Sho't Kal Dalet (Great Britain)

▄Sho't Kal Dalet

▄Sho't Kal Dalet

Britain

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.0	9.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

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Description

The ▄Sho't Kal Dalet is a premium rank VI British medium tank with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

The base survivability towards various forms of APDS and APHE/APCBC is virtually the same as that of the Centurion Mk 10 in the regular tech tree, but now you will encounter less of these munitions, with HEAT and APFSDS rounds being your primary threat now. The upper front plate and the turret "forehead" will easily bounce APDS and APCBC/APHE rounds from various 100 mm and 105 mm guns at beyond 500m range. APFSDS rounds, however, will penetrate through your tank at any angle and at any range.

But the really interesting and unique aspect about Sho't Kal Dalet is the entire array of ERA tiles that cover the front and side of the tank. They even cover the turret "forehead", turret cheeks and most importantly, the turret ring. Apart from the ERA themselves, there is a considerable amount of air gap behind the ERA tiles and the tank skin which acts as an additional spaced armour against HEAT projectiles. This setup makes your tank immune to any HEAT, ATGM and HEAT-FS round that penetrates 400-450 mm RHAe by default, easily eliminating the threat posed by 105 mm DM12, 100 mm 3BK17M and 3BK5 rounds (most commonly used chemical energy rounds at this BR). ATGMs and higher calibre HEAT rounds(like the 650 mm penetration 120 mm DM12 round from Leopard 1A1A1 L/44) will have no trouble penetrating your ERA tiles.

Protection against autocannon fire with virtually any belt is mediocre at best, with frontal protection somewhat decent but side armour is too thin for APDS belts of cannon fire from BMP-2 and Gepards.

The interior layout suffers from the same drawback as the regular Centurion, with ammunition littered throughout the fighting compartment. Any penetration in the hull at the centre of mass is sure to hit the ammo rack resulting in a catastrophic explosion of the tank. The ammunition rack next to the driver can be eliminated by taking less number of rounds but doesn't help the survivability much.

The commander in Sho't Kal Dalet sits in a pretty exposed position on the turret with his head directly behind the commander's cupola, resulting in him getting knocked out pretty often by potshots when the tank is in a hull down position.

Armour	Thickness	Material
Upper front plate	127mm at construction angle of 56 degrees	Rolled Homogeneous Armour
Lower front plate	127mm at construction angle of 47 degrees	Rolled Homogeneous Armour
Turret mantlet	Varying between 154mm-178mm around the gun. Thickest at the edges of the gun mantlet	Cast Homogeneous Armour
Turret front	Varying between 230mm-240mm	Cast Homogeneous Armour
Turret sides	92mm	Cast Homogeneous Armour
Hull side	55mm	Rolled Homogeneous Armour
Rear armor(Hull)	38mm	Rolled Homogeneous Armour
Rear armor(Turret)	89mm	Cast Homogeneous Armour
Engine deck	Varying between 16mm-20mm	Rolled Homogeneous Armour
Turret roof	Varying between 38mm-55mm	Mix of Rolled Homogeneous Armour and Cast Homogeneous Armor

Notes:-

• The road wheels are made of structural steel and are 20 mm worth of RHAe
• The side skirts are made of Rolled Homogeneous Armor are 6mm thick
• Each block Blazer ERA provides 260 mm worth of Chemical Energy protection

Mobility

When it comes to mobility, the Sho't Kal Dalet has an edge over every other British MBT at a similar BR thanks to its decent 750 hp Continental diesel engine with 2,400 RPM. It can reverse itself at a decent -12 Km/h(2 gears) and hit speeds up to 48 Km/h (5 gears). While it's not the best as compared to Leopard 1A1A1 and Centuro, it is more than enough to get you into a good firing position early in the match or switch firing positions after scoring a few kills.

Armaments

Main armament

The main gun of the Sho't is the Israeli modification of the legendary Royal Ordnance L7 cannon, dubbed as Sharir (105 mm). It can fire an assortment of APFSDS, HEAT-FS, HESH and Smoke rounds, effectively making you an effective hunter for virtually every tank at your BR. The gun is devastatingly accurate and quick firing, taking only 6.7 seconds for each shot at 8.3 BR.

Your main round for most of the situations is the M111 "Hetz" APFSDS. It can penetrate 195mm RHAe at 60 degrees at point blank range and 177mm RHAe at 60 degrees at 2,000 m, and comes with a muzzle velocity of 1,455 m/s, making the M111 one of the strongest penetrating kinetic rounds at 8.3 BR against sloped surfaces. You'll use this round 9/10 times in your engagements. It'll chew up Leopards, T-54s, T-55s, OF-40, Centuros, IS-3s, AMX-30s, STBs and Type-74s at all ranges.

This round will struggle to penetrate T-10M, IS-4M, IS-7 and Maus if facing from an "awkward angle". In such a scenario, disable the gun barrel and reposition yourself to take a side shot if the situation permits or disengage from combat.

The default round, the M152 HEAT-FS round, is a very good round overall, penetrating 400m at 0 degrees and 200 mm at 60 degrees at any range. However, it's usefulness is mitigated by the fact that it has low muzzle velocity than the APFSDS and can be detonated by fences and walls in its path. Carry a few of them to deal with T-10M, IS-4M and Maus at long ranges. Don't try to use the M152 against IS-7 as it has a very complex array of spaced armour behind its main armour.

The M156 is a typical British 105 mm HESH round found on all tanks using the L7 guns and it's derivatives. Like any HESH round, use it against tanks with surfaces directly in contact with crew and modules(i.e no spaced armour or side skirts). M156 works best against surfaces 100mm-150mm in thickness and sloped at 30-60 degrees. This creates the maximum amount of spalling and results in catastrophic damage to crew and modules.

For example, if you're facing an AMX-30 or T-54/55 from front, hitting the left side of the lower front plate is an easy temptation for initiating an ammo rack explosion, however, players keep forgetting that the ammunition rack is surrounded in front by a fuel tank, which will absorb shaped charges and HESH spalling, making HEAT and HESH rounds not worth the attempt (APFSDS and higher calibre APDS rounds, like the ones from Conqueror, Conway, Chieftains and Challenger Mk.2 will, however, punch through and blow up the ammo rack anyway). You can, however, fire the HESH on the sloped but thin turret, which will surely kill at least two crew members in the turret and disable the gun breech.

Remember, as with HEAT rounds, it can be triggered by obstacles in its path and spaced armour will nullify its effectiveness.

Use the M156 primarily to destroy enemy IFVs and SPAAAs at close to medium ranges.

The final round is the M416 smoke round, an often neglected but very useful round. Be creative with this round and use it to harass enemy snipers or cover friendly axis of advances.

All in all, the Sho't by virtue of the M111 and a quick firing Sharir cannon, has one of the most brutal firepowers at long range at it's BR.

Round	Type	Muzzle velocity	Projectile mass	Explosive mass	Fuze delay and sensitivity	Point blank Penetration@Angle (at 0,30 and 60 degrees in RHAe)	Penetration@Angle at 2000m (at 0,30 and 60 degrees in RHAe)
M111	Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot	1455 m/s	3.79 kg	N/A	N/A	337/292/195 mm	306/265/177 mm
M152	High Explosive Anti Tank Fin Stabilized	1173 m/s	10.73 kg	0.970 kg of Composition B with TNT equivalent of 1.27 Kg	0.1 mm of fuze sensitivity	400/346/200 mm	400/346/200 mm
M156	High Explosive Squash Head	732 m/s	14.85 kg	2.99 kg	0.1 mm of fuze sensitivity and 0.4 m of delay	127/134/143 mm	127/134/143 mm
M416	Smoke Round	730 m/s	11.4 kg	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Machine guns

The Sho't comes with 3x FN MAG 60-40 (7.62 mm) (1 x coaxial and 2 x roof-mounted) and 1 M2HB (12.7 mm) heavy machine gun(coaxial), providing an extremely concentrated stream of small arms and heavy machine-gun fire to target harassing aircrafts and helicopters. Although not as effective as the 20 mm autocannons on some other tanks, it's still quite useful.

Usage in battles

The Sho't Kal Dalet should be played in a reserved role, taking advantage of its reliable long-ranged Sharir cannon and exceptional protection against shaped charges. Its frontal armour is suited to withstand most HEAT warheads commonly found around its BR.

The Sho't Kal Dalet´s main armament is perfectly capable of disposing of all threats it encounters thanks to its M111 APFSDS round. Well placed centre of mass attacks will take out even the mighty IS-7 from the front. At long ranges, up to 2,200 m, the Sho't Kal Dalet´s rangefinder provides accurate target information (with rangefinding crew skills) to engage even the heaviest targets accurately.

Hull down on "Berlin"

Its armour, while good, is not reliable and only provides protection from ATGMS or HEAT attacks.

Paired with its good gun depression Sho't Kal Dalet´s strengths clearly lie in long-ranged engagements preferably in hull-down positions.

That does not mean Sho't Kal Dalet is not capable of close-range fast-paced engagements.

Sho't Kal Dalet is a true MBT as it is versatile in its playstyles and not just a long-ranged fighter,

it has decent mobility and a fully stabilized L7 at its disposal which makes it a decent close combat platform as well, but a reserved careful approach is still needed to not find itself at a disadvantage to faster opponents.

Otherwise, the slow turret and hull traverse can leave its vulnerable side exposed very quickly. Thanks to its generous arsenal of smoke dispensers and reverse speed it is possible to disengage if needed fairly well.

But Sho't Kal Dalet does not have the mobility to evade faster opponents like the Leopard family.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great fully stabilized 105 mm L7 cannon
• E.R.A. grants improved protection against HEAT warheads
• No less than three pintle-mount machine guns on the turret roof; good for warding off pesky low-flying planes and helicopters
• Decent mobility compared to other british MBT´s on the same BR

Cons:

• Somewhat slow in comparison to other medium tanks at its rank

History

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.

- From Devblog

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

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] Sho’t Kal Dalet: Conquering the Desert