- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #15
i would like to suggest a rather interesting Israeli SPG, the M3 6-pounder
the M3 halftract 6-pounder was an Israeli modification of the M3 Halftrack. due to the Israeli militia being identified as a terrorist organization by the British and Americans in 1948, the Israeli militia couldn’t freely acquire proper armored vehicles and armament (England was controlling a key part of the Port of Haifa making the importation difficult) Isreal had to show creativity to equip themself with proper combat vehicles during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. the simpler the better. having in hand some leftover 57mm 6-pounder guns, and some lightly armed M3 Half-track, Israel had merged both pieces of equipment into one. creating something pretty similar to the US M3 GMC in design. the such SPG was used during the war of 1948 and represented a pretty capable anti-tank weapon for the foes he could have met during those wars (most were obsolete early WW2 British or French tanks) the exact number of such SPG built is unknown, but the see the picture, at least 3 different vehicles were showing identical modification which suggests there was probably a number large enough to be used by a battalion (maybe a dozen or more)
Firepower
the main armament has been the well know by the British player, the 57mm 6-pounder Mk.III gun , would allow the SPG to have a proper penetration against tanks. with a penetration capacity reaching 120mm at 100m , this gun could technically manage to penetrate a Tiger 1H with some luck. with an elevation of -5°/+15° the gun could definitively fire at the ground target. the field gun could turn to 90° on both sides but even if the gun was a field gun mounted on the chassis, however, the gun could only turn at about 40° on both sides due to the limitation caused by the chassis. the gun has a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute which is pretty good.
along with the 57mm is the LMG on the hull front which appears to be the MG34 which was commonly used by Israel on their M3 Half-track. this LMG was placed at the front hull, next to the driver.
Mobility
the vehicle is an M3 Halftract which is already well known from the game by the use in many versions on many vehicles. this one is probably the lightest of them all as it only has a single 57mm gun making the weight 8.6 tonnes (referring to the T58 which was very similar) this shall make the vehicle the most mobile of the M3 half-track by a bit. the speed reaching 72 km/h on the road would be a very nice asset but the vehicles suffering from being half-tracked will lose a lot of their speed during turns. w yet it would not lack mobility. with a power-weight ratio of 17 hp/ton, due to the 147 hp engine , he will be one of the quickest in acceleration.
Protection
the protection of this vehicle is not at all his best asset. the vehicles could easily be qualified as “glass cannon”. with 6mm of armor about EVERYWHERE except the driver port which is 15mm , the armor would barely protect from the LMG fire. the gun shield is designed to protect from LMG fire while been light is also 6mm. literally, any vehicle could be a treat to it. even the GAZ 4M who’s is renowned to be the weakest vehicle against ground targets. the vehicles also suffer from being open top which means the aircraft would easily kill his crew. not that the 6mm would have protected it much, but it’s still could resist the LMG from above. the gunner is also without shielding of any sort which means a tank. the crew is likely to be of 5 men , which includes a driver and a hull gunner at the front, and 3 men to man the gun which includes a gunner, commander, and loader.
source
- Ordnance QF 6-pounder - Wikipedia
- M3 half-track - Wikipedia
- M2 M3 Half Tracks in the IDF service זחל"×ž×™× ×‘×©×¨×•×ª חיל השריון
- IDF ARMOR חיל השריון-צה"ל: M2 M3 Half Tracks in the IDF service זחל"מים בשרות חיל השריון
- IDF ARMOR חיל השריון-צה"ל: M2 M3 Half Tracks in the IDF service זחל"מים בשרות חיל השריון