Sho't Kal Dalet

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This page is about the premium Israeli medium tank Sho't Kal Dalet. For other versions, see Sho't (Family).
Sho't Kal Dalet
il_centurion_shot_kal_d.png
GarageImage Sho't Kal Dalet.jpg
Sho't Kal Dalet
AB RB SB
9.0 9.0 9.0
Purchase:8 730 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
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Description

The Sho't Kal Dalet was the fourth and final production modification of the Sho't Kal series. The modification appeared in 1984 after the 1982 Lebanon War. Among the improvements was the installation of the more advanced "Barak Or" fire control system, and more efficient placement of the "Blazer" ERA packages. Tanks of this modification were in service with the IDF until 1992, when they were fully replaced by more modern Merkava tanks, and were also used for training armoured units until 2002.

Introduced in Update "Danger Zone", the Sho't Kal Dalet is quite similar to the tech-tree variant: the Sho't Kal Gimel. However, the Sho't Kal Dalet has a very good fire control system for its BR; with its thermal imaging system, it can acquire targets through bushes and other obstacles that allow light to pass through. Coupled with a 105 mm gun equipped with HEATFS and APFSDS ammunition, its firepower and gun handling are a force to be reckoned with. However, it has mediocre mobility, which will not allow it to accelerate quickly, and rather poor side armour protection, which will protect at most from heavy machine guns.

General info

Survivability and armour

ERA
Effective action against the cumulative ammunition
Smoke grenades
Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle
ESS
Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle
Armourfront / side / back
Hull76 / 51 / 38
Turret152 / 89 / 89
Crew4 people
Visibility119 %

As a Centurion-based tank, the Sho't Kal Dalet comes under increasingly lethal enemy shells, APFSDS and HEAT-FS, that can easily penetrate the front of the tank. Some attempts can be seen to remedy this issue, with an extra 51 mm plate welded on top of the base 76.2 mm hull front armour, and ERA platings to help protect against HEAT-FS. Both of these can help resist against the glancing kinetic or chemical shells and hopefully provide extra breathing room for the Sho't Kal Dalet to continue manoeuvring on the battlefield.

Side armour, without any up-armouring effort, proves to be vulnerable against autocannon rounds from IFVs or SPAAs, so it is best to keep the tank's frontal array pointed towards the main threat. Any penetration on the tank, whether from the front or the sides, have a very high chance of hitting one of the crew, the ammunition, or the fuel. Combined with the relatively dubious reliability of the front armour, a Sho't Kal Dalet would benefit from a very safe playstyle reducing the number of chances the Sho't Kal Dalet can be hit in.

Front-launching smoke grenades are also available with the tank, allowing the players the option to quickly bring up concealment in order to withdraw the Sho't Kal Dalet to a safe place if under threat of enemy fire.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Roof, Turret roof, Cupola roof, Side skirts, Smoke launchers)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Gun mantlet, Cupola sides)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 127.2 mm (57°) Upper glacis
76.2 mm (46°) Lower glacis
50.8 mm (12°) 38 mm (8°) Top
20 mm (62°) Bottom
5 - 29 mm
Turret 89 mm Turret front
100 - 200 mm Gun mantlet
89 mm 89 mm 29 - 50.8 mm
Cupola 152 mm 90 - 152 mm 90 mm 29 mm

Notes:

  • Tracks and suspension wheels are both 20 mm thick.
  • The steel boxes around the turret and the hull give a 4 mm additional protection, though this seems to be a negligible addition.
  • Skirting are placed on the sides of the Centurion, giving an additional 6 mm of side protection and can act as spaced armour.
  • An internal structural plate of 17 mm thickness separates the forward ammo rack from the driver as seen in X-ray mode.
  • Another internal 17 mm structural plate with large openings separates the driving compartment from the fighting compartment.
  • Each block Blazer ERA provides 260 mm worth of Chemical Energy protection

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB53 / 13 km/h
RB and SB48 / 12 km/h
Number of gears6 forward
2 back
Weight54.0 t
Engine power
AB1 431 hp
RB and SB750 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB26.5 hp/t
RB and SB13.9 hp/t

Compared to the tech tree Sho't Kal Alef and Sho't Kal Gimel, the Sho't Kal Dalet has very similar mobility due to sharing the same engine upgrade into a 750 hp Continental diesel engine with 2,400 RPM. Forward speeds can reach up to 48 km/h (5 gears) in RB. Reverse speed, great already in the basic Centurion, is enhanced by this engine upgrade to reach up to -12 km/h (2 gears) to aid in the tank's withdrawal efforts.

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 53 13 54 1,162 1,431 21.52 26.5
Realistic 48 12 663 750 12.28 13.89

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB3 017 Sl icon.png
RB3 113 Sl icon.png
SB3 970 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts730 000 Sl icon.png
Aces2 000 Ge icon.png
Research Aces1 780 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 140 / 200 / 230 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 214 / 214 / 214 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement il.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods engine smoke screen system.png
ESS
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_usa_HESH_ammo_pack
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods smoke screen.png
Smoke grenade
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_us_M416_Smoke_ammo_pack
Mods thermal sight.png
NVD
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Mods tank laser rangefinder.png
Laser rangefinder
Mods tank ammo.png
105mm_usa_M735_APDS_FS_ammo_pack

Armaments

Laser rangefinder
Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder
Night vision device
Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.
Thermal imager
Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

Two-plane stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving
Ammunition72 rounds
First-order11 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
8.7 → 6.7 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 18°
Main article: Sharir (105 mm)

The Sharir main gun is based on the Royal Ordnance L7 gun and so it can fire an assortment of APFSDS, HEAT-FS, HESH, and smoke rounds for a relatively versatile options of attacking. With a fast reload speed of down to 6.7 seconds, a Sho't Kal Dalet in a decent ambush site can make quick work of several enemies downrange.

105 mm Sharir Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 72 -10°/+18° ±180° Two-plane 22.8 31.6 38.4 42.5 45.2 8.71 7.70 7.10 6.70
Realistic 14.3 16.8 20.4 22.6 24.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
M152 HEATFS 400 400 400 400 400 400
M156 HESH 127 127 127 127 127 127
M111 APFSDS 337 335 330 322 314 306
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (kg)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
M152 HEATFS 1,174 10.5 0.05 0.1 1.27 65° 72° 77°
M156 HESH 731 11.4 0.1 4 3.17 73° 77° 80°
M111 APFSDS 1,455 4.2 - - - 78° 80° 81°
Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Screen radius
(m)
Screen deploy
time (s)
Screen hold
time (s)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
M416 732 11.6 20 5 25 50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Sho't Kal Dalet
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
72 68 (+4) 63 (+9) 33 (+39) 25 (+47) 12 (+60) (+67) (+71) No

Notes:

  • Racks 6 and 7 are first stage ammo racks. They total 11 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
  • These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 7 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
  • To go into battle with the frontal ammo rack empty, pack 33 (+39) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition1 000 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate575 shots/min
Ammunition1 200 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate1 001 shots/min
Ammunition3 600 rounds
Belt capacity200 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate1 001 shots/min

Like its tech tree counterparts, the Sho't Kal Dalet comes with multiple machine guns. In total, there are 2 coaxial machine guns (FN MAG 60-40 (7.62 mm) & M2HB (12.7 mm)) and 2 roof-mounted machine guns (FN MAG 60-40 (7.62 mm)). Though there is only one 12.7 mm machine gun, the four machine guns firing in unison can prove dangerous to any low-flying aircraft to cripple certain components or discourage the aircraft from staying low near a Sho't Kal Dalet.

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 1,000 (200) 577 N/A N/A
7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Coaxial 1,200 (200) 600 N/A N/A
Pintle (loader) 1,800 (200) 600 -10°/+5° -120°/+80°
Pintle (commander) 1,800 (200) 600 -10°/+50° -80°/+120°

Usage in battles

As mentioned in previous sections, the Sho't Kal Dalet is rather poorly protected against straight-on kinetic hits, but its cannon is quite lethal with the available ammunition and rate of fire. As such, the Sho't Kal Dalet should be used moreso as a "sniper", staying farther range and using the Sharir cannon and the M111 APFSDS round to engage enemies from afar.

This playstyle is benefited from the laser rangefinder available to the Sho't Kal Dalet, which can provide accurate, and compensated, ranges for the cannon to fire at the enemy quickly. When firing from so far, the only enemy threats would be tanks with similar fire control systems for long-range fighting or missile launchers. In the latter case, the presence of ERA plates on the Sho't Kal Dalet may prove key to its survival by protecting the tank against a single hit, which then allows Sho't Kal Dalet players to assess where the missile came from and either withdraw into cover or engage the missile launcher if it has been spotted.

Fighting in a hull-down position would also benefit the Sho't Kal Dalet to reduce its profile to the turret, which has a more complex armour design as well as more ERA coverage from the front.

While close-range fighting is not impossible with the Sho't Kal Dalet with its stabilized gun and mobility, the weak side armour and relatively slow turret and hull traverse makes the vehicle not ideal to that playstyle.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 105 mm Sharir cannon has impressive ammunition options
  • Cannon is fully stabilized for fighting on-the-move
  • Laser range finder allows for easier range acquisition to engage in long-range combat
  • ERA can prove sufficient against incoming chemical warheads or ATGM
  • Vehicle front profile is relatively small and has good ERA coverage

Cons:

  • Vehicle is still slower than other contemporary medium tanks of the rank
  • Armour against kinetic energy threats is rather weak
  • Internals are full of vital components, a single penetration can easily cripple the tank's combat ability, if not outright destroy it

History

Devblog

In the late 1950s, Israel struck a deal with Great Britain to purchase a number of Centurion Mk.5 tanks as a response to Egypt's own rearmament efforts at the time. Deliveries continued well into the 1960s, with Israel fielding more than 300 Centurion tanks prior to the Six-Day War in 1967.

Although the Centurion, or Sho't as it was called by the Israelis, was the most modern tank in service with the IDF at the time, it wasn't very liked among Israeli tank crews due to its low reliability in desert conditions. Therefore, the decision was made to modernize the vehicles in May 1967 by replacing the petrol engine with a more powerful and reliable Continental diesel engine. Further upgrades included the fitting of a new transmission, larger fuel tanks and other minor improvements.

In the following Middle Eastern conflicts of the late '60s and early '70s, the Sho't had proven its effectiveness in combat. However, after the devastating tank losses of the Yom Kippur War, Israeli engineers realized the importance of crew protection and work on an indigenous tank design, that would become the Merkava, began.

In the meantime, the vehicles that were already in service had to be modernized in order to prevent a repeat of the high losses of the Yom Kippur War in potential future conflicts. This modernization effort primarily focused on the addition of the Blazer ERA package to the Sho't Kal and Magach tanks, which would reduce the effectiveness of chemical munitions fired at the vehicles.

The upgraded Sho't Kal Dalet, as it was known, proved the effectiveness of the upgrade during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, where it fared well against ATGMs and RPGs.

The Sho't Kal Dalet was the last mass-produced modification of the Israeli Centurion, before it was replaced by the more modern Merkava tank models. In total, Israel had purchased and used over 1,100 Centurion tanks, with some still being in limited service today as APCs, ARVs or CEVs.

Media

Skins

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links


Israeli Ordnance Corps (חיל החימוש)
Medium Tanks  M-51 · M-51 (W)
MBTs 
Magach  Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5
  Magach 6 · Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6C · Magach 6R · Magach 6M · Gal Batash
Sho't  Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet · ▄Sho't Kal Dalet
Tiran  Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S
Merkava  ▃Merkava Mk.1 · Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D
  Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · ▃Merkava Mk.3D · Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M
Tank destroyers  Zachlam Tager
See Also  Chrysler Defense · Department of Tank Design · Morozov Design Bureau

Israel medium tanks
M-51  M-51 · M-51 (W)
Magach  Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5 · Magach 6
  Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6B Gal · Gal Batash · Magach 6C · Magach 6M · Magach 6R · Magach Hydra · Magach 7C
Tiran  Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S · Tiran 6
Sho't  Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet
Merkava  Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D · Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · Ra'am Sagol
  Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M · Merkava Mk.4 LIC

Israel premium ground vehicles
Medium tanks  M-51 (W) · Magach 3 (ERA) · Sho't Kal Dalet · Merkava Mk.2D · Ra'am Sagol
Tank destroyers  Sholef