M901
Contents
Description
The Combat Vehicle, Anti-tank, Improved TOW Vehicle, M901 is a squadron rank VI American tank destroyer
with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".
General info
Survivability and armour
The M901 is based off the M113. It may look like a lightly armoured vehicle, but it features 44 mm of alloy on all sides. This is only enough to stop large calibre machine gun fire and if angled correctly able to stop some SPAA's from penetrating you. The top is also quite strong with 38 mm of alloy, this means that you might he able to survive some badly dropped bombs of rockets, but will not save you if it is a direct hit.
The crew, however, have excellent Survivability. Two crew members, the loader and the commander, are located in the back part of the hull, there are no critical components around these crew members. In the middle of the tank is the gunner, since the I-tow missile is launched from a launcher with a tower, thereby not exposing the gunner. The driver is located at the front of the vehicle and is next to the engine block.
When played from a hull-down position with only the launcher exposed, it is practically immune to damage, however crossing open areas may result in taking a hit, thus losing a crew member.
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forward and backwards.
Armaments
Main armament
The main weapon on the M901 is the BGM-71C I-TOW ATGM. It has up to 630 mm of penetration at any distance since it carries a HEAT warhead. The post penetration of this missile is not amazing and in some circumstances, a follow-up missile may be needed. The missile is a second-generation ATGM so it is mouse controlled.
| BGM-71C I-TO mm BGM-71C I-TO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | ||
| 10 | -30°/+35° | ±180° | N/A | ||
| Turret rotation speed (°/s) | |||||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. |
| Arcade | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Realistic | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||
| Stock | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. | ||
| __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | ||
| M901 Optics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default magnification | Maximum magnification | |
| Main Gun optics | X4.0 | X8.0 |
| Comparable optics | ??? | |
Usage in battles
In a battle, this vehicle is best played hull-down, preferably behind a rock so that rounds won't dip and hit the main chassis. Since your launcher is the only thing exposed expect for your launcher to get hit and receive a 10-second repair debuff. (Note for stock, you will still be able to fire). Since you only have 12 missiles (2 in the launcher, 10 stowed away) you will have to be patient and skilled at using this missile. If in the right hands, it is incredibly strong and can hold an important spot and single handily deny the enemy any chance of taking an area.
However, there is a couple of issues. The launcher can only be deployed when stationary and has a deployment time before you are able to train the gunsights on the target and open fire. The reload also requires the launcher to traverse to the rear of the vehicle and further lengthening the reload.
Apart from shooting at tanks. The ATGM can also be used on helicopters.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | ||
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | ||
| IV | Transmission | Engine | Smoke grenade | |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Use pairs of I-TOW, designed for fast long-range attacks
- Of all horizontal ATGM launchers currently in the game, has best launcher depression
- Tower is very tall, making it hard to exploit APHE and HESH to destroy the tank instantly
- Superior to export Italian version in almost every way possible
- Has night vision and thermal sights
Cons:
- Hits to the tower base can annihilate the tank, so it needs taller hull-down spots, than other carriers
- While carrier is travelling, the launcher is put onto a pad on the back, and it takes about 3 to 5 seconds for it to deploy back, which means, any surprise attack on the tank will likely succeed with minimal resistance
- Only reloads after second launched ATGM hit something, can't be ordered to reload just one missile or to cut off the leading early
- Sniper scope is located in the launcher, so during reloading it moves together with the launcher, forcing the operator to keep watch on target with binoculars
- Sometimes, just a bit short of firepower to penetrate tanks with heavy ERA or NERA plating in one hit (although in RB most of such tanks are your allies)
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === Encyclopedia Info ===, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Other vehicles based off the M113 platform:
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the tank;
- other literature.
| USA tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| M10 | M10 GMC |
| M36 | M36 GMC · M36B2 |
| T95 | T28 · T95 |
| M109 | M109A1 |
| ATGM | LOSAT · M901 |
| Wheeled | M3 GMC · T55E1 |
| Other | M8 HMC · M50 · M56 |
| China | ▃LVT(A)(4) (ZIS-2) |
