History:
After the Yom Kippur War; October 24, 1973; the IDF’s Armored Corps was left with an estimate of 1,100 serviceable tanks (from the 1,907 operable tanks they had before the war, 186 being inoperables [check the “Pictures” anex, first photo]). The solution? Aside from importing more Patton tanks from the US, they also repaired the damaged tanks captured from the Egyptians and the Syrians (which their main battle tanks were T-54, T-55 and T-62 tanks), thanks to this, by the end of 1977, the IDF inventory grew to roughly 3,413 serviceable tanks [check the “Pictures” anex, second photo], which 3 tank brigades consisted of Tiran 4 and Tiran 5 tanks, and 1 tank brigade of Tiran 6 tanks (336 Tiran tanks in service in 1980 [check the “Pictures” anex, third photo].
The Tiran 5Sh, its an upgrade modification from the captured T-55 (Tiran 5 designation by IDF) tanks from the Six Day War, developed in early 1970s (later on the amount of Tiran 5Sh will increase with the T-55 captured tanks from the 1973 Yom Kippur War). The main change was that the soviet D-10T 100 mm cannon was replaced with the M68 105 mm cannon, which gave the tank an upgrade in firepower and allowed it to use the same ammunition as the Centurion and Patton tanks, instead of relying in captured ammunition (by 1987 the IDF had an inventory of 900,000 to 1,250,000 105mm tank rounds in war reserve storage). Although doing some more modifications (as the machine gun and radio remplacements), the IDF decided to keep the soviet V-55 Engine, because their priority was to increase firepower and communication systems; also replacing the engine with, for example, the Patton’s Continental AVDS-1790 would mean to increase the T-55’s engine compartiment to fit the bigger engine.
Although the combat history its very short, in compare with the Tiran 5 which saw more combat, the Tiran 5Sh suffered some losses in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and then stayed as a reserve tank during future conflicts (for example the Lebannon Invasion) until 1990. The loses of Tiran tanks during 1973 its estimated to be 7 Tiran 4S/Tiran 5Sh tanks lost, and from these, 3 went missing [check the “Pictures” anex, fourth photo].
During mid 1980s, tank brigades equipped with the Sho’t, Magach 3 and Tiran (4/5/6) tanks were deactivated, the reason wasn’t because they were obsolete, in fact these tanks were in equal grounds with the Syrian tanks, but because their crews were around 42 years old, soon not being able to operate tanks anymore, the next generation of tank crews were focused on using the new Merkava tanks instead.
By 1990, the SIBAT (The International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israel Ministry of Defense) offered the M-48, Sho’t and Tiran reserve tanks for sale.
In 1997 the Tiran 5Sh was exported to Uruguay, with 15 tanks purchased, as a replacement for their old M24 and M41 US made tanks and the fear in lack of modernization in compare with its neighbours (Argentina with the TAM, and Brazil with the Leopard 1A1). The Tiran 5Sh remains still in service under the Uruguayan Army as their only Main Battle Tank.
Changes from the T-55:
- The D-10T 100 mm cannon was replaced by the M68 105 mm cannon.
- The coaxial machine gun was replaced with the 7.62 mm M1919A4, also adding a fixed 12.7mm M2HB machine gun (similar to the Tiran 6 or Merkava fixed M2 Browning)
- The load of the gun changed from right (D-10T) to left (M68).
- 12.7 mm Dshk top machine gun replaced with 2 x 7.62 mm M1919 Browning machine guns. One operated by the gunner, and the other one by the commander.
- Replacement of soviet communications with israeli radios.
- Also the Tiran 5Sh had the possibility to install a dozer blade and Blazer ERA armor as additional modifications (just as the original Tiran 5).
Specifications:
The specifications of the Tiran 5Sh’s hull its the same as the regular soviet T-55 tank. While the turret changes are similar as the Tiran 4S (including gun, crew placements, and replacement for israeli communication systems), with the only exceptions being the external machine guns, which Tiran 5Sh has a fixed 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun (coaxial) on top of the breech (Tiran 4S doesn’t have it) and 2 x 7.62 mm M1919A4 machine gun on the roof (Tiran 4S only having 1 top mg).
Pictures
Bottom left states the total of tanks (1,907)
Sources
Tiran 4S | War Thunder Wiki
T-55A | War Thunder Wiki
Category:Tiran-5Sh tank with a dozer blade in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel - Wikimedia Commons
The Israeli Tiran Tank Series - TankNutDave.com
Tiran-5/Tiran 67 (carro de combate) - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Tiran-5Sh in Uruguayan Service - Tank Encyclopedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFlT_yaWkd4
https://www.infosperber.ch/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Israel-Defence-Forces-1948-2017.pdf