Rooikat Mk.1D

Rooikat Mk.1D

Fox

Olifant Mk.1A

Rooikat Mk.1D

Fox

Olifant Mk.1A

Britain

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.3	8.7	8.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:135 000

Purchase:380 000

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Description

The Rooikat Mk.1D is a rank VI British light tank with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB) and 8.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.95 "Northern Wind".

General info

Survivability and armour

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

Hull30 / 25 / 20

Turret25 / 25 / 15

Crew4 people

Visibility84 %

Armour on the Rooikat is, to say the least, nonexistent. It will be safe from rifle-calibre machine guns from all angles, but 12.7 mm and above will be able to penetrate the side armour at close ranges. Cannon-armed aircraft will also be a significant threat. This vehicle also has hull-break, so any main gun will probably instantly destroy the Rooikat Mk.1D. Therefore, the Rooikat Mk.1D's key to survival is mobility. It also comes stock with a desert yellow camouflage, which can be problematic on certain maps.

Armour type:

• Rolled Homogeneous Armor (hull, turret, cupola)
• Wheel (tires, torsion bars)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (77°) Upper glacis - Centre 10 mm (75°) Upper glacis - Sides 30 mm (23°) Lower glacis - Centre 15 mm (23°) Lower glacis - Sides	20 mm (25°) Top 25 mm (0-9°) Bottom	20 mm Upper plate 20 mm (29°) Lower plate	25 mm (13°) Front glacis - Centre 10 mm (15°) Front glacis - Sides 20 mm (0-13°) Driver compartment 10 mm (0-17°) Crew compartment 5 mm Radiator vents
Turret	25 mm (26-28°) Turret front 25 mm Gun mantlet - external 30 mm (cylindrical) Gun mantlet - internal	25 mm (12-16°)	15 mm (15°)	15 mm (10°) Front 10 mm (0-11°) Rear
Cupola	25 mm (cylindrical) Base 25 mm (spherical) Dome			25 mm (spherical) Dome

Notes:

• Tires and torsion bars are 10 mm thick.
• The storage box behind the turret is 5 mm thick.
• The internal part of the gun mantlet overlaps with parts of the turret front.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB134 / 41 km/h

RB and SB121 / 37 km/h

Number of gears12 forward

4 back

Weight26.5 t

Engine power

AB1 082 hp

RB and SB567 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB40.8 hp/t

RB and SB21.4 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	134	41	26.5	879	1,082	33.17	40.83
Realistic	121	37		501	567	18.91	21.4

The mobility on the Rooikat Mk.1D is best described as good. It's decently fast, both on and off-road, but suffers from a poor turning circle and a somewhat under-powered engine, at least when stock. Users should not be surprised if they have trouble climbing even mild grades from a standstill and it is not uncommon to need to back up and gain some momentum before being able overcome some hills.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 104 → 5 127

RB3 343 → 5 522

SB3 991 → 6 593

Total cost of modifications110 800

190 000

Talisman cost2 300

Crew training110 000

Experts380 000

Aces1 400

Research Aces830 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

120 / 160 / 200 %

208 / 208 / 208 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tires Research: 8 100 Cost: 13 000 320 Suspension Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 210 Brake System Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 210 Filters Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 240 Transmission Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260 Engine Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260	Improved Parts Research: 2 400 Cost: 13 000 320 Improved FPE Research: 1 600 Cost: 8 600 210 Crew Replenishment Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 240 ESS Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260	Horizontal Drive Research: 8 100 Cost: 13 000 320 Adjustment of Fire Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 210 Airstrike Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 210 Elevation Mechanism Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 240 Improved optics Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 240 Scout UAV Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 240 Artillery Support Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260 Laser rangefinder Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260 Smoke grenade Research: 6 500 Cost: 10 000 260

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Main armament

76 mm GT-4 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition48 rounds

First-order10 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

8.7 → 6.7 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

The Rooikat Mk.1D is armed with the Denel 76 mm GT-4 cannon. As far as game-play goes, it is essentially a hand-loaded version of the OTO-Melara 76mm/62 gun found on the OTOMATIC. It fires the same APFSDS and has HE with similar performance to the shell found on the OTOMATIC, albeit not VT-fused and thus far less useful. Its APFSDS has the ability to frontally penetrate any opponent in its battle-rating bracket, although the odd Maus may be troublesome, particularly if it is angled.

It has a base 8.7 second reload, which can be reduced to 6.7s through a fully trained and aced crew. Unfortunately this reload is exactly as long as the reload on 105mm armed vehicles it may face in its battle-rating bracket such as the Leopard series, OF-40 series, Centauro, and AMX-30 series. It also has the somewhat questionable accuracy of the OTO-Melara 76mm, so do not be surprised if its shots aren't pinpoint, though this matters more for shooting down the odd helicopter than for tanks. It gets access to a laser rangefinder to make long range shots easier which is useful on large maps like Sinai. It has decent turret traverse and good firing angles, so its quite flexible in terms of positioning.

76 mm GT-4					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	48	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	38.1	52.7	64.0	70.8	75.3	8.71	7.70	7.10	6.70
Realistic					23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0

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
76/62 APFSDS	APFSDS	311	308	301	291	281	271
76/62 HE	HE	14	14	14	14	14	14

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
76/62 APFSDS	APFSDS	1,615	2.18	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
76/62 HE	HE	915	6.3	0.2	0.1	969.12	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Rooikat Mk.1D

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
48	46 (+2)	37 (+11)	29 (+19)	19 (+29)	11 (+37)	1 (+47)	Yes

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 6 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 10 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
  • This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 5.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-5 into rack 6. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.
• The visual discrepancy concerns the total number of shells as well as the number of shells per rack:
  • 49 shells are modeled but you can pack only 48 shells.
  • Rack 1 is modeled as 4 shells but contains only 3 shells.

Machine guns

7.62 mm Browning MG4 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 750 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm Browning MG4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,600 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Rooikat Mk.1D should be played either as long range support (with the help of the scouting mechanic) or in quick flanking manoeuvres. As a wheeled vehicle, the mobility is excellent and allows the Rooikat to get to ambush or sniping spots very quickly before the slower and heavier opponents show up. Although the gun penetrates far above its weight for its calibre, the post-penetration damage leaves something to be desired and can punish careless point-and-click targeting. Drivers of the Rooikat must take this in mind and put extra thought on where on a target they should aim, as its rather long reload does not leave room for error with such limited post-pen damage. If a player decides to snipe with the Rooikat, they should adopt a "shoot-and-scoot" strategy: shoot an opponent, fall back behind cover and relocate to a new firing spot to avoid retaliation. An opponent returning fire will most likely not have any issues taking you out within 1 or 2 shots.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• One of the fastest ground vehicles in-game (120 km/h in RB), even with stock modules it can often drive off-road as fast as an upgraded BMP-2
• Access to APFSDS rounds
• Sides and front can stop .50 cals at slight angle or at 100+ metres
• Laser Rangefinder
• Very good reverse speed at -43 km/h
• Has good zoom variety for a light tank, having X8-12 zoom compared to usual X7-8 of light tanks at the rank

Cons:

• Despite the indicated top speed, the vehicle will rarely get to 100+ km/h
• Not as good at reversing as other British light tanks or the Object 906
• Weak armour overall, unlike Warrior it will succumb to any autocannon fire instantly
• Vehicle will not be able to stabilise the gun at speeds of 75+ km/h (46.6+ mph)
• The 76/62 APFSDS has very punctual post-pen damage. It's not uncommon to take 3+ rounds to finish a target off
• Reload rate is rather average - mediocre when taking into account the lackluster sabot damage
• Has a rather large turning circle, so turning around in confined areas may require 3-point turns.

History

Devblog

During the mid 1970s, the South African armed forces issued a specification which kickstarted the development of the “New Generation Armoured Car” project. The aim of the project, as the name suggests, was the development of a new heavy armoured car that would replace dated existing designs in the near future. 

First test beds were developed in the late 1970s, intended to primarily trial various designs for mobility. At the same time, South Africa was involved in some local conflicts with the neighbouring state of Angola during the mid ‘70s - mid ‘80s, further shaping the development of the ongoing project.

In the early 1980s, having sought knowledge and expertise from German engineers, several prototype designs were built and tested. Among them, the eight-wheeled ‘Cheetah Mk.2’ armed with a 76 mm gun was selected as the winner and was subsequently procured by the South African army. Small scale production began in the late 1980s, with the Cheetah Mk.2 officially receiving the name ‘Rooikat’ after entering service. Following initial limited production runs, mass production commenced in mid 1990, which led to a total of over 240 Rooikats being produced.

In the early 2000s, the Rooikat 76 Mk.1D was developed under a modernisation program, becoming the most modern modification of the vehicle. The upgrade introduced several smaller improvements, such as improved commander optics and number of smoke launchers as well as others. Over 170 Rooikat 76 Mk.1Ds serve with the South African army today.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Rooikat Mk.1D from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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Videos

Should You Buy The Rooikat Mk. 1D - Sako Sniper

The Shooting Range #179 - Metal Beasts section at 00:30 discusses the Rooikat Mk.1D.

Rooikat Mk.1D - Speeding Up British 8.3 Lineup - Napalmratte

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• Rooikat 105

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• AUBL/74 HVG
• Centauro
• AMX-10RC

External links

• [Devblog] Rooikat 76 Mk.1D: Desert Cat