Today we’re showing you the rather interesting M551(76), an American light tank coming to the game in the upcoming Battle Pass season called “Airborne General”!
M551(76): A Premium Light Tank for the USA at Rank IV
Features:
- Effective APDS shell.
- Gun stabilizer!
- High turret traverse speed.
- Light armor.
The history of the M551 Sheridan light tank started in 1959, when at the request of the US Army, work began on a promising tank to replace the M41 Walker Bulldog and M56 SPG. During the final stages of testing, problems emerged with the 152 mm M81 cannon launcher due to an unreasonable amount of recoil and a gun breech prone to cracking. To address these issues with the M551 which had already been put into production, Allison developed a variant with a 105 mm howitzer by March of 1967, and then with a 76 mm M32 gun which had been used on the M41 Walker Bulldog. However, none of the prototypes received approval from the army’s leadership.
Meet the M551(76)!
The M551(76) is a premium light tank and the main prize of the upcoming Battle Pass season in War Thunder, which we’ve named “Airborne General” in honor of this tank. What do you get when you combine the M551’s chassis and turret and stick the M41 Walker Bulldog’s 76 mm gun in it? You get the M551(76), which will offer you a lot of advantages! Let’s take a closer look.
Interesting: The M551 was given the nickname Sheridan in honor of Philip Sheridan, a United States Civil War General.
In an attempt to solve problems with the Sheridan’s 152 mm gun, engineers proposed to use a gun that had lower recoil, one of which included the M32 76 mm cannon which is found on this tank. Capable of firing a high-penetrating APDS shell, the 76 mm cannon has great accuracy and is backed up by a two-plane stabilizer, something not found on the M41 Walker Bulldog. Combining this new addition and a higher turret traverse speed than the M41 (a whopping 40 degrees a second on a top crew!), the M551(76) can be put to good use while on the move, and is great at reacting to new threats quickly thanks to the fast turret traverse.
Did you know? The M551 Sheridan light tank could not only parachute from aircraft, but also float. To do this, the crew needed to install a special set of equipment which literally made it look like a boat. We’ve not got this in War Thunder because the gun couldn’t be used while amphibious, and it would simply take too much time to set up!
Moving onto the M551(76)’s chassis, which stays the same and is generally no different from the standard M551 already in the game: very light armor so that mass remains as low as possible, decent driving characteristics and a great top speed of 69 km/h.
In your matches by Tom, Community Management Team Leader: “The key element this vehicle offers is reaction time, so it’s important to factor this advantage into how you play. An aggressive flanking playstyle will work well here — you want to try to catch enemies out while they’re on the move as you can fire at them accurately before they can in the majority of cases, which is a huge advantage. Try to avoid sitting still and playing defensive, if you’re just sitting there covering a signline your main advantages aren’t being utilised, and you’d be better off playing another tank. Keep moving, keep being aggressive, and the nukes will flow.”
The premium M551(76) can be yours by completing tasks in the upcoming Battle Pass season that’s set to start on January 24th, named “Airborne General”. We’re sure that this new Sheridan is going to be a popular one amongst those of you who enjoy light tanks and premiums! Make sure to keep an eye out for the news regarding the upcoming Battle Pass on Monday January 22nd. Until then, see you!
