ARL 44
ARL 44
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[Client Values; Actual values in
925,000 ![]() |
870184 HP Hit Points |
46.47/46.9624.53/50.5 t Weight Limit |
- Commander
- Gunner
- Driver
- Radio Operator
- Loader
575750 hp Engine Power |
37/10 km/h Speed Limit |
1820 deg/s Traverse |
12.3730.57 hp/t Power/Wt Ratio |
NoNo Pivot |
// mm Hull Armor |
110/30/30110/30/30 mm Turret Armor |
AP/APCR/HE
AP/APCR/HE Shells |
96/2800/68
255/4800/255 Shell Cost |
115/115/185240/240/320 HP Damage |
128/177/38212/259/45 mm Penetration |
r/m ▲
15.79 r/m Standard Gun ▲
6 Rate of Fire Standard Gun |
▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
1815.85 Standard Gun ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
1440 Damage Per Minute Standard Gun |
m ▲
0.43 m With 50% Crew: 0.533 m ▲
0.38 Accuracy With 50% Crew: 0.471 m |
s 2.3 s 3.4 Aim time |
2022 deg/s Turret Traverse |
360° Gun Arc |
-10°/+20°-10°/+15° Elevation Arc |
7050 rounds Ammo Capacity |
2020 % Chance of Fire |
m 340 m 350 View Range |
m 400 m 750 Signal Range |
VI

925000
The ARL 44 is a French tier 6 heavy tank.
Development of the vehicle started while France was still occupied by the German forces. It was an attempt to use the obsolete B1 Bis chassis and fit it with a modern, more powerful gun. The project was finished by the Atelier de Construction de Rueil Design Bureau. A total of 60 vehicles were manufactured. However, the tank was considered unsuccessful compared to similar foreign vehicles.
The ARL 44 has decent sloped frontal armour but a weak turret and paper-thin side and rear armour. As such, it is quite prone to fires and internal module damage when hit from anywhere but the front. However, the ARL boasts much-improved mobility over its predecessors, great gun depression and elevation values, and an excellent gun selection. There is a choice between 3 guns: a hard-hitting 105mm gun, a jack-of-all-trade 90mm F3 gun, or a 90mm DCA 45 gun with extremely high penetration - even better than the German 88mm L/71. The ARL 44 is the most powerful tier 6 tank in terms of penetration and thus can effectively snipe and remain effective even in Tier 8 battles.
As of the Italian Tanks update, the ARL 44 received some minor buffs. 175 Armor Piercing Penetration with the 105 millimeter now, good enough for Tier VIII, tied with KV-85s 175s AP penetration. The 90mm F3 also now has a minor buff to aiming time (2.9 to 2.7). The whole tank received less dispersion when turning the turret and when on the move, making it better to play.
The ARL 44 leads to the AMX M4 mle. 45.
Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables
Modules
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Good top speed across most terrain, coupled with good acceleration and power-to-weight ratio - high weight allows ramming.
- Best penetration in class with the 90mm DCA 45; second best of every tier 6 tank.
- Hard-hitting 105mm similar to T-150 but with a cheaper, more powerful APCR round and much better accuracy.
- Surprisingly thick and well-sloped upper glacis can give a lot of bounces, especially if angled correctly.
- Excellent gun depression (-10°), decent view range (on par with M6 at 350m) and excellent signal range at 750m.
Cons:
- Weak armour everywhere else than the upper glacis.
- Shots to the exposed tracks up front often do hull damage as well. (Thus, it can't sidescrape)
- Turret is large and turns slowly, full turns also slowly; very sluggish with stock engine.
- Atrociously low HP pool for Tier 6 HT standard, 30 more than tier 5 before it - and only after field modifications
- All guns have very low DPM, comparable to tier V (especially the 90mm DCA45, which is even worse than BDR G1 B).
- Painful stock grind
Performance
For all intents and purposes, this tank feels like BDR G1 B at tier VI. Unfortunately, it also keeps virtually the same HP at 1 tier higher, as well as even worse DPM if 90mm DCA45 is used.
The ARL 44 has very different play-styles depending on the gun it is equipped with. The 76 mm Gun M1A1 and 90 mm DCA 30 are simply guns to be ground through, and are not worth any serious consideration for long term use. Despite its lower penetration compared with the DCA45, the 90 mm F3 is also a viable option thanks to its better aim time, higher DPM (than the DCA45), along with slightly better penetration than the Canon 13TR. The 90 mm DCA 45, with its exceptional penetration, good accuracy (once fully aimed), good alpha damage and rate-of-fire, make it much better suited for being used as a sniper, although the horrible aim time will make it difficult to find targets. The 105 mm Canon 13TR, with its great damage output but lower penetration and accuracy along with equally horrible aim time, makes the ARL 44 better at trading shots and brawling at the expense of long range combat.
The ARL 44's hull sports 120mm of sloped frontal armour with a line of sight thickness of almost 170mm. However, this upper glacis has two small and four large weak points. Also, the lower glacis plate is very exposed from the tanks high ground clearance, though it is a fairly small target. The sides and rear of the tank have very thin armor and must be protected. Utilizing what armour the ARL 44 has requires proper positioning and knowledge of the ARL 44's many weak points. It is very difficult to angle the ARL 44 properly due to its very poor side armour. Besides that, the track mounts on the front of the tank are very lightly armoured and become a large shot-trap. Shots that ricochet off your front glacis plates will nearly always land on your track mounts, doing full damage to you and possibly tracking you. Fighting other tanks without cover is best done head-on, with some slight angling. Be wary of the exceptionally thin turret side armour on the upgraded turret, which despite its angle can be very easily penetrated by many of the larger Tier 6 guns (90 mm and above) due to overmatching mechanics. Also, with 10° of gun depression, going hull down with this tank is fairly easy. While the armour of the turret is not exceptional, per se, the significant angling of the cheeks provides fairly reliable bounces when dealing with equal or lower tier guns.
The ARL reaches speeds of 35 to 42 kph on flat ground and is relatively mobile for a heavy tank. Its powerful Maybach HL230 P 45F engine allows it to climb up hills much better than any other heavy tank of this tier. The ARL 44's hull traverse is slow, and especially so on soft ground, making it very vulnerable to being circled. Overall the KV-85 has better maneuverability and ground resistance, but the ARL 44 has a better power-to-weight ratio and slightly better top speed, so overall the mobility is as good as the KV-85. It can keep up and continue to support a flank easily.
Early Research
- Research the 90mm DCA 30 gun (if it wasn't researched on the BDR G1B already).
- Research the ARL 44 turret next, as it weighs less than the ACL 1 turret and allows access to the upgraded guns.
- Research the 90mm F3 gun.
- Research the ARL 44 bis suspension.
- Research Maybach HL 230 P 45F engine for increased mobility.
- Research SCR 528F radio.
- Research, depending on play-style, the 105 mm Canon 13TR or the 90 mm DCA 45.
- The 90mm DCA 45 has the highest penetration of Tier 6 and makes this tank capable of damaging Tier VIII heavies from the front.
- 105mm premium rounds increase damage (30 more than normal AP) for more reliable kills and even better DPM.
- Finally, research the last gun, depending on which one was researched first.
It is important to note that nearly all the ARL 44's modules carry over into the AMX M4(1945), which also uses the 90 mm DCA 45 as its top gun. Thus, researching them on the ARL 44 will save a lot of effort on the AMX M4(1945).
Suggested Equipment
Gallery
Historical Info
Historical Gallery
Historical Accuracy Errata
Historical 75 mm SA44 gun that was fitted to the initial ARL 44 prototype is missing.
- There exist no records nor plans of fitting the 105 mm Canon 13TR, the 90 mm F3, nor the 90 mm DCA 30 to the ARL 44.
- Historical HEAT round with 320 mm of penetration is missing. This was the standard ammunition of the 90 mm F3 gun. The AP and APCR rounds are fake.