M113a1-b cse 90

Would you like to see this in-game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
Where would you like to see this?
  • Benelux
  • Other
  • I don’t know
  • I said no
0 voters

This vehicle was made in 1986 as a private venture by CMI (now John Cockerill) after they had finished designing the CM 90 turret and wanted to present it to the export market.

Belgium had ordered their M113s in 1980 and started receiving them in 1982.
CMI then bought a Belgian M113A1-B and fitted it with the CM 90 turret, making it a fire support vehicle still capable of carrying 10 passengers and flotation panels have been attached so that the vehicle remains amphibious.

The M113 hull is very well known, being made out of aluminium and isn’t really supposed to take heavy anti-tank fire. The turret as well is very light, but unlike the hull, is made of welded steel, and while additional armor can protect it frontally from 14.5 mm AP fire, base armor protection will only get you as far as 7.62 mm from all angles.

However armor isn’t everything, and the turret features a good 90 mm Cockerill Mk 3M-A1 cannon firing APFSDS, HEAT-FS and a variety of HE, HESH and smoke shells.
The cannon can be told apart from the standard Mk 3 gun via its muzzle brake, which only has a single baffle instead of 3.

Optional equipment include a ballistics computer, night vision (no thermals) and a laser rangefinder.

No major redesigns have been made to the hull, and the mobility remains pretty good, although the turret does bring the vehicle to its maximum weight.

Other features include 2 machine guns including a pintle-mounted one, 16 smoke grenade launchers, x8 magnification for the gunner and commander sights and electro-hydraulic traverse and elevation.

M113A1-B CSE 90

Capture d’écran (688)

Specifications

Armament:

90 mm Cockerill Mk IIIM-A1 cannon (ammo: 12 + hull stowage)

  • M652A1 APFSDS: 100 mm RHA at 1000 m and 60°, 1210 m/s
  • M620A1 HEAT-FS: 250 mm RHA, 890 m/s
  • NR 478 HEAT-FS: 300 mm RHA, 890 m/s
  • NR 220 HEAT-FS: 330 mm RHA, 700 m/s
  • M625A1 HESH: 102 mm RHA, 800 m/s
  • M618A1 Smoke: 714 m/s

Reloading rate: Unknown, around 8.7 s

2 x 7.62 mm machine guns (ammo: coaxial: 400, cupola: 200)

Vertical guidance: -10 / 30° at 30°/s
16 x smoke grenade launcher
Stabiliser: no
Laser rangefinder: optional
Night vision sights: optional

Armor:

38 mm Aluminium front and rear hull
44 mm Aluminium hull sides

Turret protected against 7.62 mm AP

Mobility:

6V-53 6-cylinder engine (215 hp)
Max. speed: ~64 km/h (6 km/h in water)
Power to weight ratio: 15.3 hp per ton

Crew:

3 (Driver, Commander, Gunner)

Dimensions:

Mass: 14 t
Length: 4.8 m
Width: 2.68 m

In-game, this could perform very similarly to the C13 T90 in the Italian tree with it having the same gun with better shells but also worse armor somehow.
The APFSDS shell, while having pretty poor penetration (expecting ~250 mm of flat pen) would still perform better against spaced armor and isn’t as likely to get eaten up by volumetric.

If it does get the optional laser rangefinder, it could suffer from the increase in BR since it doesn’t have a stabiliser and chemical rounds may start to become problematic.

Overall i think this could be a slightly worse C13 due to its worse hull, but it could definitely still be fun!

As for where it would go, i’d personally want to keep this for a Benelux tree, as Belgium is its only possible operator nation, but in the event of a Belgian subtree to France, then France is the next most logical option to me.

Let me know what you think!

Sources

Spoiler

Jane’s armour and artillery 1985-86
C13 T90 - War Thunder Wiki (gun in-game info)
M113 armored personnel carrier - Wikipedia
https://www.knds.fr//sites/default/files/2020-05/20180604%20Nexter%20-%20Catalogue%20Ammunition.pdf
Army Guide

2 Likes

US TT as a premium. i dont think benelux has enough unique vehicles

1 Like

I would say Yes as a French Sub Tech Tree, similar to South African ones. I did some research and unfortunately Benelux tree has too many import vehicles to be an attractive tree for players and not enough for a fully-fledged tech tree. As of today, all minor nations in WT like Italy, Sweden or Israel struggles and I believe that adding more independent trees will expand this issue - as well as populating the tree with necessary vehicles.

1 Like

I don’t blame you for thinking the Benelux nations aren’t on par with comparatively huge nations like the US or just the UK for example, but that’s what minor nations are, smaller trees to offer some variety albeit with lesser lineups, and it’s clear there will be more tech trees added.
Unfortunately France doesn’t have any room for a subtree, they already have 5 lines and there can’t be any more due to technical/UI limiations or smt

1 Like

I doubt this can be a limit for Gaijin, trees were re-arranged and re-designed in the past including US and Germany.
France still has lots of gaps in certain BRs where other nations like Belgium, Netherlands or Luxembourg could fill in. And I would prefer to see those vehicles in here and be played rather than be independent and ignored.
Especially for ground, where line-ups are important for matchmaking and having 3-4 vehicles at specific BRs + some SPAAs to defend against CAS in any BR range is a must.

1 Like