M103

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Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
Chinese A-5C Pack
M103
us_m103.png
M103
USA flag.png USA
V Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
7.7 7.7 7.7
Class:
Research:105 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:300 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage M103.jpg


The 120 mm Gun Tank M103 is a Rank V American heavy tank with a battle rating of 7.7. It is one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Cast homogeneous armour
  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Turret roof)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 114.3 mm (55-66°) 50.8 mm Upper
44.44 mm Lower		 38 mm 25.4 mm
Turret 127 - 350 mm 76.2 - 93 mm 51 mm 38 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 30 mm thick.
  • Hull armour: After the fantastic T32, the M103's armour situation is generally a let down. Its side armour is near nonexistent, same applying to the rear. The M103's turret size was also increased, while reducing the armour down from 152mm to ~85mm average. But all hope is not lost - the M103's armour design did improve. Unlike its predecessor, it features slopes and angles everywhere, making the M103 a difficult target to destroy from the front. It is also reassuring to know that the frontal chassis is no longer a big weak spot; it is relatively minor and can reliably bounce shots right into the armoured gun mantlet.
  • Turret armour: The M103's turret fares better. It is designed to take on tanks from the front, as the line of sight thickness exceeds 300mm on many occasions and where it doesn't the angle will result in bounces. However, this only works when facing straight at the enemy. Any slight angling miscalculation and the Line of Sight armour becomes useless.
  • Weak spots: The worst part of the M103 are its true weak spots. As mentioned previously, the upper glacis and lower gun mantlet tend to bounce shots into each other, often with deadly results. Furthermore, the bottom turret cheeks are not as well angled as the rest of the turret (~176mm) and can even be penetrated by the long 88 mm KwK 43. The biggest issue present is the abnormally large turret ring. It is visible all around the tank, and with merely 127 mm of armour it attracts many shots. This, in combination with the "shot trap", presents a very deadly scenario: Either the enemy hits the turret ring and incapacitates the entire crew with one APHE shell, or the shell strikes the mantlet/glacis and still does massive damage to either the driver's compartment or the gun breech. Keep the turret ring hidden! Another small weakness is that the M103's belly armour is only 38.1 mm thick, meaning most high-explosive rounds used by the Rank V tanks, HESH, can be splashed under the M103 and actually penetrate it with the explosion alone.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armor
weight (tons) 		Max speed (km/h)
56.7 N/A 36 (AB)
33 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 1,046 ____
Realistic/Simulator 716 810
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 18.45 __.__
Realistic/Simulator 12.63 14.28

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: M58 (120 mm)
120 mm M58
Capacity Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
33 -8°/+15° ±180°
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 14.28 19.80 24.0 26.60 28.20
Realistic 14.28 16.80 20.4 22.60 24.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
19.37 17.14 15.79 14.90
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
M358 shot AP 303 302 286 267 251 235
M356 shell HE 39 39 39 39 39 39
M469 shell HEATFS 380 380 380 380 380 380
Shell details
Ammunition Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent): 		Normalization At 30°
from horizontal: 		Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
M358 shot 1067 23.1 N/A N/A N/A -1° 48° 63° 71°
M356 shell 762 22.8 0.1 0.1 4,650 +0° 79° 80° 81°
M469 shell 1143 23.8 0.0 0.1 2,670 +0° 65° 72° 75°
Smoke characteristic
Ammunition Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Screen radius
in m 		Screen time
in s 		Screen hold time
in s: 		Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
M357 762 23 20 5 25 50
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the M103.
Full
ammo 		Ammo
Part 		1st
rack empty 		2nd
rack empty 		3rd
rack empty 		4th
rack empty 		Visual
discrepancy
33 Projectiles
Propellants 		12 (+21)
24 (+9) 		1 (+32)
14 (+19)		  
10 (+23) 		 
1 (+32) 		No

Machine guns

Main articles: Browning M2 (12.7 mm), Browning (7.62 mm)
12.7 mm M2HB
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
1,000 (200) 576 -10°/+70° ±60°
7.62 mm M1919A4
Coaxial mount (#1)
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
4,000 (250) 500 N/A N/A
Coaxial mount (#2)
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
4,000 (250) 500 N/A N/A

Usage in the battles

Armed with an extremely large 120 mm cannon, the tank boasts superior firepower rivaling many other Rank V vehicles. One thing must be said from the start: The full name of the M103 is "120 mm Gun Tank M103" and not "Heavy tank T32". As the title already hinted, this tank is all about the cannon, a Gun tank. This defines the general play style of the tank in both arcade and realistic mode: it is a sniper with the sole role of making the enemy's life as miserable and short lived as possible. The cannon can compete against the armour of the Maus!

One thing to note is that the M103's play style is very different from its predecessor T32. Aside from the increase in firepower with the 120 mm cannon, the armour on the M103 is actually slightly weaker than the T32. The M103's gun mantlet is still good with ~300 mm line of sight thickness, but any other spot on the tank is weaker. The tank's upper glacis is, however, a major improvement and mostly a ricochet zone. If impacted, the shells usually travel straight into the turret or gun. Against later Soviet and German tanks, the front of the M103 is vulnerable. Even by using the "hull down" tactic as with the T32, the tank can still be penetrated. However, half-turret down will net better results. The sides, as on most US tanks, are still very thin and vulnerable with no major changes from previous models.

However, the armour of the M103 is not all bad; while it is not thick, the way it angles will deflect many shots. A badly placed shot will easily ricochet, or be swallowed by the line of sight thickness. A head-on engagement is the M103's greatest strength as its frontal armour performs similarly to the IS-3's frontal pike nose.

With range, the advantages of the M103 increase while its disadvantages recede. It is therefore the perfect tank for large, open maps like Mozdok and Kursk, where flanking tanks can easily be spotted and dealt with

Tactics

The M103 is best played at medium to long range, making use of its 120 mm cannon to devastate enemies at a long distance. The vehicle's armor is more about slope than actual thickness, so the long distance also helps to mitigate the M103's rather large armor gaps. The tank also has good gun depression, so making use of hills is advised wherever possible. If on a city map, and have no long range opportunities, stay close to teammates and move up only as warranted. The 120 mm has a fairly long reload, and in close quarters, can get the M103 destroyed during the down time. As such, keep a back-up plan and escape route handy, as a missed, bounced, or non lethal shot, can leave the M103 exposed to enemy return fire.

The M103 also comes with a smoke round in case it's needed, but unless it's used to cover a pre-engagement advance, it's best to keep it in reserve only. The long reload of the gun can make loading a smoke round a fatal error, should the M103 get caught mid reload, or worse, have to cease a reload halfway through to load a more suitable round.

Modules

It comes without question that this tank, whose sole defining aspect is its gun, should rely first on parts to keep the barrel smoking. For the second upgrade, which also unlocks other tier 2 upgrades, "Turret Drive" is recommended. The M103 has no mobility problems and therefore tracks can generally be neglected. However, its second tier unlocks are very useful. "FPE" is beneficial against the fires caused by the engine, but the 380 mm penetration HEAT shells and "Adjustment of Fire" for better accuracy are nothing to ignore. When choosing upgrades, ask this question: Is the normal APBC shot enough? Would I have benefited from being able to put out a fire? Does better accuracy help me to get more targets? Choose wisely! After all these three modules are researched, there are not a lot left. "Elevation Mechanism" is always nice, same for "Engine" and "Transmission".

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Has one of the largerst caliber gun in the game that fire solid AP shots.
  • Excels in long-range combat on open maps.
  • Decent gun depression of -8 degrees for hull-down positions.
  • The M358 AP round is one of the strongest rounds available.
  • Great post-penetration for AP.
  • Very fast turret traverse rate.
  • Frontal armour is very strong against all but the most well-aimed and large caliber shots.
  • Sloped front glacis can deflect most AP shots.
  • Quite mobile for a heavy tank, even with stock modifications.
  • .50 cal machine gun can provide some AA defense.
  • Stock AP rounds can one-shot almost anything - pending good shot placements!

Cons:

  • HEATFS has relatively low penetration compared to contemporary enemy tanks.
  • Tank can only hold 33 rounds.
  • Rather long reload of more than 15 seconds.
  • Turret shot trap present and could be shot at.
  • Turret ring is vulnerable.
  • Belly armour is only 38.1 mm thick.
  • Not close-engagement friendly.
  • Sides and rear of turret and hull is very weak, less than 50.8 mm thick.

History

Development

The M103 tank was designed to counter the Soviet heavy tanks being produced at the time, namely the IS-3 and the T-10M heavy tanks, which prove rather impervious to Western tank designs such as the M26 Pershing and Centurion. The problem facing the designers at the time was to produce a versatile tank system capable of engaging heavy tanks like the IS-3 and fortifications.

The result of the request for such of a vehicle was the experimental T34 heavy tank, which was a variant of the then experimental T29 Heavy tank except mounting the much larger 120 mm T53 cannon rather than a 105 mm T5E2 cannon. Further development began on this tank in 1948, where multiple changes were made to the design to fit a more versatile tank system. The end result was the now named T43 Heavy Tank, which began to see doubt in its success as the Korean War was undergoing at the time that placed the M26 Pershing back in the spotlight. The T43 managed to survive due to an order request of 80 units by the Army to reinforce their depleted armoured forces. The USMC even sought a replacement that could serve for a long period of time and ordered 220 of the vehicle in 1951. Changes were made to the armour protection and the gun was updated to the newer 120 mm T123E1 cannon. After being sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground and approved, it was accepted under the T43E1 designation.

The 120 mm T123E1 cannon (adopted as the M58 gun) was a very large cannon, and the ammo could penetrate about 340 mm of armour up to 1,000 yards. However, the ammo's large size restricted the number that could be held in the tank turret and hull. The design also had a 7.62 mm machine gun and a .50 cal machine gun could be installed on the turret to provide anti-aircraft and anti-personnel fire. The heavy weight of the design at 59 tons caused the Continental AV1790 engine to be insufficient in propelling the tank. Thus, the tank's speed was only about 34 km/h (21 mph). Despite the weight, it was still 10 tons lighter than its predecessors and retained about the same armour protection ratings. The production of the T43E1 tank was designated as the M103 tank and were produced at Chrysler Newark for a total of 300 units produced.

Deployment

The M103 was fielded in Europe in only one battalion in January 1958. The 889th Tank Battalion (later as the 2nd Battalion, 33rd Armor Regiment) was organized to four companies of six platoons each. Each platoon had three M103 heavy tanks for eighteen tanks per company. The United States Marine Corps had one M103 company of about seventeen tanks assigned to each of its three Marine tank battalions in regulars and reserves.

The M103 never saw combat during its service life from 1957 to 1974 and the US Heavy Tank Battalions began to be deactivated around 1963 with the arrival of the M60 Main Battle Tank, which proved to be much better in the long terms compared to the M103. The Marines kept their M103s until they began receiving the M60 tanks to replace them. The removal of the heavy tank units in the US military was the time of turnover from the traditional classification of weight between tank to the new concept of "main battle tanks" and "airborne vehicles". This ushers in the new age of main battle tanks that can serve in a multi-purpose role against armour and fortifications, starting in the M60 tank, then in its successor the M1 Abrams. The M1 Abrams, while having the same caliber as the M103, was much more powerful due to its new ammunition types and design, and was a statement on the advancement of technology that came in about thirty years difference between the two tank designs.

Today, only a few M103 samples are left intact around America in various bases and museums.

Media

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Videos

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Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


USA heavy tanks
M4 Jumbo  M4A3E2 · Cobra King · M4A3E2 (76) W
M6  M6A1 · T1E1 · T1E1 (90) · M6A2E1
T26  T26E1-1 · T26E5
T29/30/34  T29 · T30 · T34
T32  T32 · T32E1
M103  M103
Others  T14

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