M4A1 (FL10)

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M4A1 (FL10)
fr_m4a1_sherman_fl_10.png
M4A1 (FL10)
AB RB SB
4.7 5.0 5.0
Purchase:2 980 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
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This page is about the gift French medium tank M4A1 (FL10). For other M4 Shermans, see M4 Sherman (Family). For other uses, see M4 (Disambiguation).

Description

GarageImage M4A1 (FL10).jpg


The Sherman M4A1 tourelle FL10 is a premium gift rank III French medium tank with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB) and 5.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It combines the turret of the AMX-13 (BR 6.0) with the hull of the M4A1 Sherman (BR 3.3) and therefore epitomizes the glass cannon role at a BR of 4.7.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides - bottom, turret sides, rear and roof, belly)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (front glacis, transmission carter, MG port, hull sides - top, hull rear and roof, turret base, turret front, gun mantlet, cupola)
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:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, tracks are 20 mm thick, and torsion bars are 10 mm thick.
  • The belly armour is 25.4 mm thick.

The armour is overall weak for the battle rating. Turret shots will typically knock out both your breech and the two crew members there, penetrating hull shots will typically send you right back to the hangar.

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 43 6 30.3 713 763 23.53 25.18
Realistic 39 6 407 400 13.43 13.2

Fairly decent mobility due to the Sherman chassis with an upgraded engine. Flanking is possible and rewarding.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: SA50 L/57 (75 mm)

The gun is fantastic, capable of penetrating everything in its BR spread (3.7-5.7) frontally, except for some higher BR German casemate tank destroyers and the Sherman Jumbo. The autoloader enables firing every 5 seconds, even with only a skeleton crew left.

75 mm SA50 L/57 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 60 -6°/+9° ±180° N/A 28.56 39.53 48.00 53.08 56.47 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
Realistic 17.85 21.00 25.50 28.20 30.00

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
POT-51A APC 182 178 162 143 127 113
75 mm HE HE 10 10 10 10 10 10
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%
POT-51A APC 1,000 6.4 N/A N/A N/A 48° 63° 71°
75 mm HE HE 753 6.2 0.0 0.1 675 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M4A1 (FL10)
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
60 56 (+4) 52 (+8) 42 (+18) 32 (+28) 23 (+37) 13 (+47) (+53) (+59) No

Notes:

  • Shells in racks 1, 2, 7* and 8* are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
  • Shells in racks 3, 4, 5, and 6 are modeled by sets of 2 and disappear from the rack only after both shells in the set have been shot or loaded.
  • Racks 7* and 8* (autoloader magazines) are first stage ammo racks. They total 12 shells.
  • These racks get filled first when loading up the tank and are also emptied first.
  • The depletion order at full capacity is: 7 - 8 - 1 - 2 up to 6.
  • As it is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
  • Once autoloader magazines have been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader. The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun. Take this into account when playing.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 6 into rack 8* then 7*. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

Main article: MAC 31 (7.5 mm)
7.5 mm MAC 31
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 4,950 (150) 1,350 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Depending on the layout of the map, match battle rating and player's own playstyle the FL10 can be used as a sniper, a flanker or a close-quarter brawler. Details about playstyles are as follows:

Sniper
  • Using FL10 as a sniper is a conservative, but commonly rewarding playstyle. The FL10 boasts a highly potent 75 mm cannon, with an equally impressive round, capable of penetrating 180+ mm of steel equivalent. Given the fast reload of the cannon due to the use of the autoloader, it is possible to perform quick follow-up shots on target at range. This tactic is recommended in matches where it is possible to position oneself in a good position early in the match (e.g. overlooking a point). Be wary of the gun's average depression, however, as this will require to expose the hull during firing.
Flanker
  • Depending on your knowledge of the map and likely enemy routes, FL10 can be effectively used as a flanker. The FL10 inherits a relatively mobile chassis of an M4 medium tank making some flanking manoeuvres possible. In this role, FL10 can be used to assume an ambush position on the flanks. It is important to note, that FL10 is not the most agile vehicle at its battle rating, however, provided a good early-game position, fast reload and good penetration it can effectively engage an enemy from the flanks and counter enemy flankers. It is advised to retreat immediately if you're spotted as FL10 is unlikely to withstand being fired upon due to mediocre armour and 4 crew members.
Brawler
  • Using FL10 as a close-quarter brawler is a high risk/high reward tactic that is likely to result in either multiple kills or an early return to the hangar. It is important to fire the first shot on the enemy, as, given the poor armour of the tank, you are commonly unable to withstand even one hit. Here, it is advised to disable the enemy's gun/turret first to prevent them from returning fire. It is important to note, that FL10 lacks the stabiliser found on the American Sherman counterparts, putting the player at a further disadvantage when fighting in close quarters.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good penetration and excellent rate of fire
  • Improved engine makes for decent mobility
  • Smoke grenades
  • The best shell is free (like many later French tanks)

Cons:

  • Lacklustre reverse speed; disengaging from the fight if damaged or out of ammunition can be difficult
  • Oscillating turret means that from a full stop, the M4A1 (FL10) usually takes longer to level the gun compared to conventional turrets
  • Poor turret elevation makes engaging aeroplanes difficult
  • Poor armour and only 4 crew
  • Vulnerable to .50 cal ground target belts through the turret roof armour

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

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


France medium tanks
M4 Derivatives  M4A1 (FL10) · M4A4 (SA50)
AMX-50  AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) · AMX-50 (TO90/930)
AMX-30  AMX-30 · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 Super
AMX-32/40  AMX-32 · AMX-32 (105) · AMX-40
Leclerc  Leclerc · Leclerc S2 · Leclerc SXXI · Leclerc AZUR
Other  D2 · S.35 · Lorraine 40t
Germany  Panther "Dauphiné"
USA  ▄M4A1 · ▄M4A3 (105) · ▄M4A4 · ▄M26

France premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  AMD.35 (SA35) · H.39 "Cambronne" · LVT-4/40 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-M24 · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963) · VBCI-2 (MCT30)
Medium tanks  M4A1 (FL10) · Panther "Dauphiné" · AMX-30 · AMX-30 Super · AMX-50 (TO90/930)
Heavy tanks  B1 ter · 2C bis · Somua SM
Tank destroyers  Lorraine 155 Mle.50