M1 KVT

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This page is about the gift American medium tank M1 KVT. For other versions, see M1 Abrams (Family).
M1 KVT
us_m1_abrams_kvt.png
GarageImage M1 KVT.jpg
StoreImage M1 KVT 005.jpg
M1 KVT
AB RB SB
10.7 10.7 10.7
Show in game
STORE

Description

The M1 Krasnovian Variant Tank is a premium gift rank VII American medium tank with a battle rating of 10.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "La Royale". Different to the real one, the M1 KVT in War Thunder was modified from M1 Abrams instead of M1A1. There are several differences on their appearance. Compared to the prototype, the side skirts were removed, and a frontal rubber-fabric screen was added. The gun barrel was covered by a camo net. A fake IR searchlight was mounted on the gun mantlet, and many fake ERA blocks were installed on the turret and the upper glacis. Two external fuel barrels were welded to the rear to mimic Soviet MBTs. The M240 pintle-mounted light machine gun on the reloader's cupola was removed, and each side of the turret had a board with the inscription "ЛОДКА" (‘boat’ in Russian) fixed on the basket.

General info

Survivability and armour

Composite armour
Balanced protection against all types of ammunition
Smoke grenades
Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle
ESS
Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle
Armourfront / side / back
Hull133 / 60 / 32
Turret139 / 120 / 13
Crew4 people
Visibility82 %

The armour of the M1 KVT is quite similar to the M1 Abrams with a few differences. The side skirts were removed, and a frontal rubber-fabric screen was equipped which gave its lower glacis more effective armour of chemical protection. The turret and the frontal hull were installed with several fake ERA blocks which weren't modelled and thus contributed zero additional protection. The M1 KVT has decent frontal armour overall which gives it a great advantage in battles. The left turret cheek offers better protection compared to the right one, yet they both worked well at blocking most projectiles around its BR. The lower glacis offers a similar level of protection to the turret cheeks. On the other hand, the upper glacis is extremely angled which may bounce most shells. Those bounced shells are likely to be absorbed by the composite armour modules of the turret cheeks at last. However, the lower part of the main gun mantlet along with the turret ring is very fragile: most large-calibre shells can easily penetrate it. Most reserve ammo is stored at the rear of the turret and such penetration is very likely to detonate them. Due to the thin roof armour, the gunner optics shield is actually another weak spot that has a risk of overpressuring your entire crew by catching large-calibre HE shells such as 3OF26, 9M119, and DTB-125.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret, turret ring)
  • Rubber-fabric screens (frontal skirt)
  • Structural steel (spaced armour, external fuel barrels)
  • Composite screen (side skirts, mounted when the vismod modification is removed)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 38.1 mm (83°) Upper glacis
19 mm (83°) Middle glacis
31.75 mm (40°) Lower glacis
60 mm Upper part of frontal section
30 mm Lower part of frontal section
12.7 mm Upper part of rear section
27.6 mm Lower part of rear section
31.75 mm (0°, 37°)
5 mm Engine vents
12.7 mm (53°) Bottom
31.75 mm Rear
Turret 38.1 mm (27°, 30°) Left cheek
38.1 mm (25°, 31°) Right cheek
70, 38.1, 25.4, 5 mm (34°, 30-36°, 83°, 86°) Gun mantlet
25.4 mm (70-81°) Upper turret ring shield
50.8 mm (6-40°) Lower turret ring shield
19 mm (30°) Front
6.35 mm (30°) Rear
12.7 mm (1°, 43°, 48°) 38.1 mm (84°) Front
25.4 mm (86°) Rear
12.7 mm Gunner optics shield
25 mm Reloader's cupola
19 mm Blowout panels
Cupola 25.4 mm (51-60°)
Composite armour Frontal effective protection Sides
Hull Lower glacis:
400-500 mm Kinetic / 800-1000 mm Chemical
Turret Cheeks:
400-450 mm Kinetic / 600-850 mm Chemical
Gun mantlet:
240 mm Kinetic / 450 mm Chemical
Front:
200 mm Kinetic / 300-350 mm Chemical
Rear:
60 mm Kinetic / 400 mm Chemical

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick, and the frontal skirt is 4 mm thick.
  • The frontal part of the underbody is 25.4 mm thick, and the rear one is 12.7 mm thick.
  • There are a few spaced armour on the turret sides that are 4 mm thick.
  • Two 38 mm thick internal RHA screens separate the crew compartment from most ammo racks and the engine compartment. Another two 19 mm thick internal RHA screens encircle two exterior fuel tanks.
  • By removing the vismod modification, the frontal skirt is removed, and the side skirts which contain 65 mm of the composite screen at the frontal section will be mounted.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB80 / 43 km/h
RB and SB72 / 39 km/h
Number of gears8 forward
4 back
Weight55.7 t
Engine power
AB2 898 hp
RB and SB1 519 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB52.0 hp/t
RB and SB27.3 hp/t

The M1 KVT has brilliant mobility around its BR. With the high power-to-weight ratio and decent off-road mobility, the M1 KVT can swiftly accelerate to the average speed of ~60 km/h on most terrains. It also has acceptable hull traverse speed and one of the best reverse speed in top-tier MBTs. Those features make the M1 KVT a very competent all-purpose tank whether to flank, brawl, or translocate yourself.

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 80 43 55.7 _,___ 2,898 __.__ 52.03
Realistic 72 39 _,___ 1,519 __.__ 27.27

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB3 381 Sl icon.png
RB3 259 Sl icon.png
SB3 789 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts1 160 000 Sl icon.png
Aces2 100 Ge icon.png
Research Aces2 150 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 150 / 190 / 240 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 232 / 232 / 232 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement us.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods engine smoke screen system.png
ESS
Mods tank additional armor.png
Vismod
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_usa_HESH_ammo_pack
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_NATO_APDS_FS_ammo_pack
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_us_M416_Smoke_ammo_pack
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods thermal sight.png
NVD
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Mods tank laser rangefinder.png
Laser rangefinder
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_usa_M774_APDS_FS_ammo_pack

Armaments

Laser rangefinder
Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder
Night vision device
Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.
Thermal imager
Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

Two-plane stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving
Ammunition55 rounds
First-order22 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
6.5 → 5.0 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 20°
Main article: M68A1 (105 mm)

Sharing the same main gun as the M1 Abrams, the M1 KVT has mediocre firepower when fighting with the enemy in hull-down positions. Most Soviet/Russian MBTs around its BR have sufficient turret protection to absorb its shells. The M1 KVT's engine also makes a loud noise which is very lethal when the enemy is experienced and has high vigilance. The elevated engine decks and two additional fuel barrels welded on it significantly limit its gun depression and movement backwards. Despite those defects, its main gun is very accurate with the thermal sights, competent two-plane stabilizer, and laser rangefinder. It has amazing -10° of gun depression and relatively fast reloading speed. You can also remove the annoying external fuel barrels by disabling the vismod modification.

105 mm M68A1 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 55 -10°/+20° ±180° Two-plane 38.1 52.7 64.0 70.8 75.3 6.50 5.75 5.30 5.00
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
M456A2 HEATFS 400 400 400 400 400 400
M393A2 HESH 127 127 127 127 127 127
M735 APFSDS 292 291 284 275 266 257
M774 APFSDS 372 370 365 358 351 343
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (kg)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
M456A2 HEATFS 1,174 10.5 0.05 0.1 1.27 65° 72° 77°
M393A2 HESH 732 11.2 0.1 4 4.31 73° 77° 80°
M735 APFSDS 1,501 3.72 - - - 78° 80° 81°
M774 APFSDS 1,509 3.4 - - - 78° 80° 81°
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)
M416 732 11.6 16 5 25 50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M1 KVT
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
55 48 (+7) 45 (+10) 23 (+32) (+54) No

Notes:

  • Blowout rack only: 45 (+10) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition1 000 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate575 shots/min
Vertical guidance-9° / 65°
Ammunition10 000 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate941 shots/min
12.7 mm M2HB
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Commander's cupola 1,000 (200) 577 -9°/+65° ±180°

The 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun pintle-mounted on the commander's cupola is good at clearing obstacles and fighting both light vehicles and aerial targets.

7.62 mm M240
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 10,000 (200) 941 N/A N/A

The machine gun fixed coaxially at the right side of the main gun can only cause effective damage on light vehicles with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets in realistic battles.

Usage in battles

The frontal armour of M1 KVT is well-balanced and most APFSDSs with less penetration of 400 mm won't cause trouble on you without aiming carefully. However, every MBT above 10.3 of battle rating has proper APDSFS to penetrate the M1 KVT at any spot. On the other hand, your best shell the M774 is underperforming even in the battles with the same BR. Hence, it's recommended that you should make use of its brilliant mobility, quick reloading, and good gun handling like a light tank. Keep flanking the enemy and translocating yourself. Noted that its engine is quite noisy, so remember to turn off your engine when you are ambushing the enemy.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • ~400 mm of frontal kinetic protection overall and blowout panels at the rear of the turret protecting preloaded and primary ammo racks
  • Wonderful acceleration, top speed, reverse speed, and off-road mobility
  • Very accurate gun, gunner thermal sight, competent two-plane stabilizer, and brilliant depression and elevation
  • Relatively fast reloading speed, 5-second reload with full-upgraded aced crew

Cons:

  • The firepower of the main gun is insufficient around its BR
  • Downhill terrain significantly decreases the effectiveness of its frontal armour
  • Elevated engine decks limit turret rear angle depression
    • VISMOD unique barrels effectively disables rear angle turret views (This can however be disabled by unequipping the VISMOD module)
  • VISMOD removes side panel armour (same as rear barrels, can be unequipped to regain panels)
  • Almost no frontal protection against an APFSDS that has more penetration than 450 mm

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 === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

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 medium tanks
M2  M2
M3  M3 Lee · ▃Grant I
M4  M4 · Calliope · M4A1 · M4A1 (76) W · M4A2 · M4A2 (76) W · M4A3 (105) · M4A3 (76) W · M4/T26
M26 Pershing  T20 · T25 · M26 · M26 T99 · M26E1
M46/47/48 Patton  M46 · M46 "Tiger" · M47 · M48A1 · T54E1 · T54E2
M60  M60 · M60A1 (AOS) · M60A1 RISE (P) · M60A2 · M60A3 TTS · M728 CEV · 120S
MBT-70  MBT-70 · XM803
M1 Abrams  XM1 (Chrysler) · XM1 (GM)
  M1 Abrams · M1 KVT · IPM1
  M1A1 · M1A1 HC · M1A1 Click-Bait
  M1A2 Abrams · M1A2 SEP · M1A2 SEP V2
Other  T95E1
Australia  M1A1 AIM
Canada  M4A5
Israel  ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Merkava Mk.1 · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.3D
Turkey  M60 AMBT

USA premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  LVT(A)(4) · M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.) · M3A1 (USMC) · ▃Stuart VI (5th CAD) · M8 LAC · M8A1 GMC
  M18 "Black Cat" · Super Hellcat · T18E2 · M551(76) · T114 · M1128 Wolfpack
Medium tanks  ▃Grant I · M4A5 · Calliope · T20 · M26 T99 · M26E1 · M46 "Tiger" · T54E1 · T54E2 · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · M728 CEV
  XM1 (GM) · XM1 (Chrysler) · M1 KVT · M1A1 Click-Bait
Heavy tanks  T14 · Cobra King · M6A2E1 · T29 · T30
Tank destroyers  T28 · T55E1