Description: The M44 was an American howitzer of the Cold War. It was developed from the M41 howitzer, and compared to the previous model, which was equipped with the M24 hull, this was equipped with an inverted M41 bulldog hull to increase mobility on the battlefield. It’s development started in 1947 as a possible replacement for the M41. After the Korean War broke out in 1950, the American Army needed a new replacement for the M41 very quickly, and so the development was rushed. But the version produced by this rushed development was affected by many design issues, and even if 250 units were alreadyin production, the design had to be changed radically. But even the second version, designated T194, had an issue regarding discharged poisonous fumes after firing the gun that would have damaged the crew. And the design had to change again. The last version, designated T194E1, removed the upper plate to let the gas out, at the cost of crew protection. This version proved to be functional, and the already-ordered 250 units were converted to this standard. But when the T194E1 was finally available, the Korean War was mostly over, and it was never deployed to the battlefield. It entered into service in 1954 with the USA, and it was later adopted by a lot of nations, such as Italy, the UK, Japan, Germany, etc. A total of 108 M44A1s for the Italian army were delivered in 1956, and they equipped the ranks of the armored division Ariete. They were acquired along with the M55 sph and the M107 to replace the various older spg in service with the Italian army, such as the Semovente M7 priest and the Semovente Sexton. It was equipped with a 155/23 mm cannon with HE rounds and a 12.7 mm browning machinegun. These units were used until 1970, when they were replaced by the more capable M109G. Most of them were scrapped, but a single unit was preserved and put on display near Bracciano’s lake in Northern Italy.
Why it should be in game: it could give to the Italian tt a new artillery in the tank destroyer line before the M109G.
Specifications
Riepilogo
Armaments
1x 155 mm M43 cannon with 24 rounds
1x 12.7 mm Browning Machinegun with 900 rounds
However, I hope the vehicle doesn’t have a strange Italian flag on it, as it was added to indicate to the public that it’s an Italian vehicle and is part of an outdoor retired display. Previously, when I submitted a bug report in War Thunder, I saw them mention that museum or outdoor retired vehicles with repainted camouflages and colors shouldn’t be used as references. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to follow this rule themselves.
You can look at earlier color and black and white photos above they clearly show that the flag on the vehicle was very small and located on the turret and the rear of the vehicle.
It’s obvious that Gaijin didn’t carefully study the historical camouflage standards. They randomly picked images from the internet as historical references, which is really strange.
I don’t know if you’re aware, but some vehicles in War Thunder have incorrectly sized preset insignias, including the upcoming German 9K35 Strela-10. From the parade photos I found, the insignias were noticeably smaller. Additionally, the placement of the insignias on Finland’s Leopard 2A4 is incorrect, and now there’s even a fictional camouflage for the Italian M44. Seriously, what is Gaijin doing?
