Hi everyone!
Now as a foreword, some of you may know me and see me as a “Benelux tree fanboy”, but let’s put this idea aside as i just want to talk about Belgian vehicles - you may regard them as belonging in a French subtree, an International or West Europe tree or even a few premiums and event vehicles here and there, that’s fine.
War Thunder is an ever-expanding game, and that involves new nations being added from a one-off event vehicle to entire tech trees.
Of course, small nations like Belgium don’t have the industrial capacity of the United States, nor does it have the army size of the USSR, and i wouldn’t expect Belgium to be a priority compared to those huge nations.
However i can’t help but notice that after about 11 years of War Thunder, we still haven’t seen a single Belgian vehicle being added even in an event, nor have we even seen one datamined in the game files. I haven’t even seen a fake leak list with anything Belgian in it.
No, all the representation that Belgium gets is limited to two turrets and a machine gun most people will see as Swedish, and a few other LMGs that nobody really cares about.
This wouldn’t be all that shocking to me had we not recently seen an event vehicle from Lithuania, an even more minor nation. Or for example, vehicles from Ireland, Jordan, New Zealand, Cuba, etc…
And yeah, seeing Lithuania being represented before Belgium juuust doesn’t quite sit right with me.
Now with allat said, i’m not making this post to complain about new nations being added before some arguably better ones (not only Belgium) but to show you some Belgian stuff that i think would be interesting to see in-game - once again, not necessarily in a Benelux tree - and to give our vehicles some visibility :)
Now here’s a non-exhaustive list of some cool Belgian stuff:
WW2
Ground
Carden-Loyd Mk VI
Spoiler
A very early and very small tank destroyer armed with a quick firing 47 mm cannon, similar to those on French tanks.
T.13 B1/B2
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An early tank destroyer with a 47 mm cannon firing to the rear, the turret can be traversed to the front but if the armor plates are up, the cannon will have to significantly elevate.
T.13 B3
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A very mobile tank destroyer, still armed with the quick firing 47 mm gun, and the turret can now fire towards the front without any issues.
T.15
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A quick light tank armed with a 13.2 mm HMG, quite similar in playstyle to the M2A2 but without the other turret in the way.
FN T3 Tricar
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A fun and fast bike with a big machine gun strapped to it. Stukas beware!
Air
Fairey Fox
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This fighter comes in a lot of variants, from the slow Fox II to the Fox VII with 6 (!) FN-Browning machine guns, this was the Belgian air force main fighter at the time.
Fairey Féroce
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This one could be added to the British tree as well but i’ll mention it because i find it to be very pretty. It’s a modern biplane prototype that is quick and armed with a 20 mm Oerlikon and 4 machine guns.
SABCA S.47
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Also known as the Caproni Ca.335, it’s a fighter-ground attack plane armed with a 20 mm Hispano and 2 FN machine guns, carrying 2x 50 kg and 10x 10 kg bombs.
LACAB GR.8
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An ugly “bomber/reconnaissance/escort fighter” prototype with a defensive armament of either 6 machine guns or 4 machine guns and a cannon. Payload was 600 to 800 kg of bobs.
Stampe-Vertongen SV-10
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Built to the same requirements as the GR.8, this one is just a bit worse with 600 kg of bombs and a slightly worse defensive armament.
Renard R.36
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Fighter prototype with a max speed of 505 km/h, armament of 4 FN-Browning machine guns and 1 20 mm Hispano, it is similar to a D.520 but its very low wing loading of 120 kg/m2 would give it a maneuverability more akin to a Ki-43!
Renard R.37
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Re-engined R.36 with a Gnome-Rhône radial engine giving it an extra 20 kph, it loses the nose-mounted cannons and replaces the 4 light machine guns with 2 excellent 13.2 mm FN-Browning HMGs.
Renard R.38
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Another R.36 variant, this one with a wonderful Merlin engine and 4 13.2 mm machine guns.
Test pilot Burniat described flight performance as between the Hurricane and the Spitfire.
Cold War
Ground
CATI 90
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This flat tiny tank destroyer was made a few years after the end of WW2 to give the Belgian army a cheap and effective way to deal with Soviet armor. It fires a HEAT shell penetrating 350 mm of armor and is barely armored.
FN-4RM/62F ABC
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This was made for the Gendarmerie as a paramilitary vehicle, armed with the same cannon as on the CATI but with two FN machine guns, it is also quite quick, having a top speed of 110 km/h.
FN-4RM/62F AB.MI.MO
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Despite having a name that Elon Musk probably thought about for his kid, it’s practically the same vehicle as the one before except it has a 60 mm mortar firing HEAT shells penetrating 200 mm of armor.
SIBMAS
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Now this wheeled FSV was developed in Belgium from the same prototype as the Ratel, hence the striking similarity. It is available with a myriad of different turrets, including Cockerill 25 or 90 mm turrets, a Scorpion 90 turret, a Lynx 90 turret or a Serval 60/20 turret, or an H.20 turret with a radar, among others.
JPK-90
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Belgium was the only other user of the JPz 4-5, and the Belgian model has a laser rangefinder, a different powerpack taken from the Marder and other minor changes here and there. An interesting improvement over the original German vehicle.
M113 CM 90
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This M113A2 has been fitted with a Cockerill CM 90 turret, giving it access to either a Mk.3 or Mk.3MA1 90 mm cannon. The former fires HEAT shells penetrating up to 330 mm of armor and the latter has access to an APFSDS that pens 100 mm at 1000 m and 60°. A laser rangefinder is available but optional.
M113 LCTS 90
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That one has an even better turret on top of it, armed with a Cockerill Mk 8 cannon firing APFSDS that pens 150 mm at 2000 m and 60°, has thermals, a LRF and is stabilised - it even has a laser warning system!
Truly a modern… box
M41 LCTS 90
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This Belgian M41 has an early LCTS 90 turret, and as such doesn’t have access to a stabiliser or a LWS. However the hull is better than an M113 hull as it is more mobile and smaller. Still a dangerous foe to face!
Cobra IFV 90/46 LWGS
Spoiler
The Cobra was an IFV project from the 80s that used an electrical transmission to make the vehicles as light and nimble as possible. This resulted in an extremely modern amphibious vehicle with a top speed of 80 kph both forwards and in reverse. Armor is non-existent, but this one has an interesting turret with a 90 mm cannon firing APFSDS (~330 mm of pen at point blank) but doesn’t have any features such as a stabiliser or thermal sights.
Cobra IFV 204GK
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Once again on the same Cobra IFV chassis, a 204GK turret with a deadly 20 mm cannon with access to HE and AP, perfect for an SPAA or cancer flanker role.
Cobra IFV LAU97
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This Cobra has an MLRS strapped on top of it, with 40 FZ49 70 mm HEAT rockets with a respectable 350 mm of pen and a max speed of 700 m/s!
Cobra 25
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Now this isn’t the same Cobra IFV chassis as the ones we talked about earlier, as only the powerpack and tracks were retained for this final AFV version. The Cobra 25 has a Cockerill C25 turret, allowing the vehicle to perform well in light support or SPAA roles.
Cobra 90
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Probably one of the more famous vehicles to come out of Belgium, the Cobra 90 is an excellent light tank providing you with excellent mobility, a deadly APFSDS shell, a laser rangefinder and thermal sights and… almost no armor.
Leopard 1
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While not extensively modified in any way, i had to include the Leopard as it was Belgium’s MBT during most of its post-war years, and while the first Leopard was indeed copy paste, later variants brought it up to 1A5 standards and gave it access to the M1060 series shells from MECAR, giving it a major boost in firepower. The one in the picture is a prototype fitted with MEXAS armor.
BDX APC
Spoiler
This one has a bit of a confusing history, but basically, it’s an Irish design produced and used in Belgium, and this one has a MILAN turret on top of it.
Air
This section is unfortunately not as interesting, but there are still some interesting things to note
CF-100 Mk 5
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While not really modified by Belgium, it’s still a unique vehicle worth mentioning as it was only ever used by Canada and Belgium. Not surprising, since the Mk 5 was only armed with 58 Mighty Mouse rockets in the wingtips!
Mirage 5BA
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Belgian version of the Mirage 5F, it has slightly worse missiles - AIM-9Js - but it does have access to countermeasures and a jammer.
Mirage 5BA MirSIP
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This improved 5BA now has canards for way better maneuverability at low speeds, and they possibly could now carry whatever the F-16 could.
F-16
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This F-16 was tested with Magic 2s and AS-30Ls, but they weren’t used in service. Still, could be an interesting modification or a future event vehicle!
Modern
Ground
SIBMAS LCTS 90MP
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The SIBMAS makes a return, deadlier than ever with the most modern iteration of the LCTS 90 turret, now with an autoloader and access to the Falarick tandem GLATGM penetrating 550 mm of armor!
Piranha IIIC DF90
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This Piranha is in service in the Belgian army, and while its LCTS 90MP turret is uparmored compared to the one fitted to the SIBMAS, it doesn’t use the autoloader and instead relies on manual loading (autoloader was probably too expensive for the Belgian army eh).
Piranha IIIC DF30
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Very recently in Belgian service, this Piranha is fitted with a 30 mm autocannon and can be used as a support vehicle or SPAA.
Piranha IIIC DF30 (late)
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This is simply a DF30 armed with additional SPIKE missiles, vastly improving its anti-tank capability.
Piranha IIIC C3030
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This Piranha has been fitted with a Cockerill 3030 turret and also has a 7-tube rocket pod strapped to it with deadly rockets such as the FZ49 HEAT rocket (350 mm pen), the FZ319 HEAP or the guided FZ275 SAPHE rocket.
Leopard 1A5BE C3105
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Another relatively iconic Belgian vehicle, a Leopard 1A5BE fitted with the long-necked Cockerill 3105 turret! It has an autoloader and access to a ridiculous APFSDS shell penetrating 560 mm of armor at 2000 m and 60°, as well as the Falarick GLATGM and its 550 mm of pen.
Boxer MGS C3105
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The same turret tested on the German-Dutch Boxer chassis which is more mobile but is a bigger target (no armor best armor anyways).
K21-105
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This one is a joint project that we could also see in South Korea, same turret again but this time on the modern K21 hull.
Cockerill i-X
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I hope this becomes an emblematic Belgian vehicle as well, the ultimate cancer vehicle, the R3 of the future; the Cockerill i-X!
Armed with a 25 mm Bushmaster autocannon in a retractable turret, equipped with a 800 hp engine, zooming around the battlefield at 200 km/h and with planned variants with ATGMs, you’re gonna have a blast with this one!
Sabiex HIFV
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Another joint project, this is a Belgian heavy modification of the OF-40 hull fitted with a BMP-3 turret at the demand of the UAE, this makes a quite well armored IFV! As it is a joint project and i personally don’t see a UAE tech tree coming soon, i might as well include it here but you’re free to disagree!
… and there’s more to come! Cockerill recently announced that they were well on their way to acquire Arquus, which would double their defence sector and make Cockerill able to develop not just turrets but complete light vehicles! Let’s wait and see…
With some Belgian vehicles showcased in this post, i hope i showed some of you what my little country was capable of, and maybe changed some minds about what minor nations had to offer!
Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see some of these vehicles in-game!
- Yes
- No
- In a BeNeLux tree
- In a French subtree
- Some event vehicles and premiums only
- Other
- I don’t want anything Belgian