RBT-5

Description

The RBT-5 was a Soviet light tank prototype with rocket launchers. It used the BT-5 chassis equipped with so-called tank torpedoes (TT-250), which were 420 mm in caliber and weighed 250 kg each. They could blast enemy forts and heavy tanks within 1800 m. The NIAP developed the rockets in 1931-1932. The RBT-5 tested them in 1932 near Leningrad, but they were inaccurate and unstable. The tank also lost speed and agility due to its weight. The RBT-5 project ended in 1933 after a few prototypes. The tank torpedoes were later towed or fixed for use in the Winter War and World War II.

It was available as a prize during the 2015 Thunder League as a giveaway prize for watching the Twitch stream, later every Dog-Tag owner who voted for Team Dislike earned one due to the "Champion" prize. It can now only be obtained via the War Thunder Market. The RBT-5 is a remarkable tank. It has almost no armour and weighs only 11.5 tons, but it has a powerful engine that gives it a high power-to-weight ratio. It also has an excellent Christie suspension that makes it very agile and fast. The gun is an adequate 45 mm 20-K cannon with decent penetration and quick reload. The RBT-5 also has two rockets on the sides of the turret, but they are not aligned and require careful aiming. The left rocket is the first one to fire.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Notes

• Tracks and suspension wheel are both 15 mm thick.
• Rocket mounts provide additional spaced armour of 15 mm on the turret sides.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the BT-5

Note:

• Turret empty: 29 (+57) shells

Additional armament

Ammunition

Machine guns

Usage in battles

The RBT-5 is really flexible when it comes to usage, as it has great mobility and firepower, which is pretty much all you need for a good tank. Given its great 53 km/h top speed, it is good to use the RBT-5 as a point-capturing tank at the start of the match. It is better to travel on-road to fully utilise its speed to get to the point before the enemies do. Another good tactic is to manoeuvre to the flank of the frontline/point and attack from the side. Its speed makes it possible to go the furthest with the shortest time, surprising the enemies.

Once the point is captured, the player can either quickly ambush behind a nearby cover waiting for the enemy to recapture it, or just drive around the battlefield and help the teammates. Its 70 mm penetration and 29 g TNT will knock out pretty much anything around its BR with a single shot. If not, the 3 seconds reload allows it to finish them off easily. A sudden, close encounter is a hard test to the player's skills because the RBT-5 isn't very good at turning as its tracks are quite long and narrow. Its turret traverse of around 11 deg/sec is certainly not the best. Thus those two factors can sometimes cause the death of the RBT-5 so the player must respond fast and accurate.

TT-250 usage:

The RBT-5 carries two tank torpedos that are powerful enough to destroy any vehicle it lands a hit on or even near some medium, light or SPAA tanks. However, aiming them is pretty difficult and requires great precision. In order to be as accurate as possible, always rely on your rangefinder because getting precise measurements will ensure a hit to eliminate the enemy. With the use of the sight distance control feature, the player will be able to keep their eyes on the target to make necessary aim corrections. Due to the starting angle of 9°, the closest distance the TT-250 can fire on is 350 m, relegating any vehicles closer than that to the RBT-5's 45 mm cannon. There are several ways to use the TT-250:

1. Sniping at still targets: The TT-250 has a astounding effective fire range of 1,800 m, which is more than enough to neutralize targets in the Rank I and II range. If you have spotted a target, start range-finding right away to get its approximate range. Fire the first torpedo to confirm the range, if spot-on, the torpedo will annihilate the target. If it misses, make the necessary corrections with the second torpedo and, hopefully with the target still in its place, fire the second one to finish the job, either by a direct hit or by overpressure damage.
2. Harassing capture Points: At a known distance from a spot like the capture point (or even the spawn!), you can use the RBT-5 to act as an impromptu artillery piece to lob the TT-250s at the enemy. Set the distance to the range that is displayed on the capture point and fire away. If there are enemies on the point, the landing rockets can sometimes destroy a vehicle or two, or at the very least take down the enemies tracks.
3. Close-range fighting: There are ways to aim at targets closer than 350 m, the first is by angling your tank on an incline, and the second by driving the RBT-5 against a wall backwards. This will align the RBT-5 enough to gain the ability to shoot right in front of you. This can be especially useful if you try to destroy a enemy by surprise if they drive by, and it's especially handy in top-rank battles.

It is suggested to stay near a captured point so you may resupply your torpedos for more usage, the resupply takes 15 seconds each.

Enemies worth noting:

• Pz.IIs - Although not as fast as the RBT-5, the Pz.IIs still have an average speed of around 40 km/h. Also, they are equipped with a deadly 20 mm autocannon that will punch holes on the RBT-5 with ease, and their rate of fire can quickly knock out multiple crew. The RBT-5 has thin armour protecting only 3 crew, making it extremely vulnerable to those autocannons.

• Sd.Kfz.234 series - These wheeled vehicles all have scary on-road speeds of more than 60 km/h, so in any map, with roads connecting to the points they can always get there first and set up an ambush. However, these vehicles are wheeled meaning they cannot turn in place, they are rather sluggish when trying to turn, and they have either slow turret traverse or no turret at all so the player can use this to their advantage. Wiggle/circle around them to avoid their guns and force them to turn, then aim carefully and immobile them. Note that the DT machine gun on the RBT-5 only has 10 mm penetration at most, making it almost impossible to go through their armour and knock out any crew, so don't think of destroying these wheeled tanks with the MG.

• M8 LAC, M3 Stuarts - These vehicles are equally fast, and the M8 can outrun the RBT-5 if it's travelling on road, allowing them to get to the point before the RBT-5 does. Therefore if America is on the other side the player might want to change their tactic and not to rush the point since low tier battles are always filled with fast tanks. The M8 has a roof-mounted .50 cal MG which easily tears the RBT-5's armour apart and incapacitate the crew inside. Also, most of them have a vertical stabiliser that works at low speed, so avoid firing on the move with them.

• Ho-Ro - A lightly-armoured tank destroyer with a huge 150 mm howitzer. The tank's armour is not an issue for the RBT-5, but the howitzer is as the Type 4 Ho-Ro along with other artillery-based tanks if they are not seen, or responded to they can result in you getting destroyed from far away. It is also much quicker and easier for the Ho-Ro to aim its howitzer than it is to aim your TT-250s, so it is best rely on you main cannon.

• B1 bis - A heavily armoured tank for its BR, but do not panic when you see it. Don't fire at a distance unless you are directly aiming at its side armour. The best option is to try and get as close to it as possible (point-blank range is ideal) and shoot straight at its side. However sometimes due to a variety of reasons the player might be unable to flank it and has to face it frontally. If that is the case, shoot the rather vertical driver's compartment and there's a great chance of penetration, knocking out the driver and the commander (which is also the gunner for the turret). Or, shoot between the two guns on the turret to incapacitate the commander/gunner. Or, shoot at the near-vertical part of the curved gun mantlet of the big gun.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 45 mm 20-K gun offers great penetration
• 20-K gun offers a good rate of fire
• The BR-240 APHEBC rounds deal the best damage and spalling at its rank, allowing for impressive post-penetration damage
• Fast tank, with good acceleration and good overall mobility
• Front armour, although very thin, may bounce shells thanks to the decent sloping of the glacis
• Very powerful rockets, can even instantly destroy a Maus, allowing the RBT-5 to handle even formidable foes

Cons:

• Equipped with only 2 rockets
• Rockets are set at a fixed angle which further complicates aiming, does not allow for zeroing targets
• Armour can only cope with rifle calibre rounds, could also deflect a few heavy machine gun rounds
• Very vulnerable to quick-firing autocannons like the German 20 mm or the TNSh
• Terrible crew arrangement, a well-placed, penetrating shot will automatically take out the crew
• Rockets may overshoot at close range, due to the affixed nature of the mounting
• If the rockets get shot it can cause your tank to ammunition explode

History

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the RBT-5 from live.warthunder.com.

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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