T-III (USSR)

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Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
Chinese A-5C Pack
▂T-III
ussr_pzkpfw_iii_ausf_j_l42.png
▂T-III
AB RB SB
2.3 2.3 2.3
Purchase:700 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
Show in game

Description

The ▂T-III, or the captured German Pz.Kpfw.III, is a premium rank I Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.43.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Barrel shroud, Cupola)
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (12°) Front plate

25 mm (86°), 50 mm (52°) Front glacis 50 mm (23-69°) Lower glacis

30 mm 50 mm (14-46°) Top

50 mm (10-66°) Bottom

15 mm
Turret 50 mm (10-25°) Turret front

50 mm (12-62°) Gun mantlet

30 mm (20-25°) 30 mm (12-15°) 10 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 50 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.

With only an unangled 50 mm armour plate at the front, even some rank I guns can penetrate the T-III's armour. Angling will not really help, as you will expose your even thinner side armour. However, the lower glacis is quite angled, and most small-calibre rounds will bounce off harmlessly. The ammunition is stored in the back of the tank, minimizing the threat of being ammo-racked.

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 60 12 21.8 465 572 21.33 26.24
Realistic 54 10 265 300 12.16 13.76

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: KwK L/42 (50 mm)
50 mm KwK L/42 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 99 -10°/+20° ±180° N/A 5.24 7.25 8.80 9.73 10.35 5.20 4.60 4.24 4.00
Realistic 3.27 3.85 4.67 5.17 5.50

Ammunition

  • PzGr 39 - APC - This is your main ammo type, use it whenever you think it has enough penetration to penetrate your target. It deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
  • PzGr 40 - APCR - this variation of APCR is lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration (up to 132 mm). Use it against heavily armoured beasts. However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration. It only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path, due to the fact that it has no explosive filler.
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
PzGr 39 APC 80 76 62 48 38 29
PzGr 40 APCR 116 107 74 47 30 19
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%
PzGr 39 APC 685 2.05 1.2 9.0 28.9 48° 63° 71°
PzGr 40 APCR 1,050 0.9 N/A N/A N/A 66° 70° 72°

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
99 75 (+24) 50 (+49) 25 (+74) (+98) Yes

Machine guns

Main article: MG34 (7.92 mm)
7.92 mm MG34
Mount Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Rate of fire
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Coaxial 4,350 (150) 900 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Use of this tank is similar to the Pz. III F. While it does have significantly better armour on the front than its predecessor, the higher BR of 2.3 means it faces tougher, more well-armoured opposition in up-tiers to 3.3. The T-34 (1940) is almost impenetrable, except for some weakspots around the turret and flat-on below the tracks. M4A1s are similar in speed to you, have better sloped frontal armour that you cannot penetrate, more powerful guns, and stabilizers. APCR post-penetration damage is not sufficient enough to be counted upon when you need it the most, plus neither PzGr.40/1 or PzGr.40 can frontally penetrate a Sherman or T-34. The best way to attack these tanks is to flank them with your good mobility, or wait for them to overextend, then shoot at their weaker side armour. Furthermore, the high fuse sensitivity makes many lightly-armoured things with strong guns your worst nightmare, since you'll over-penetrate repeatedly in most cases, allowing easy return fire from the enemy. Enemy SPAAG, in particular, is very dangerous because of your 15 mm turret ring weak pot, enabling them to spray all over you to incapacitate your gunner and loader.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive PzGr 40
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Accurate and decently powerful gun
  • Great gun depression
  • Decent mobility
  • APCR ammo has very high speed and good penetration, making shooting at long range easier
  • Armour is fairly decent, can protect reliably against lower-ranked tanks

Cons:

  • Penetration is lacking, as is post-penetration damage against enemies in up-tiers
  • Awful turret traverse speed
  • Flat armour with little slope, weak side armour
  • Large and weakly armour commander's cupola, often sticks out above the terrain, drawing the enemies' attention
  • Has no HE shell

History

The T-III (USSR) is the Russian designation for a captured Panzer III, which saw extensive service during the early phases of Operation Barbarossa. After the battle of Moscow, the Russian army got a hold of lots of German equipment and it was subsequently evaluated. The T-III was mostly issued as a command vehicle due to its increased comfort and reliable radio. Often times captured vehicles would be refitted with Soviet parts for logistical reasons.

It saw combat in the battles of Kursk, Leningrad and Stalingrad, earning themselves a great reputation.

The T-III was operated by the Red Army until late 1943 after which they were dropped out of service in favour of newer Soviet vehicles or newly captured Panther tanks.

In-game description

The designation used for the captured Pz.Kpfw.lll German medium tank in the Red Army arsenal. The tank was an early modification of the Pz.Kpfw.lll Ausf.J that was armed with a short-barrel 50mm KwK.38 L/42. The Ausf.J differed from previous modifications by its enlarged frontal body armor (50 mm) and certain mechanical changes. These tanks were popular with Soviet tank crews due to their excellent scopes, their loadout, and the convenience of the crew.

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


USSR medium tanks
T-28  T-28 (1938) · T-28 · T-28E
T-34-76  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1940) · T-34 (1941) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34 (1942) · T-34E STZ · T-34E
T-34-57  T-34-57 · T-34-57 (1943)
T-34-85  T-34-85 (D-5T) · T-34-85 · T-34-85E
T-34-100  T-34-100
T-44  T-44 · T-44-100 · T-44-122
T-54  T-54 (1947) · T-54 (1949) · T-54 (1951)
T-55  TO-55 · T-55A · T-55AM-1 · T-55AMD-1
T-62  T-62 · T-62M-1
T-64  Object 435 · T-64A (1971) · T-64B
T-72  T-72A · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-72B · T-72B (1989) · T-72B3 · T-72M2 Moderna
T-80  T-80B · T-80U · T-80UD · T-80UK · T-80UM2 · T-80BVM · Object 292
T-90  Т-90А · T-90M
Trophies/Lend-Lease 
Germany  ▂T-III · ▂T-V
Great Britain  ▂МК-IX "Valentine"
USA  ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2

USSR premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  BA-11 · RBT-5 · BT-7A (F-32) · T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-26E · T-126 · PT-76-57 · 2S38
Medium tanks  T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34E · T-34-57 (1943) · T-34-85E · T-34-100 · T-44-122 · TO-55 · T-55AM-1 · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-80UD
  ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2 · ▂T-III · ▂T-V · ▂МК-IX "Valentine"
Heavy tanks  SMK · T-35 · ▂MK-II "Matilda" · KV-1E · KV-2 (1940) · KV-2 (ZiS-6) · KV-122 · KV-220 · IS-2 "Revenge" · Object 248 · IS-6 · T-10A
Tank destroyers  BM-8-24 · BM-13N · BM-31-12
  SU-57 · SU-76D · SU-76M (5th Gv.Kav.Corps) · SU-85A · SU-100Y · SU-122P · Object 120
SPAA  ▂Phòng không T-34 · ZUT-37