M3A3 (1st PTG) (China)

This page is about the Chinese light tank M3A3 (1st PTG) (China). For other versions, see M3 Stuart (Family). For other uses, see M3 (Disambiguation).

␗M3A3 (1st PTG)

␗M3A3 (1st PTG)

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.7	2.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:700

Show in game

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Description

The ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) is a premium rank II Chinese light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

A premium variant of the M3A3 on the main tech tree with the delivery of the Chinese (Nationalist) Expeditionary Forces (中國遠征軍), it serves as a small and agile vehicle to harass enemies' flanks and a good scout vehicle for the main forces of your team.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull25 / 25 / 25

Turret38 / 31 / 31

Crew4 people

Visibility89 %

Aside from the naming of this vehicle and its delivery, it is identical to its main tech-tree counterpart. Having the minimal protection of a light tank (albeit sufficient to stop anything below 12.7x108mm up front) and sides which barely stops HMG rounds at longer ranges. It has at least 2 inches (25.4 mm) armor on its all-round while its turret is 1.25 inches (31.75 mm) all-around.

But to say at least: anything with 14.5x114 mm and beyond can tear down M3A3 with ease. So it is advised NOT TO go head-on against anything with a(n) (auto)cannon, flanking is the way to keep M3A3 from being knocked down into a smoking wreckage.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (50°)	25.4 mm Top (40°) 25.4 mm Bottom (0°)	25.4 mm Top (40°) 25.4 mm Bottom (21°)	12.7 mm
Turret	38.1 mm Turret front 50.8 mm Gun mantlet	31.75 mm	31.75 mm	12.7 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB65 / 8 km/h

RB and SB59 / 7 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight14.4 t

Engine power

AB500 hp

RB and SB262 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB34.7 hp/t

RB and SB18.2 hp/t

Like its tech tree counterpart, it was powered by a Cadillac Series 42 air-cooled piston engine with 220 hp; while it might not be much at first glance, it does push M3A3 at 57 km/h; making it a good flanker and able to pull out from chaos with relative else.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	65	8	14.4	406	500	28.19	34.72
Realistic	59	7		232	262	16.11	18.19

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB659

RB430

SB622

Crew training2 300

Experts15 000

Aces115

Research Aces320 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 40 / 40 / 40 %

2 × 112 / 112 / 112 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment Smoke grenade	Horizontal Drive 37mm_usa_m3_APC_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire Airstrike Elevation Mechanism Artillery Support Improved optics

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm M6 cannon

Vertical stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving

Ammunition174 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

3.7 → 2.9 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

37 mm M6					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	174	-10°/+20°	±180°	Vertical	19.0	26.4	32.0	35.4	37.7	3.77	3.34	3.07	2.90
Realistic					11.9	14.0	17.0	18.8	20.0

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
M74B1	AP	79	76	65	54	45	37
M51B1/B2	APCBC	87	84	73	60	50	41

Like its tech-tree counterpart (and its successor, M5A1), they shared the very same ammunition- M74B1 AP and M51 APCBC shells; since this is premium, M51 would be the go-to shell.

The stock M74B1, while having sufficient penetration at its tier to cause damage to enemies' tanks, due to its nature of AP shells without any ballistic cap, this shell has high possibility to cause ricochet on targets if they have angled, leaving a very embarrassing situation for M3A3.

The second round, M51B1/2 is APCBC, which has higher penetration while improved its aerodynamic and ballistic characteristics, this will be the go-to shell for M3A3; thanks to its sufficient penetration, flanking the sides of your enemies is viable and the likelihood of a confirmed penetration is higher.

But do keep in mind that both shells are non-filler shots, meaning no explosive filler is present; thus it is demanded to hit enemies' ammunition or gunner at all cost which gives higher possibility for a confirmed kill or assist kills.

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%
M74B1	AP	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M51B1/B2	APCBC	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M3A3 (1st PTG) (China)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
174	131 (+43)	87 (+87)	44 (+130)	1 (+173)	Yes

Notes:

• Only 144 shells are modeled in the racks 1 to 4.
• The 1st rack contains 13 shells but empties after having fired 43 shells.
• The 2nd rack contains 52 shells but empties after having fired 44 shells.
• The 3rd rack contains 24 shells but empties after having fired 43 shells.
• The 4th rack contains 55 shells but empties after having fired 44 shells.
• To go into battle with the turret and the flanks empty of ammo, pack 44 (+130) shells (racks 1 to 3 emptied).

Machine guns

7.62 mm M1919A4 machine gun

Ammunition4 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	4,300 (250)	500	-10°/+70°	-60°/+15°
Coaxial	3,200 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

As mentioned, this M3A3 shares the very same traits of the tech-tree one; so speed is your best friend; at 58 km/h, at plains this is an advantage thanks to this top speed, as a light tank, scouting enemies' vehicles beforehand and from their flanks help your team evaluate the main forces of the enemies, giving them some time to plan ahead while you can use your 37 mm gun on-board to harass or possibly scoring some kills while flanking your enemies, weakening the enemies while buying some time for teammates to set up defenses to send the enemies back to the hanger.

Although it might deemed useless, the M1919 (.30) on the turret does actually do some damage against early propellers when they didn't dive upon you, leaving some chances to earn a surprise kill on aircrafts.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent speed and agility, on par with fast tanks like BT-5 allowing it to get to critical spots quickly
• 37 mm stabilised cannon is good for quick and accurate pinpoint of enemy crews
• Has narrow and low profile, harder to get spotted and shot at
• -10° gun depression is great for mountainous battlefields
• ~50 mm gun mantlet is challenging to penetrate, allowing it to perform hull-down to some extent

Cons:

• 37 mm solid AP lacks penetration and damage against well protected and/or spacious tanks like B1 and T-28
• Low survivability: thin armour, and the 4 crewmen are closely packed
• 37 mm shells tend to ricochet more when hitting sloped armour (e.g. T-50)
• -7 km/h reverse speed is inadequate to get it out of a dangerous situation quickly

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

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Other M3A3 Stuarts

• M3A3 Stuart (China)
• M3A3 (Italy)
• M3A3 Stuart (France)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.