T-55M (Sweden)
This page is about the Swedish medium tank T-55M (Sweden). For other versions, see T-54/55 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The ▄T-55M is a rank VI Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Apex Predators".
General info
Survivability and armour
The T-55M is essentially a modified Soviet T-55A, as such the armour and interior layout are identical to T-55A.
The T-55M has moderate frontal protection, with 100 mm plates for upper front plate (UFP) and lower front plate (LFP) placed at angles 59° and 56° respectively; effective thickness frontally comes up to ~180 mm and ~200 mm, respectively. At a perfect angle, the T-55M can bring its frontal effective thickness to ~200 mm and ~220 mm for the UFP and LFP, while having ~250 mm of protection at the angled sides. The additional 20 mm of protection will rarely provide any advantage at this BR as high-calibre APDS and APFSDS will have no difficulty penetrating your front plate.
As for the turret, the T-55M has slightly less protection than the T-62 and combined with a generally larger turret, it is easier for opponents to hit and penetrate the turret. The thinnest spots are right next to the cannon breech, at 200 mm, which rather slowly becomes over 300 mm when moving further away from the breech.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Gun mantlet)
Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 100 mm (59-77°) Front glacis 100 mm (56-59°) Lower glacis |
80 mm | 20 mm (61°) Upper 45 mm (16°) Middle 20 mm (71°) Lower |
30 mm General 45 mm Engine vent |
Turret | 130-200 mm (14-39°) Turret front | 100-160 mm (15-73°) | 66-110 mm (4-41°) | 30 mm |
Notes:
- Suspensions wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick
- Belly armour is 20 mm thick.
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 | 56 | 9 | 36 | 899 | 1,107 | 24.97 | 30.75 |
Realistic | 51 | 8 | 513 | 580 | 14.25 | 16.11 |
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
100 mm D-10T2S | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 43 | -5°/+18° | ±180° | Two-plane | 14.3 | 19.8 | 24.0 | 26.5 | 28.2 | 9.75 | 8.63 | 7.95 | 7.50 |
Realistic | 8.9 | 10.5 | 12.8 | 14.1 | 15.0 |
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 | ||
3BM-8 | APDS | 336 | 332 | 317 | 299 | 282 | 265 |
BR-412D | APCBC | 239 | 236 | 220 | 202 | 185 | 170 |
M1000A1 | APFSDS | 344 | 342 | 336 | 329 | 322 | 314 |
3BK17M | HEATFS | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 |
OF-412 | HE | 27 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 21 |
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% | ||||||||||
3BM-8 | APDS | 1,415 | 4.13 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
BR-412D | APCBC | 887 | 15.88 | 1.2 | 19 | 100.1 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
M1000A1 | APFSDS | 1,475 | 3.75 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
3BK17M | HEATFS | 1,085 | 9.96 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1,170 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
OF-412 | HE | 900 | 15.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1,460 | 79° | 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) |
3D3 | 880 | 15.6 | 16 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
43 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Machine guns
12.7 mm NSVT | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Pintle | 360 (60) | 700 | -10°/+60° | ±180° |
7.62 mm SGMT | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 3,500 (250) | 600 | - | - |
Usage in battles
The T-55M has the exact same playstyle as the Soviet T-55A. The T-55A usage in battle is very similar to the T-54 tanks prior to it. Aside from some minor design differences, the general armour layout of the T-55A (and by extension, the T-55M) is similar to that of the T-54 (1951). The mobility is slightly better due to a more powerful engine, enabling a higher hp-to-ton ratio despite the small weight increase. The firepower of the T-55M compared to its predecessor is what makes it stand out, with access to the M1000A1 APFSDS ammunition that can penetrate over 340 mm at point-blank range (compared to the T-54 (1951)'s point-blank penetration of 299 mm with the 3BM-8 APDS and 380 mm with the 3BK-5 HEATFS shell). The high-velocity and penetrating APFSDS shell allow the T-55M to more easily reach out and destroy long-range enemies. The option to use the BR-412D APCBC shell is also available to use in order to cause devastating post-penetration damages, especially against the Leopard 1 tanks that the APCBC shell can penetrate frontally. However, the presence of other tanks with enough armour to protect against the APCBC shell mean it is only situationally useful. Other helpful differences the T-55M has over the T-54 (1951) is a faster turret traverse rate and stabilizer, the latter of which is very useful when reacting to enemy targets on the move.
The T-55M is suited for a variety of roles and actions when assaulting or defending a point. In these roles, the firepower and mobility is sufficient, but the armour may not stand up against the enemy due to the prevalence of HEATFS and APFSDS ammo at this battle rating. As such, all these tactics should emphasize avoiding being seen and destroyed by the enemy.
A weak spot of the T-55M's is a shot through the upper front plate, as while more protected then other T-55s, is still weak. A good shot here can knock out three of the four crew members easily.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Large selection of ammunition
- APFSDS can pen pretty much every tank at its BR
- Stabilizer
- Decent speed & acceleration, even when not fully modified.
Cons:
- Reverse speed is awful
- Gun depression isn't great, it can have a hard time of depressing the gun on slopes
History
Between 1960 and 1970, Finland purchased 74 T-55As from the Soviet Union to bolster the numbers of their tank core and complement the T-54s. At the turn of 1980-1990, all T-55As were modernized to the new standard, adding the M suffix to their designation. In early 2000s, most of the T-55Ms were retired with last 9 T-55Ms being used for mine clearance. By the end of 2022, all T-55Ms were officially retired from the service.
Media
- Skins
See also
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
Sweden medium tanks | |
---|---|
Strv m/42 | Lago I · Strv m/42 EH · Ikv 73 · Strv m/42 DT · Pvkv IV |
Centurion derivatives | Strv 81 · Strv 81 (RB 52) · Strv 101 · Strv 104 · Strv 105 |
Strv 103 | Strv 103-0 · Strv 103A · Strv 103С |
Strv 121/122 | Strv 121 · Christian II · Strv 122A · Strv 122B PLSS · Strv 122B+ |
Other | Sherman III/IV · T 80 U |
Finland | |
WWII | ▄T-28 · ▄T-34 · ▄Pz.IV · ▄T-34-85 |
Post War | ▄Comet I · ▄Charioteer Mk VII · ▄T-54 · ▄T-55M · ▄T-72M1 · ▄Leopard 2A4 · ▄Leopard 2A6 |
Norway | Leopard 1A5NO2 |