ADATS
Contents
Description
The Missile, Air Defence Artillery, Self-Propelled, ADATS is a rank VIII American tank destroyer
with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".
It's essentially an M3 Bradley with a heavily modified turret. The crew was moved away from the turret and controlls it via interface in the back of the tank. The turret is fully automatic and now carries two enormous missile racks, a radar and the same old gun is tweaked to fire three times faster.
While designations for this tank go all over the place, Bradley ADATS can be simply called a multi-purpose tank, as it can fight fast jets and heavier tanks alike with missiles, while dealing with lightly armored tanks and slower aircraft by using a gun and/or missiles.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Bradley ADATS boasts the same protection as the regular M3 Bradley hull-wise, with one key difference being that the side armour is thinner by 19 mm. High-calibre machine guns such as the 20 mm's on French MBTs will easily penetrate the sides and at times even the front part of the hull. It's not advisable to use the Bradley ADATS as a front-line vehicle but rather as a second-line support vehicle by setting up in key-points around maps.
One upside for the Bradley ADATS is that the turret is completely unmanned, meaning that any Armour-piercing shells will over-penetrate with no injuries to the crew at all (be aware that explosive shells can cause the rockets to explode and instantly destroy the vehicle). The three crew members are situated in the hull with a massive empty space between the loader/gunner and the driver when approached from the side. Every enemy you face will most likely over-penetrate that section and do minimal damage to the vehicle itself.
Overall, the Bradley ADATS can be quite a 'meme' vehicle as it can sometimes sustain 5-7 direct hits even centre-hull, seeing as most rounds just pierce and exit the armour without generating shrapnel, over-penetrating and forcing enemies to snipe for crew members.
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forward and backwards.
| Mobility characteristics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tons) | Add-on armour weight (tons) |
Max speed (km/h) |
| 25.0 | N/A | ?? (AB) |
| ?? (RB/SB) | ||
| Engine power (horsepower) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | ??? | ??? |
| Realistic/Simulator | ??? | 507 |
| Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | ??.?? | ??.?? |
| Realistic/Simulator | ??.?? | 20.28 |
Armaments
Main armament
The main armament of the ADATS is the M242 25 mm automatic cannon, the same as found on the M3 Bradley, but enjoys a faster rate of fire (500 rounds per minute, compared to the Bradley's 201 rounds per minute). When stock, like most AA vehicles, it starts with a belt of equal parts armour-piercing and high-explosive, though it is worth mentioning the AP rounds are sabot rounds with 101 mm of penetration at 100 meters against flat armour. This allows it to easily and effectively take on both air and ground threats simultaneously without needing to worry about ammunition costs. However, should you wish to use this vehicle in a dedicated anti-aircraft role, you can unlock a belt with three parts HE to one AP in Tier I modifications. This must be unlocked in order to unlock M791, the AP belt. With this belt, dealing with any and all lightly armoured vehicles and even quite a few of the MBT's is possible from the side. In regards to how much you should take, you may as well take a full ammunition load. At any range, this vehicle can and will be penetrated by any vehicle that looks in its general direction, so it's not like your armour is going to stop you from being ammo-racked by fin-stabilized sabot anyway. Also, due to the cannon's high-ish rate of fire and ammunition count of 600 rounds, it's worth taking as much as you can carry.
| 25 mm M242 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | ||
| 600 | -9°/+59° | ±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. | ||
| ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? | ||
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 | ||
| M791 | APDS | 110 | 101 | 95 | 69 | 52 | 41 |
| M792 | HEI-T | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Normalisation at 30° from horizontal |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| M791 | APDS | 1,345 | 0.455 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +1.5° | 75° | 78° | 80° |
| M792 | HEI-T | 1,100 | 0.501 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 32 | +0.0° | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 600 | ?? (+??) | ?? (+??) | ?? (+??) | ?? (+??) | ?? (+??) | ?? (+??) | ?? |
Optics
| ADATS Optics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default magnification | Maximum magnification | |
| Main Gun optics | X6.0 | X12.1 |
| Comparable optics | ??? | |
Additional armament
Secondary armament of the ADATS (or primary, depending on how you choose to play it) are the MIM146 dual purpose guided missiles. You can effectively use these against any target you can point them at, due to the facts that they air-burst near aircraft, usually one-hit killing them with the 7.86 kilos of TNT equivalent, and have 900 mm of penetration against armoured targets. With a velocity of 1,200 m/s, aiming these things and tracking moving targets isn't an issue whatsoever. You point, you click, and the target usually dies in a single hit. In the event that, by some miracle of God himself, the target persists in clinging to their life, you can fire the MIM's as fast as you'd like to, meaning follow-up shots are quick and easy, and with the aforementioned 900 mm of penetration, anything you shoot these at WILL be penetrated, unless the angle of impact is extreme.
| MIM146 missile | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Flight speed (m/s) |
Range (m) |
| 8 | 0°/+85° | 1,200 | 10,500 |
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| SAM | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Normalisation at 30° from horizontal |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| SAM | 1,200 | 51.0 | N/A | 0.1 | 7,860 | +0.0° | 80° | 82° | 90° |
Usage in battles
The ADATS is somewhat unique compared to most other anti-aircraft vehicles in that it is just as effective in shooting down aircraft as it is destroying tanks. You can play it as a dedicated AA vehicle, or go tank-hunting and have equal amounts of success in either regard. Just don't go around expecting to take many hits, because pretty much anything at your battle rating can and will penetrate your nearly nonexistent armour. One way of negating this is to find a location where you can only expose your turret to enemy fire, as there are no crew inside the turret and shots that hit it will almost always penetrate and deal next to no damage to you if they're firing sabot, which most tanks at this battle rating do. Russian tanks firing HE shells can cause considerable damage to you, due to their explosive mass.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | M792 | Horizontal Drive | |
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | Adjustment of Fire | |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | M791 | Elevation Mechanism | |
| IV | Transmission | Engine | ESS | Artillery Support | NVD |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Has access to 8 x multi-purpose missiles, can effectively eliminate both aircraft and tanks
- Missiles can penetrate up to 900 mm of armour
- Missiles are incredibly fast with a speed of 1,200 m/s
- Powerful 25 mm cannon with good APDS for ground targets and HE ammunition for use against air targets
- Gunner operates the turret and weapons from behind protective hull instead of being in the turret itself
- Built on the chassis of M3 Bradley- good mobility and acceptable armour
- Modifications are researched fairly quickly
- Effective radar with good range
- Can lock on to aircraft with the radar disabled as the ADATS tracks using an electro-optical targeting system, making sneak attacks easy
- Missiles can even be fired without lock on and retain their proximity fuse against aircraft
- Longest range SAMs in the game; 10 km, making it the only SAM system that can match the Ka-50's Vikr ATGMs for range
Cons:
- Thin armour is not effective against larger cannons
- High profile makes it hard to conceal, it is easily spotted
- Can be destroyed if directly rammed by a plane (hull-break)
- The three crew members are all situated within the hull, and can all be rendered unconscious if a shot penetrates the hull
- The only way to penetrate the frontal armour of enemy tanks is with missiles
- The missiles are essentially giant exposed ammo-racks
- No stabiliser makes firing on the move difficult and increases time to aim the weapons when suddenly breaking
- Missiles cannot be fired on the move, only guided
History
The ADATS was developed at the end of the 1980s as a general-purpose weapon capable of bringing down low-flying airborne targets as well as armoured opponents. Hence the abbreviation: Air Defence Anti-Tank System. The system was comprised of radar for detecting and tracking targets, a complex radio kit for coordinating multiple vehicles, and eight MIM-146 guided missiles in transport and launch containers. The US Army version was built on the Bradley IFV chassis and fitted with a 25 mm autocannon. Notwithstanding the fact that it was selected after a US Army competition for the Forward Area Air-Defence program, it was found to be excessively expensive to manufacture and never made it to serial production on the Bradley chassis.
-From Devblog
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
| 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) |
| USA anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| M3 Half-track derivatives | M13 MGMC · M15 CGMC · M16 MGMC |
| M24 derivative | M19A1 |
| M41 derivative | M42 |
| Radar SPAAG | M163 · M247 |
| Missile SPAA | ADATS · Imp.Chaparral · LAV-AD · XM975 |
