Celere Sahariano
Contents
Description
The Carro Armato M Celere Sahariano is a premium rank II Italian medium tank with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "New Power" for 700 Golden Eagles.
An Italian "Crusader", the Celere Sahariano is a significant departure from the standard Italian tank building school and shares several similarities with the P40 and Soviet T-34s, like angled plates all around the hull and large-wheeled suspension for better mobility. It was also the first tank to use a torsion bar suspension instead of semi-elliptic leaf spring suspension found on the standard issue Fiat M14/41, a design choice inspired by the Christie Suspension used by the BT-5, BT-7 and Crusaders.
The full designation of this tank stands as Fiat Carro Armato M Celere Sahariano or Saharian Fast Medium Tank. In War Thunder Community and several War Thunder Youtubers had referred to this tank as "wide boi" when looked at the tank from the front.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 35 mm + 15 mm (55°) Upper Glacis 35 mm (55°) Driver's Hatch 20 mm (55°) Upper Glacis (Lower Portion) 20 mm (35°) Lower Glacis |
15 mm Main 8 mm Upper Engine Compartment |
15 mm Lower Part 8 mm Upper Part |
10 mm Crew Compartment 8 mm Engine Compartment |
Turret | 30 mm (12°) Turret front 30 mm + 40 mm (Curved) Gun mantlet |
25 mm | 25 mm | 10 mm |
Notes:
- Fenders and sideskirts - 5 mm
- Tracks, road wheels, drive sprocket, etc. - 15 mm
- Suspension - 10 mm
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 | 67 | 5 | 13.5 | 426 | 525 | 31.56 | 38.89 |
Realistic | 61 | 5 | 243 | 275 | 18 | 20.37 |
Modifications and economy
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 | 122 | -10°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | 13.3 | 18.4 | 22.4 | 24.8 | 26.4 | 5.20 | 4.60 | 4.24 | 4.00 |
Realistic | 8.3 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.0 |
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 | ||
Granata mod.35 | HE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Granata Perforante mod.39 | APBC | 62 | 61 | 53 | 46 | 39 | 33 |
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 | 0.1 | 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 |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
122 | 114 (+8) | 105 (+17) | 53 (+69) | 1 (+121) | No |
Notes:
- As shells are modeled by sets of 2, 3, or 4, they disappear from the rack after you've fired or loaded all shells in the set.
Machine guns
8 mm Breda Mod. 38 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 288 (24) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The Celere Sahariano is one of the best vehicles at its battle rating, thanks to the unique characteristics that make this vehicle a truly vital asset in any team. The best playstyle for this type of machine is either a brawler or support tank.
As a brawler you'll essentially be one of the few players leading the charge against the enemy team. This can be done quite easily thanks to the sheer mobility: the speed for a vehicle of its type is unlike the majority of vehicles you'll be facing. You are able to intercept a lot of unsuspecting enemies too, mainly in places where they will not expect an enemy to be at the start of the match, this will greatly come in handy as you'll be able to get a few eliminations with minimum effort required. Another bonus that will aid you when playing the brawler role is your armour, at your battle rating it can actually prove to be quite effective, especially frontally. You'll be bouncing most shots that come your way, paired up with your speed this will mean you should have the edge on most engagements as unsuspecting enemies might judge you too quickly and not do any substantial damage to your tank or crew. One upside of your tank is also your profile, you are not very tall compared to other tanks you'll face. This means that you can easily get in hull-down spots or even better, hide behind cover more effectively.
As a support tanker, you can play it in multiple ways, but the most popular method with this vehicle is to use the speed advantage you have over the enemy team to easily flank them, and take them out while they don't realise you are in the vicinity. This is usually one of the best playstyles as you get to fully take advantage of your mobility. You can also use your mobility to get in hard to reach spots at the start of the match, which can be very annoying for the enemy team. Your actual armament is nothing special, it is the same 47 mm 47/40 mod.38 cannon on the AB 43 armoured car. It will be enough for you to deal with the majority of the threats you'll be facing, it's however recommended you do not bring a lot of ammo, to increase your chances at survival. One of the downsides of this vehicle is how long and wide it is, you'll find out that artillery and enemy aircraft will be one of your worst enemies, your speed will not be enough to render them useless. You should quickly find cover if you see an aircraft or artillery heading towards you.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great mobility
- Wide, great grip and turning rate
- The UFP can bounce most shells at its BR
- The APBC shell has great post-penetration damage
Cons:
- Very slow reverse speed
- Relatively sub-par turret traverse, can be countered with its good turn rate and mobility
- Armour can't block higher calibre shells
- The 47 mm cannon will have difficulty dealing with M4s and T-34s in uptiers
History
Devblog
After clashing with British armored forces in the desert of North Africa in the early 1940's, the Italian Army became impressed with the performance of the various cruiser tanks fielded by the British (e.g. the Crusader). As a result, the army issued an order to tank manufacturers to develop a new light vehicle whose mobility and firepower would outmatch that of the cruiser tanks.
Already in 1941, work on the new vehicle began as mock-ups were created based on the existing M14/41 medium tank. The new vehicle incorporated thin, but sloped armor, as well as a torsion bar suspension system, instead of the more commonly used leaf spring system on similar fighting vehicles. A single prototype of the vehicle was built by 1943, which had multiple engines trialed, including aviation ones. However, with the worsening war situation, limited Italian industrial capacity and the P40 taking over production priority along with the fact that Italy was driven out of the theater for which the vehicle was initially designed for, all this led to diminishing interest in the vehicle.
With all these factors in play, further development of the Celere Sahariano was halted and the project subsequently cancelled, leaving the sole prototype of the vehicle as the only example of the design to be built.
Media
- Skins
- Images
See also
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
- [Development] Celere Sahariano: The Desert Cheetah
- [History of War] Carro Armato Celere Sahariano
- [War Drawings] Carro Armato Celere Sahariano (Fast) Medium Tank
FIAT-Ansaldo | |
---|---|
Autoblindo | AB 41 · AB 43 |
Light Tanks | L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.) |
Medium Tanks | Celere Sahariano |
M11/39 | M11/39 |
M13/40 | M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III) |
M14/41 | M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40) |
M15/42 | M15/42 |
P40 | P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello" |
Tank Destroyers | |
L3/33 | L3/33 CC |
Semovente L40 | 47/32 L40 |
Semovente M41 | 75/18 M41 · 75/32 M41 · 90/53 M41M |
Semovente M42 | 75/34 M42 |
Semovente M43 | 105/25 M43 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · 75/34 M43 · 75/46 M43 |
SPAAs | M42 Contraereo |
Italy medium tanks | |
---|---|
Italy | |
M13/40 | M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III) |
M14/41 | M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40) |
M15/42 | M15/42 |
M16/43 | Celere Sahariano |
P26/40 | P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello" |
OF-40 | OF-40 · OF-40 Mk.2A · OF-40 (MTCA) |
Ariete | Ariete (P) · Ariete · Ariete PSO · Ariete AMV |
Germany | ▄Pz.III N · ▄Pz.IV G · ▄Leopard 1A5 |
Allied powers | ▄Sherman I Composito · Sherman Ic · ▄Sherman Vc · ▄Sherman V · M26 "D.C.Ariete" · M26A1 · M47 (105/55) · M60A1 "D.C.Ariete" |
Hungary | |
Turán | Turan I · Turan II · Turan III |
Germany | ◔Leopard 2A4 · Leopard 2A7HU |
USSR | ◔T-72M1 |
Italy premium ground vehicles | |
---|---|
Light tanks | L6/40 (31 Rgt.) · Toldi IIA · AUBL/74 HVG · VRCC · Centauro RGO |
Medium tanks | M13/40 (II) · Turan II · M14/41 (47/40) · Celere Sahariano · P40 "G.C. Leoncello" · ▄Sherman I Composito · ▄Pz.IV G |
M26 "D.C.Ariete" · M60A1 "D.C.Ariete" · OF-40 (MTCA) | |
Heavy tanks | Tigris |
Tank destroyers | Breda 90/53 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · Zrinyi I |