Somua SM

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Somua SM
fr_somua_sm.png
Somua SM
AB RB SB
7.7 7.7 7.7
Show in game
STORE

Description

GarageImage Somua SM.jpg


The Somua SM is a premium gift rank V French heavy tank with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Raining Fire".

General info

Survivability and armour

The upper glacis of the hull and the upper part of the turret are the only well protected areas, which will give you good protection against most conventional rounds, especially from far ranges. However, the rest of the armor is very weak and can be easily penetrated by pretty much everything, and you will still be vulnerable against HEAT-FS, ATGMs, APFSDS and such. Your best bet is to flank the enemy and take them out with your auto loading gun before they can get a hit on you. If an enemy spots you, face them so they can only hit the front of the tank, and hope that they don't hit the very weak bottom portion of your turret. Try not to angle your tank as the sides can easily be penetrated. Since you have 5 crew members, with 2 in the front of the hull and 3 in the turret, and come equipped with a handy auto loader, you can take a few hits and lose a couple of crew members without having to worry too much.

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 150 mm (55°) Front glacis

60 mm (55°) Lower glacis

40 mm (25°) Top
40 mm Bottom
40 mm (30°) 5 - 20 mm
Turret 40 - 120 mm Turret front
200 mm Gun mantlet
40 - 60 mm 40 mm 30 mm
Cupola 30 mm 30 mm 30 mm 30 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Although heaver and not as mobile as the AMX 50 or Lorraine 40t, the SOMUA SM is still pretty mobile for a heavy tank. You will still want to flank the enemy as much as possible and take them out quickly with your auto loading gun, but don’t be afraid to take a few hits from the front. However, your reverse speed is pretty slow and will not save you, so watch out for that.

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 7 60 _,___ 1,908 __.__ 31.8
Realistic 41 6 _,___ 1,000 __.__ 16.67

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: SA47 L/58 (100 mm)

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.

100 mm SA47 L/58 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 50 -8°/+15° ±180° N/A __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__ 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00
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
100 mm Obus de rupture APCBC 273 270 257 242 228 215
100 mm Obus explosif HE 18 18 18 18 18 18
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%
100 mm Obus de rupture APCBC 1,000 15.0 N/A N/A N/A 48° 63° 71°
100 mm Obus explosif HE 1,000 14.8 0.1 0.5 1,400 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
50 __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __

Machine guns

Main article: MAC 31 (7.5 mm)
7.5 mm MAC 31
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 4800 (150) 1350 N/A N/A

The small caliber of the MAC 31 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help.

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).

Modules

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

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Same great gun that's found on the AMX-50 and Lorraine
  • Equipped with a huge 9-shell auto loader, making this one of the best tanks to attack multiple enemies at once
  • Due to the immense auto loader, this tank is just as deadly as the AMX-50 and Lorraine when it flanks or ambushes unsuspecting enemies
  • Good overall frontal armor, the upper turret and upper plate are basically immune to all conventional rounds
  • The strong upper turret coupled with the 8 degrees of gun depression makes this tank great at hull-down fighting and cresting ridge lines
  • Quick and maneuverable for a heavy tank
  • 5-man crew makes this tank highly survivable
  • Can effectively brawl and snipe when necessary


Cons:

  • Absolutely huge tank, is longer, wider, and taller than the Tiger II - very hard to find proper concealment
  • The neck of the turret is weakly armoured, a prime weak spot that's hard to effectively hide
  • The lower plate is as weak as British lower plates, any APHE shell that enters here will likely knock out the whole crew
  • Will face a lot of enemies that fire APDS and HEAT, the upper turret and upper plate just can't absorb those kind of shells
  • Terrible side armour, side-scraping or angling the tank is extremely hazardous
  • Is much slower than the Lorraine and AMX-50
  • Mediocre elevation angles thanks to the inherent nature of oscillating turrets

History

At the end of WW2, the French army realized that they needed a new modern heavy tank. The SOMUA Company competed with AMX to design a new heavy tank for France, and they were given the order to build a prototype in 1946. The hull of the tank was based off the German Tiger II, and the tank used an oscillating turret armed with an auto loading 100mm gun. Because the two companies were forced to make a new design with the same requirements, the Somua SM design looked similar to the AMX 50, and both tanks had equipped the 100mm gun. The prototype was delivered in October of 1951 but was still lacking an engine and some other parts. Due to delays, the prototype was not tested until 1953, but it was already too late. The SOMUA’s design was rejected in favor of the AMX 50. 

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


France heavy tanks
B1  B1 bis · B1 ter
2C  2C · 2C bis
ARL-44  ARL-44 (ACL-1)
AMX-50  Somua SM · AMX-50 Surbaissé · AMX-50 Surblindé
USA  ▄M4A3E2

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