M36B2

Description

The M36B2 tank destroyer, formally known as the 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36B2, is an improved modification of the M36 GMC tank destroyer deployed by the U.S. Army near the end of World War II and throughout the Korean War. The M36B2 shared many traits with the original M36 GMC, including the same armour layout, engine, and main anti-tank gun. Beginning in May 1945, the American Locomotive Company rebuilt 672 M10 hulls into the 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36B2 variant. In May 1945, the Montreal Locomotive Works delivered another batch of 52 M36B2s. As Germany in World War II unconditionally surrendered in May 1945, this upgraded variant of the M36B2 saw no combat following its introduction. Instead, it was heavily utilized by the U.S. Army and the Republic of Korea Army against Soviet-made North Korean armoured vehicles during the Korean War, which began five years later, in 1950. Because M26 and M46 tanks were in short supply, the M36B2 became one of the favoured armoured vehicles for MAP (Military Assistance Program) transfers.

Introduced in Update "Drone Age", the M36B2 GMC performs extremely similarly to the original M36 GMC. Armoured turret cover shields were added to the M36B2, providing some modest protection against small artillery shrapnel and strafing by small-calibre aircraft machine guns. Despite this, the vehicle remains poorly armoured, leaving it vulnerable to strafing by large-calibre aircraft heavy machine guns or aircraft cannons. For the M36B2 variant, new HEAT-FS ammunition has become available, allowing it to engage strongly armoured enemy vehicles at a significantly greater range with reliability.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Turret, Hull)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Transmission area)

Notes:

• Tracks are 20 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick while the wheels are 20 mm thick.
• Small slivers of 5 mm armour hang off the top side hull armour, giving minuscule protections at those areas.
• Track blocks on the side hull armour allows an extra 20 mm of armour at their locations.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

The 90 mm M3 is the same gun available for the Super Hellcat, the T25 or the M26 and stays reliably accurate until 800 m distance. Beyond 1,000 m the loss of accuracy becomes a real handicap. The high muzzle velocity of your shells grants you pretty flat firing trajectories and thus helps fire at moving targets from a distance. In that regard, using the "sight distance control" feature can increase your chances of successfully hitting enemy tanks.

The rotation speed of the gun is better than average compared to other tanks at the same rank or battle rating. Which makes tracking a target from a distance an easy task to perform as your targeting process is fast. Elevation and depression angles of the gun are important, allowing you to fire from unusual positions (behind a ridge, from uphill, etc.). Your reload time is similar to vehicles at the same BR, if not a little longer than average. Your recoil is important but not powerful enough to throw your gun off target after firing. Lacking a stabilizer, the tank can't reliably fire on the move.

Ammunition

The available ammunition allows for engaging all types of targets:

• T33: APBC; a solid shot with an average penetration power and no explosive filler.
• M71: HE; useful for destroying open and lightly armoured vehicles.
• M304: APCR; a composite round with a very high penetration power but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces.
• M82: APCBC; a capped armour-piercing shell with a ballistic cap that has a better but still average penetration power and an explosive filler. It will destroy any armoured target it penetrates.
• M348: HEATFS; a HEAT round with very high penetration and excellent performance on angled armour
• M313: Smoke; useful to blind enemy vehicles that are too remote for you to disable so that you can progress towards objectives.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M36B2

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 5 and 6 are first stage ammo racks. They total 11 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
• These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 5 - 6 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.
• Full reload speed will be realized as long as shells are available in the ready racks 5 and 6. If the ready rack is empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-4 into rack 6 then 5. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

Machine guns

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).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast speed
• Roof cover to protect from some air attacks
• Fast turret traverse
• Carries a powerful gun
• HEATFS and APCBC to fight German heavies and post-war vehicles
• Browning .50 cal to deal with light vehicles and aircraft

Cons:

• Slow and lacking in manoeuvrability when stock
• Most opponents can penetrate your thin armour with autocannons, guns, and bombs
• Roof armor is 6.5 mm thick, meaning most cannons and rifle-calibre weaponry can knock out the crew
• HEATFS explodes on fences and bushes
• Useless APCR shell
• Stock APBC is mediocre
• HEATFS sometimes requires extra shots for destroying heavily-armoured targets
• First stage ammo rack in turret bustle is a guaranteed destruction if hit

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M36B2 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Other M36B2s

• M36B2 (Japan)
• M36B2 (France)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.