R3 T106 FA
Contents
Description
The OTO R3 T106 FA is a Rank V Italian light tank
with a battle rating of 7.3 (AB) and 8.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".
General info
Survivability and armour
The R3 T106 FA has the same chassis as the R3 T20 FA-HS. This means that it will have the same level of protection. Compared to the FIAT Chassis (FIAT 6614 and AUBL/74 uses this chassis), the armour is a lot better. This is because the front plate is 33mm thick, which allows it to take a few hits from .50 cals, especially if angled. However, this tank is still vulnerable to machine gun fire. The "no-armour best armour" concept found in war thunder also generally does not apply to this vehicle since the crew is very compact. Bombs and rockets also have a large destruction radius on the R3 T106 FA.
What's good about the survivability is the ability to poke just the gun out of cover. This not only makes the tank very difficult to spot but in case of a hit only the barrel will be damaged (and only often 1 of them which allows you to fire with the other one).
Mobility
The mobility of this tank is the same as the R3 T20 FA-HS too. Due to War Thunder's map sizes, the maximum speed that can be achieved before a turn has to be made is about 98 km/h. On regular terrain, speed will average about 60 km/h and 50 k/h when going up hills. This makes the R3 T106 FA one of the fastest tank in the BR range. On desert maps, this tank fares much better compared to the FIAT chassis or the Centauro which succeeds it. It is capable of going about 30-35 km/h on desert terrain and a tad slower on snow terrain. It is faster than the FIAT chassis on all terrains and faster than famous fast light tanks like the Ru 251 on hard and medium terrain.
This excellent mobility allows you to flank very fast or go to a position even enemy fast tanks (such as the Super Hellcat) don't expect you to get to.
Armaments
Main armament
The R3 T106 FA uses the same 106mm recoilless rifles as the FIAT 6614. This means that it gets access to both a HEAT round and a powerful HESH round. It is highly recommended that only the HESH round is used (152mm penetration flat, but works at nearly every angle) since any armour plate that is not 152mm in raw thickness (due to mechanics of HESH) will be penetrated. The gun has quite a low velocity, making aiming above 600m quite difficult as your range estimation has to be very accurate. However, the presence of another gun allows you to adjust your second shot making it quite easy to hit moving targets between 0 and 1000 m with your first salvo. Above that, even having a second gun has no guarantee of a hit (unless they are sitting still and not moving). the HESH round often one-shot enemies if used properly, which will be discussed below. The gun reloads with about 10 seconds, allowing for about 12 shots a minute (2 guns). Unfortunately, the R3 T106 FA has only 5 rounds per gun, so it is essential that the player does not waste the ammo on engagements over 1000m to save ammo. Instead, use the excellent mobility to flank and get closer.
Machine guns
Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.
Usage in battles
Similar to most other light tanks, the best way to play this vehicle is either as an ambush vehicle or as a flanking vehicle. This helps to avoid direct confrontations which in turn masks the vehicle's greatest weaknesses which are poor fire stability (gun bounce) and poor armour. This also capitalises on it's main advantage which is its insane speed. Ambushing even in highly popular pathways can be very successful with this tank due to its presence of 2 guns, reducing the chance you will be overwhelmed. Brawling can be done in this vehicle due to its fast acceleration, allowing it to duck in and out of cover to fire very quickly.
As mentioned in the armament section, using the right round can lead to great success against opponents. Knowing how to use the HESH round is imperative to success with this vehicle. Due to the nature of HESH, some tanks will require a more precise targeting for effective use, so here are some recommendations for success with HESH:
- Conqueror - Lower front plate, rear half of turret (front half is a non-penn), cupola
- T34/T29 - Turret roof, turret ring, turret side, anywhere on hull
- M103 - Anywhere on the hull, turret side. Do not target the gun mantlet and other relatively unangled areas
- Caernarvon - Anywhere on turret except the gun mantlet (and even the sloped parts since 100% ricochet is at 80*)
- T32 - Anywhere on the hull, turret side
- T95 - Roof, upper front plate, sides, cupola
- IS-6 - Turret sides, anywhere on the hull
- IS-3- Anywhere on hull, upper half of side turret (lower half has 156mm armour, which is more than 152mm penn), Turret ring
- T-54 - Turret side, upper front plate
- IS-4M - the toughest for the R3 T106 FA. The upper front plate is easily penetrated, but the angled plate and the hull sides as well as turret sides are all too tough. Even the rear is too tough except for the top half of the rear turret armour. Basically shoot the upper front plate, but anywhere else will be bounce or protected by tracks.
From the list, the recommended shot on most tanks with HESH is the turret side armour, as there is no tracks or side skirts to block your shell and armour there even on heavy tanks is usually less than 152 mm raw thickness.
Be careful when shooting an angled upper front plate of tanks, as since it is angled the HESH will send a blast downwards, which might only knock out the machine gunner and driver. However, if you aim towards the top half of the upper front plate, the shrapnel is powerful enough that it should incapacitate all of the turret crew anyways. Also, don't shoot the engines unless you have to, as a potent shot is rare and you won't one shot with a solid hit. The two guns the R3 T106 FA can allow for one shot to go for the cannon barrel or tracks first, then the second gun can lineup for a good shot on a weak spot.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful 106mm recoilless rifles
- Insane top speed; can give the M18 Hellcat a run for its money
- Resilient to machine gun fire from the front
- Can swim
Cons:
- Will be prioritized as a target by the enemy team due to its notoriety
- Flips over very often
- Thin armor
- Can be destroyed simply by ramming it at top speed
- Even LMG fire can destroy the engine from the rear
History
In the early 1980s, the OTO Melara company developed a new armored car, called the OTO R 2.5 “Gorgona”. Investing heavily into research and development efforts, OTO Melara continued developing the design into a “Special Task Vehicle” as part of a private venture.
The resulting OTO R3, nicknamed in production as “Capraia” was first shown off at the Italian Naval Exhibition in Genoa in 1982. The new vehicle received increased armor protection around its body, protecting the crew from rifle caliber fire and shrapnel. Furthermore, the vehicle could be armed with various weaponry, ranging from MGs, over cannons to ATGMs, depending on the version.
Despite their very promising and versatile design, this family of combat vehicles were only built and used in very limited numbers.
- From Devblog
Media
An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as 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
| Italy light tanks | |
|---|---|
| Italy | |
| L6/40 | L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.) |
| M11/39 | M11/39 |
| Autoblindo | AB 41 · AB 43 |
| Fiat 6614/6616 | FIAT 6614 · AUBL/74 · AUBL/74 HVG |
| R3 Capraia | R3 T106 FA |
| Centauro | Centauro I 105 · Centauro I 105 R · Centauro I 120 · Centauro RGO · VRCC |
| Freccia | VBC (PT2) · Freccia |
| Dardo | Dardo · VCC-80/60 · VCC-80/30 |
| Other | C13 T90 |
| USA | ▄M3A3 · ▄M24 · ▄M18 |
| Hungary | |
| WWII | Csaba · Toldi IIA |
| Post | ◔BTR-80A · KF41 |
