C15TA. Canadian armoured car in Israel

CaID · May 4, 2024, 5:55am

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I would like to suggest an obscure armored car for Israel. the C15TA.

The history behind this particular C15TA is a bit obscure. little information can be found about this armored car in Israeli services. the reason is this particular armored car was a heavily modified armored car. the modification makes it unique and was done by Israel on a date that is unknown but can be assumed to be late 1948. few pictures existed that prove the existence of this armored car itself. however, the knowledge of the unmodified armored car and the separate elements that were added to it allows us to make guesswork that can be accurate enough to make it to the game.

for the history. the C15TA was a common Canadian-built scout car built between 1943 and 1945. the C15TA was developed from the Otter armored car and the C15 CMP truck. It was created to replace the white M3 scout car in the British services. almost 4000 was built and since it was pretty much a support vehicle that was not well armed, it saw little combat and as there were thousands of other vehicles similar, the C15TA was a bit forgotten in history. the C15TA was mainly used by UK during WW2 and often as APC. but they do not seem to see the C15TA as a good armored car as, after WW2, they often left where they were deployed as they withdrew their troop. that is notably how France ended up with some of them in Vietnam. this is likely how Israel had found their C15TA. As UK was garrisoned in Palestine until 1948, it was likely they had some of those. after removing the pintle armament, the C15TA is nothing more than a truck with some armor. at the same time, Israel also had the right to import the C15TA legally without breaking the embargo as the armored car could be unarmed and used as an ambulance or passenger truck. No matter how Israel got their hand on the C15TA, they modified it. those modifications were similar to those found on the White M3 scout car in service in Israel. they built a hood around the open-top compartment, installed an MG 34 on the front of the hull, installed a makeshift turret on the roof, and armed this turret with a 37mm TR 16. those modifications make the C15TA a rather interesting armored car whose firepower would be a bit weak but the high mobility will make up for it. the first picture of the modification shows it in 1948, as the Israeli militia issued their requirement for 2 types of armored vehicles. one for transport, and the other for attack… the M3 half-track was making the bulk of their armored vehicles back them. it was mainly used as transport. a few of them were converted into attack versions. it was also the case for the C15TA. long with the White M3 Scout armoured car the C15TA was modified with a turret to make an attack version.

although there is no clear document about where and how it was used, the C15TA was known to have been put into services with the 7th brigade and was spotted for the last time during the parade of 17th June 1949. it was probably withdrawn from services soon after.

Firepower.

The main armament of the C15TA was a French-made 37mm TR 16. this field gun was an infantry version of the 37mm SA18, the main difference being the absence of cover for the recoil cylinder and shoulder stock. the round used and his characteristics remained the same. it would use the 37mm Mle 1937 APCR rounds which give the gun a penetration of about 30mm at a short distance. which is not much. but if we want to stretch the firepower a bit, we can give the French Brandt 37/25 rounds with an APDS used in 1940. it will give the gun a penetration of about 50mm at combat distance which is pretty competitive. but this round is not likely to have reached Israel. the elevation of the gun is unknown. but by the look of it, it was likely to have a limited elevation of -10°/+15° due to the configuration of the gun shield who look welded to the 37mm gun. the rotation of the turret is also unknown but it was likely manually powered which shall give a speed of around 15°sec which is not that bad. an MG 34 is installed on the hull at the left side of the cabin. an additional MG 34 is installed as coaxial and a MAC 31 is installed on the roof. the ammo load is also unknown but the 37mm is pretty small and the C15TA has a lot of space, a stock of over 100 rounds is likely to make the storage.

Mobility

the exact weight of the C15TA is known, but Israel has modified it heavily. it makes it quite difficult to know what is the exact weight. the modification probably adds about 1.0 tonne on the chassis and the chassis is weighting 4.5 tonnes. so the weight can easily be estimated at 5.5 tonnes. the engine is a General Motors 6-cylinder Gasoline engine model 270 providing 104 hp at 3000 rpm. this shall give the Israeli C15TA a power/weight ratio of about 18.91 hp. this power/weight is pretty good for an early armored car and guarantees good acceleration and good mobility even off-road. the gearbox offers 4 forward speeds and 1 backward. that should allow it to reach about 72 km/h on the road. all in all, the C15TA would not suffer any lack of mobility, and would even been one of those fast boys in-game.

Protection

The protection of the C15TA is a bit light, the front features 14mm of armor while the side and rear only offer 6mm. the Israeli added the hood on the rear compartment which is likely 6mm thick as well. the turret is also estimated to have 6mm on all sides with an additional 6mm on the front. all in all, this makes the C15TA lightly armored and only capable of taking LMG fire. the crew probably includes 4 men as it is likely that a radio operator/loader is placed at the rear.

Source

BSpiel8 · May 4, 2024, 4:50pm

Perhaps a good option for a future rank 0/WW1 setting? It is clear to me that Israel has more than enough light vehicles for rank I.