AMX-30B2
| This page is about the French medium tank AMX-30B2. For other versions, see AMX-30 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The AMX-30B2 is the first upgraded subvariant of the AMX-30B, which is the second variant of the AMX-30 main battle tank family. Due to transmission reliability problems, the French Army began upgrading its tank fleet to AMX-30B2 standards in 1979, which included a new transmission, a new Hispano-Suiza HS-110-S2 diesel engine, and the introduction of the new OFL 105 F1 armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) ammunition. A laser rangefinder and thermal imaging equipment are also included for the gunner. The AMX-30B2 entered service in 1982. A total of 700 units were upgraded to this standard.
Introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance", the AMX-30B2 offers slightly more protection than its predecessor, the AMX-30B. Nonetheless, due to the lack of a two-plane fully automatic stabilization system, players must play more cautiously than tanks from other nations at this rank. Firing on the go and/or after a short stop is risky in this tank in the event of a sudden encounter with an enemy vehicle. As a result, the French AMX-30B2 is best suited to roles such as support tank, long-range sniper, or flanker. You cannot expect to drive straight into battle and come out victorious in this tank. On most urban or city maps, it is preferable to avoid conflict hotspots. Since most tanks in other countries feature a two-plane stabilization system, you must play much more cautiously and attentively in these types of environments. Simply moving attentively and being aware of your surroundings will save your life in a scenario like this. You can also ambush your opponent by patiently waiting for someone to appear in front of you and then quickly repositioning yourself. The AMX-30B2 has access to thermal imaging equipment, and despite the fact that the thermal imaging equipment is of the first generation, detecting enemy tanks will be much easier.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Cast homogeneous armour (front glacis, turret, cupola)
- Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, rear & roof)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 50 mm (76-79°) Upper glacis - Top 79 mm (68°) Upper glacis - Bottom 79 mm (45°) Lower glacis - Top 30 mm (75°) Lower glacis - Bottom 57 mm (35°) Hull over the tracks |
35 mm Top - Front 57 mm (35°) Top - Hull widening 35 mm Top - Centre & rear 30 mm Bottom 25 mm (70°) Belly |
30 mm (10°) Upper plate 30 mm Hull over the tracks 30 mm Lower plate 25 mm (70°) Belly |
79 mm (22°) Front glacis - Front 50 mm (11-14°) Front glacis - Rear 15 mm Rear 8 mm Radiator vents |
| Turret | 30-150 mm (0-79°) Gun mantlet 30 mm (61-75°) Turret front top |
41.5 mm (19-47°) 41.5 mm (8°) Cupola well |
30 mm (1-64°) 20 mm (54-64°) Turret underside |
30 mm (19°) Front 20 mm Centre 20 mm (20°) Rear |
| Cupola | 60 mm (cylindrical) | 60 mm Outer ring 20 mm Centre | ||
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 73 | 73 | 37 | 1,054 | 1,297 | 28.49 | 35.05 |
| Realistic | 66 | 66 | 601 | 680 | 16.24 | 18.38 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 105 mm CN-105-F1 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 47 | -8°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | 28.6 | 39.5 | 48.0 | 53.1 | 56.5 | 8.71 | 7.70 | 7.10 | 6.70 |
| Realistic | 17.9 | 21.0 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 30.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| OCC 105 F1 | HEAT | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| OE 105 F1 Mle.60 | HE | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| OFL 105 F1 | APFSDS | 361 | 358 | 350 | 341 | 332 | 322 |
| 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% | ||||||||||
| OCC 105 F1 | HEAT | 1,000 | 10.95 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1.02 | 62° | 69° | 73° | |||
| OE 105 F1 Mle.60 | HE | 700 | 12.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 2 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| OFL 105 F1 | APFSDS | 1,525 | 3.8 | - | - | - | 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) |
| OFPH 105 F1 | 700 | 11.4 | 20 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | 20 (+27) | 19 (+28) | 9 (+38) | 1 (+46) | No |
Notes:
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- Rack 2, 3 and 4 are first stage ammo racks. They total 19 shells.
- These racks get filled first when loading up the tank and are also emptied first.
- The depletion order at full capacity is: 2 - 3 - 4 - 1.
- Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from rack 1 into rack 4 then 3, then 2. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.
Machine guns
The 20 mm 20F2 coaxial autocannon is not just an anti-aircraft gun: with 57 mm penetration at flat angle, it will shred anything from armoured cars and SPAA to lightly armoured medium tanks' sides. In case a vehicle cannot be penetrated, use the autocannon to disable them before using your 105 mm cannon: target the gun barrel or the tracks. The 20 mm can also deal with low-flying aircraft with the extra 20 degrees of elevation. The only drawback is that the autocannon is coaxial, meaning the turret must rotate to track the targets.
| 20 mm 20F2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 1,000 (500) | 740 | 0°/+20° | N/A |
The small calibre of the A-A-F1N machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.
| 7.62 mm A-A-F1N | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 2,100 (100) | 900 | -10°/+45° | ±120° |
Usage in battles
French AMX-30B2 needs to be played more carefully than its other NATO counterparts such as the M60A1 (A0S) or the Leopard A1A1 due to the lack of a stabilizer, hence making firing on the move and/or after short stop more risky than if you were playing a T-62 in the case of a sudden frontal encounter. As a result the French AMX-30B2 is the best played as a second line support tank, a long range sniper or a flanker. You cannot expect to drive straight into battle and come out victorious in this tank.
This tank is, above everything, a sniper tank. The lack of a stabilizer will restrict your playstyle on most city or clustered maps. In these kinds of environment, you will have to play much more slowly and carefully than the other tanks because most tanks amongst other nations come with a stabilizer such as the Chieftain, the T-62 or the T-10M. Just advance slowly and try to be as much aware of your surroundings as you can be because this will prove to be a real life saver in this kind of environment. You can also simply lay ambushes to your enemy by patiently waiting for someone to come in front of your gun, destroy this enemy and quickly relocate using the tank's good mobility.
On big maps however, this tank can unleash all of its potential as the lack of a stabilizer won't be a problem on big maps, find a good location with a clear line-of-sight of commonly used routes to the capture zones and use the binoculars, thermal imaging system as well as the laser rangefinder to snipe your enemies from long distance, they simply wont be able to return fire soon or well enough before a final blow (if it's not done already) achieved through a AMX-30B2's perfectly ranged and aimed shot.
To sum it short, this tank plays very differently than other MBTS from all nations. It's not as versatile or flexible as other vehicles, but is extremely good at what it does the best due to top notch gun and ammunition as well as range-finding device.
In terms of enemies: every stabilized tank can prove extremely dangerous to you in CQC. Also due to your lack of armour, any tank you can encounter in your BR bracket can and will penetrate you frontally if they lay their gun on you. The best method is often to avoid direct combat or, if you have to do it, make sure that you will do it where you'll have the advantage also known as range.
German cannon CAS is also the bane of this tank due to its very thin roof armour. If a player decides to hop into their Me 262 A1/U4 for a payback, it'd be very wise to find a hard cover or a very dense forest in the next 30 seconds because 30 and/or 30 mm cannons loaded with AP shells will be on their way with the AMX-30B2 as a priority target.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful 105 mm APFSDS.
- Thermal Imaging System for the gunner
- Big ready rack allowing a good sustained RoF of 9 shots per minute
- Coaxial 20 mm autocannon with 40° of elevation to deal with thinly armoured vehicles and CAS aircrafts.
- Good survivability when being hit in the turret front as the massive 105 breech and the 20 mm breech will absorb damage
- Smoke shells and grenades are available.
- Laser rangefinder to snipe over long distances accurately.
Cons:
- No stabiliser
- Inadequate hull armour against other Rank VI vehicles.
- 15-20 mm roof armour can be exploited by aerial attacks.
- high cupola that can be exploited by enemies when behind a cover.
History
The AMX-30B2 is the second and most noticeable version of the AMX-30. Most of the improvements found in these vehicles had first been successfully tested on the AMX-32 export MBT which found no buyers most important changes were:
- Improved firepower with the introduction of the OFL 105 F1 APFSDS
- Improved firing control system with the COTAC digital firing control system
- Improved mobility by replacing the original transmission by a semi-automatic gearbox incorporating a torque converter as well as the installation of reinforced torsion bars and shock absorbers
- Improved night fighting capabilities with the installation of a second generation light intensification device
- A new hydrostatic steering mechanism.
The first vehicles were delivered to the "Armée de terre" in 1981. In 1985, the light intensification device got replaced by a CASTOR thermal camera, the vehicle depicted in the game is therefore an AMX-30B2 as it came out of the factory in 1985. The AMX-30B2 was also meant to receive either a stabilized electro-hydraulic turret and weaponry drive unit designed by the SAMM (Société d'Application des Machines Motrices) or a stabilized commander periscopic panoramic sight interlocked with the turret drive unit through the priority controls of the commander over the turret (This system is what got used on the AMX-32 and AMX-40 to ensure a firing-on-the-move capability). Neither of these two solutions were chosen due to the cost of such systems, coupled to cuts in the defense budget. Therefore, the AMX-30B2 remained one of the rare 1980s MBT that was not able to fire on the move. Despite this, all the improvements incorporated into the design made the AMX-30B2 a formidable 2nd-generation MBT in the early '80s.
AMX-30B2 had the opportunity to fire in anger during the first Gulf War in 1991 where they outperformed Iraqis modified and modernized T-55 and T-62 as well as BMP's. However, at that point in time, even though it performed admirably well, the AMX-30B2 was simply obsolete and was about to be replaced with the AMX Leclerc and even if the latter began to rapidly replace the AMX-30B2 in every cavalry regiments, it's not until the early 2000s that the AMX-30B2 stopped being in active service and fully decommissioned. Most of them were destroyed, but some were still used until very recently by the FORAD whose the point is to simulate enemy tanks during exercises. In 2018, after more than 50 years of service, the AMX-30B2 used by the FORAD got definitely scrapped.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
| Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX) | |
|---|---|
| Light tanks | |
| AMX-13 | AMX-13-M24 · AMX-13 (FL11) · AMX-13 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-90 · AMX-13 (HOT) |
| Armoured cars | AMX-10RC |
| Medium tanks | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) |
| MBTs | |
| AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 Super |
| AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 (105) · AMX-32 · AMX-40 |
| Heavy tanks | AMX-50 Surbaissé · AMX-50 Surblindé |
| Tank destroyers | ELC bis · AMX-50 Foch |
| SPAAGs | AMX-13 DCA 40 · AMX-30 S DCA |
| Export | AMX-13 |
| France medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| M4 Derivatives | M4A1 (FL10) · M4A4 (SA50) |
| AMX-50 | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) · AMX-50 (TO90/930) |
| AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 Super |
| AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 · AMX-32 (105) · AMX-40 |
| Leclerc | Leclerc · Leclerc S2 · Leclerc SXXI · Leclerc AZUR |
| Other | D2 · S.35 · Lorraine 40t |
| Germany | Panther "Dauphiné" |
| USA | ▄M4A1 · ▄M4A3 (105) · ▄M4A4 · ▄M26 |
