T95E1

Description

The T95 medium tank development program (not to be confused with the T95) started from a requirement to replace the aging M48 Patton. Two proposals were looked at, that being the T95 equipped with a 90 mm gun and the T96 with a 105 mm gun. The T95 program started with the base T95, which was equipped with a two-plane stabilizer and OPTAC fire control system, and the T95E1 was a further development of this with the two-plane stabilizer removed but with a simplified fire control system installed. The T95 program as a whole ended up being cancelled a few years later after multiple variants due to technological shortcomings, including poor accuracy of the smoothbore gun, problematic X-shaped transmission and overall marginal to nonexistent improvements over the M48 it was meant to supersede, although it was not without merits as the T95E7 turret evolved into the M60's 'long-nose/needle nose' turret upgrade.

The Medium Tank T95E1 was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica". Equipped with a 90 mm smoothbore cannon capable of firing APFSDS, this tank is the first tank in the American tree that uses the ammunition type. Without some of the new tools found on other vehicles such as a stabilizer, laser rangefinder or thermal vision, one might assume the T95E1 is inferior to its competition. However, the T95E1 carries its own weight with a stable transmission, fairly high shell ballistics and a highly inclined turret that can deflect shots at range. Mobility is standard as is its armour protection, and overall the tank's greatest asset is that it is well-rounded to a fault and can handle most terrain and ranges with little issue, without the turret speed penalties contemporaries have to deal with such as the T-55A.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:'

• Cast homogeneous armour
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Top side hull, Top rear hull, Rear hull roof)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, torsion bars and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 19 mm thick.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 3 and 4 are first stage ammo racks. They total 22 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
• These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 and 2 into racks 4 then 3. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

Usage in battles

The T95E1's playstyle consists of mostly setting up ambushes and/or on the frontlines. The APFSDS shell has more than enough power to destroy most tanks that it will face; however, on a uptier against Leopard A1A1's, T-62M-1's, and generally any 8.7 to 9.0 MBT, you will need to play more cautiously, thus the ambushing tactics come into play. You must be extremely aware of what is around you and be quicker than your enemy on the gun because the lack of stabilizers will make shooting on the move very difficult.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Stock APFSDS able to penetrate most enemies frontally
• Excellent post-penetration spalling from APFSDS
• Sloped frontal armour can bounce multiple shots with ease, but upper glacis and turret front bounce shots to each other
• Very good stock horizontal turret traverse
• Good gun depression of -10°, allows for some hull-down tactics
• High velocity firing makes long-range fighting easier, especially in the large maps
• Has a Smoothbore gun, with excellent recoil mount that decreases the recoil
• Acceptable top speed of 56 km/h
• The smoke shell (T339E14) has high velocity which helps you save allies at a long distance

Cons:

• Poor acceleration and low top speed cross-country
• Low reverse speed relative to other American medium tanks
• A prominent weak spot in the form of commander's cupola
• No ammunition choices other than APFSDS or HE
• No stabiliser - unable to accurately fire on the move
• Front armour vulnerable against sabot and HEAT rounds
• Limited accuracy of smoothbore cannon at long range
• Rear hull armour can be penetrated with .50 cals and therefore, engine and transmission are prone to damage
• Large ammo racks to the sides of driver, front hull penetration could lead to easy ammo detonation.
• Like with most Abrams series tanks, the engine deck is slightly raised, meaning that you will not be able to depress the gun over the rear of the tank.
• Lacking night vision device for the gunner

History

In the early 1950s, the US began looking for a replacement for the M48 series. In September 1954, the T95 was selected for development; construction of pilot models began in 1957. The T95E1 differed from the T95 in the inclusion of a recoil system mount and the omission of a two-plane stabilizer, and was completed in early 1958.

The T95 program was shut down in July 1960 when it became clear that both the engine power and smoothbore cannon's accuracy were unsatisfactory and would provide no significant improvements over the M48 already in service. However, further development of the turret design contributed significantly to the turret used later on the M60A1.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the T95E1 from live.warthunder.com.

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

• [Devblog] T95E1: The Contender