M551(76)

M551(76)

M551(76)

USA

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.3	7.0	7.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The M551(76) is a premium gift rank IV American light tank with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB) and 7.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Air Superiority" as a reward for Battle Pass: Season XIV, "Airborne General".

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull31 / 25 / 19

Turret25 / 25 / 25

Crew4 people

Visibility88 %

As a light tank, the 76 mm Sheridan has very weak armor, which can be penetrated by 12 mm high caliber machine guns on some tanks. Most of the crew is located in the turret, with only one driver sitting in the front of the hull. This makes any shot to the turret extremely deadly.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	42 mm	2 mm Top 40 mm Bottom	20 mm	2 - 14 mm
Turret	100- 110 mm Turret front 130 mm Gun mantlet	40 - 50 mm	40 - 50 mm	20 - 30 mm
Cupola	50 mm	60 mm	50 mm	32 mm

Notes:

• The side panels hide extra sloped armor, which is capable of stopping machine gun fire under certain angles.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB77 / 17 km/h

RB and SB70 / 15 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

4 back

Weight15.2 t

Engine power

AB572 hp

RB and SB300 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB37.6 hp/t

RB and SB19.7 hp/t

The 76 mm Sheridan is an extremely fast tank for its battle rating, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h in both realistic and arcade battles. High speed and turret traverse make it more similar to higher BR MBTs in terms of 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	77	17	15.2	465	572	30.59	37.63
Realistic	70	15		265	300	17.43	19.74

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 848

RB2 121

SB2 914

Crew training10 000

Experts320 000

Aces800

Research Aces1 050 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 110 / 150 / 190 %

2 × 172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment Smoke grenade	Horizontal Drive 76mm_us_M361_Smoke_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire Airstrike Elevation Mechanism 76mm_usa_M32_APDS_ammo_pack Artillery Support Improved optics

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm M32 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition23 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

7.6 → 5.9 s

Vertical guidance-8° / 19°

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	23	-8°/+19°	±180°	Two-plane	38.1	52.7	64.0	70.8	75.3	7.67	6.79	6.25	5.90
Realistic					23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0

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
M339 shot	APBC	177	173	159	143	129	116
M352 shell	HE	15	15	14	12	12	12
M331A2 shot	APDS	300	296	278	256	237	219

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%
M339 shot	APBC	975	6.6	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
M352 shell	HE	732	6.8	0.2	0.1	867.22	79°	80°	81°
M331A2 shot	APDS	1,257	2.81	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M361	713	7.1	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

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

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB machine gun

Ammunition1 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate575 shots/min

Vertical guidance-10° / 28°

Horizontal guidance-60° / 60°

7.62 mm M73 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	1,000 (200)	575	-10°/+28°	±60°

7.62 mm M73
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	-	-

Usage in battles

As the Sheridans armor is barely capable of stopping machine gun fire, your best option would be to constantly be on the move. High speed and the great stabiliser allow the M551 to easily flank and capture points.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High mobility
• The 76 mm cannon is fully stabilised
• Quick turret traverse rate
• Optic zoom is effective for long-distance and "sniping" shots

Cons:

• The armour of both the hull and turret offers little protection against any damage, including HE and high caliber machine guns
• The M331A2 shot has a poor post-penetration effect
• Low ammunition count makes trips to capture points a necessity for longer battles.

History

Devblog

The history of the M551 Sheridan light tank started in 1959, when at the request of the US Army, work began on a promising tank to replace the M41 Walker Bulldog and M56 SPG. During the final stages of testing, problems emerged with the 152 mm M81 cannon launcher due to an unreasonable amount of recoil and a gun breech prone to cracking. To address these issues with the M551 which had already been put into production, Allison developed a variant with a 105 mm howitzer by March of 1967, and then with a 76 mm M32 gun which had been used on the M41 Walker Bulldog. However, none of the prototypes received approval from the army’s leadership.

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

• [Devblog] Battle Pass Vehicles: M551(76)