F6F-5N (France)

▄F6F-5N

▄P-63C-5

▄F8F-1B

▄F6F-5N

▄P-63C-5

▄F8F-1B

France

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	4.3	4.3

Class:

Fighter

Naval aircraft

Torpedo bomber

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

Show in game

This page is about the naval fighter F6F-5N (France). For other versions, see F6F (Family).

Description

The ▄F6F-5N Hellcat is a rank IV French naval fighter with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB) and 4.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France".

The F6F-5N (N stands for Night fighter variant) is the French variant of The Grumman F6F Hellcat. The French Navy bought 124 F6F-5s and fifteen F6F-5Ns between 1950-1953.

This F6F is distinctly capable thanks to the combination of cannons, heavy machine guns, and the addition of a search radar while keeping the ability to provide ground and sea support with highly menacing payloads. 

An efficient jack-of-all-trades!

General info

Flight performance

The main drawback of this plane is the underpowered engine. This means that after all the weight added with the twin 20 mm cannons, radar, and payload. The plane becomes much slower compared to the previous F6F-5 on French service. This may be an indication to avoid engaging in air supremacy battles with other more dedicated fighters. Instead, these variants excel at ground strike and interdiction. Leaving the pure fighter role to other more fast fighters.

Once spaded, the F6F-5N feels similar to the F6F-5. But all of the main flight characteristics are slightly reduced. Such as the top speed, the rate of climb, and turn rate will also be reduced. When equipping payloads is a good idea to avoid extended combat, this is due to the fact the plane gets even slower and less maneuverable. French pilots should consider learning manual engine controls to boost the flight performance, its details are explained below.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 5,730 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	602	583	11000	22.2	23.1	8.1		399
Upgraded	661	629		19.8	21.0	16.7	11.8

Details

Features					Limits (km/h)
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Wings	Gear
✓	✓	✓	X	✓	0	375

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in front of pilot.
• 6.35 mm Steel plates behind pilot.
• 3 mm Steel plates on fuselage top in front of cockpit.
• 3 mm Steel plate on top front of oil cooling system.
• 3 mm Steel plates on bottom of engine.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F6F-5N (France) is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm AN/M2 cannons, wing-mounted (231 rpg = 462 total)
• 4 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (400 rpg = 1,600 total)

The four machine guns and both cannons are arranged in bundles of two machine guns and one cannon mounted in each wing. Each cannon is armed with the same amount of ammo and the machine guns are each armed with the same amount of machine gun ammo, which means that all guns of each type will will fire together until empty (however if fired in unison, the cannons will run out of ammo before the machine guns will).

Suspended armament

The F6F-5N (France) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 6 x HVAR rockets
• 2 x Tiny Tim rockets
• 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs + 6 x HVAR rockets (2,000 lb total)
• 1 x 569 mm Mk.13/44 torpedo

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a 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. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Radars

The F6F-5N is equipped with an AN/APS-6 search and tracking radar. The radar is mounted in a pod under the right wing tip.

AN/APS-6 - Target Detection Radar
Maximum Detection Range	Guaranteed Detection Range	Max Azimuth Scan Angle	Max Elevation Scan Angle
60,000 m (theoretical)	7,200 m	±60°	±60°
AN/APS-6 - Target Tracking Radar
Maximum Tracking Range	Minimum Tracking Range	Azimuth Tracking Angle	Elevation Tracking Angle
1,000 m	150 m	±15°	±15°

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 3 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm	ITC mk.III
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs	FRC mk.2
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm	LFRC mk.12
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons	FLBC mk.1

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Lethal firepower thanks to 20 mm cannons, 5.0 kg/s fire burst mass
• High ammo count on both cannon and machine guns
• High durability and efficient armor protection for the engine and the pilot
• Multipurpose fighter (HVARs, 1k lb bombs, Tiny tim, torpedo and radar)
• Has both search and tracking radar

Cons:

• Slightly worse fighter's flight characteristics than F6F-5 while at a higher battle rating
• All maneuverability is drastically decreased by payloads
• Turn rate is significantly higher than enemies it faces
• Hopelessly outmatched on speed by enemy planes on the same BR, as the Bf 109 (Family)

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 aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
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