Difference between revisions of "MARS 15"
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<!-- Example: * Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof) | <!-- Example: * Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof) | ||
* Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area) --> | * Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area) --> | ||
| + | |||
* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret, Internal plate) | * Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret, Internal plate) | ||
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'''Notes:''' <!-- Any additional notes which the user needs to be aware of --> | '''Notes:''' <!-- Any additional notes which the user needs to be aware of --> | ||
<!-- Example: * Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, tracks are 30 mm thick, and torsion bars are 60 mm thick. --> | <!-- Example: * Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, tracks are 30 mm thick, and torsion bars are 60 mm thick. --> | ||
| + | |||
* The torsion bars, suspension wheels and the tracks are 15 mm thick | * The torsion bars, suspension wheels and the tracks are 15 mm thick | ||
* Internal plate protecting the crew compartment is 10 mm thick | * Internal plate protecting the crew compartment is 10 mm thick | ||
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== Usage in battles == | == Usage in battles == | ||
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the 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. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | <!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the 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. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | ||
| + | === Weaponry === | ||
The MARS 15 is effective as a scout vehicle. Because of the good mobility and low profile, it is easy to flank the enemy and scout them for your team. Engaging in brawls is not recommended as the mediocre armour won't provide adequate protection against other vehicles that the MARS will face. Focusing on flanking the enemy and/or engaging the enemy from vantage points from the sides is an adequate way of playing the MARS. If for some reason the user finds themselves in a tough spot, the MARS can have 4 smoke grenades equipped that can provide a reliable way of escaping danger and repositioning. | The MARS 15 is effective as a scout vehicle. Because of the good mobility and low profile, it is easy to flank the enemy and scout them for your team. Engaging in brawls is not recommended as the mediocre armour won't provide adequate protection against other vehicles that the MARS will face. Focusing on flanking the enemy and/or engaging the enemy from vantage points from the sides is an adequate way of playing the MARS. If for some reason the user finds themselves in a tough spot, the MARS can have 4 smoke grenades equipped that can provide a reliable way of escaping danger and repositioning. | ||
Although the user has access to an APFSDS round, using it is rather questionable and situational. The power of it is rather average at best, but on the flipside, it provides quite a boost to the round velocity. A good tactic is to take both HEAT-FS and APFSDS if the user plans on sniping but also flanking. The APFSDS should be used at longer ranges where the target might be moving too fast for the HEAT-FS to be reliable, or incase environmental objects such as bushes are in-front of the user as hitting these with HEAT rounds will most likely detonate them, giving away the user's position. | Although the user has access to an APFSDS round, using it is rather questionable and situational. The power of it is rather average at best, but on the flipside, it provides quite a boost to the round velocity. A good tactic is to take both HEAT-FS and APFSDS if the user plans on sniping but also flanking. The APFSDS should be used at longer ranges where the target might be moving too fast for the HEAT-FS to be reliable, or incase environmental objects such as bushes are in-front of the user as hitting these with HEAT rounds will most likely detonate them, giving away the user's position. | ||
| − | If the user prefers to snipe crew members or the enemy tank's ammo racks, the APFSDS is good enough to fulfill that role, but spare HEAT-FS should always be carried incase the user needs some extra penetration power. | + | If the user prefers to snipe crew members or the enemy tank's ammo racks, the APFSDS is good enough to fulfill that role, but spare HEAT-FS should always be carried incase the user needs some extra penetration power. |
| + | |||
| + | === Protection === | ||
| + | The protection of the MARS 15 is rather lackluster. The added protection in the front of the vehicle means that it can absorb fire from auto cannons and HEAT munitions with relative ease, albeit the user will lose their transmission and their engine if struck. Because of this, the user should always scout around the environment incase of any danger as a single round might just knock out the tank out of commission. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Another major weak spot is the driver's optics. If they are struck on their very most left side, they'll knock out the driver, together with either the gunner or the loader. And if that wasn't enough, if the user is carrying more than 16 rounds, it might just struck one of the 4 rounds that get placed within the tank turret. For this reason, taking more than 16 rounds is highly not recommended. Taking more than 20 is even worse as it the spare rounds will start to fill the side racks of the tank, effectively losing any small chance of survivability it might have had. | ||
| + | |||
| + | While you might stop a HEAT-FS that has been flung your way, or you might shrug some 20 mm auto cannon rounds, aircraft will be the bane of your existence. Due to the thin roof, pretty much any aircraft can quickly wipe you out by just using its guns. Sadly, the only reliable protection is to try to find some cover, either indoors or hide behind a sufficiently high object. If none of these options are available, the only option left is to pray that your team has an AA or a friendly jet roaming around that just might save you. | ||
=== Pros and cons === | === Pros and cons === | ||
| Line 219: | Line 229: | ||
* ''topic on the official game forum;'' | * ''topic on the official game forum;'' | ||
* ''other literature.'' --> | * ''other literature.'' --> | ||
| + | |||
* [http://www.military-today.com/tanks/mars_15.htm <nowiki>[military-today.com] MARS 15</nowiki>] | * [http://www.military-today.com/tanks/mars_15.htm <nowiki>[military-today.com] MARS 15</nowiki>] | ||
{{France light tanks}} | {{France light tanks}} | ||
Revision as of 21:32, 12 March 2021
Contents
Description
The MARS 15 is a rank VI French light tank with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Ixwa Strike".
General info
Survivability and armour
At first sight, the MARS 15 might look like it lacks any real armour, thanks to its pitiful 11 mm top glacis. However, these 11 millimeters are quite adequate at stopping rounds from autocannons and lower calibre rounds, thanks to the top glacis steep angle of 80°. This is overall boosted by the internal plate that separates the crew compartment and the front of the tank. As an added protection, the transmission, engine block and the radiator are placed in front of the tank, which might help with stopping HEAT rounds.
However, all of this added protection won't help the tank survive an APFSDS round as most of the time it will have no problems penetrating the front of the tank and due to the crew placement and because only 3 members are inside of the vehicle, most APFSDS rounds will destroy the tank with a single hit. A major weak spot is the left part of the driver's optics. A shot trough these optics will result in the incapacitation of the driver and most of the time either the gunner or the loader. If the user survives a shot like this, another problem would be the 4 rounds that are kept in storage within the tank turret, however the user can bypass this issue by loading only 16 rounds. This way, only the back of the turret will have rounds stored inside, boosting the chance of survival by a tiny amount.
As mentioned above, holding more than 16 rounds might be a problem for some. But due to the overall low survivability of the tank itself, taking 20 rounds might be an optimal way to play. Take note however, that taking more than 20 rounds will result in the rounds being placed on the racks on both sides of the tank, which might make the user very susceptible to side shots.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret, Internal plate)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 11 mm (80°) Top Glacis
15 mm (40°) Bottom Glacis |
5 mm (20°) Top 10 mm Bottom |
10 mm (10°) | 8 - 11 mm (90° - 80°) |
| Turret | 10 - 15 mm Turret front 10 mm Gun mantlet |
8 - 12 mm (0° - 30°) | 8 - 10 mm | 10 - 12 mm |
| Cupola | 10 mm (5° - 90°) | 10 mm (12° - 75°) | 10 mm (61°) | 10 mm (58° - 85°) |
Notes:
- The torsion bars, suspension wheels and the tracks are 15 mm thick
- Internal plate protecting the crew compartment is 10 mm thick
Mobility
The MARS 15 is a very mobile and nimble tank, with a pretty small profile. The user should expect around 48 km/h on off-road terrain and roughly -24 km/h reverse speed. It takes roughly 13 seconds for the tank to fully do a 360° rotation with neutral steering, however if the user gets some speed before turning, it will do the 360° rotation roughly 50% faster. It is powered by a Baudouin GF12SRY diesel engine, with the power of 420 hp for roughly 75 km/h max speed.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 84 | 84 | 16 | _,___ | 763 | __.__ | 47.69 |
| Realistic | 76 | 76 | _,___ | 400 | __.__ | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.
| 90 mm CN90 F4 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 30 | -8°/+18° | ±180° | N/A | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ||||||||
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 | ||
| OCC 90 F2 | HEATFS | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 |
| OE 90 F1 | HE | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| OFL 90 F1 | APFSDS | 271 | 267 | 253 | 235 | 218 | 201 |
| 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% | |||||||
| OCC 90 F2 | HEATFS | 950 | 8.95 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 877.7 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| OE 90 F1 | HE | 750 | 10.45 | N/A | 0.1 | 945 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| OFL 90 F1 | APFSDS | 1275 | 2.33 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
| 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) |
| OFUM 90 F1 | 750 | 10.2 | 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 |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | No |
Machine guns
The A-A-F1N is largely ineffective at taking out any armored target and its only real use comes to play against vehicles with exposed crew members. Thanks to the large fire rate, one can dispatch such tank with relative easy. It can also be used to "ping" enemy targets for your teammates or to destroy environmental objects such as fences.
| 7.62 mm A-A-F1N | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 2,000 (100) | 900 shots/min | -8°/+18° | 180° |
Usage in battles
Weaponry
The MARS 15 is effective as a scout vehicle. Because of the good mobility and low profile, it is easy to flank the enemy and scout them for your team. Engaging in brawls is not recommended as the mediocre armour won't provide adequate protection against other vehicles that the MARS will face. Focusing on flanking the enemy and/or engaging the enemy from vantage points from the sides is an adequate way of playing the MARS. If for some reason the user finds themselves in a tough spot, the MARS can have 4 smoke grenades equipped that can provide a reliable way of escaping danger and repositioning.
Although the user has access to an APFSDS round, using it is rather questionable and situational. The power of it is rather average at best, but on the flipside, it provides quite a boost to the round velocity. A good tactic is to take both HEAT-FS and APFSDS if the user plans on sniping but also flanking. The APFSDS should be used at longer ranges where the target might be moving too fast for the HEAT-FS to be reliable, or incase environmental objects such as bushes are in-front of the user as hitting these with HEAT rounds will most likely detonate them, giving away the user's position.
If the user prefers to snipe crew members or the enemy tank's ammo racks, the APFSDS is good enough to fulfill that role, but spare HEAT-FS should always be carried incase the user needs some extra penetration power.
Protection
The protection of the MARS 15 is rather lackluster. The added protection in the front of the vehicle means that it can absorb fire from auto cannons and HEAT munitions with relative ease, albeit the user will lose their transmission and their engine if struck. Because of this, the user should always scout around the environment incase of any danger as a single round might just knock out the tank out of commission.
Another major weak spot is the driver's optics. If they are struck on their very most left side, they'll knock out the driver, together with either the gunner or the loader. And if that wasn't enough, if the user is carrying more than 16 rounds, it might just struck one of the 4 rounds that get placed within the tank turret. For this reason, taking more than 16 rounds is highly not recommended. Taking more than 20 is even worse as it the spare rounds will start to fill the side racks of the tank, effectively losing any small chance of survivability it might have had.
While you might stop a HEAT-FS that has been flung your way, or you might shrug some 20 mm auto cannon rounds, aircraft will be the bane of your existence. Due to the thin roof, pretty much any aircraft can quickly wipe you out by just using its guns. Sadly, the only reliable protection is to try to find some cover, either indoors or hide behind a sufficiently high object. If none of these options are available, the only option left is to pray that your team has an AA or a friendly jet roaming around that just might save you.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Low profile
- Good mobility
- Access to a laser rangefinder
Cons:
- No gun stabilization
- Very light protection
- No night vision devices
- Because of the OFL 90 F1 rather weak penetration power and below average spalling, one hit kills are unreliable
History
Devblog
In the early 1980s, the French Creusot-Loire Industrie company began work on developing a new family of tracked combat vehicles which share a common chassis. Initiating work under a private venture, Creusot-Loire Industrie aimed to produce the vehicles for customers on the export market who already used the widely used AMX-13 light tank.
Full-scale development only began in 1988 and several variants of the vehicle were developed, ranging from light tank modifications over APCs and IFVs to SPAAs and SPHs as well as a number of other variants. However, many of these planned variants never passed the drawing board stage. Of the few that did, the light tank modification stood out as it aimed to build upon the popular characteristics of the AMX-13 and expand upon them by incorporating modern technologies.
This light tank modification featured a small and extremely nimble chassis while being armed with a 90 mm cannon and promising low maintenance efforts. The first and only prototype of this variant was shown off in 1990, along with the IFV modification. After its reveal, the vehicle received the designation MARS 15.
In 1991, another prototype armed with a 105 mm cannon was shown off which would also become the last of the series. In fact, the expected response from potential foreign customers never materialized as the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s diminished the demand for new tanks while simultaneously surplus MBTs were being taken out of storage and sold. As a result of this development, the MARS vehicles never left the prototype stage and were ultimately abandoned.
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 vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| France light tanks | |
|---|---|
| AMC.34/35 | AMC.34 YR · AMC.35 (ACG.1) |
| H.35/39 | H.35 · H.39 · H.39 "Cambronne" |
| AMX-13 | AMX-13 (FL11) · AMX-13-M24 · AMX-13 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-90 · AMX-13 (HOT) |
| Wheeled | AML-90 · AMX-10RC |
| AMD.35 | AMD.35 · AMD.35 (SA35) |
| E.B.R. | E.B.R. (1951) · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963) |
| Other | FCM.36 · R.35 (SA38) · Char 25t · MARS 15 · VBCI-2 (MCT30) |
| Austria | SK-105A2 |
| Great Britain | ▄Crusader Mk.II |
| USA | LVT-4/40 · ▄M3A3 Stuart |
