- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #4
I would like to suggest a very unique Sherman for Israel. the Degem Yud
The development of the Degem Yud started as far as 1956. at the moment the Israelis were converting their Sherman into M-50 standard. of the first batch 50 tanks were converted to M-50 which was mainly giving them modified turret with a new French gun. The French gun was more capable of penetrating the semi-modern armor than the US 76mm gun. so it was natural for the IDF to adopt a gun that was capable of at least penetrating the tanks it could fight.
in the 50s, Israel was a brand new nation surrounded by hostile nations. The need for armament was high and the budget was small. having little more choice but to make do with the outdated tanks from WW2, the IDF was not yet capable of replacing the Shermans with more modern tanks. knowing one of the problems of the Shermans was his tall silhouette, they decided to find a solution to his height.
the height of the Sherman was a known issue for a long time. the thing is the Sherman was not possible to be shorter due to the mechanical part going under the turret basket, namely the transmission’s shaft who link the center of the engine to the transmission at the front floor.
But a new engine was proposed to the Sherman as an update. Israel whose budget was low saw the upgrade of Sherman’s engine as a way to improve the Sherman’s mobility but also as a potential solution to the height.
the new Cummins VT8-460 was offering more power and lower fuel consumption than any Sherman engine at that time. it could increase the mobility, speed, and range of the Sherman which was already a good advantage. but the best feature is in the arrangement of the engine itself. the instant of having the transmission shaft attached in the lower part of the engine instant at the middle. this makes the Shaft link the engine to the transmission on the floor of the Sherman instead of making a diagonal from the middle to the floor. this mean a space was now free under the turret basket.
to see if the Sherman could benefit from taking the space freed by the shaft to lower the turret. the hull’s upper part was cut and the turret was lowered by 30cm. this reduced the height of the Sherman while still making it work perfectly. the Degem Yud was born and the prototype was tested.
while the weight was probably reduced due to the hull being lower (which would improve the mobility), the main improvement was the size of the Sherman which was closer to the size of a T-54 now.
while the prototype proved suitable, the concept was never approved. the reason is not explained, but it could very well been because it was too little of an improvement while requiring a lot of money. the test ended in 1958 and was followed by the adoption of the M-50 Mk II who was including the upgrade of the engine and armament to the existing Sherman.
Firepower
the main armament been the 75mm SA50 , this tank will not lack of punch. using APCBC round with a velocity of 1000 m/sec, it can penetrate around 200m at short distance .the fire rate been 8 rounds per minute , the reload would be about as expected for such category of armament. the rotation of 24.0°/sec will allow this tank to feel comfortable in close combat. the elevation of -10°/+25° makes it suitable for every landscape as well. the only downside of this tank is the ammunition stowage would be reduced a lot (possibly down to 52 rounds)
the tank also feature a Hull LMG , a coaxial LMG and a 12.7mm M2HB on the roof . this shall allow the players to deal well with the aircraft.
Mobility
the details of the mobility are unspecified. but it is an M50 Mk II probably a bit lighter. until we find the true specification of his weight, I will propose to give it the M50 Mk.II mobility and weight as a placeholder. the weight of 35 tonnes makes it one heavy Sherman, but the truth is the Degem Yud is probably about 33 tonnes. the new Cummings VT8-460 provides 460 hp which gives at least 13.14 hp/tonnes which is not bad for a vehicle of this level. The speed was increased to 43 km/h** which is a bit of an improvement over the regular Sherman. the suspension is also the Sherman classic HVSS which is found in the late production of the Sherman. while being just by a bit, the average mobility of the Sherman would be better than the one normally found in the game.
Protection
the armor thickness is not improved over the regular Sherman. but it remains the protection is better. the smaller size makes it less easy to spot and reduces the weak spots on the side a lot. the driver and hull machine-gunner bulge was also eliminated (they are a weak spot on the hull). the hull also had spare track at the front center which added to the armor thickness. there are 4 smoke launchers on the turret which allows a good smoke screen if needed. The crew of 5 men** is pretty standard for this kind of tank. 3 are in the turret and 2 in the hull.
A little Photoshop to show what the vehicles would look like in-game
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