Zachlam Tager

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Revision as of 22:14, 7 May 2022 by bangerland (talk | contribs) (Since it was moved down to rank iV i can test it's missiles for a bit. I tried to write reload as coherent as possible, but i feel like i still failed. I will write more once i actually got and used it for a while.)

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Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
Zachlam Tager
il_ss_11_halftrack.png
GarageImage Zachlam Tager.jpg
Zachlam Tager
Research:63 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:200 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The Zachlam Tager is a rank IV Israeli tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull12 / 6 / 6
Turret0 / 0 / 0
Crew3 people
Visibility80 %

The armour on this half-track is negligible, as it can be penetrated from every side by a 7.62 machine gun under 400 m range. The front will resist light machine guns, but the driver and gunner windows can be penetrated regardless, disabling the carrier. On top of that, it is open-topped, which means if it's hit by any chemical shell anywhere, the crew is doomed.

This also makes it less vulnerable to APHE, as even some of the most sensitive shells will fail to detonate upon hitting it. Even if they do detonate, they will usually explode in the back of the truck next to the ammo crates, which are shielded by another 6.35 mm RHA and may not explode if hit indirectly.

The truck is short enough to hide behind many medium tanks and cover, though the weapons and the very top of the hull is generally exposed, which makes it unreliable in AB.

Armour type:

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull ___ mm ___ mm Top
___ mm Bottom
___ mm ___ - ___ mm
Turret ___ - ___ mm Turret front
___ mm Gun mantlet
___ - ___ mm ___ - ___ mm ___ - ___ mm
Cupola ___ mm ___ mm ___ mm ___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB80 / 19 km/h
RB and SB73 / 17 km/h
Number of gears8 forward
2 back
Weight8.6 t
Engine power
AB282 hp
RB and SB148 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB32.8 hp/t
RB and SB17.2 hp/t

Zachlam Tager is very fast when moving forward in a straight line, easily competing with light tanks. Unfortunately, it has a poor reverse, so it's significantly less mobile than RakJPz 2 and operator must commit to their fights or be destroyed.

The truck barely has enough horsepower to push itself up steep hills, but it will still do so at 5 km/h speed in most cases.

Keep in mind that the drive wheels are in the back - the front wheels do not generate any momentum and if the halftrack manages to hang itself on some ladder or rocks, it will be forever stuck there, unless the missile launch recoil managed to kick the front of the truck off it.

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 80 19 8.6 210 282 24.42 32.79
Realistic 73 17 131 148 15.23 17.21

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB3 693 → 4 675 Sl icon.png
RB4 198 → 5 314 Sl icon.png
SB6 000 → 7 596 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications52 900 Rp icon.png
91 200 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost1 700 Ge icon.png
Crew training57 000 Sl icon.png
Experts200 000 Sl icon.png
Aces800 Ge icon.png
Research Aces520 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
120 / 200 / 240 % Sl icon.png
172 / 172 / 172 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
5 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 100 Sl icon.png
220 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
3 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 200 Sl icon.png
125 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
3 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 200 Sl icon.png
125 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
4 400 Rp icon.png
Cost:
7 600 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
240 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
240 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
5 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 100 Sl icon.png
220 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
3 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 200 Sl icon.png
125 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement il.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
4 400 Rp icon.png
Cost:
7 600 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png
Mods airstrike.png
Airstrike
Research:
3 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 200 Sl icon.png
125 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
4 400 Rp icon.png
Cost:
7 600 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png
Mods scouting.png
Improved optics
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
240 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Main armament

SS.11 ATGM
Ammunition6 rounds
First-order4 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
13.0 → 10.0 s
Vertical guidance-5° / 20°
Fire on the moveup to 5 km/h
Main article: Tager

The main weapons are the LFK SS.11 missiles. There is 4 of them on the top of the truck and 2 reserve missiles are stored in the boxes in the very back.

These missiles are wire guided, which means that in RB you will have to guide them with WASD (tank movement inputs) and cannot move the vehicle until they hit a target. In AB, they are guided with the mouse and do not prevent the Zachlam Tager from moving after launching (it is still necessary to stop to fire). These missiles cannot be efficiently cut off to attack multiple targets, as they will immediately drop to the ground if the control signal is lost.

SS.11 missiles have a very long guidance dead zone (about 150 m) in which you cannot really control them, but they are generally more responsive than others. While they are responsive, they also have very high inertia, and when turning horizontally they also tend to drop down, so some care must be taken when guiding or launching them.

When launched, the missiles will fly straight for about 70 m, then attempt to turn towards initial sniper crosshairs position. If it's necessary to launch them to the side, launch them upwards, as otherwise they will usually crash to the ground. At melee range, treat them like rockets. After the guidance system activates, it's becomes possible to correct their course.

Missiles fire from the left to the right and reload from the right to the left. Each shot forces a 1 second "reload". The ready rack is reloaded at a rate of 1 missile per 3 seconds, but only when the carrier is not firing (like on the tank autoloaders) or reloading, resulting in atleast 5 seconds wait after firing. If entirety of the ready rack was used, a forced 13 seconds reload penalty is applied after the ready ammo rack reloaded one missile, effectively making the carrier to stop firing and reloading for at least 18-23 seconds. Do note, that ammo rack reload penalty is applied even if capture point or AB mechanics already rearmed ready rack completely.

Rearm on a capture point takes 8 seconds per missile and tends to put missiles straight into missile ready rack. Since reload penalty is applied even if the vehicle rearmed it's entire ammo pool in AB, rearm outside of a capture point takes 70 seconds + the forced reload of 13 seconds.

As such, it's optimal to let Zachlam reload both reserve missiles before the ready ammo rack was completely used up, and should it somehow manage to entrench on a capture point, it's generally better to not use the last missile and to wait 8 seconds until the capture point puts next missile into the ready rack instead of incurring the reload penalty and being forced to wait for 21 seconds. This is also true in AB - even though all 4 missiles are reloaded at the same time while rearming on a capture point from the scratch, Zachlam cannot fire-and-forget multiple missiles, and it cannot really guide missiles at point blank range, so it's usually detrimental to wait longer.

Unlike with most of the other wire guided missile carriers, it is possible to choose if you want to launch the missile straight forward or upwards. This allows a smart operator to bombard enemy tanks out and over cover and then unload its entire ammo rack when they lose patience and try to rush the position. Keep in mind, the half track must be stationary for missiles to fire, so it is important to prepare for a counter-attack properly.

In AB, the missiles are guided with a binocular on top of the vehicle without dependancy on sniper crosshair and can be guided anywhere. Since enemy tanks have aim assist in AB, the most sensible strategy is to only pull out the bino out of cover without exposing anything else.

Tager missile Reloading rate (seconds)
Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Full Expert Aced
6 -5°/+20° N/A N/A 13.00 11.50 10.60 10.00

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
LFK SS.11 ATGM 600 600 600 600 600 600
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Range
(m)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
LFK SS.11 ATGM 220 3,750 30 0.05 0.1 4,550 80° 82° 90°

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
6 __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __

Usage in battles

In AB, most of the drawbacks of the Zachlam are not present, as such it can be played relatively freely, although its attack potential is much higher when standing on a fortified capture point, as it allows it to avoid waiting for 80 seconds to get more missiles and may lead to situations in which enemy team simply cannot move in to attack without an airstrike.

In RB, the Zachlam gets very few options. The safest way to play is simply as a scout, using hills for cover and scouting through the safety of your binoculars. Every enemy you encounter is an immense threat, and none is easy to destroy: even light vehicles may dodge or shoot down your missiles. You can only stay close to strategic points with the 6 missiles, and if none of the strategic points are in your team's control, there is simply nothing the Zachlam can do besides staying low and passively scouting.

The missiles have extraordinary range, but in practice will almost never reach a far-away target in time due to how slow and hard to control they are. The sweet spot for a target is between 400 and 600 m, past the 150 m dead zone and only 3 seconds away of missile flight time at most. The Zachlam can find limited success in using hills at its advantage, by firing missiles upward and dropping them on enemies from the safety of cover; or at point-blank, without control over the missiles due to the deadzone but with the advantage of being able to fire 4 missiles in rapid succession.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Can rush objectives due to a high movement speed
  • Has 4 shots ready, can attack both directly and indirectly depending on the situation and range
  • Has significantly better maximum range than the type 60 ATM
  • Counts as a scout tank while being an ATGM tank, which allows it to negate smoke screens in AB and to earn points faster in RB
  • Missile can be guided without the sniper crosshairs in AB, unlike with most other carriers at the rank

Cons:

  • Has nearly no armour and is open topped, thus very vulnerable to anything at close range and/or with a fast reloading gun and HE, can be easily destroyed by a fighter plane or forced to move by artillery
  • Halftrack has a tendency to get permanently stuck if driven carelessly
  • Unlike similar RakJPz 2, can't properly fight if attacked from multiple sides, requires high situational awareness
  • Heavily penalizes user for emptying the entire ready rack
  • The controls have a dead zone of ~150 m, which combined with launch/reload patterns makes fights in cramped spaces a bit stressful due to ATGM not always making a fatal hit
  • Low ammunition count won't let you use it as a stand-off sniper for long, though it's possible (technically irrelevant in AB if you can wait for 80 seconds)
  • Weak and slow missiles can easily be shot down even by the weakest of machine guns

History

As part of its armament process leading up to and during the 1948 War of Independence, the armoured corps of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) acquired a large number of WW2 surplus M2, M3, M5 and M9 halftracks from a variety of sources. These vehicles rapidly became the IDF's primary armoured personnel carriers for mechanized infantry units, and participated in every Israeli war until their eventual replacement by the M113.

While the Allies had experimented with a variety of different weapon mounts for these halftracks during the war, Israel continued to do so in the late 1940s and early 1950s, mostly using French and locally-produced weapons. Halftracks with cannons, howitzers and mortars became commonplace, and were used as fire support for both armoured units and mechanized infantry units.

The development of the French SS.11 anti-tank guided missile in the 1950s greatly intrigued the Israelis, and they decided to acquire large quantities of the weapon system. Among other implementations, Israeli military industries experimentally mounted the weapon on M3 halftracks. Four rails were installed, each carrying a missile ready to launch. The Israelis gave the SS.11 the codename Tagar ("Provocateur"), which is misspelled as "Tager" in War Thunder. The full name Zachlam Tagar means "Tagar Halftrack". The vehicles were deployed as part of the IDF's artillery corps, organized into multiple batteries, and attached to various armoured and mechanized regiments.

The Tagar's primary action was during the 1967 Six-Day War, where it was mostly meant to engage Syrian and Egyptian T-54s. Tagars were thus possibly the first guided missile tank-destroyers ever to be used in actual combat. Unfortunately for the Israelis, their doctrine for the tactical application of high-mobility ATGM platforms was practically non-existent, resulting in the weapon being almost completely ignored by the armoured unit commanders, and being deployed sub-optimally in most battles where its was present. However, they reportedly did fire at enemy targets during the initial push into the Syrian Golan Heights, as well as during the battle of Abu-Ageila which directly paved the way to the Israeli takeover of the entire Sinai peninsula from Egypt. It is unclear whether the Tagars scored any kills during their engagements.

The Tagars were soon decommissioned following the Six-Day War. By the time the importance of ATGMs in modern warfare had become clear, Israel was already well on its way to replacing most of its halftracks with M113s.

Media

Skins

See also

External links


Israel tank destroyers
Artillery  M109 · Rochev
ATGM  Zachlam Tager · Giraf