 63 | 17 | 606 | 685 | 24.24 | 27.4 | |
If anyone thought the Lorraine 40t was a sprinter, this is even better. The CA Lorraine is fast. Not only in forward motion is it fast, it can reverse at a decent, constant, -16 km/h and it has ability to neutral steer, these enable fast reaction to quickly changing battlefield odds such as flanking maneuvers or enemy breakthrough. An experienced player can take clear advantage over its foes by achieving good placement and this tank is the perfect tool for this task.
Armaments
Main armament
This gun platform uses the usual French rank IV 100 mm SA47 L/58 cannon with a twist: it has no autoloader mechanism, hence making reload time twice as long. However, at battle rating 6.3, the gun packs an awesome 300 mm of penetration that ensures it can punch well above its own rank. The large shell caliber also means it can create quite a lot of fragments inside a tank, making the lack of explosive filler not so bad, as long as you land a good hit.
Keep that in mind as your foes get closer and closer to you: these precious 15 seconds of reload time are the perfect time to intent a frontal attack, even more so since you don't have automatic firepower of any form. Always have a backup plan, in case your single shot doesn't fully disable your target.
| 100 mm SA47 L/58 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 40 | -6°/+16° | ±9° | N/A | 5.3 | 7.3 | 8.9 | __._ | 10.5 | 15.60 | 13.80 | __.__ | 12.00 |
| Realistic | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5.1 | __._ | 6.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| 100 mm Obus de rupture | APCBC | 273 | 270 | 257 | 242 | 228 | 215 |
| 100 mm Obus explosif | HE | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 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% | |||||||
| 100 mm Obus de rupture | APCBC | 1,000 | 15 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| 100 mm Obus explosif | HE | 1,000 | 14.8 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1,400 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 31 (+9) | 21 (+19) | 11 (+29) | 1 (+39) | No |
Usage in battles
The CA Lorraine can be used in different ways, but in all cases it will be relying on its speed. The CA Lorraine is one of the most agile tanks at its battle rating in terms of max speed, cross country speed, turn time, neutral steering and reverse. The CA Lorraine should not be used as an assault tank (often confused with the AMX-50 Foch). Use your speed as your main advantage.
When in urban combat:
The Lorraine has a big disadvantage when it comes to urban combat, it is turretless, meaning the tank will have to turn in order to aim at a certain place. This also makes crossing corners harder as the lack of turret reduces where your gun will be aiming as well as making an side firing angle (angle between your gun and your hull) narrower, forcing you to push almost frontally instead of doing sidescrapping. The mobility of the CA Lorraine makes it formidable when it comes to flanking as it is able to "Hit N' Run" and destroy or incapacitate enemies with relative speed. Be aware of your reload rate as you do not have autoloader (compared to Lorraine 40t which uses the same gun, the CA Lorraine reloads in 15.6s stock without upgrades and Lorraine 40t in 4.0s regardless the crew or upgrades), this makes a huge disadvantage as you will be vulnerable after each shot, make each shot count. Aim for gunner, cannon breech or ammunition to disable and destroy tanks as an error will cost your life. Having only 50 mm of frontal armour makes the Lorraine only capable of withstanding some SPAA fire (Wirbelwind, M42, etc) but will be penetrated by all tank guns at its BR and even SPAA at point blank range.
When in rural combat:
The Lorraine is a pretty decent sniper at its BR but this is by far one of the best combat roles the Lorraine can have. The 6x sight and the high muzzle velocity will make sniping easier than with other tanks at its BR. It should be noted that the CA Lorraine will not be able to withstand many frontal attacks even at range (PzGr 39 fired from KwK36, 42, 43 and 48 will penetrate the upper frontal plate with ease). Always stay on the move when possible. Fire and move. This is to make each attack unpredictable as people are prompt of revenge killing you with a tank or with an aircraft, always stay aware of your surroundings and stay away from suspicious locations enemies can look forward to detect and engage you.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | Horizontal Drive | |
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | Adjustment of Fire |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | Elevation Mechanism | |
| IV | Transmission | Engine | ||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good firepower, uses the same gun as AMX-50-100 and Lorraine 40t
- Very good penetration, definitely usable in uptiered games
- Exceptionally fast reverse speed
- Fairly low profile
- Capable of neutral steering
- Strong gun mantlet may bounce shots
- Fast with very good manoeuvrability
Cons:
- Weak armour all around
- Engines and fuel tanks only have 8mm armour, very vulnerable from above
- Reload rate is not impressive
- Poor gun depression (-6)
- No HE filler in AP shots means precision is necessary
- No coaxial MG
- Low gun placement
- Somewhat weak optic zoom
- Large ammo racks on both sides of the hull
History
The CA Lorraine was developed and tested in the late 1940s, but never saw active service.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same gun
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
| France tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Lorraine 40t derivatives | CA Lorraine · Lorraine 155 Mle.50 |
| ATGM | MEPHISTO · AMX-10M |
| Other | AMR.35 ZT3 · Lorraine 37L · SAu 40 · ARL-44 · ELC bis · AMX-50 Foch · AuF1 |
| USA | ▄M10 GMC · ▄M36B2 |
