GT-3 (105 mm)

This page is about the South African GT-3 (105 mm) cannon. For variants, see L7 (105 mm) (Family).

Description

The 105 mm GT-3 cannon is a 105 mm South African tank cannon developed by Denel in their efforts to upgrade existing Centurions with a more powerful cannon. Due to international embargoes imposed on South Africa, the South African government had to purchase their parts elsewhere. This cannon uses a modified 105 mm barrel while retaining the original 20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm) gun breech from their Centurions. The resulting gun could fire NATO ammunition.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Class 3 (P)
• Olifant Mk.1A
• TTD

General info

Available ammunition

The M152, M156 and M111 shells are available to all tanks using the 105 mm GT-3 cannon. The M416 smoke round is available only for the Olifant Mk.1A, the DM33 is present only in the Class 3 (P), while the DM63 is used only in the TTD. The GT-3 has no access to stock APDS rounds, which means that players must rely on the HEATFS shots.

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
M152 / DM12	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
M156 / DM502	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M111 / DM23	APFSDS	337	335	330	322	314	306
DM33	APFSDS	408	405	398	389	379	370
DM63	APFSDS	436	434	426	416	406	396

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%
M152 / DM12	HEATFS	1,173	10.5	0.05	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°
M156 / DM502	HESH	732	14.85	0.1	4	4,310	73°	77°	80°
M111 / DM23	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
DM33	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
DM63	APFSDS	1,455	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	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)
M416	730	11.4	20	5	25	50

Comparison with analogues

• L7A3 (105 mm) - A very similar performance, found on most Leopards and the Japanese Type 74s.
• L7A1 (105 mm) - An inferior GT-3.
• FMK.4 Modelo 1L (105 mm) - Practically the same gun. Both have the same reload speed and the same shells. The only difference is the access to an APDS round.
• D-10T (100 mm) / D-10T2S (100 mm) - With an extra 3 seconds of reload time across the board, it gives the GT-3 quite a practical advantage.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

The GT-3 was a South African cannon developed by Denel Land System in their effort to upgrade existing Centurion tanks with a 105 mm cannon. Due to international sanctions forbidding South Africa from acquiring new weapons, their aging tank force and experience in the Border War against Angola, the South Africans resorted to making their own weapons with whatever was available to them, including their Centurion Mk3s and their 84 mm cannon. It was decided to use the Centurion as a basis for a new indigenous South African tank (as they had no other options available).

The resulting product was a 105 mm cannon. This cannon, known as the 105 mm GT-3, retains the 84 mm cannon's breech assembly, while fitting it with new mounting lugs to fit existing recoil system. The barrel is a similar copy to the original British L7A3's own barrel, with a couple of minute changes to fit in with the different breech assembly. The resulting cannon could fire NATO ammunition.

The GT-3, with the Israeli supplied M111 APFSDS round could penetrate a T-54/55 and T-62 up to a range of 2 km. However, most Olifant Mk.1A crews preferred HEAT-FS rounds due to it making a much more noticeable impact, considering that the Olifant Mk.1A faces Angolan T-54/55 and T-62s that does not have any form of composite or reactive armour.

On November 1987, as part of Operation Moduler, Lt. Hein Fourie destroyed the first T-55 with an Olifant Mk.1A armed with the GT-3 cannon. Overall, the GT-3 cannon was successful in its role in modernising the South African army with a tank cannon that is capable of dominating the African battlefield without outside assistance.

Apart from the Olifant, the GT-3 would also be installed in the Tank Technology Demonstrator (TTD) as a placeholder while a 120 mm was being developed, which unfortunately was scrapped.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• L7 (105 mm) (Family)
• GT-7 (105 mm)
• GT-8 (105 mm)

External links

• http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product3619.html
• https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/south_africa/olifant_mk.i

Britain tank cannons
30 mm	L21A1
40 mm	QF 2-pounder
47 mm	Ordnance QF 3-pounder
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III · 6pdr OQF Mk.V
75 mm	OQF Mk.V
76 mm	OQF 3-inch Howitzer Mk I · OQF 3in 20cwt · QF 17-pounder
77 mm	OQF Mk.II
84 mm	20pdr OQF Mk.I
94 mm	28pdr OQF · 32pdr OQF · OQF Mk.II
95 mm	Howitzer, Tank No.1, Mk.I
105 mm	LRF · Royal Ordnance L7A1
120 mm	Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 · Ordnance BL Tk. L11 · L11A5 · L30A1
165 mm	ORD BL 6.5in L9A1
183 mm	QF L4A1
	Foreign:
25 mm	M242 (USA)
37 mm	M5 (USA) · M6 (USA)
75 mm	M2 (USA) · M3 (USA)
84 mm	kan Strv 81 (Sweden)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	Rh120 L/55 A1 (Germany)
125 mm	2A46M-5 (Russia)
155 mm	M185 (USA)
	South Africa
20 mm	GI-2
76 mm	GT-4
90 mm	GT-2
105 mm	GT-3 · GT-7 · GT-8
155 mm	G6 L/45