Sho't Kal Gimel
This page is about the Israeli medium tank Sho't Kal Gimel. For other versions, see Sho't (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Sho't Kal Gimel was the third serial modification of the Sho't Kal series developed based on the British Centurion. The Sho't Kal Gimel modification took place from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The tank received additional machine guns, new 10-round smoke grenade launchers on the turret sides, and "Blazer" ERA on the hull and turret. This variant was withdrawn from service along with other Sho't Kal variants in 2007.
Introduced in Update "Wind of Change", the Sho't Kal Gimel shares similar capabilities to previous Sho't Kal series tanks, but with better chemical protection and small improvements to firepower. Unlike its predecessor, it receives a laser rangefinder, smoke grenade launchers, the powerful M111 "Hetz" HEAT round, and "Blazer" ERA, allowing the tank to withstand hits from high-explosive rounds and ATGMs. While the firepower is good, it lacks the thermal imaging system of the Sho't Kal Dalet. It is still a relatively competitive tank that has very capable gun depression, and the ERA blocks improve tank survivability against shaped-charge warheads like HEAT and ATGMs, which become increasingly common at this rank. In addition, the tank retains good mobility.
General info
Survivability and armour
The overall appearance of the Sho't Kal Gimel is very similar to its predecessor, the Alef; but in view of the intensity of the Middle Eastern Wars, the Gimel installed the Blazer ERA covering its front and some parts of its sides, as well as an extra layer of armour plate welded on the UFP, increasing its odds to survive a hit. The IDF also installed additional machine guns, so players can tell it's a Sho't Kal Gimel right away. Although the installation of ERA helped improved its odds against HEAT shells, but later missiles or kinetic shells will easily penetrate the obsolete base armour all-around.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, turret roof)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, gun mantlet)
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 76.2 + 51 mm (57°) Upper glacis 76.2 mm (46°) Lower glacis |
50.8 mm (12°) | 38 mm (8°) Top 20 mm (62°) Bottom |
127.2 mm (33°) Front glacis 29 mm Driving compartment 29 mm Engine compartment 10 mm Engine vents |
Turret | 89 mm (cylindrical) Turret front 100 - 230 mm Gun mantlet |
89 mm (8°) | 89 mm | 50.8 mm (23-33°) Outer edge 29 mm Centre |
Cupola | 152 mm | 152 mm (cylindrical) Front half 90 mm (cylindrical) Rear half |
90 mm (cylindrical) | 29 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 60 mm thick.
- Side skirts are 6 mm thick
- Blazer ERA bricks cover the upper front glacis, the gun mantlet and the turret front.
Mobility
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
Arcade | 54 | 9 | 54 | 1,162 | 1,431 | 21.52 | 26.5 |
Realistic | 49 | 8 | 663 | 750 | 12.28 | 13.89 |
The overall mobility, thanks to the new Continental AVDS-1790-2A diesel engine and Allison CD-850-6A transmission, has vastly improved from original Centurions (48 km/h vs 35 km/h forward) and oddly enough, Gimel is lighter than Alef, meaning the overall mobility is better. While it is nowhere close to Soviet or later NATO tanks in terms of power-weight ratio, it is still sufficient to keep up with the rest of the team.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
The main gun "Sharir" (lit. "Strong") is identical to NATO's L7 105 mm guns in many aspects. In particular, the Gimel has access to APFSDS round that further enhance its odds to penetrate enemies.
105 mm Sharir | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 72 | -10°/+18° | ±180° | Two-plane | 22.8 | 31.6 | 38.4 | 42.5 | 45.2 | 8.71 | 7.70 | 7.10 | 6.70 |
Realistic | 14.3 | 16.8 | 20.4 | 22.6 | 24.0 |
Ammunition
The Sho't Kal Gimel shares most of the shells from the previous Alef while also having access to APFSDS rounds.
The stock M152 HEATFS, while mostly sufficient to penetrate tanks of the era with ease, will have a hard time penetrating tanks with composite armour like T-55AMD-1 or ERA like T-69 II G. It is still sufficient to knock out lighter vehicles with overpressure damage.
M156 shell, aka L35, is identical to other 105 mm HESH rounds, having high explosive content to knock out vehicles right away with overpressure while the overall performance of the shell is mixed, not to mention its slow and high-arcing ballistics; so either take this shell for detonating lighter vehicles or sniping stationary targets that expose their vulnerable spots. A solid hit is very likely to send enemies straight back to the hanger.
M111 APFSDS, aka DM23, is found on some other NATO vehicles and they perform identically. Being a long-rod dart, this shell can safely penetrate most tanks it might face at the rank. This will be the go-to round for the tank.
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 | HEATFS | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
M156 | HESH | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 |
M111 | APFSDS | 337 | 335 | 330 | 322 | 314 | 306 |
Shell details | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
M152 | HEATFS | 1,174 | 10.5 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1.27 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
M156 | HESH | 731 | 11.4 | 0.1 | 4 | 3.17 | 73° | 77° | 80° | |||
M111 | APFSDS | 1,455 | 4.2 | - | - | - | 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 | 732 | 11.6 | 20 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
72 | 68 (+4) | 63 (+9) | 33 (+39) | 25 (+47) | 12 (+60) | 5 (+67) | 1 (+71) | No |
Since the Sho't Kal can carry more shells than the original Sho't, this will further increase the risk of ammunition cook-off; so it is advised to only bring at most 25 shells to clear out most of the ammo racks.
Machine guns
Although a M2HB is mounted onto the tank, it was mounted on the mantlet and only serves as one of the coaxial machine guns, this hinders its capabilities to fight back against oncoming aircraft or helicopters; but in case players do need a way to fight back, there are still 2 L3A1 (M1919A3) onboard as a last-ditch option.
12.7 mm M2HB | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 1,000 (200) | 577 | N/A | N/A |
7.62 mm L3A1 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 1,250 (250) | 500 | N/A | N/A |
Pintle (loader) | 1,750 (250) | 500 | -10°/+12° | -120°/+80° |
Pintle (commander) | 1,750 (250) | 500 | -10°/+50° | -80°/+120° |
Usage in battles
Players of the previous Sho't Kal Alef will quickly find themselves at home since the overall handling of Gimel is very similar, if not identical to the aforementioned. Gimel has an extra layer of armour on its UFP as well as Blazer ERA on some areas of the tank; while this can help it survive full-calibre and HEAT shells, it will not survive any late Cold War-era missiles or most APFSDS. The cramped interior also means any penetrating shots will cause extensive damage to the crew and compartment. Thus, it is best to stay away from heated battlefields and never rush in Sho't Kal Gimel (its inferior speed also helps to limit this).
However, this tank does still have some advantages: it has access to APFSDS, although not having the highest penetration at its rank, it is sufficient to tear through enemy armour from a distance. It might not have the best gun optics or handling due to the obsolete nature of Centurion chassis, but it can still serve its purpose if used with caution.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Extra protection on its UFP and access to ERA, enhancing some of its survivability
- Access to APFSDS
- Smoke shells to block enemies' sight and high smoke grenade counts
- Sufficient rate of fire
Cons:
- Relatively slow compared to its competitors
- Slow gun traverse speed
- Cramped crew and compartment
- low glacis is a huge weakspot that cant protect it against even a decent amount of spaa
History
After the earlier modification of Sho't (Centurion in Israel service) with NATO equipment by 1974, the Gimel (C) modification of Sho't Kal installed additional machine guns, new 10-shot smoke grenade launcher on its turret sides, as well as enhanced protection with a new welded armour plate on its UFP and new Blazer ERA packs on some areas of the tank.
This variant was decommissioned alongside with its fellow Sho't Kal variants in 2007.
Media
- Skins
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
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
Israeli Ordnance Corps (חיל החימוש) | |
---|---|
Medium Tanks | M-51 · M-51 (W) |
MBTs | |
Magach | Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5 |
Magach 6 · Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6C · Magach 6R · Magach 6M · Gal Batash | |
Sho't | Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet · ▄Sho't Kal Dalet |
Tiran | Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S |
Merkava | ▃Merkava Mk.1 · Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D |
Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · ▃Merkava Mk.3D · Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M | |
Tank destroyers | Zachlam Tager |
See Also | Chrysler Defense · Department of Tank Design · Morozov Design Bureau |
Israel medium tanks | |
---|---|
M-51 | M-51 · M-51 (W) |
Magach | Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5 · Magach 6 |
Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6B Gal · Gal Batash · Magach 6C · Magach 6M · Magach 6R · Magach Hydra · Magach 7C | |
Tiran | Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S |
Sho't | Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet |
Merkava | Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D · Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · Ra'am Sagol |
Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M · Merkava Mk.4 LIC |