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The M2A1 Slammer is a Main Battle Tank used exclusively by NATO forces in ArmA 3.

Overview[]

  • Roles:
    • Direct fire and manoeuvre
    • Troop transport
« A licensed copy of an Israeli tank built in Central Europe. This tank is built for versatile use on the battlefield and maximal crew protection, which gained significant appreciation from western Europe armies in the 21st century. The M2A1 is armed with 120 mm cannon and a coaxial machinegun and can also be used as mobile artillery. This tank has proven itself in battle and thanks to heavy manufacture, it became the second most wide spread main battle tank of many countries in the world.
Field Manual
»

Design[]

The Slammer is a Main Battle Tank that uses a drive train consisting of six road wheels, one rear idler wheel, one front drive sprocket and three return rollers per side. The turret is triangular and narrow in shape, large but low, and is mounted rearwards onto the chassis, a layout commonly found on SPGs.

Armament
It is armed with a smoothbore 120 mm cannon that can fire a mix of anti-vehicle and anti-personnel shells. In addition, it has a coaxial 7.62 mm medium machine gun that can be used against soft targets in lieu of the main gun.

The standard loadout of the Slammer gives it 24 rounds of armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS-T), 12 high-explosive (HE-T), and 12 high-explosive anti-tank multi-purpose (HEAT-MP-T) shells for the main gun. The coaxial MMG comes pre-loaded with a single 200-round belt and has a further 19 spare belts left in reserve for a combined total of 4,000 rounds.

Arma3-slammer-00

With the ability to transport troops in its rear compartment, Slammers can double as heavily armed IFVs.

Features
The Slammer's design is centred around crew survivability; it has the highest base armour of the three main Main Battle Tank designs (aside from the T-140), and unlike its CSAT and AAF counterparts, has its engine positioned at the front of the hull where the armour is thickest.

Notable Traits
The Slammer's engine placement makes it almost impossible to inflict a mobility kill in a first strike, as unless the tank's frontal armour has already been compromised (only possible after multiple consecutive attacks on the same position) or they are struck by a railgun, the engine will never be disabled from a single shot.

At the same time, although the Slammer lacks a remotely operated heavy machine gun turret for use by the tank's commander (an issue rectified by its Urban Purpose sub-variant), this is somewhat compensated by its ability to be able to carry half a squad's worth of infantry in its rear passenger compartment. This gives Slammer crews the ability to provide both direct fire support and transport troops into battle; essentially combining the capabilities of an Infantry Fighting Vehicle with the firepower and protection of a tank.

Mobility
The Slammer is the slowest and least manoeuvrable out of the four MBT designs. Climbing up hills is a particularly arduous task even without a damaged engine and/or tracks. The Slammer will struggle to maintain a consistent speed while driving over rough surfaces, a drawback that is especially noticeable on hilly terrain.

Arma3-slammer-01

A common predicament faced by Slammer tanks. Things will not be ending well for this crew.

Drawbacks
One particularly frustrating aspect of the Slammer stems precisely from its excessive weight. As one of the heaviest vehicles in ArmA 3, the Slammer has a tendency to get stuck on terrain objects with slight inclines (i.e. medium-sized rock formations). Due to the engine's poor power output, it is very likely that the Slammer will end up trapped and require mobility support from other vehicles. Needless to say, this is less than ideal in the middle of a tank battle.

Crew Capacity
The Slammer has a seating capacity of nine personnel including the crew. The crew includes the driver, gunner and commander. Up to six passengers may be seated in the rear troop compartment.

Camouflage[]

  • Sand: Standard pattern-less dark tan paint scheme used by all NATO ground vehicles and certain aircraft. This can be universally employed in all types of terrain, but is more suited to arid and forested environments. Any camo nets applied on the Slammer's hull or turret will use a two-tone desert camouflage pattern scheme.
  • Olive: Tropical olive green paint scheme. Only useful for jungle or woodland environments. Camo nets attached to the Slammer use a two-tone woodland camouflage pattern when this scheme is used.

Protection[]

The Slammer has a base armour value of 900 and uses Composite Armour plating. It does not have any Explosive Reactive Armour blocks/panels fitted, nor does it have the ability to attach slat cages.

The following highlighted positions serve as weak points on the Slammer:

Arma3-slammer-hitpoints

LEGEND
Green = Hull
Orange = Engine
Violet = Fuel tanks
Light blue = Treads
Maroon = Turret
Gold = Gun barrel

Note that in order to inflict actual damage, a munition must first penetrate through the surrounding armour plates and directly hit the component's weak point. Any strikes on non-highlighted parts will cause little (if any) noticeable damage.


Hull[]

The hull can resist up to 1,620 points of damage. Will cause a catastrophic kill if fully depleted.

Munition type Damage reduction (%) Velocity reduction (%)
Armour Piercing None 10
High-Explosive 80* 50
High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 80
Tandem High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 10

(*) Reductions only apply to the explosive component of the munition i.e. Tandem HEAT explosive charge

If the hull has been compromised, no reductions will be applied to the velocity/raw damage of incoming projectiles.

Engine[]

Located in the front of the hull. It can only resist 360 points of damage, but reduces up to 80% of damage from HE-type munitions.

20% of incoming damage onto the engine will always be shared with the Slammer's main "health" pool. However, it will not cause a catastrophic kill if destroyed unless the Slammer is critically damaged.

If damaged: Reduces power output, acceleration is decreased and it may become impossible to climb uphill.
If destroyed: Instantly immobilises the Slammer.

Fuel tanks[]

Located on both sides of the hull. They are able to take even less damage before critical failure; up to a maximum of 270 points only. However, the fuel tanks take 40% less damage from HE-type munitions.

At least 10% of incoming damage onto the fuel tanks is shared with the Slammer's main "health" pool. A destroyed fuel tank will not cause a catastrophic kill unless the Slammer is critically damaged.

If damaged: Gradually leak fuel over time, but will stop at a threshold of 70% of the Slammer's total fuel capacity.
If destroyed: Causes them to rapidly lose their entire fuel capacity over several seconds.

Treads[]

Both treads can resist 650 points worth of damage. No amount of damage inflicted on them is shared with the Slammer's main "health" pool. Only 20% of damage from HE-type munitions will be reduced.

Destroying either of the treads will hamper the Slammer's handling but will not prevent it from moving. Destroying both will severely degrade the Slammer's handling and can prevent it from moving while on rough terrain.

Turret[]

The turret can resist up to 270 points worth of damage. No amount of damage incurred is transferred onto the Slammer's "health" pool.

Munition type Damage reduction (%) Velocity reduction (%)
Armour Piercing None 10
High-Explosive 80* 50
High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 80
Tandem High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 10

(*) Reductions only apply to the explosive component of the munition i.e. Tandem HEAT explosive charge

If the turret's armour has been compromised, no reductions will be applied to the velocity/raw damage of incoming projectiles.

Gun barrel[]

The turret's gun barrel can resist 540 points of damage before failing. No damage inflicted on this component is transferred onto the Slammer's "health" pool.

Destroying this component will lock the barrel and prevent the gunner position from adjusting its elevation/depression. It should also be noted that unlike the turret, the barrel is only capable of reducing 60% of incoming damage from HE-type munitions.

Components[]

NOTE: Cosmetic-only component modules with no gameplay effects are deliberately excluded from this section.

  • Camo Net (Hull): Drapes the entire hull with camouflage netting. Partially conceals covered sections from thermal sensors.
  • Camo Net (Turret): Identical to the Hull camouflage netting, but for the turret instead. The barrel and most of the turret is concealed, though certain components such as the pintle mount and commander optics are not covered.

Armament[]

NOTE: For specifics on the Cannon 120 mm's munitions, see its related section listed here.

The Slammer's gunner is the only crew member that has access to the tank's weapons in the form of the Cannon 120 mm and Coaxial MG 7.62 mm:

Cannon 120 mm[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-m2a1slammer-cannon120mm

120 mm smoothbore gun.

It can load HE, HEAT or AP-type shells. Swapping between shell types takes 6 seconds to complete. Accuracy-wise, it has a dispersion of 0.00057 rad.

The Fire Control System can automatically adjust zeroing/lead on targets moving at speeds of 90 km/h or less. There is an imposed delay of 1 second before the FCS can finish calculating. The gunner can manually zero the gun starting from a minimum of 100 m up to a maximum of 4000 m (adjustments are made with increments/decrements of 100 m).

The gunner's optics feature three fields of view and can toggle between either day, night or black-hot/green-hot thermal vision modes.

Coaxial MG 7.62 mm[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-m2a1slammer-coaxialmg762mm
Base damage value Aerodynamic friction Initial velocity (m/s) Penetration depth (mm)
11.6 -0.001 860 20.64

Coaxial 7.62 mm medium machine gun.

It can attain a fire rate of 800 RPM and takes 10 seconds to reload a fresh belt. The Coaxial MG always has a fixed dispersion of 0.0016 rad regardless of distance. The Coaxial MG's FCS can only zero against targets moving at speeds of up to ~ 110 km/h. It has an imposed delay of 1 second before it can finish adjusting.

The gunner has access to the same fields of view and vision modes as the Cannon 120 mm.

FFV[]

Main article: Firing from vehicles (mechanic)#M2A1 Slammer

Achievements[]

  • Arma3-achievement-commander
    Commander
    • Spend at least three hours controlling the Slammer from the commander's seat.
    • Can be earned in either singleplayer or multiplayer scenarios. It does not have to be accumulated in a single playthrough and can be earned over multiple sessions.
  • Arma3-achievement-inittogether
    In It Together
    • Spend a total of twenty four hours of playtime inside the Slammer with a team of human players seated (in real-world time).
    • The driver, gunner and commander seats must be occupied by humans and not AI.
    • This time can be earned over multiple sessions. There is no need for the same group of players to participate for the hours to accumulate.
  • Arma3-achievement-steelsniper
    Steel Sniper
    • Must land a hit on another Main Battle Tank that is on the move at a minimum distance of 3.5 kilometres or more. Destroying the vehicle is not necessary; you only need to inflict damage on any part of the vehicle.
    • This can be earned in the editor or in singleplayer/multiplayer scenarios.

Trivia[]

  • The Slammer is based on the Israeli-made "Merkava Mark IV" MBT. However, unlike the real-world Merkava tank, the in-game Slammer either has unrealistic features or lacks capabilities that it possesses in reality:[1]
    • It does not have the ability to launch LAHAT ATGMs via its main gun, nor can it fire mortar shells from the internal 60 mm mortar launcher.
    • It lacks a coaxially fitted Samson "RCWS", and despite being modelled onto its turret, the in-game Slammer has no ability to make use of the "Trophy" active missile protection system.
    • In reality, the Slammer's "passenger" compartment would be used to store ammunition for the main gun and to allow for easy access when resupplying the tank with fresh shells in a hull down position (specifically in palletised form).[2] Some of this reserve ammunition would have to be removed from the tank's loadout in order to make space for the passengers.
  • The Slammer was not originally featured as an asset in the Alpha and Beta. It would only be included as a usable asset after the game's full release (as part of Game Update 1.00).[3]
  • Prior to Game Update 1.12, the Slammer's side skirts were not animated and would remain static even if the tank was driving on rough terrain.[4]
  • Before the Tanks DLC's release, the Slammer was armed with a 6.5 mm coaxial machine gun. This was up-gunned to a 7.62 mm MG with the DLC's platform update (as part of Game Update 1.82).[5]
  • Following an overhaul to ArmA 3's thermal imaging systems in Game Update 2.10, the commander's terminal now properly renders its display in green-/black-hot thermal vision when either mode is activated and the user isn't "looking" through it (previously the display could only render in white- and black-hot).[6]
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
  • Screenshots released during the pre-Alpha phase of ArmA 3's development indicated that the Slammer was originally meant to be used by other factions as well in a similar fashion to the MQ-4A Greyhawk.[7][8]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Army-technology.com 2020, Merkava 4 Israel Defence Forces Main Battle Tank, Army-technology.com, viewed 10 March 2023, <https://www.army-technology.com/projects/merkava4/>.
  2. Katz, S M & Sarson, P 1997, Merkava Main Battle Tank 1977-1996, Osprey Publishing, Oxford.
  3. 3.0 3.1 van 't Land, J.J. 2013, SPOTREP #00010, Arma 3, viewed 25 August 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00010>.
  4. van 't Land, J.J. 2014, SPOTREP #00019, Arma 3, viewed 10 March 2024, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00019>.
  5. Kovařič, V 2018, SPOTREP #00079, Arma 3, viewed 2 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00079>.
  6. van 't Land, J.J. 2022, SPOTREP #00105, Arma 3, viewed 23 August 2022, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00105>.
  7. Purchese, R 2011, Arma 3 a PC exclusive for summer 2012, Eurogamer, viewed 10 March 2023, <https://www.eurogamer.net/arma-3-a-pc-exclusive-for-summer-2012>.
  8. Senior, T 2011, Arma 3 screenshots show heavy vehicles and spectacular views, PC Gamer, viewed 10 March 2023, <https://www.pcgamer.com/arma-3-screenshots-shows-heavy-vehicles-and-spectacular-views/>.
  9. van 't Land, J.J. 2013, SPOTREP #00016, Arma 3, viewed 10 March 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00016>.

External links[]

See also[]

Variants[]

Vehicles of comparable role and configuration[]

Vehicles of ArmA 3
Wheeled AFV-4 GorgonAMV-7 MarshallHatchbackHEMTTHunterIfritKartMB 4WDMSE-3 MaridOffroadProwlerQilinRhino MGS (UP) • StriderSUVTempestTractorTruckQuadbikeUGV StomperVanZamak (MRL)
Tracked 2S9 SochorAWC NyxBTR-K KamyshCRV-6e BobcatED-1D Mini UGV (ED-1E) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherFV-720 MoraM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 SandstormMBT-52 KumaT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAR-2 DarterCH-49 MohawkCH-67 HuronDemining DroneMH-9 Hummingbird (M900) • Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruMQ-12 FalconPO-30 OrcaUH-80 Ghost HawkUtility DroneWY-55 Hellcat
Fixed-wing A-143 BuzzardA-149 GryphonA-164 WipeoutCaesar BTTF/A-181 Black Wasp IIKH-3A FenghuangMQ-4A GreyhawkTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraUCAV SentinelV-44X BlackfishY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault BoatMotorboatRHIBSpeedboatSDVWater Scooter
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Karts DLC | Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-nato NATO - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled AMV-7 MarshallHEMTTHunterProwlerQuadbikeRhino MGS (UP) • UGV Stomper
Tracked CRV-6e BobcatED-1D Pelter (ED-1E Roller) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 Sandstorm
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAL-6 PelicanAR-2 DarterCH-67 HuronMH-9 HummingbirdMQ-12 FalconUH-80 Ghost Hawk
Fixed-wing A-164 WipeoutF/A-181 Black Wasp IIMQ-4A GreyhawkUCAV SentinelV-44X Blackfish
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat MinigunSDV
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
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