Type 75 SPH
Contents
Description
The Type 75 SPH is a rank IV Japanese tank destroyer
with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB) and 6.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".
General info
Survivability and armour
The armour of Type 75 SPH resists 7.62 MG from any side and can sustain 12.7 mm machinegun when angled from any side, however, the hull is made out of aluminium, so it's actual effective armour is around 15 mm. Because of that, tank can be hull broken by chemical explosives of 105 mm+ caliber.
For that reason, it is not recommended to drive to hostile tanks closer than 300m and slightly angle to avoid being shot with MG from the side and about 700m to avoid unnecessary damage. Slightly angle the tank towards passageways to have a chance of making a reply shot. Do not angle too much, to avoid exposing your sides or triggering fuses on V rank APHE, which mostly has 19 mm trigger with exception of German and some US tanks which have 14 mm sensitive fuse.
Front of the hull can take the most of the MG punishment due to various modules taking damage for the crew, however if enemy aims for the turret they will eventually hit weaker flat parts and hit the non-critical crew with a chance of taking out the gunner. Keep your opponents on your left to prevent that from happening.
The right front side of the hull houses the driver. They are sealed away from turret compartment by engine and fuel tanks. The turret houses the rest of the crew. Quite often, explosive damage to one section does nothing to the other, however, pure AP shells can potentially penetrate modules and destroy crew in both of the sections, or hit the charges on the floor of the turret.
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.
Armaments
Main armament
155 mm cannon of this tank destroyer is capable of launching Heavy Explosive shells at the enemy. It does not carry any other offensive ammunition, however, it carries three different types of HE. What separates it's gun from most of other "Demolition tanks" is the autoloader, which allows it to reload at least three times faster than any other tank like this, which is insane.
Ammunition
M107: Your stock shell. Has a muzzle velocity of 580 m/s and 61 mm of penetration power. Can essentially destroy almost any tank that doesn't have ERA shielding in one hit. As with other HE tanks, like Ho-Ro, it can't penetrate armour directly on many tanks, so one have to aim for cupolas, machineguns, chassis and other weakspots. For example M103 have great frontal armour, but it can be simply shot at the turret base, and the shockwave will breach hull roof armour and hit the ammo rack located just below the turret in the hull, resulting in instant tank destruction.
M107 (PF): Same shell as stock one, but with a twist. It has a 7 meters proximity fuse, so it does not explode upon hitting an enemy, but next to them.
This gives Type 75 an actually scary ability to annihilate tanks, which are hidden behind cover completely, which is usually something only an ATGM tank can do. It also allows HE to exploit openings in armour, which are normally unhittable by contact explosives (point mouse at a picture to get slightly more detailed explanation:
Proximity fuse of type 75 explodes mid-air before hitting Ho-Ri armour and penetrates ventilation to hit ammo rack. Ho-Ri explodes. Normally, the HE shell would hit the gun mantlet and set engine on fire and nothing else, or just ricochet off the hull and away.
Type 75 SPH uses proximity fuse on type 60 ATM that is completely hidden behind a hill. It exploded above the vertical ATGM tank, surprising and destroying it. Normally the shot would be impossible to land and type 60 ATM would just continue destroying any passing by tank like nothing happened.
Be aware, that for proximity fuse to activate, it must fly at least 300m away from your tank. It will not work at close range. Also, not every tank should be attacked with a proximity shell, as it's not always beneficial.
Type 75: This shell doesn't have a proximity fuse, but its muzzle velocity is 720 m/s, which make it more reliable at over 1 km range and allow for significantly easier and faster aim in RB. It was achieved by reducing its power - it can only penetrate up to 54 mm of RHA.
It is also possible to fire M110 smoke shell to blind enemy snipers or to hide someone on your team.
Optics
| Type 75 SPH Optics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Which ones | Default magnification | Maximum magnification |
| Main Gun optics | X8 | X16 |
| Comparable optics | Leopard I | |
Machine guns
The roof mounted 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun is used to repel hostile light tanks and low flying aircraft.
Usage in battles
Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Unlike all other heavy demolition tanks, like FV4005 and Centurion Mk.5 AVRE, has an autoloader and can reload about as fast as a medium tank
- Has unique proximity fuse, which allows tank destroyer to explode tanks which are hiding behind cover and exploit their normally untouchable weaknesses
- 8X to 16X zoom can be used to locate and annihilate hostile tanks, however rangefinding is necessary for comfortable use
- Angled turret can sustain point blank fire of 12.7 MM mg and some damage can be taken without instantly exploding the tank or reducing reload speed down to 1.5 minutes like in the case of FV4005, although an enemy should be kept on the left side to have a chance of survival
Cons:
- Can be hull broken easily by high caliber explosive shells or ATGM hitting the turret or the back of the tank, operator can't be oblivious of their surroundings
- Most of critical components and crew are located in the turret, in RB it can be destroyed in one good hit of sensitive APHE regardless of the hull break or ammo rack, although 19 mm fuse APHE will just act like normal AP
- Turret Is rather slow, though movements are mostly smooth
History
Development of the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer began in the late 1960s, when Japan sought to procure a mobile self-propelled artillery unit alongside a smaller caliber SPG. This resulted in the creation of the Type 75 and Type 74, respectively.
The Type 75’s design was largely based on that of the existing Type 74 SPG and Type 73 APCs, sharing many components and even assembly lines, all in an effort to reduce costs and save resources. Development was split between two Japanese companies, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developing the chassis, while Japan Steel Works developed the turret and cannon.
Two prototypes were ready by the early 1970s, differing only in the type of loading mechanism used. Trials of these prototypes were conducted between 1973 - 1974. In October 1975, based on the test results, the prototype with a drum-fed autoloading mechanism was picked for series production.
Production of the Type 75 commenced in 1975 and went on until 1988, when all of the initially ordered 201 units were built. Although the Type 75 is still in active service with the JGSDF since their initial introduction in 1975, the number of units has gradually been decreasing in recent years as the Type 75 is slowly being phased out and replaced by the Type 99 155mm self-propelled howitzer.
The Type 75 has not yet participated in any combat operations during its service life and has been exclusively operated by the JGSDF thus far.
- From Devblog
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| Japan tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Ro-Go Derivatives | Ro-Go Exp. |
| Chi-Ha Derivatives | Ho-Ni I · Ho-Ni III · Ho-Ro · Chi-Ha LG |
| Ho-Ri | Ho-Ri Prototype · Ho-Ri Production |
| Other | Na-To |
| JGSDF | |
| SPRG | Type 60 (C) |
| SPH | Type 75 · Type 99 |
| ATGM | Type 60 ATM |
| Rocket | Type 75 MLRS |
| USA | ▅M36 |
