- Yes
- No
- Benelux
- France
- Other / Don’t know
- I said no
The Cobra IFV 90/46 LWGS is a Belgian Cobra IFV/APC fitted with a Mecar KEnerga 90/46 Lightweight Gun System.
But what is the Cobra IFV?
The Cobra IFV was a Belgian project built in the late cold war with the aim of building an IFV/APC that was as light and nimble as possible.
To achieve this, the engineers used an electrical transmission, which didn’t take as much space and was lighter than a conventional transmission. Other than the lower weight it allowed the vehicle to have, it also came with several advantages, for example, the handling of the vehicle is much easier and smoother, it accelerated faster than with a mechanical transmission, and it had the same acceleration and top speed in reverse, allowing it to quickly get out of trouble!
As a nice bonus, they were also amphibious! But they were quite slow in the water (5 km/h) so it won’t be very exciting either.
However as you’ve probably guessed by now thanks to some clues like “APC”, “light” and “amphibious”, the armor protection on the Cobra was very low, and could only protect the crew from small-arms fire.
It shouldn’t be too much of an issue, since its very low weight (less than 10 t) and its modern transmission also means that it has a good top speed of 80 km/h, not the best top speed but remember it’s the same top speed in reverse!
Unfortunately, as the Soviet Union collapsed and military budgets dropped worldwide, it did not recieve any orders, as its electric transmission was often deemed too advanced for their mechanics.
The Cobra IFV was also designed with adaptability in mind, so it came in several variants, most of them suitable for War Thunder!
- Cobra IFV LAU97 - With a LAU97 MLRS
→ Cobra IFV 90/46 LWGS - The one in this suggestion - Cobra IFV MILAN - With a twin MILAN ATGM launcher
- Cobra IFV 204GK - With a 20mm autocannon
The ACEC Cobra IFV 90/46 LWGS
Yup it’s ugly but it’s very special!
Specifications
Armament:
90 mm KEnerga 90/46 cannon
- M603 APFSDS: 150 mm RHA at 2000 m and 60° - 1430 m/s (~330 mm at point blank)
- M644 HEAT: 350 mm RHA - 1000 m/s
- M627 HE: 1.4kg Comp B - 775 m/s
Reloading rate: 8.5 - 6 s
Turret rotation speed: 30°/s
Vertical guidance: -8 / 28°
Stabiliser: no
Laser rangefinder: no
Thermal sights: no
Armor:
Hull resistant to small arms AP fire and 14.5 mm AP at 200 m, turret to heavy machine gun fire
Mobility:
Cummins VT-190 engine (190 hp)
Max. speed: 80 km/h - 5 km/h in water
Power to weight ratio: 22.35 hp per ton
Crew:
4 (Driver, Co-driver, Gunner, Commander)
Dimensions:
Mass: ~8.5 t
Length: 4.52 m
Width: 2.75 m
Height: ~2.1 m
This one has a MECAR turret with a 90 mm cannon, making it a light tank able to flank and destroy anything it faces, however it does not have a stabilizer or any fancy fire control system.
It’s a fun, secret and somewhat ugly vehicle from Belgium that could be added to France since Belgium and France are quite close to each other, or it could be kept for a possible BeNeLux tech tree.
It’s quite a fast vehicle and gets access to APFSDS and HEAT, but it has little to no armor and will get sent to a BR where stabilisers and maybe even laser rangefinders are more common, so always be careful and rely on your excellent speed in forward and reverse to use it to the best of its capabilities!
It’s comparable to the C13 T90 in the Italian tree, only with even less armor and a better gun, but i think the playstyle should still be pretty similar.
Sources
Spoiler
Janes Armoured Fighting Vehicle Systems 1988-1989