ItO 90M - War Thunder Wiki (2024)

This page is about the Swedish SPAA ItO 90M. For the French version, see ItO 90M (France).

Description

The Ilmatorjuntaohjus 90M is a rank VIII Swedish SPAA with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Red Skies".

General info

Survivability and armour

The ItO 90M uses the chassis of Finnish armoured personnel carrier Patria Pasi. It has a large profile due to its tall search radar mast and lacks smoke launcher to blind the enemy. With only 8 mm thickness of armour overall, the ItO 90M can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns from any direction and any hit from HE shells, artillery strike, autocannons and air attacks must be avoided. Thankfully, ItO has relatively long hull and the crew is spread out at the very ends of front and rear of the vehicle, so it's unlikely to get knocked out by a single kinetic shell from the sides. Besides, the ItO doesn't have any reserve ammo rack, and there are only engine and fuel tanks at the middle of hull, so sometimes it will absorb many rounds from inexperienced enemy. The unmanned turret is quite vulnerable to overpressure damage due to its exposed and volatile ammo, yet it will become a competent bullet magnet once it has run out of ammo. Sometimes, it may even sustain several hits of 9K127 Vikhr from Ka-50 and Ka-52.

Armour type:

• Rolled hom*ogeneous armour (Hull, Vents)
• Bulletproof glass (Windows)
• Structural steel (Tracking Radar, Lifting Legs)

Notes:

• Wheels are 10 mm thick

Mobility

The ItO's mobility on paved roads is overall satisfactory. It has acceptable acceleration on plain terrain which can reach around ~45 km/h on average. However, the ItO's poor power-to-weight ratio results in bad off-roading capability which limits its performance on hilly terrain maps. Sometimes, it can't even climb a slightly sloped mound without full modifications. As a wheeled vehicle, the ItO also struggles on soft ground and narrow streets. Its reverse speed is mild and will cause some problems when you're fighting against helicopters behind covers. To sum up, the ItO 90M has acceptable mobility on certain terrains, but you need to choose your path wisely so you can swiftly hide into covers without being stuck by terrain when you are found.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: VT1

The main armament of the ItO 90M is the VT1 SACLOS-guided surface-to-air missiles. It's an outstanding missile against aircraft and has a peak speed of around Mach 3.7 and 50G of maximum overload. These features give VT1 capability to catch high-speed jets even when they are evading. At the same time, 8 m of trigger radius and formidable 7.86 kg of TNT equivalent also secure the hit rate and the destruction of the target. With the capability to launch 8 missiles in a few seconds without reloading, you can swiftly wipe out several nearby air targets before they find you and fight back.

When it comes to long-range anti-aircraft operations, VT1 has brilliant 12 km of effective firing range that might catch side-climbing jets off guard. It never leaves any vapour trail and smoke in its path, and its tiny exhaust plume disappears about 4 seconds after launch. These advantages make the ItO 90M a silent and lethal threat to enemy jets.

The ItO 90M used French Crotale NG Short-Range SAM System. It has 2 missile launchers mounted on each side of its unmanned turret. Each launcher can fire 4 rounds of VT1 but can only reload in captured points due to the absence of reserve ammo racks. These launchers are also quite spread out, and the first 4 shots will launch from the left one. Sometimes, the cover will accidentally block your missile and alert the enemy aircraft of your location. Occasionally, you might have to fight ground enemy for self-defence. Remember that the ItO doesn't have autocannon and the warhead type of VT1 is pure air-burst HE which relies on overpressure mechanism. Aiming at the breech and barrel of MBTs or the sides and roof of light targets might benefit your survival chance.

Although the ItO 90M can neither guide multiple missiles at once nor launch on the move, it's not uncommon to guide VT1 to intercept Vikhr before evading into cover. Hence suspension and brake modifications might help in the supposed situation.

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Radar

The ItO 90M is equipped with a Crotale search and separate tracking radar. The tracking radar is located on the turret, and the search radar is mounted on top of the mast. The radar system is capable of tracking a target while scanning, but can only track targets within a swallow 30° arc from the front of the turret.

Usage in battles

To use the ItO 90M in effect, you should set convenient hotkeys for "Lock radar/IRST target on", "Switch between Radar and IRST", and "Switch Radar/IRST search on/off". The effective range for the radar lock is 16 km, and for the IRST lock, 10 km. Although many people only use radar lock, ItO's IRST sensor has brilliant available range and is very sensitive that can even lock on a scout UAV. It won't trigger LWS or suffer from multipath interference, too. Therefore, you should set a hotkey to switch between radar lock and IRST regarding the situation.

When you spawn, it is advised to activate your thermal sight and switch the scope scale of your search radar to 20 km at once. Use your speed to drive to an area near the edges of the map and try and pick off any helicopters and unaware aircraft. Try to use foliage as cover and attempt to stay as hidden as possible. Your goal is not to get hit. Use your missile range to your advantage and try your best not to be spotted.

Considering your brilliant 12 km of missile range and high-performance search radar, you may also advance further to make enemy aircraft spawn closer to your effective range. Check the spot on your plan position indicator to estimate how long will it enter your missile range, launch and guide VT-1 manually, and lock it (or not if you have confidence) at the last few seconds to catch it off guard. Most destructions shall be done at a long distance or without your location spotted.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Long range of 12 km
• VT1 missiles come with the stock vehicle and are very fast, they can easily hit long-range targets as well as fast-moving ones
• Has access to gen 3 gunner thermals
• Can fire all 8 missiles without reloading
• Good vertical range of elevation
• Access for appropriate search radar scope scale of 20 km. Easy to estimate enemy distance and missile range by your plan position indicator without radar lock

Cons:

• 8 mm of all-around armour is insufficient to stop even .50 cal machine guns below 1,000 m
• The search radar, when unfolded, sticks out quite far giving it a very tall profile - can however be folded
• Lacks any sort of self-defence against ground targets
• Lacks any sort of mobility uphill - and without mobility upgrades, the vehicle is nearly immobile due to the immense overweight on a 6x6 wheeled chassis

History

The ItO 90M is based on the Sisu XA-180 platform and uses the French surface-to-air missile systen called CrotaleNG MOD.^[1]

In 1980, Sisu produced an XA-180 prototype for testing. It competed against two other prototypes, but was the winner of the trials in 1983. in December 1983, the Finnish Army ordered a first batch of 50 XA-180s, of which 9 were reserved for UN. The vehicle proved itself successful and more were ordered by the army.^[2]

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the ItO 90M 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] ITO 90M: Airspace is Closed

References