M64

From War Thunder Wiki
Revision as of 05:34, 10 February 2022 by Sakaban_Sharkigu (talk | contribs) (All the major information for M64)

Jump to: navigation, search
Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
M64
cn_type_64.png
GarageImage M64.jpg
ArtImage M64.png
M64
AB RB SB
5.3 5.7 5.7
Show in game

Description

The M64 is a premium gift rank IV Chinese light tank with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB) and 5.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Winged Lions" as a reward for Battle Pass: Season VI, "Firepower".

An attempt of ROCA to built a new tank from spare M18 and M42 Duster in mid-1970s, M64 served as a "domestic" alternative to their fleets of US tanks and thanks to better powerplant, it makes M64 a nimble flanker while retaining the same firepower from a Hellcat.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull12 / 12 / 12
Turret25 / 25 / 25
Crew5 people
Visibility88 %

The very first thing players will notice is the chassis- instead of the original Buick M18 GMC chassis, it was replaced by a M42 Duster one, a variant of M41 Walker Bulldog. While the overall design is small, this also means that any part of this tank other than the mantle would be an easy target for vehicles with firepower heavier than .50 HMGs, let alone autocannon with even more penetration; so M64 should never, ever try to hit the enemies up front.

The larger yet thinner chassis might sometimes do miracles on larger caliber guns, but do not expect it always go right through the hull and nothing more happen.

Armour type:

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 12.7 mm Top (34°)

25.4 mm Bottom(42°)

12.7 mm 12.7 mm Top (57°)

19 mm Bottom(38°)

12.7 mm
Turret 25.4 mm Turret front
19 mm Gun mantlet
12.7 mm 12.7 mm N/A

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB81 / 21 km/h
RB and SB73 / 19 km/h
Number of gears4 forward
2 back
Weight22.0 t
Engine power
AB954 hp
RB and SB500 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB43.4 hp/t
RB and SB22.7 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 81 21 22 775 954 35.23 43.36
Realistic 73 19 442 500 20.09 22.73
M64 was a tank assembled as a hybrid of M18's turret on a M42 Duster chassis, which is again a M41 Walker Bulldog variant with the very same powerplant and transmission- AOS 895-3 diesel engine and CD-500 transmission. Thanks to the introduction of the original M42 chassis in 1952, this give M64 an overall higher power output at 500 hp while retaining the ability to neutral steering, making it more nimble in urban environment than the original M18 albeit the heavier weight.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB1 248 Sl icon.png
RB1 453 Sl icon.png
SB1 801 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts250 000 Sl icon.png
Aces630 Ge icon.png
Research Aces870 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 90 / 130 / 170 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 160 / 160 / 160 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement cn.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods airstrike.png
Airstrike
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_usa_APCBC_ammo_pack
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_usa_M93_APCR_ammo_pack
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Mods scouting.png
Improved optics
Mods tank ammo.png
76mm_us_M88_Smoke_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm M1 cannon
Ammunition25 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
7.9 → 6.1 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 20°
Main article: M1 (76 mm)
76 mm M1 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 25 -10°/+20° ±180° N/A 22.8 31.6 38.4 42.5 45.2 7.93 7.02 6.47 6.10
Realistic 14.3 16.8 20.4 22.6 24.0

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
M62 shell APCBC 149 146 133 119 106 94
M42A1 shell HE 7 7 7 7 7 7
M79 shot AP 134 132 121 109 99 89
M93 shot APCR 190 186 167 146 128 112

Players of M18 GMC would be familiar to most the

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%
M62 shell APCBC 792 7 1.2 14 63.7 48° 63° 71°
M42A1 shell HE 800 5.84 0 0.1 390 79° 80° 81°
M79 shot AP 792 6.8 N/A N/A N/A 47° 60° 65°
M93 shot APCR 1,036 4.22 N/A N/A N/A 66° 70° 72°

Other than the M93 HVAP shot which could only find of the premium M18 "Black Cat", the ammunitions found on M64 is identical to any other mass-produced M18 GMC.

The stock M62 shell, a common shell for M1 76 mm gun, is the go-to ammunition for M64 with its sufficient penetration at similar tier and explosive filler, a well-placed shot on enemies' ammo rack or center mass is very like the death sentence to them if not severely damaged and could not retaliate; while the other stock round, M42A1 HE, is next to useless against any vehicles with more than half an inch (12.7 mm) of armor, it might do short work of unprotected vehicles, but it is suggested to just gun them down with M2HB instead.

The first researchable round, M79 shot is just a solid shell without any explosive filler and ironically having even less penetration over its stock counterpart, this round could be ditched as well due to it performance; while the second researchable round, the M93 HVAP, while having much more penetration that all the previous rounds used on M64, it is still a HVAP/APCR in nature and thus leading to low spalling damage, as well as bad performance against sloped armors; but it is still suggested to bring a few HVAP in case of heavier vehicles with some flat surfaces, such as the infamous Tiger II (H) which M64 could meet when uptiered.

In case of harassing enemies or covering yourself or teammates, M64 still comes with M88 smoke shells at your disposal.

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)
M88 274 3.44 13 5 20 50
File:Ammo rack of M64.png
The fire sequence and layout of M64's ammunition

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
25 16 (+9) (+17) (+25) *No

Although the minimal survivability of being a light tank, it is still suggested to only bring 16+1 rounds to clear out the turret in case of a left side penetration from up front; but bringing full load is still viable if players are not confident for confirmed kills with every shots.

*The Third rack has minor visual bug when having the very last round onboard; but it does clears out when all shells are fired.

Machine guns

Ammunition800 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate575 shots/min
Vertical guidance-10° / 70°
Horizontal guidance-60° / 20°
Ammunition500 rounds
Belt capacity250 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate500 shots/min
12.7 mm M2HB
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Pintle 800 (200) 577 -10°/+70° -60°/+20°
7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 300 (250) 500 N/A N/A

While M64 retained M2HB from M18, ROCA welded a coaxial mount and installed additional M1919A4 machine gun; both good for gunning down exposed crew and lightly armored targets (for M2HB) and sometimes strafing aircrafts in dire situation.

Usage in battles

Thanks to the fusing of M18's turret onto a M42 Duster's chassis, M64 retained the same firepower of M18 while having the mobility of a M41's variant; while having higher horsepower than the original M18 and comes with neutral steering, it is also 50% heavier than M18 so it might have slightly slower speed but in most cases it would be enough for flanking enemies or rushing for vintage points.

But the change of chassis also comes at a cost- its protection. M42 chassis with 12.7 mm of armor all-around could only stop rifle caliber bullets at most, anything larger can tear it down with ease; only the mantle and turret front could stop HMG fire.

To utilize M64 to its greatest extent, flanking your enemies with its sufficient speed is the most viable way to play due to the minimal protection all round, the reload rate and the performance of its stock M62 shells could do short work against most enemies it might face; while HVAP doesn't have the best performance, it still helps in case M64 encountered tanks with flat surfaces, giving the ability to fight back in dire moments.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Higher horsepower than M18
  • Neutral steering
  • Sufficient firepower with quick reload rate and variety of shells
  • Additional coaxial MG as a spare weapon or rangefinding

Cons:

  • Minimal protection against HMGs and explosives
  • Slightly slower than M18

History

After retreating to Island of Taiwan due to the loss of Mainland China, ROCA was in dire need for new tanks to supplement the heavy losses of armored vehicles; newer vehicles such as M24 Chaffee and M18 GMC was among these new tanks they have purchased in early 1950s; M42 Duster was purchased later in 1958 as the military aids from the United States.

While M18 GMC proved its capability at WWII's European Theater, in late 1960s, the aging chassis and the lack of spare parts for the Wright 975 C4 radial engine became a major problem for logistics; M42 on the other hand was not efficient against the upcoming supersonic era. Thus the idea of fusing a turret from M18 with the sparse M42's chassis came into mind of Combined Service Forces (聯合勤務總司令部;aka 聯勤); in ROC Year 64 (民國64年;1975), they assembled one such tanks and dubbed Type 64 Light Tank ([國造]六四式輕戰車) and was later approved by Commander of ROCA for serial modifications, some 42 of M64s were assembled in the upcoming 3 years, first seen deployed in northern Taiwan at Hsinchu then redeployed on Penghu for defense.

As the heat of Strait Crisis has passed with Mainland's announcement to Taiwan, these M64s were soon decommissioned in 1981; the only two known examples of M64 is now displayed at Armor Training Command (陸軍裝甲兵訓練指揮部) at Hukou, Hsinchu and Camp Chenggongling (成功嶺營區) at Wu'ri, Taichung City.

Media

Skins
Videos

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


China light tanks
Type 63  Object 211 · Type 63 · ZTS63
Type 62  Type 62
WZ551  PTL02 · WMA301
ZBL08  ZLT11
Type 86  ZBD86
WZ502  ZBD04A
ROC  M41D · M64
Type 59  QN506
USA  ␗M8 LAC · ␗M3A3 Stuart · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M5A1 · ␗M24 · ␗M18 GMC · ␗M41A3
USSR  ␗T-26 · T-26 No.531 · ␗PT-76

China premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  T-26 No.531 · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M41A3 · M64 · WMA301
Medium tanks  ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545 · ZTZ59A · Type 69-IIa · T-69 II G · ZTZ96A (P)
Heavy tanks  IS-2 No.402