AMX-13 (Israel)

This page is about the Israeli light tank AMX-13 (Israel). For other versions, see AMX-13 (Family).

AMX-13

AML-90

AMX-13

AML-90

Israel

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.3	6.7	6.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:54 000

Purchase:185 000

Show in game

Description

The AMX-13 was employed by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. A total of 400 tanks were acquired from France between 1956 and 1967, with three battalions being formed and ready for deployment. The AMX-13 was used in an unconventional way: since the IDF lacked proper modern MBTs due to arms embargoes imposed upon them, it was decided to use the AMX-13 in frontline duties rather than in the usual roles of light tanks, such as reconnaissance. Thus, the AMX-13 sustained heavy casualties during the war and was promptly retired afterwards.

Introduced in Update "Wind of Change", the AMX-13 is best used in flanking manoeuvres using its good speed and agility against heavier opponents in uptiers, or sniping from medium to long ranges with its decent gun in downtiers. Like all light tanks, the AMX-13 is not suited to urban environments since it can be easily ambushed and destroyed. The AMX-13 lacks any sort of HEAT or APHE and relies only on APCBC with no explosive filler, making it very hard to one-shot enemies. It is recommended to aim for the gunner or the barrel of enemy tanks in close quarters, as the AMX-13 has a 5-second reload autoloader, allowing it to reload faster than most tanks at its BR except for IFVs or APCs with autocannons like the Marder IFV or the BTR-80A.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull40 / 20 / 15

Turret40 / 20 / 20

Crew3 people

Visibility79 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret roof, side and rear)
• Cast homogeneous armour (turret base, turret front, gun mantlet, cupola)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	40 mm (38-40°) Turret base 20 mm (66°) Upper glacis 40 mm (cylindrical) Transmission carter 20 mm (51°) Lower glacis	20 mm (14°) Turret base 20 mm Sides	20 mm (32-34°) Turret base 15 mm (1°) Top 15 mm (44°) Bottom	20 mm (24°) Front glacis 10 mm Centre 10 mm (5°) Rear 5 mm Vents
Turret	40 mm (32-47°) Turret front 60 mm (conical) Gun mantlet 40 mm (15-75°) Barrel shroud	20 mm (0-30°) Turret	20 mm Turret bustle 20 mm (17-22°) Pivot ball 10 mm (77-90°) Turret underside	10 mm
Cupola	20 mm (conical) Base 10 mm (spherical) Dome			20 mm (conical) Outer ring 10 mm (spherical) Centre

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 10 mm thick.
• Storage boxes and mudguards are 4 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB68 / 8 km/h

RB and SB61 / 7 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight14.5 t

Engine power

AB515 hp

RB and SB270 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB35.5 hp/t

RB and SB18.6 hp/t

The AMX-13 is not the fastest for the BR, mostly losing to wheeled vehicles. However, the AMX-13 keeps a consistent speed regardless of the terrain, making it able to reach off-road positions much faster. On top of that, the excellent power-to-weight ratio also helps when trying to reach elevated positions.

The main drawback to remember is the sub-optimal reverse speed. The AMX-13 can only partially expose itself, a fully exposed AMX-13 will not be able to reverse back into cover in time.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	68	8	14.5	418	515	28.83	35.52
Realistic	61	7		239	270	16.48	18.62

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 159 → 3 102

RB2 621 → 3 766

SB3 494 → 5 020

Total cost of modifications46 900

85 400

Talisman cost1 500

Crew training52 000

Experts185 000

Aces710

Research Aces480 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 140 / 170 %

166 / 166 / 166 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 195 Suspension Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 Brake System Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 Filters Research: 2 900 Cost: 5 300 185 Transmission Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 900 240 Engine Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 900 240	Improved Parts Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 195 Improved FPE Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 Crew Replenishment Research: 2 900 Cost: 5 300 185	Horizontal Drive Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 195 Adjustment of Fire Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 Airstrike Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 75mm_SA50_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 300 115 Elevation Mechanism Research: 2 900 Cost: 5 300 185 Smoke grenade Research: 2 900 Cost: 5 300 185 Artillery Support Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 900 240 Improved optics Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 900 240

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm SA50 L/57 cannon

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition36 rounds

First-order12 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Vertical guidance-6° / 13°

75 mm SA50 L/57					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	36	-6°/+13°	±180°	N/A	28.6	39.5	48.0	53.1	56.5	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
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
POT-51A	APBC	182	178	162	143	127	113
OE Mle 1951	HE	15	15	13	12	11	10
PCOT-51P	APCBC	202	198	180	159	141	125

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%
POT-51A	APBC	1,000	6.4	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
OE Mle 1951	HE	753	6.2	0.2	0.1	675	79°	80°	81°
PCOT-51P	APCBC	1,000	6.4	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the AMX-13 (Israel)

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
36	32 (+4)	28 (+8)	23 (+13)	18 (+18)	13 (+23)	7 (+29)	1 (+35)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 6* and 7* (autoloader magazines) are first stage ammo racks. They total 12 shells.
  • These racks get filled first when loading up the tank and are also emptied first.
  • As the AMX-13 (Israel) is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
  • Once the autoloader magazines have been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader with at least 1 shell.
  • The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun (about 15 seconds). Take this into account when playing.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 5 into rack 7* then 6*. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

7.5 mm MAC 31 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition4 950 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Fire rate551 shots/min

7.5 mm MAC 31
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,950 (150)	551	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

How the AMX-13 can be used largely depends on what BR and nations it is facing. At a full down-tier, against 5.3/5.7 (AB/RB), the AMX-13 can be used at medium to long range as a travelling sniper. The main threats at that BR are heavies such as the American T34, the German Tiger II (H) and the Russian IS-2 (1944). These can all be penetrated in their respective weak spots at 500 m, however the further you are, the narrower the weak spots get, and there is no guarantee to disable them in a single shot.

In an up-tier, against up to 7.7, the AMX-13's long-range capabilities are greatly diminished. Most medium tanks become tough to deal with. Heavies like the IS-3, T32, M103 and Maus are a no-go, T-54s are particularly tough as well, the only mediums still easy to deal with at long range are the Leopard 1 and AMX-50. In this situation, the AMX-13 can still shine as a flanker, where you can use your rounds on the less-armoured sides and at a closer range.

It is important to remember that the AMX-13's round is a 75 mm APCBC with no explosive filler to speak of. The round struggles against any form of angled armour, and the post-penetration damage is not always sufficient, even destroying light vehicles from the side may prove difficult (the BMP-1 and Marder A1- being the toughest to deal with). The 5 seconds autoloader can alleviate that, but you will still need to aim strategically. When facing a medium or heavy tank frontally, the best option is sometimes to shoot the barrel and disengage (or, provided they are alone and close enough, get on their sides to finish them off). It will usually take more than one round to destroy an enemy vehicle (against large vehicles, even a direct shot to the ammo may not detonate it due to poor post-penetration damage), so disabling them with the first shot should always be your first priority.

Particularly when getting on the side of multiple enemies at once, focus on disabling all the enemies before attempting to finish them off. A shot to the side turret to destroy their cannon breech is usually the most optimal. This is particularly true for the American T34s and T32s. As for the IS-3, due to the angled turret, the easiest method is a shot to the rear turret, otherwise, a shot in between the hull and the turret is the only place that can be penetrated. On the side, it is possible to penetrate the Maus' armour, however it is a lengthy and dangerous process, and it is usually better to simply destroy its guns and let your team finish it off.

Finally, remember to pro-actively use the scouting ability, it can often save you in a pinch.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 75 mm APCBC has high penetration and high velocity, can penetrate even heavy tanks' weak spots (e.g. Tiger II (H))
• Autoloader reloads the cannon at an impressive speed
• Fast on most terrains, can effectively perform flanking
• Small profile, easy to conceal the tank and ambush others
• Autoloader means that injured crew or fire-extinguishing will not impact the reload time which can be a life-saver

Cons:

• Poor survivability, thin armour can be penetrated by any gun including that of any SPAA like Falcon
• Narrow tracks negatively affect its start-up agility on loose surface
• Autoloader holds 12 shells, reload time significantly lengthens after those
• APCBC isn't explosive, requiring accurate shots on crew or other components
• -7 km/h reverse is very low, severely limiting its tactical agility

History

AMX-13 from the 27th Armored Brigade

The AMX-13 was employed by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War against Egyptian and Syrian forces. It was Israel's only choice to acquire a modern tank in a period when France was the only global power willing to sell weapons to Israel. Israel first acquired a batch of 180 units of the AMX-13 light tank from France in 1956. This was part of an agreement to increase the strength of the Israeli army, and to maintain in the region after arms purchase agreements between Egypt and Czechoslovakia.

Because of a shortage of tanks in the IDF's inventory, Israel employed this vehicles as main battle tanks in some units and thus, they were not used as light tanks or reconnaissance vehicles. Israel later acquired several more units of the AMX-13, with a total of 400 units ready to be deployed by 1967, thus, before the war, 3 battalions were formed to participate in the Six-Day War.

The three battalions participated in all the fronts of the war, one of them being deployed in the West Bank area against Jordan, another in the Golan Heights against Syria and the last one was deployed in the Gaza Strip and in the north of the Sinai Peninsula against Egypt.

Though the tank had decent performance, it proved unsatisfactory. The AMX-13 was a light tank employed in a frontline role, thus, it sustained very heavy casualties throughout the entire war but specially during the Rafah Crossing and the Jiradi Pass. Most of these tanks were destroyed by Soviet-made tanks like the IS-3 and T-54/55. Because of these bad results, the tanks were rapidly retired from service after the war, and sold to the Singapore Army between 1968 and 1969.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the AMX-13 (Israel) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• AMX-13 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Israel light tanks
Tracked	AMX-13 · Namer 30
Wheeled	AML-90