M4A4 (France)

▄M4A4

▄M4A1

M4A4 (SA50)

▄M4A4

▄M4A1

M4A4 (SA50)

France

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.7	3.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:18 000

Purchase:47 000

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Description

The ▄M4A4 Sherman is a rank III French medium tank with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".

General info

Survivability and armour

The hull is very similar to the American M4 Sherman, with a 50.8 mm thick upper glacis and protruding hatches interrupting the glacis (augmented with appliqué armour). Weak spots here include the machine gun port and ventilator on the right side. The hull sides feature appliqué armour plates covering the ammunition storage racks. The turret is also very similar but lacks the appliqué armour on the right cheek, leaving a small weakened zone in that area. Frontal protection is quite good for its rank and shots from smaller anti-tank guns can generally be shrugged off, particularly when hull down. However more powerful guns such as the Panzer IV F2's long 75mm can destroy the tank easily, so care should be taken. The side armour is only 38.1 mm thick and can be easily penetrated by just about any anti-tank gun, but the appliqué armour on this model can help if the tank is angled.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	6	32.2	620	811	19.25	25.19
Realistic	41	5		354	425	10.99	13.2

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm M3					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	98	-10°/+25°	±180°	Vertical	22.85	31.62	38.40	42.47	45.18	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					14.28	16.80	20.40	22.56	24.00

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
M72 shot	AP	91	88	78	67	57	49
M48 shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M61 shot	APCBC	104	101	90	78	68	59

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
M72 shot	AP	619	6.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1.0°	47°	60°	65°
M48 shell	HE	463	6.3	0.4	0.5	666	+0.0°	79°	80°	81°
M61 shot	APCBC	618	6.79	1.2	14.0	63.7	+4.0°	48°	63°	71°

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)
M89	259	3.0	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
98	91 (+7)	89 (+9)	86 (+12)	79 (+19)	62 (+36)	46 (+52)	31 (+67)	1 (+97)	No

Ammo racks of the M4A4 (France)

Notes:

• To go into battle with the turret basket empty of ammo, pack 79 (+19) shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).
• To go into battle with the turret basket and the flanks empty of ammo, pack 31 (+67) shells (racks 1 to 7 emptied).
• The 8th rack is large and located in a weak spot: the bottom section of the armor. In case of penetration, there is a high risk of ammo rack detonation. Make sure not to expose your flanks unnecessarily.

Machine guns

The M4A4 only has a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and lacks the familiar pintle-mounted M2 Browning seen on other Sherman models. This makes fending off lightly-armoured and fast opponents like the Puma more difficult as the main gun must be used instead. The lone M1919A4 is also unlikely to do significant damage to incoming aircraft.

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

A well-rounded tank like most Shermans, the M4A4 enjoys decent armour, mobility, and firepower compared to its peers. Anyone familiar with the early Sherman models from other tech trees will feel right at home. It is best used at medium ranges, where the gun and armour are both quite effective, but it can partake in close range brawling in a pinch thanks to its vertical stabilizer. Stick close to teammates, keep an eye on the surroundings, and avoid overextending, as the reverse speed is bad and it is hard to retreat quickly.

While the frontal armour is good, especially when angled, staying constantly exposed to enemy fire is not advised due to a large number of weak spots. When hull-down, try to hide the portion of the right turret cheek next to the gun mantlet when possible, as the armour there is thin and lucky shot from a reserve tank might go through it. The side armour is very poor and it pays to watch out for flankers, even SPAAs.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	M61 shot
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	M89

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent gun depression of -10° plus the angled frontal turret allows it to utilise hills very well
• Great penetration and post-penetration damage when using M61 shells; can frontally penetrate and one-shot most opponents like the T-34, Crusader, M4 and others
• Vertical stabiliser allows it to fire on the move, or, in a sudden encounter, fire before the enemy which is critical
• Well angled frontal armour; when angling the hull it can deflect some low calibre / low-penetrating shells like the Stuarts' 37 mm, 75 mm M1, 76 mm F-34 / Zis-5 and others
• Adequate top speed allows it to get to positions in time, or to do tactical manoeuvres like flanking
• Rather fast reload speed for follow up shots
• Plenty of reserve ammunition for prolonged fighting without replenishing at captured points
• Due to it being a part of the German tech tree, you will not have to face the long barrel 75 mm (RB/SB) which increases its survivability quite a bit

Cons:

• Large profile and weak side armour; flankers like the M24 Chaffee can easily see and penetrate it
• Frontal armour is still inadequate, will get frontally penetrated and one-shot by tanks like Achilles, M10 and T-34-57
• The best M61 shell struggles to penetrate heavy targets like KV-1 (ZiS-5), Churchill Mk.III or even the T-34 and M10 when angled
• Trajectory is curved and velocity is low due to its short barrel, thus distant/moving targets are hard to shoot at
• Hull traverse is quite slow, making it sluggish in a turn
• Roof armour of 19.5 mm thick is vulnerable to airstrikes with AP cannons. For example the widely used M2 Browning

History

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Media

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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

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
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