Centurion Mk.5 AVRE

This page is about the British medium tank Centurion Mk.5 AVRE. For other variants, see Centurion (Family).

Centurion Mk.5 AVRE

Centurion Mk.5 AVRE

Britain

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.0	7.0	7.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:8 200

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Description

The Centurion Assault Vehicle, Royal Engineers Mk.5, or simply the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE, is a premium gift rank V British medium tank with a battle rating of 8.0 (AB) and 7.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X".

General info

Survivability and armour

ERA

Effective action against the cumulative ammunition

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Self-entrenching equipment

Creation of ramparts and trenches in soft ground

Armourfront / side / back

Hull76 / 51 / 38

Turret152 / 89 / 89

Crew5 people

Visibility126 %

Overall, the armour on the AVRE is similar to that on the Centurion Mk 3 gun tank with three major differences: ROMOR-A ERA, composite side skirts and a dozer blade. The ERA provides additional protection (300mm HEAT, 30mm KE) on key areas of the tank, namely the turret face and upper glacis plate, but this has little impact against most opponents due to the majority of shells at this rank being of the kinetic energy (KE) variety. It also changes the visible profile of the turret, obscuring the weak points beneath the standard Centurion turret. The composite side skirts provide a significant increase in protection against small calibre HEAT and auto-cannon fire, increasing it to the point where rounds can no longer penetrate the side armour. They do not change the effect of MBT rounds however as the additional protection simply isn't enough to stop them. The dozer blade may seem unimportant at first glance as it consists of 70mm of structural steel, not RHA, but this is not the case. The blade acts as spaced armour against most rounds aimed at the hull, adding around 60mm against KE and 200mm against HEAT. This can also be added to by the ERA on the front plate, overall providing greater than 400mm of protection against HEAT rounds.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB39 / 14 km/h

RB and SB35 / 13 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

2 back

Weight52.2 t

Engine power

AB1 240 hp

RB and SB650 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB23.8 hp/t

RB and SB12.5 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	39	14	52.2	1,007	1,240	19.29	23.75
Realistic	35	13		575	650	11.02	12.45

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 851

RB3 232

SB4 306

Crew training10 000

Experts490 000

Aces1 200

Research Aces1 440 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 130 / 200 / 220 %

2 × 196 / 196 / 196 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment Dozer Blade	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade Artillery Support

Armaments

Main armament

165 mm ORD BL 6.5in L9A1 demolition charge projector

Ammunition53 rounds

First-order7 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

27.7 → 21.3 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 18°

165 mm ORD BL 6.5in L9A1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	53	-10°/+18°	±180°	N/A	19.0	26.4	32.0	35.4	37.6	27.7	24.5	22.6	21.3
Realistic					11.9	14.0	17.0	18.8	20.0

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
L33A1	HESH	203	203	203	203	203	203

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%
L33A1	HESH	259	30.6	0.4	2.0	20,310	73°	77°	80°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
53	50 (+3)	36 (+17)	22 (+31)	8 (+45)	1 (+52)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Bottom racks 2 to 4 deplete from left to right.
• Packing 22 (+31) shells (racks 1 to 3 emptied) is a good compromise to have enough shells in combat while minimizing the number of shells onboard.

Machine guns

7.62 mm L3A1 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 250 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm L3A1 machine gun

Ammunition1 250 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm L3A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	1,250 (250)	500	-10°/+80°	±180°
Coaxial	3,250 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Centurion Mk.5 AVRE, despite the additional armour, is still essentially a Centurion in terms of survivability and mobility. The tank must be driven carefully to take full advantage of the environment and avoid being shot until it is able to close in to the enemy and take full advantage of its 165 mm gun. Its relatively low speed for a medium tank is not ideal with flanking, so simply getting into a safe position and ambushing unaware enemy tanks often leads to success. Your long reload speeds and lack of stabilizer limits your ability to advance and fire at the same time, and so coupled with your relatively weak armour means you should only advance when the area is clear, so that you can move to a new ambush position. A Mk.5 AVRE that ambushes a lone enemy will almost always win, assuming your first shot connects.

While the rangefinder can be used in conjunction with gun-sight range adjustment, the tank will struggle in medium to long distant combat, as the HESH shells lack any semblance of accuracy past around 400 meters, with shells arcing such that shell placement becomes quite difficult along with shell travel time becoming increasingly high. However, against a completely static target and with good rangefinding crew skill, it is not impossible to land a direct hit up to 800 meters. However, if you miss, your long reload speed means you may completely miss your chance at destroying your target, which can easily manoeuvre away without threat of damage, or simply return fire freely.

The tank is best played as a support tank in conjunction with the rest of your team. Becoming isolated while playing the Mk.5 AVRE is extremely dangerous, as your long reload speed, low speed, and weak armour means that you cannot withstand an attack by anything more than a single tank. If you fire at an enemy tank and are then caught by another tank, you are most likely done for. Additionally, failing to instantly destroy a target with your first shot is also extremely dangerous, whether you missed or have damaged an enemy. In that situation, you will want an allied tank to cripple the enemy or finish them off until you are able to either reload or retreat with your two smoke grenade barrages. The extra crew member over the other Centurion models may allow you to survive an extra shot, but an isolated Mk.5 AVRE is a dead Mk.5 AVRE. At the same time, the Mk. 5 AVRE's ability to help teammates repair increases its usefulness as a support tank.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has a powerful 165 mm gun that fires shells with the explosive mass of 15.87 kg, equal to 20.31k g TNT, one hit can always deal serious damage to the enemy vehicles
• ROMOR-A ERA equivalent protection against 30 mm kinetic energy munitions and 300 mm chemical energy munitions
• The dozer blade in front it can provide additional protection, especially protect the lower glacis
• Low muzzle velocity can allow the trajectory to hit some enemies hide behind the slope, especially in AB
• Composite side skirts
• Acceptable reload time
• Can help repair teammates
• Very useful in the close range combat, especially in urban warfare
• Good reverse speed
• Smoke grenade can be released twice
• A five-man crew, unlike other Centurion designs

Cons:

• Terrible muzzle velocity makes this vehicle not very useful in the open area, especially in RB
• Low top speed
• Centurion is a large tank = larger target
• Side armour is still very weak
• Only has HESH as its only ammunition
• Based on Centurion Mk 5, which is similar as the Centurion Mk 3, so it has the similar weak spots as the Centurion Mk 3 (like the turret ring)
• Top of the engine deck can be easily penetrated by planes

History

In the 1960s, the British army felt the need for a modern multi-functional engineering vehicle. They chose the Centurion Mk 5 main battle tank base to replace the outdated engineering tank, which used a Churchill chassis. Since the engineering vehicle's tasks were rather specific, the Centurion chassis was given special equipment: the tank received a bulldozer scoop, a device was mounted above the scoop for laying fascines, the altered rear armour plate was equipped with a tow hitch, and a seat was installed next to the driver's seat for a new, fifth crew member – a navigator. The engineering vehicle, which was called the Centurion AVRE (abbreviated from Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) was designed to carry a special engineering gun capable of destroying fortifications, pillboxes and other fortified defensive positions. That gun was the short-barreled L9, a 165 mm caliber cannon with low recoil. The vehicle received an ammunition complement of 53 shots with high-explosive squash head (HESH) shells with huge destructive force – each charge contained almost 16 kilograms of explosives. The Centurion AVRE became the standard engineering vehicle for the British Army and participated in several armed conflicts, including the 1991 Gulf War. In the 80's, Centurion AVRE's were modernized, receiving additional armour including ROMOR reactive armour - this modification was used in operation "Desert Storm". The vehicle was retired in 1993.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

High-explosive power discusses the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE at 2:37 - War Thunder Official Channel

Premium Vehicles: Centurion Mk.5 AVRE - War Thunder Wiki

Centurion Mk.5 AVRE Tank Review - NUSensei

Centurion Mk.5 AVRE - Really Odd Fun - Napalmratte

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• Centurion (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] Centurion AVRE: Engineer at War
• [Wikipedia] Centurion
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] FV4003 Centurion AVRE