Type 60 ATM

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Type 60 ATM
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Description

GarageImage Type 60 ATM.jpg


The Type 60 ATM is a rank IV Japanese tank destroyers with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.67 "Assault".

This is the lowest battle rated non-premium vehicle to have ATGM in the game, the closest second being BMP-1, though Japanese have to grind through entire rank 4 on 6.3-7.0 battle rating to access it. The Type 60 ATM also functions as a "light tank" being able to fulfil the scout role and team repair functions, just like Type 60 SPRG (C).

General info

Survivability and armour

While armour of Type 60 hull can handle some direct MG fire, and maybe even unfocused 12.7 mm, it's roof armour is nonexistent. Every fighter in the game will try and succeed to strafe Type 60 ATM, and there is no saving from them.

Armour of the Type 60 is too weak to sustain shockwaves from tanks exploding next to it. It is advisable to avoid close proximity to other tanks when possible to limit exposure from explosion shockwaves.

Hull is just exactly low enough to use every other hull-down position, that any normal tank would fail to use. As an example, one can use solid concrete roadblocks, building leftovers, solid construction details, random sized rocks, destroyed gas cisterns, destroyed tank hulls and so on as a protective cover. Here, only the launchers will be exposed. In some spots, the 12.7 mm machine gun will also be exposed.

Launchers themselves seem to be irrelevant to the tank, and though they can be "broken" they seem to be able to fire even when they are completely destroyed. Loaded ATGM also seems to be resistant to attempts of setting them off (as tested in AB).

It is worth noting that Soviets can still load HE shells and just explode an entire tank by hitting the launcher, but not every one of them carries these shells. Some high calibre HESH shells are also able to send spall down from the launcher into the Type 60 on a good hit. A direct 105 mm HE or HESH hit to machine gun can cause hull-break.

Being hit to the hull is strictly forbidden, as the compartment is not made with damage control in mind. Even if it somehow survives a hit, the vehicle's hull has hull break mechanics and any heavy SPG or tank with 120 mm calibre gun can instantly destroy the tank, as well as artillery and chemical rounds of 105 mm calibre. Enemy attack planes diving down and blasting away with their autocannons and rockets can also penetrate the Type 60 frontally, so be wary of enemy aerial support. In AB, it can sustain a hit to the upper part of the hull, but once the Type 60 is penetrated, it goes down very easily regardless.

If hull must be exposed due to poor cover, only expose the left side, as it has less critical crew members and the engine in the middle of the tank reduces probability of hull break and increases likelihood of back crew surviving and replacing the tank commander afterwards. Sometimes the Type 60 ATM can survive up to 4 snap shots per battle, just because enemy doesn't take it seriously or panic.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Machine gun port, Cupola)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 20 mm (35-43°) Front glacis
20 mm (30°) Lower glacis
20 mm (7-65°) Machine gun port
12.7 mm 20 mm (1°) 10 mm
20 mm Driver's hatches
Missile platform N/A 10 mm N/A 10 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 20 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels and tracks are both 15 mm thick, while torsion bar chassis is 12 mm thick.
  • Belly armour is 10 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 50 10 12 312 420 26 35
Realistic 46 10 195 220 16.25 18.33

The Type 60 ATM can only move about as fast as an average medium tank. Acceleration is above average, especially when mobility upgrades are researched, but racing against enemy tanks is only recommended if any other option means certain doom.

The issue is the turning ability, as it is slow. It will be problematic to turn around in the middle of a warzone, so a decent hull-down or hiding position is almost always required for comfortable sniping, due to a very limited optics vision arc. It is still possible to turn around even when hiding behind medium tank hull remains, but there will be a high risk of getting sniped, if not extra careful.

Getting stuck on rocks is very bad for this tank, similar to Type 60 SPRG (C), so if trying to take over mountain position, make sure there is nothing below you, in case if tank will slide off it.

Armaments

Main armament

The vehicle has two Type 64 ATGMs loaded at once, with four reserves being stored in the hull. These AGTMs can be launched from about a 30-degree arc in front of the hull. Only one missile can be controlled at a time.

You have the main camera leading indicator, which directs initial launch and guides missiles in arcade battles, and you have two separate targeting indicators for each launcher, which show the reload times and try to show how far missiles will fly initially in Close Quarters Combat (CQC), though they're extremely inaccurate and should only be used for range estimation and to see if the missile can be launched at all.

Sniper optics are only directed forward, so if you want to look at something in the distance while you guide the missile, you have to first turn your entire hull towards them.

Type 64 missiles are on the same trigger, the vehicle always attempts to fire the right missile first. The only way to fire left missile first is in CQC by turning your main aiming reticle to the left just enough for right launcher reticle to go offline, but not in the dead zone of left launcher yet. The left-to-right shot, however convenient, is impossible to make if the right launcher is loaded. This makes CQC firing training extremely complex and unforgiving.

Missiles have about 500 mm of penetration at flat angle, which is enough to penetrate anything at a battle rating of 6 to 8. While it's penetration is nothing to be amazed of, it has 4.5 kilograms of explosive mass, which compensates for its low projectile "health" and allows it to do fatal damage even with 30 mm penetration left. It's technically possible to even destroy T-64B with a good hit. Like with any HEAT based projectile, fuel tanks can stop it, if they are huge enough, and engines and radiators also can prevent hull break.

The missiles act very differently in either game mode, and so the vehicle cannot be treated same in AB as in RB, which further increases training difficulty.

Due to extremely limited firing arc, if one wants to forcefully launch missile behind enemy cover it is recommended to stand with hull towards the enemy behind cover and use left launcher to fire right (L-R) or right launcher to fire left (R-L), but since L-R shot is by default overridden by R-R shot, it is also recommended to practice it a lot, or to not attack enemy from the left, if possible. As for vertical attacks, it depends on game mode a lot.

It is also rather easy to just sidestep the missile, which most of BR ~8.0 light tanks will do, unless they do not notice ATGM somehow, or are too busy fighting something else.

In realistic battle, the missile has about 40 km/h initial speed and missile won't respond to your commands until it flies at least 50-80 meters away, and should be treated as a rocket until that point. Even past this point, the missile is rather slow on taking commands with about of 0.8-sec delay and prefers to keep its initial vertical course, so it's better to launch it properly, to begin with. To steer it around, the user must press buttons assigned for tank movements (the vertical controls are inverted with W being "down" and S being "up"). The longer the range, the easier it is to control the missile.

Ironically, lower speed allows it to be launched onto tanks which are almost ramming Type 60, with the dead zone being just 6 meters, if operator aims at the ground below the vehicle. Basically, this means it can one-shot T64 or tanks with an even lower profile, like IT-1, while being at a gunpoint. On flat ground, to hit targets at ~40 meters one should aim about 1/3 the range between tanks. To hit targets at ~80 meters one should aim 1/2 the range between tanks, as ATGM accelerates by that point.

Examples of aiming at close range in RB:

To hit targets in cover far away, the operator must be very good at judging distances, because input lag and missile attitude with it sometimes returning to the initial course makes dropping missiles hard down rather challenging. As for tanks which stand in open or with minimal cover, this brings no problems, as over distance you have plenty of time to correct course.

In arcade battle, Missile has full 89 km/h initial speed (also max speed) and responds to SACLOS manual input (mouse movements, not the targeting reticle itself) almost immediately (with real dead zone being unclear), so it can be somewhat curved around even during launch sequence, which allows the operator to push it even further behind houses. But due to its speed, the launch dead zone is extended to 11 m, so one cannot let enemy too close to themselves.

Msg-important.png Be aware, that while arcade mode allows Type 60 ATM to guide missiles with the mouse, it also restricts control of missiles if its optics can't look towards it or towards target. When sight towards target is lost (target pointer is located behind missile), the missile obeys mouse movements directly, allowing manual aim. When sight towards missile is also lost, it will stop responding and fly forward until it hit something. While manual aim is very powerful, it can be hard to pull off at times. If you do not want to deal with manual controls, to snipe above cover pull tank optics out of cover, so it does not block the space in between camera and target (sniper sight itself is irrelevant for this particular tank and in AB its "camera" can see and aim in full sphere around it).

At 30-120 m range, past initial launch dead zone, the operator should always aim about 1\2 toward the enemy tank and correct the course of missile manually by moving the mouse. Past that range, it's possible to use SACLOS system reliably, as long as the enemy tank isn't moving towards ATGM carrier, so you can just aim straight at the enemy.

Examples of aiming at close range in AB:

Long range sniping isn't much different from RB, you just have to aim at the enemy with your mouse instead of manually curving missile. You also can move while guiding it, though it is still hard to do on a move, so you might want to rely on other ways of aiming.

To attack an enemy on move you have to use aim assist, a sniper scope is locked to launcher's firing arc and vehicle lacks stabilizer, so your missile may go anywhere it wants to otherwise. Due to missile overall low speed (currently the lowest one in the game) and "aim assist" option (right mouse button) as long as the enemy is in tank's sights, one can treat the missile as a sort of dumb third-generation missile. The point is, missile is so slow, that tank is almost unable to hit the ground or a wall with it on accident, which means that you can even launch it forward and follow it, and if anyone dares to drive in the open near to you, you can just hold right mouse button to make missile destroy them on its own, while you focus on driving and dodging enemy shots. It's still best to not drive around recklessly and rely on a missile that much, as it is still very slow and it still requires you to see enemy tank (which means, they also can see you) and it will not avoid any obstacles on away, so you still have to correct it sometimes.

Overall, if one uses aim assist, you should keep in mind how it works - it always aims for the centre of the tank, and it lags behind the moving vehicle. To avoid hitting fuel tanks or missing moving tank, you can adjust it without breaking the tracking. After holding down the aim assist button, move your mouse a bit up, to let missile hit enemy just below the gun barrel, but high enough to not hit their tracks, and, if target moves to the left or right, move the mouse to the left or right to make missile track them properly. After that, wait for about 10 to 13 seconds for it to hit enemy, unless they realize what's coming for them and sidestep the missile, or to hit a random obstacle on a way towards them. Having maxed out "keen vision" and "improved optics" allows you to do this at any range indefinitely, as it's impossible to avoid being detected by you at missile's effective range.

Main article: Type 64 MAT
120 mm Type 64 MAT ATGM
Capacity Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
6 3 N/A N/A N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 25.9 31.5 31.5 34.8 __.__
Realistic 17.5 21.3 21.3 23.5 __.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
13.0 11.5 10.6 __.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
Type 64 ATGM 500 500 500 500 500 500
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Maximum Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Range (m) Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
Type 64 ATGM 85 16 1,800 0.0 0.1 4,550 +0° 80° 82° 90°

Notes:

  • Flight characteristics heavily depend on the mode you play in. For example, in RB starting ATGM speed is 40 km/h, in AB it's 85
  • While stat card states the max range is 1,800 m, in reality, it is less due to the missile losing fuel making course corrections. The resulting effective range is closer to 1,600 m
  • In AB, rearm takes about 40 seconds once the launcher is empty and no partial rearm can be done on the capture point. Rearm only happens for one launcher at once, which means full rearm will take you 80 seconds. Launcher still reloads during rearming, so you can fire away immediately after it's done
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the Type 60 ATM
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
6 (+4) Yes
  • Missiles empty from top to bottom

Machine guns

The Type 60 ATM comes equipped with a coaxial 12.7 mm M2HB Browning machine gun and a smaller 7.62 mm Browning machine gun.

The 7.62 mm, while useless against conventional tanks, can sometimes come in handy for clearing some debris and can convince some battle rating 6.7 unarmored HEAT SPG like M56 to leave you alone. The 12.7 mm machine gun serves a similar purpose, but it also can destroy some light tanks, though something like AMX-13 will resist its fire from the front.

Both types of MGs are only able to fire at planes that try to strafe the vehicle directly, which is not very likely, so in case if an attacker is present on the field, the vehicle should just hide behind some hills or trees and hope the pilot isn't after it.

12.7 mm M2HB
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
2,500 (200) 577 -5°/+25° ±45°
7.62 mm M1919A4
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
3,000 (250) 500 ±22° ±22°

Usage in battles

The Type 60 ATM struggles in close quarters and is unsuited for direct urban combat. When playing the Type 60 ATGM consider all your flanking routes and hull-down positions as your high damage potential can be most effectively harnessed in these environments. Avoid all major sight-lines, and pick your targets carefully. The cover is your best friend, finding positions, where you can scout enemy vehicles for your team, can often be more beneficial than attempting to destroy enemy tanks yourself.

To get most out of the tank, one should find a hull-down position with a sight onto capture point, to scout everyone, who is open for allied snipers, and then pick off pinned down opponents, forcing them to choose between being destroyed by ATGM or your allies.

As one example, on Alaska map Type 60 ATM can use concrete blocks and rubbish to the east of B point to become resistant to enemy fire while being able to fire clean shots at both A and B points with little fear of being directly attacked back.

The Type 60 ATM often plays out as a support vehicle instead of a tank destroyer, simply scouting enemy tanks and repairing damaged allies. Keep in mind, that enemy often likes to call artillery upon huge tank groups, and your tank can be destroyed on accident. It is safer to assist heavy hull-down tanks, as it's generally pointless to use artillery on them, and many may not even notice the Type 60 next to them. After you repaired the allied tank, immediately move away from them, as if they get destroyed, the shockwave will annihilate the Type 60 hull.

In AB it can also do some moral damage, as its presence alone forces the enemy to change plans, as soon as they realize it can destroy them without even showing up on a field or doing elaborate artillery tricks, unlike Type 60 SPRG (C). You shouldn't let this to get to your head, though, as you are most likely unable to stop massive coordinated push alone. Still, the fear alone may stall enemy long enough for a vehicle to rearm, and damage done to the launcher is completely irrelevant in arcade mode.

As example, experienced type 60 ATM user can entrench it on river of Berlin map, making people who see ATGM for the first time to lose any will to attack B point at all, and seriously stalling the rest, although this requires meticulous training in close range launch techniques, as combat range there can quickly reach 20 meters, and ground isn't exactly even, often resulting in misses.

Examples of urban combat in arcade mode (In realistic mode, only try this at your own discretion):

In one-on-one situations, it is often better to fire only one launcher at the enemy, unless they try to push you, just to keep enemy guessing if it's even worth attacking you, instead of firing both missiles at once or doing nothing and letting them know, that you are harmless now. In arcade mode, while your launcher rearms, you can also join allied bombers as secondary attacker or bomber as a scout, to spend points earned by scouting and to cut off enemy reinforcement.

The Type 60 ATM's biggest threats in battle are many. Avoid directly fighting all vehicles at all costs to prevent being destroyed - almost every shell at your battle rating will destroy Type 60 with ease. The vehicle will often face enemy frontally when you fire missiles, and that's where the three out of five of your crew are crammed together, two of which are the gunner and driver.

As soon as the enemy tries to drop artillery on you, it's best to leave the position and move to a safer place. As such, always keep plan B in your head.

Try to use scouting to know the very moment your opponent drives out to attack your tank and try to blast them away with ATGM. If the direct confrontation with a light tank is inevitable - fire 12.7 MG at its sides as well and hope it penetrates them.

Counter-tactics

The biggest threat from this tank comes in form of its abilities to hide behind almost anything, retaliate despite heavy ammo rack damage and to fire over cover. In realistic battles, and even in arcade battles, if a player pays no attention, their tank can be suddenly hit by a gigantic HEAT bomb with the Type 60 as its sender. Being aware of its presence is the key to avoiding this.

For example, the Type 60's ATGM is very loud, so unless it was fired from 1.5 km away (almost maximum range for this tank), the sound of the missile launch will likely be audible. Do not ignore them, check if there is a missile coming for you, and if not - remember where the noise came from.

The only comfortable way to destroy hull-down Type 60 ATM relies on using 105 mm HE and HESH. HEAT is not effective against it, so carry at least 2 of those in the battle. Whenever a Type 60 ATM is spotted standing behind low cover, try to not focus on its launchers and instead try to spot machine gun shield on its right (left for an opposing player) and fire explosives at the shield itself. It is very likely that HE shock-wave will hit poor roof armour and either annihilate tank crew or break the hull entirely. In the case of HESH, hitting the machine gun shield and part of the roof will transform into shrapnel and tear the tank apart - this generally doesn't happen if the launchers are hit. If the attack only took out the crew in the front, repeat the attack after the back crew moved forward to replace driver and commander (gunner). If only the launchers are visible, generally only HE can destroy the opponent easily.

120 mm kinetic shell can cause hull break, but only if it hits the hull itself.

Do note, that Type 60 ATM has two missiles at once and is rarely truly alone due to "scouting" ability. Scouting also allows it to track tanks, even behind smoke screens and walls, for better missile accuracy.

Type 60 ATM has a rather long reload sequence and only 3 missiles for each rack. The ammo pool is not shared between them and it is clearly visible which rack is currently loaded, so a quick blitz during reload or rearm can put an end to it. To avoid being suddenly crushed by fatal "roof shot", do not ram the tank frontally, or at least push it around without stopping. Do note that while the exposed MG is a weakness of Type 60 ATM, it is still of 12.7 mm caliber and it can shred some light tanks and SPG at close range before they can even get a direct shot. If the rushing tanks have less than 29 mm of effective armour, they shouldn't approach Type 60 ATM directly.

If missiles were already launched, there are a few ways to protect the tank:

A) Attack active missiles with machine guns. Attacking dormant missile in the rack with machine gun is less effective (In Arcade Mode it does nothing at all). If laying down suppressive fire - the Type 60's right missile rack (left if facing the Type 60) almost always fires first.
As soon as missile fires off, try to fire in front of the missile path, as bullets do not teleport and may overshoot it. If missile is hit a few times it explodes.
Missile interception is often hard to do, if missile is guided at an angle and doesn't just fly straight towards the tank. It is generally useful for heavy tanks, which can't outrun it anyway, and medium tanks with high fire rate machine guns.
B) Sidestep the missile, as it is very slow, and in RB it even has input lag. To quickly change direction, the player's tank have to be mobile or at least to have great acceleration. Thus this option is more suitable for light tanks and light tank destroyers. Do note that if the Type 60 ATM operator is set on destroying a tank, they will try very hard to steer missile into a moving target, so only stop after the missile passed the vehicle's position entirely.
C) Sacrifice cannon barrel or pull the fuel tanks and engine forward to block missile. This will greatly reduce overall damage taken by tank and likely prevent the loss of entire crew in single hit. If lightly armoured tank takes ATGM hit into radiators, fuel tank or engine, they also likely won't "hull break".

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts
II Suspension Brake System FPE Airstrike
III Filters Crew Replenishment
IV Transmission Engine Improved optics

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good missile manoeuvrability - closely resembles superior BAe Swingfire, even though in RB it has control issues
  • Type 64 ATGM's provide exceptional firepower compared to HEAT, due to increased payload and heavily reduced angle of impact
  • Upwards facing launchers can allow the vehicle to fire at enemy behind cover, although the setup is often required
  • Has scouting and can repair any allied tank as a support vehicle
  • Spaded version can reach maximum speed almost instantly in some cases, can compete with average medium tanks in terms of forward speed and hill climbing
  • In arcade mode, can hull down and be combat effective almost anywhere. By extent, it has some of the safest hull down setups compared to almost any tank in the game

Cons:

  • Very limited main ammunition (even more so than SPRG version)
  • Cannot be partially rearmed on capture point in AB, forcing it to completely empty the ammunition, making it incapable of sustaining massive sieges on its own, even though forcing it out of cover is a challenge
  • Slow missile speed, to a point they can be easily shot mid-air or sidestepped by many tanks
  • Need a visual target for an accurate hit, otherwise it heavily relies on operator skill to hit anything at all
  • Can't move while the missile flies to the target in RB
  • Missiles have input lag in RB, which makes them unreliable at times
  • Need a certain range for effective hit (maximum 1600 m for long range, at least 10 m at close range, at least 100 m for a guidance system to start in RB)
  • Reload can feel very long if tank is forced to fire both missiles one after another
  • Highly visible, very distinct profile, with the sore Japanese green camouflage and obvious launchers
  • Little to no armour, most shells immediately destroy this vehicle, although its engine can allow for some unexpected survival and retaliation, not taking this tank seriously can sometimes backfire
  • Limited turning ability, which sometimes forces it to expose itself to sniper fire

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


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