AMX-13 (SS.11)

AMX-13 (SS.11)

AMX-13 (SS.11)

France

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.7	6.7	6.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:7 480

Show in game

This page is about the light tank AMX-13 (SS.11). For other uses, see AMX-13 (Family).

Description

The AMX-13 (SS.11) is a premium rank IV French light tank with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance" as a bundle vehicle but was removed from the store after the 2018 Summer Sale. It was later reintroduced for War Thunder's 6th Anniversary as a premium purchasable for 7,480 Golden Eagles .

The only difference from the AMX-13 light tank series is the rack of four deadly SS.11 missiles in the oscillating turret front. Everything else from the two protruding radio antennas to the four smoke dischargers are identical to the original AMX-13 model.

General info

Survivability and armour

The AMX-13 SS.11 is quite a typical light. No armour to speak about, except for a frontal plate able to stop some AA rounds, but this is undermined by having four missiles that behave like ammunition racks in the open on top of the gun. The survival of the tank depends on speed and stealth. (The 8,8mm KwK 43 which is usual at this tier will literally enter one side and exit the other one no matter where it shoots from).

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret base, Turret front)
• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20 mm (67°) Front glacis 20-40 mm (5-50°) Lower glacis	20 mm	15 mm Top 15 mm (45°) Bottom	10 mm 5 mm Engine grille
Turret	40 mm (32-47°) Turret front 40 mm (12-41°) Turret base 40 mm (15-75°) Barrel shroud	20 mm (0-30°) Turret 20 mm (12-14°) Turret base	20 mm Turret bustle 20 mm (17-22°) Pivot ball 10 mm (77-90°) Turret underside	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	20 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 10 mm thick.
• 8 mm Structural steel firewall separates the driver from the engine.
• The track and wheel on the front glacis offer about 15 mm structural steel thickness.

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	68	8	15	418	515	27.87	34.33
Realistic	61	7		239	270	15.93	18

The AMX-13 SS.11 is a quite speedy light. Not Ru 251 levels, but still fast enough to get you to the spot you want to be in. 270hp for 15 500kg equals to about 17,4hp/t, which gives an OK acceleration, and good top speed. But, at 6.7 speed gets less and less effective as your opposition gets higher velocity, better accuracy and stabilisation devices. Therefore, you should use the mobility to get to stealthy positions (like the bushes around the temple at C on Japan). That's where this tank shines.

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm SA50 L/57
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
36			-6°/+13°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	28.56	39.55	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	17.9	21.0	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
45.0	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
POT-51A	APC	168	163	140	110	95	82
75mm HE	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
PCOT-51P	APCBC	180	176	163	150	136	126

Important notice: You CAN NOT penetrate the turret of a Tiger II H or Tiger II H 105 frontally no matter what shell you use (yes it says you can but it's such a low chance that you should never count on it)

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%
POT-51A	APC	1,000	6.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	°	48°	63°	71°
75mm HE	HE	753	6.2	0.4	0.1	675	+0°	79°	80°	81°
PCOT-51P	APCBC	1,000	6.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	°	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the AMX-13 (SS.11).

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
36	31 (+5)	27 (+9)	22 (+14)	17 (+19)	12 (+24)	6 (+30)	1 (+35)	no

Rack #6 and #7 are ready racks for the autoloader.

Additional armament

164 mm SS-11 ATGM
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Flight speed (m/s)	Range (m)
4			N/A	150	6,500

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 battles

The AMX-13 is a flanker. This combined with the SS.11 ATGMs on board gives the ability to do two different styles. Either to zoom around (shoot’n’scoot) or stand far back and send missiles flying towards the enemies. In RB though, the missiles are controlled by WASD, making aiming a little bit more difficult. Furthermore, avoid getting shot at all cost! The armour might save you from 0.50 cals, but 14.5 mm and larger will destroy the vehicle in its entirety. Flanking is a viable option, done in the same way as M18, without the penetration needed for frontal armour.

The AMX-13 (SS.11) is exceptionally fast and agile, but sacrifices armour to achieve this. Due to this, it's best to use this tank as either a hit-and-fade flanker or as a standoff sniper, especially with the SS.11 ATGMs onboard.

Try to get around areas that enemy tanks would not typically expect a light tank to be and wait in ambush position for enemy tanks to pass through. Due to being able to get a shot at the sides, the cannon should be used for the first shot, and especially so due to the auto-loading system able to load in rounds in about six seconds. Utilize the SS.11 missiles during these reload times to ensure that the enemy target is annihlated.

As a stand off sniper, don't be anywhere too near the front line where allies and enemies are duking it out. Try to stay around the corner, only peeking out a bit only to hit at an enemy not paying attention with the 75 mm cannon, or precision targeting with the SS.11 missiles. Take care not to hit any allies when firing the missiles from a distance.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Airstrike	PCOT-51P
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Smoke grenade
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	Improved optics
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

Areas and their respective damage on the AMX-13 SS.11, frontally. Blue: A hit here will make the tank immobile, either from engine damage or driver incapacitation. Green: A hit here can take out its return fire capabilities, but it may still move around. Red: A hit here might take the tank out from loss of crew. Orange: A hit here could ignite the ammunition in the tank, which usually ends bad for the tank that was hit. This is also true for the side, but from the side, the rear is filled with ammunition and the front is the engine compartment.

• Main cannon autoloader with 12 shots ready to go
• Nice cannon that will penetrate sides of other vehicles
• A total of four (4) SS.11 Missiles ready to go
• SS.11 penetrates 600 mm of 90 degrees RHA at any range
• SS.11 has a rather small guidance dead zone of about 200 meters compared to other missiles (RB/SB)
• For once, oscillating turret of AMX-13 is not only a downside, as it allows to fire SS.11 over cover (mostly useful in AB)
• AMX-13 low profile allows for easier concealability among terrain
• Mobile enough to flank
• Has great acceleration to get up to speed
• Has a lot of smoke dischargers, which cover a lot of terrain in one go

Cons:

• Cannon may not be reliable enough to penetrate vehicles from the front at this rank
• After the auto-loader is emptied, gun will not reload until it is rearmed, which takes a long time
• SS.11 still has a guidance dead zone, which means, in very close combat you have to aim in between the tank and opponent to hit the target, or it will just fly over them
• Missiles are aimed with WASD movement keys, tank must be stopped when guiding missile to target (RB/SB)
• Missile racks cover up a portion of the sight from the tank gunner's persepctive
• Non-existent armour, but will protect against the .50 cal M2 frontally. Anywhere else it goes right through
• Aerial strafing may penetrate through the roof armour
• HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) and HE obliterates this vehicle
• SPAA can and will obliterate the AMX-13
• Three crew members in a cramped tank means an inability to take a loss without dip in combat efficiency or outright destruction
• Top speed is rather poor for a light tank
• Smoke dischargers fire all at once, player will have to make the most of that one screen

History

AMX-13

Development

Development of the AMX-13 began in 1946 in response to a requirement by the French Army for a light tank to support paratroopers. It was designed at Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX). A long line of prototypes lead to the production model. The first prototype was the AMX-13 2A in 1948, with four road wheels. Next came the 2B with five road wheels and a raised idler wheel, and the 2C with the FL-10 turret and two return rollers. The 2D introduced an arrangement with four return rollers.

Design

The turret held the commander and gunner, and was set to the rear of the vehicle. The hull was very compact and low profile, with the engine on the right side and the driver in the front, left side.

The main feature of the AMX-13 was the FL-10 oscillating turret, armed with a 75 mm gun with an automatic loader system fed by two six-round magazines, for a total of 12 rounds in the autoloading mechanism. The gun could depress 8° and elevate 12°, with 5° per second of elevation speed. The turret could rotate 360° with 30° per second of traverse speed. A TCV 107 laser rangefinder was provided to the gunner. 6 smoke grenade launchers were fitted on the turret, with 6 more grenades stored in the vehicle. One coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun was fitted, with 1,800 rounds in belts of 200. Another 7.62 mm machine gun could be fitted on an anti-aircraft mount with 1,800 rounds.

The gasoline engine produced 250 horsepower, and the manual transmission had five forward and one reverse gear. The suspension was of the torsion bar type. The drive sprockets were in the front, return rollers in the back, and there were five road wheels and four return rollers. The AMX-13 could reach a speed of 60 kph, and it had a range of 400 kilometers.

The protection of the AMX-13, it being a light tank, was not great. It could withstand heavy machine gun and low-caliber autocannon rounds from the front, but the sides could not even withstand heavy machine gun fire. An appliqué armor package was developed to increase protection at the choice of the user.

Production

Production began in 1952, at Atelier de Construction Roanne (ARE). Over 7,000 AMX-13s of all variants were produced, seeing export to a number of nations as well as seeing service with the French Army. Production shifted to Creusot-Loire at Chalon-sur-Saône in 1964, since ARE began producing the AMX-30 in that year.

Service

The French Army received most of the original 75 mm-armed version, with about 3,000 entering service. They were assigned to the regular armored units, which were mostly filled with M47 and M48 Patton medium tanks at the time. AMX-13 squadrons had four tanks, and were split into two sections of one infantry section and one light tank section each, along with an ammunition truck and command vehicle. These squadrons were used for screening and reconnaissance, locating enemy forces and engaging them. After the first section had engaged the enemy and was reloading, the second section engaged the enemy. The process of alternating reloading and firing between the sections allowed the tanks to hold off the enemy until medium tanks arrived.

In the 1960’s, the AMX-30 entered service. AMX-13s were used during the decolonization war in Algeria (1954-1962), although they saw little combat due to the lack of opposition and the terrain. After the French AMX-13s were up-gunned with the 90 mm gun, they often saw service in foreign theaters of operation due to their relative inexpensiveness. The AMX-13s were decommissioned and put into reserve starting in 1985.

AMX-13 (SS.11)

The AMX-13 (SS.11), also known as the AMX-13 T75, was a version of the AMX-13 that was armed with four SS.11 wire-guided anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).

From Devblog -

Initial development of the AMX-13 began after WW2 ended. In 1946, the French army needed a new fighting vehicle to support paratrooper units. This new vehicle needed to be fast and lightweight with a maximum weight of 13 tons. The contract was awarded to the state-owned Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX) company, which was located close to Paris. AMX was able to quickly design the new vehicle and build the first prototypes in just 3 years. After successfully blazing through initial trials, AMX started producing the AMX-13 in the early 1950s. Production continued well into the 1980s as the aging AMX-13 was continually modernized, modified, and upgraded. The AMX-13 SS.11 is a modernized version of the AMX-13 developed during the Cold War. By 1962, the AMX-13’s standard 75mm cannon had become less effective against the armour of contemporary tanks, some of which had begun using composite armour.

In 1962, the French military high command approved modernization work for the AMX-13 to upgrade and increase the AMX-13’s firepower. However, while increasing firepower was the primary goal, the French high command didn’t want to exceed the AMX-13’s weight. This limited options and ruled out major upgrades, so the engineers decided to mount four SS.11 first generation ATGM launchers to the front of the turret. The changes were incremental but achieved the desired effect. Thanks to the ATGMs, the AMX-13 could now effectively engage targets up to 3km away and penetrate up to 600mm of steel armour—something previously impossible for the 75mm cannon alone. The AMX-13 SS.11 joined the ranks of the French army in the 1960s and continued to serve for well over two decades.

Media

Premium Vehicles: AMX-13 (SS.11) - War Thunder Wiki

The Shooting Range #148 - Metal Beasts section at 04:17 discusses the AMX-13 (SS.11).

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] AMX-13 SS.11