AB 43
Contents
Description
The Fiat-Ansaldo Autoblinda 43 (shortened as AB 43) is a rank II Italian light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 8 mm (22°) Upper Plate 8 mm (44-68°) Upper Glacis 8 mm (19-50°) Lower Glacis |
8 mm | 8 mm (16°) Crew Compartment 5 mm (33°) Engine Compartment 8 mm (27°) Lower plate |
6 mm Crew Compartment 6 mm (18°) Engine Compartment - Centre 8 mm (39°) Engine Compartment - Sides |
| Turret | 18 mm (16°) Turret front 37 mm (cylindrical) Gun mantlet |
8 mm (28-29°) | 8 mm | |
Notes:
- The wheels are 10 mm thick while the torsion bars are 1 mm thick.
- The gun barrel is 10 mm thick while the coaxial machine gun is 5 mm thick.
As a thin-skinned armoured car, the AB 43 offers very little in the way of real protection with 8 mm of armour all around, and a slightly thicker 35 mm gun mantlet. This struggles to keep out heavy machine gun fire at anything other than long range and remains extremely vulnerable to artillery and strafing aircraft. However, the vehicle's internal modules are relatively widely spaced, so that AP rounds will often not knock out the AB 43 in a single hit. The car's low-mounted ammo racks also reduce the likelihood of ammunition detonation.
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 | 91 | 43 | 7.8 | 170 | 210 | 21.79 | 26.92 |
| Realistic | 82 | 39 | 97 | 110 | 12.44 | 14.1 | |
The AB 43 offers outstanding mobility on flat smooth ground. As well as a very high top speed, the vehicle also has an excellent turning circle making it extremely agile on more urban maps. The car also has fantastic reverse speed, being almost as fast in reverse as it is going forward. This allows the AB 43 to escape from a bad situation incredibly quickly when the need arises.
As with most wheeled vehicles, however, the AB 43 loses much of its speed on soft ground. Sand, thick mud and water of almost any depth slow the car to a crawl making it extremely vulnerable to enemy fire.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 47 mm 47/40 mod.38 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 146 | -7°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | 13.3 | 18.4 | 22.4 | 24.8 | 26.4 | 5.98 | 5.29 | 4.88 | 4.60 |
| Realistic | 8.3 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.0 | ||||||||
The 47/40 mod.38 gun offers an average penetration power at its battle rating. Its good muzzle velocity still allows for pretty flat firing trajectories. The accuracy drop is noticeable from 700 m distance and becomes a handicap over 1,000 m. The rotation speed of the turret is rather slow but average compared to other tanks at the same rank or battle rating. The elevation angle of the gun is important, allowing you to fire at an elevated position and the depression angle average, making it possible to fire only from behind mild ridges. Lacking a stabilizer, the tank can't reliably fire on the move. The reload time of the gun is long when compared with other tanks equipped with a 47 mm cannon at the same BR (twice longer in average). The gun recoil is important but it does not turn out to be a handicap as its effect is offset by the length of the reloading process.
Ammunition
The shells available for the AB 43 are limited:
- Granata mod.35: HE; a high-explosive useful for destroying open and lightly armoured vehicles. It however is a very slow shell travelling (twice slower than the other projectile). You can pack a few of those as you lack a heavy machine gun.
- Granata Perforante mod.39: APBC; a solid shot with an average penetration but no explosive filler. Make sure to target modules and crew positions to maximise the damage. Disabling the enemy gunner on your first shot will be critical to win engagements as you'll most likely need several shots to destroy an enemy vehicle. This shell should be your default 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 | ||
| Granata mod.35 | HE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Granata Perforante mod.39 | APBC | 69 | 67 | 59 | 51 | 43 | 37 |
| 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% | |||||||
| Granata mod.35 | HE | 364 | 2.37 | 0 | 0.1 | 150 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| Granata Perforante mod.39 | APBC | 755 | 1.44 | 1.2 | 9 | 30 | 47° | 60° | 65° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 146 | 74 (+72) | 1 (+145) | No |
Notes:
- As they are modeled by sets of 3 or 4, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire all shells in the set.
- Both racks are massive and deplete from rear to front.
Machine guns
| 8 mm Breda Mod. 38 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 1,992 (24) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
The small calibre of the Breda Mod. 38 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.
Usage in battles
The AB 43 makes for an extremely effective vehicle at its BR, combining outstanding mobility with an effective gun. This allows the vehicle to scout extremely well for its team, while still having the firepower to punish enemies who allow it to flank. Urban maps give the vehicle a chance to use its speed and mobility to quickly enter caps and good flanking positions, and their close-range gives the car a chance to outmanoeuvre larger enemies and fire shots into their rear and side armour.
On larger rural maps the AB 43 will have to stick to roads in order to maintain its speed advantage, so players should be careful not to charge directly into enemy tanks. Players must be careful not to get caught out in the open, as the vehicles' tall profile makes it an easy target for enemies firing from a distance even when moving quickly.
The vehicle remains a fairly effective scout at higher battle ratings and can be a viable choice in higher-rank lineups if properly played. The 47 mm gun can still penetrate the side armour of most medium tanks up to 3.7, and its strong post-penetration effects give it good one-shot potential
The most consistently dangerous enemies for the AB 43 are those with fast traversing, fast-firing guns that can hit the car as it races around the map. Heavy tanks such as the KV-1 are effectively immune to the 47mm gun, but only appear if the AB 43 is teamed with higher-rank Italian tanks.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent speed and agility on flat ground, with an outstanding reverse speed
- Effective high-velocity gun against enemy contemporaries
- Speed and scouting ability remains useful in higher-rank lineups
Cons:
- Very poor armour and general survivability
- Extremely slow over poor terrain
- Large flat profile presents a good target for enemy guns
- The Italian tech tree lacks effective vehicles on par with AB 43's matchmaking, often forcing players to make a lineup with higher-rank tanks
History
A prototype successor to the successful AB 41 armoured car. The turret was widened, with plans for a 47 mm gun (either the 47/32 or the new 47/40 to be used in the new M15/42 tanks) and a more powerful engine. The Germans seized the prototypes in the fall of Italy and ordered 102 made for their own use, which used the AB 41's 20 mm gun instead. These were sometimes designated AB 41/43s in German service.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Vehicles equipped with the same gun
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
- [Wikipedia] Autoblindo Fiat-Ansaldo
- [Tanks Encyclopedia] Autoblinda AB 41/43
- [Military Factory] Autoblinda 40/41/43
| 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 |
