M2A3
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Vehicle Info
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| Operators | US Army |
| Maps Available | Al Basrah, Belaya Pass, Fallujah, Gorodok, Jensen's, Kamdesh Highlands, Kohat Toi, Lashkar Valley, Manicouagan, Mutaha, Narva, Skorpo, Tallil Outskirts, Yehorivka |
The M2A3 is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) added to Squad in update V11. It is operated by the US Army.
Gameplay Statistics
General Information
The M2A3 is a new Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) for the US Army. Bridging the gap between Armored Personnel Carriers and Main Battle Tanks, IFVs are used by U.S. Army for reconnaissance and infantry transportation, providing them protection from small arms fire, while also providing firepower to both suppress and eliminate most threats to friendly infantry. It is designed to be highly maneuverable and to be fast enough to keep up with heavy armor during an advance.
The M2A3 is an amphibious tracked IFV. Designed in 1981 as a response to the Soviet (now Russian) BMP series, the M2A3 was to serve as an APC and a tank destroyer. The M2A3 was adopted by the US Army the same year it was designed and today, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon now use the vehicle as well. The M2A3 update was introduced in 2000.
Gameplay
The M2A3 M2A3 IFV is used only by the US Army.
- The M2A3 is crewed by three players, each must be equipped with a crewman kit in order to operate the vehicle. Driver, Gunner, and Commander.
- The gunner gets access to the main gun , coaxial MG, TOW missiles launcher, and smoke grenades. The gunner can activate the gun stabilization system by pressing Z, and can coordinate with the commander using the Hunter-Killer tracking system.
- The driver gets access to a smoke generator that creates a smokescreen using the engine exhaust. Hold down LMB to activate the generator and the smoke will trail behind you.
- The Commander gets access to a powerful camera with zoom functionality and stabilization. The Commander can coordinate with the rest of the team and act as another set of eyes in combat situations. If the Commander and the Gunner BOTH have stabilization on, then they are able to use the hunter-killer system to track instantly to what the other is looking at.
- The M2A3 is fitted with the 25mm chaingun, firing armor-piercing sabot (70 rounds) and high explosive rounds (230 rounds), as well as a turret-mounted BGM-71 TOW launcher with 2 TOW wire-guided missiles ready to fire (after the first shot the 2nd missile must be manually reloaded). This makes it capable of engaging and killing any threat it comes across. In Squad the TOW has a range limit of 1500 meters (balancing reasons), and it is important to remember that it takes a second for the launcher to deploy. The turret also has a coaxial M240B 7.62mm machine gun as secondary armament and carries 40mm smoke grenades that it can launch to quickly create a smokescreen. You get two "bursts" of smoke grenades for personal defense. To fire the smoke grenades, press "4" on your keyboard to switch over to the grenades and press LMB to fire off the smoke. It can be quite easy to accidentally discharge both your grenade charges at once if you click in a panicked fashion. There is a slight delay between firing and the grenade detonation, so dont assume it isn't working right away. Press "1" to switch back to the main gun.
- The M2A3 has its engine located on the front and its ammunition storage shaped like a "U" under the turret. The image shows the M2A3 (left) and the M1A2 (right) with the locations of its components.
- The armour of the M2A3 is pretty strong, among the strongest of the IFVs. It is thickest at the front of the hull and the turret, and the sides are also well protected. Again, the weak points are the rear armour and the roof. Jensen's range contains an area with 3D Models of all in-game vehicles, and the relative armour thickness of each area of each vehicle. Study this to learn the strongest and weakest areas of the vehicles in-game. Heavy anti-tank weapons will still pierce the armour, even at the strongest point.
- Hitting the ammunition storage, depending on the damage, may potentially destroy the vehicle entirely through ammo cook-off.
- Hitting the engine can hinder the M2A3's mobility. Damaging the engine reduces the vehicle's acceleration and top speed, which destroying it will render the vehicle immobile.
MATCHUPS WITH VEHICLES OF COMPARABLE ROLE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
- BMP-2: The BMP-2 has weaker armour, but is comparable in firepower and mobility. It also has a lower profile and can carry more infantry than the M2A3. The Kornet ATGM has the same range and damage as your TOW missiles, and the BMP-2 can carry more of them. The fire-rate of its auto-cannon is also much higher than yours, but overall the M2A3 does have the advantage. Engage the BMP-2 from behind or the sides if you can.
- FV510: The FV510 is substantially weaker than the M2A3 , possessing no ATGMs, a slower firing cannon, and no hunter-killer system or commander periscope. It can carry more people than you, and the armour isn't that much worse off, but ultimately your firepower is far superior and you can engage the FV510 at your leisure.
Trivia
- The M2A3 was released in Alpha 11