- Yes, foldered with the Sho’t Kal Alef
- Yes, in the tech tree but separated from the Sho’t Kal Alef
- Yes, as premium
- No
This is the first Israeli upgrade to their mk5 Centurion tanks, their 20pdr guns being removed in favour of L7 / M68 105 mm guns, while retaining the original transmission and Meteor petrol engine.
Also, a new US made radio set was installed.
Some were fitted with an M2 .50 machine gun on the turret, as seen in images below.
The first Centurion mk5 were acquired at the very end of the 50s, and were, as soon as possible, upgraded to the characteristics presented here.
Starting in 1970, the tanks would receive a new diesel engine (AVDS-1790) and transmission, becoming the Sho’t Kal version of the Israeli Centurion.
The tank formed slightly more than half of the Israeli MBT forces during the 1967 Six days war, the rest being M48A1 and M48A2. It mainly saw service on the eastern border in 1967 and also in 1973, because not all Sho’t tanks were upgraded to the Kal version by then.
The tank should have access to a mid-60s selection of shells, which means that likely its APDS shell would be the M392A2, not the slightly later (second half of the 60s) M728, other available shell types would be HESH, smoke and HEAT.
It would have two 6-charge smoke launchers.
Some basic characteristics
Engine: Rolls Royce Meteor (650 hp at 2550 rpm)
Weight: 50 t - 52 t
Armament: L7 / M68 105 mm gun, one coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun (L3A1 / M1919A4), sometimes a .50 M2 machine gun in a flexible mount on the turret, or, less frequently (mostly after the 1967 war) a L3A1 / M1919A4 attached to the commander’s cupola.
Armor: same as Centurion mk5, so the basic 3 in / 76.2 mm plate on the upper front, unlike later Centurions (from the mk5/1 on) that have a 2 in / 50.8 mm plate welded on top of the 3 inches one.
Speed: max 35 km/h forward.
Note the engine deck, being flatter than that of the AVDS-1790 Centurions / Sho’t
A closer look at smoke launchers and M2 MG mount
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