AMX-13 (FL11)
Contents
Description
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The AMX-13 (FL11) is a Rank III French light tank
with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB) and 4.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It is the first of many iterations of the famous AMX-13. Although this version lacks the punch of its successors, it certainly offers a good foresight of what this light chassis can do.
The AMX-13 (FL11) is the first tank with the distinctive oscillating French turret design, combining it with a low, sleek-profiled chassis - almost identical to 6.0 AMX-13, save for a few small details (e.g. exhaust). The FL11 has a smaller, shorter gun with a double muzzle-break, on a smaller turret that doesn't have the large rear counter-weight/storage and the canvas over the turret joint found on later models.
At its BR, this light tank actually has decent armour, especially in the turret front area, where 40 mm sloped at ~60° will defeat some low-caliber guns. Be cautious: although turret frontal armour is good, this does not means you can just go hull down and be safe, it will only provide you a chance to survive a shot and reposition (this tank is great for learning how to use later models of the AMX-13). As for everywhere else (but the UFP), 20 mm of flat armour is all you get, note that the upper front plate is sloped at 67°, which may ricochet long-range shots. With only 10 mm of top armour, seek company from allied AAs since your own armament does not enables you to engage aerial threats.
Speaking of armament, the 75 mm SA49 cannon is quite decent at the BR. Its only flaw being a bad firing arc (shell drops fast with distance), which makes long-range engagements inadvisable. Penetration rates are comparable to those of the Russian F-34 cannon or those of the British QF 6-pounder's stock shot. While not being the best gun at the BR, it certainly provides enough firepower to destroy any enemy's flank. Horizontal drive is fast, allowing for fast reaction shots in close range engagements. As for elevation angles, -6° of depression feels a bit lacking while 13° of elevation is clearly the worst thing about this configuration: you cannot engage air targets. One last thing to consider about your main gun: it is mounted on an oscillating turret, which makes stop-and-shoot tactics ineffective. Coaxial armament is the classic French MAC 31 with 100 rounds loaded and ready to turn those soft targets to shreds. A sweet addition to this tank is 4 smoke launchers located on the lower turret part's back, these can be used either to shield you and your allies from incoming fire, to cover your retreat or to hide your team's movements from enemy sight. Smoke launchers at this low BR prepares players to higher-ranking battlefields and tactic opportunities, make sure to master them.
With a power ratio of 26.97 HP/ton in AB, or 15.42 HP/ton in RB (stock!), the AMX-13 chassis offers mobility that leave almost nothing to be desired (reverse speed is kind of slow with only -6 km/h). With its wide tracks, even soft terrain is not that hard to cross. The only thing to consider while driving this light tank is obstacles as they can significantly reduce your speed, thus making you vulnerable and/or less effective. One could make very good use of such a fast and small vehicle by avoiding contact while making a large flanking manoeuvre, scouting enemies and popping out sometimes to take down enemies from unexpected angles.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Cast homogeneous armour
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 40 mm (8-87°) Front plate 22 mm (75-85°), 40 mm (31°) Front glacis 40 mm (30°) Lower glacis |
40 mm (1-33°) 40 mm (1-2°) |
40 mm (24-30°) Top 40 mm (9-32°) Bottom |
22 mm |
| Turret | 45 + 25 mm (5°) Turret front 45 mm (28-30°) Left side 25 mm (10-19°) Gun mantlet |
40 mm (1-27°) | 40 mm (8-63°) | 25 mm |
| Armour | Sides | Roof | ||
| Cupola | 40 mm | 40 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are all 15 mm thick.
- Turret ring is 5 mm thick.
Mobility
| Mobility characteristic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tons) | Add-on Armor weight (tons) |
Max speed (km/h) |
| 12.1 | N/A | 41 (AB) |
| 36 (RB/SB) | ||
| Engine power (horsepower) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 130 | 160 |
| Realistic/Simulator | 106 | 120 |
| Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 10.74 | 13.22 |
| Realistic/Simulator | 8.76 | 9.92 |
Armaments
Main armament
| 75 mm SA49 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | ||
| 37 | -6°/+13° | ±180° | N/A | ||
| Turret rotation speed (°/s) | |||||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. |
| Arcade | 17.9 | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | 17.9 | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||
| Stock | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. | ||
| 7.5 | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | ||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration in mm @ 90° | |||||
| 10m | 100m | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | ||
| M61 shot | APCBC | 90 | 88 | 81 | 73 | 65 | 59 |
| PCOT-51P | APCBC | 102 | 98 | 91 | 80 | 69 | 57 |
| 75mm HE | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity in m/s |
Projectile Mass in kg |
Fuse delay
in m: |
Fuse sensitivity
in mm: |
Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent): |
Normalization At 30° from horizontal: |
Ricochet: | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| M61 shot | APCBC | 618 | 6.8 | 1.2 | 20 | 63.7 | ° | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| PCOT-51P | APCBC | 625 | 6.4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | ° | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| 75mm HE | HE | 600 | 6.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 675 | +0° | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
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| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 31 (+6) | 20 (+17) | 12 (+25) | 4 (+33) | 1 (+36) | no |
Machine guns
| 7.5 mm MAC 31 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaxial mount | ||||||
| Capacity (Belt capacity) | Fire rate (shots/minute) |
Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance | |||
| 4,950 (150) | 1,350 | N/A | N/A | |||
Usage in the battles
The AMX-13 (FL11), in line with most light tanks, shines best as a flanker and scout, due to its almost non-existent armour. Some shots against lower tiers can be bounced off by the sloped upper glacis plate and turret front, but anywhere else will get penetrated with ease. A sub-par gun without APHE ammunition means frontal engagements are mostly out of the question.
Scout and flank, as any other light tank should. The AMX-13 (FL11) cannot stand up to direct assaults from the enemy; it has irrelevant armour, decent speed, a useable gun with lacking depression (especially facing forward), and only 3 crew. The bad reverse speed also makes it unable to retreat behind cover once discovered, so caution in engagements is advised. It is also worth noting that the low velocity and high drop rate of its shells allow the FL11 to engage from behind slopes without having to reveal itself.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Decent penetration
- Fairly small
- Good mobility
- Has smoke launchers
- At this BR, poorly aimed shots may bounce off the 40 mm sloped turret
- Coaxial MAC 31 MG
- Low profile: easy to hide, helps scouting
- Unlike most light tanks, impervious to HMG from the front
Cons:
- Light armour
- Does not have explosive filler in shells
- Long Reload
- Low velocity cannon: long-range shots are hard to land.
- Unstable cannon pitch up when firing, makes it difficult to stay on target
- Unstable cannon pitch up when braking, makes it difficult and slow to acquire targets right after stopping
- Mediocre gun depression (especially facing forward)
- Bad reverse
- Bad elevation and no top-mounted MG makes it vulnerable to aircrafts
- Turret area is filled with ammo and fuel.
History
Media
An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.
Read 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.
ETC.
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
