Rooikat 105

This page is about the British light tank Rooikat 105. For other versions, see Rooikat (Family).

Rooikat 105

Rooikat 105

Britain

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.3	9.7	9.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:9 090

Description

In 1990, a programme was initiated by Reumech OMC to upgrade the Rooikat for the international market, with the intent of increasing its potency against other armoured vehicles. It was upgunned with the GT-7 105 mm cannon, a domestic variant of the ubiquitous Royal Ordnance L7 built by Denel, and made able to accept a range of NATO ammunition to improve compatibility with any potential customers. It was also equipped with updated features such as a new thermal imaging system. The Rooikat 105 was completed in 1994 and demonstrated to the SANDF, who decided that they were satisfied with the base model. The subsequent offering on the export market was also met with a lack of interest. Only a single prototype of the vehicle was ever constructed.

Introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury", the Rooikat 105 builds upon its predecessor Rooikat Mk.1D with more powerful armament and ammunition, while retaining the latter's excellent mobility. Able to be equipped with the powerful DM33 APFSDS round, the Rooikat 105 has more than sufficient firepower for any opponent it may face — combined with its outstanding mobility both on and off road, and excellent gun handling characteristics, it can excel in any role, be it long-range sniping, flanking, or even close range brawling. Players will also greatly appreciate the new thermal sight for the gunner, making identifying enemy targets a cinch.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull30 / 25 / 20

Turret25 / 25 / 15

Crew4 people

Visibility84 %

The armour thickness ranges from 15 mm on the sides of the lower front plate to 30 mm near the gun breech of rolled homogeneous armour. This will protect the crew from small arms fire only, most 20 mm guns and above can penetrate the armour with relative ease. Most HE and HESH shells will overpressure the vehicle.

Wheels and suspension arms are made from 10 mm of structural steel.

The internal modules are relatively far apart and create a rather big empty space in the center of the vehicle. This gives it a small chance to survive APDS shells from the side when the turret is turned 90 degrees to either side, when the turret is pointed forward or backward, it fills this space with the ready ammo rack. Ammunition is also stored in the upper sides of the hull, as well as the rear of the turret.

The driver sits alone in the front of the vehicle while the commander, gunner and loader are placed rather high in the vehicle. This gives the turret crew a decent chance to survive side hits to the hull. A hit on the lower plate's left side (viewed from the front) will most likely kill the gunner, commander and driver and therefore destroy the vehicle.

Artillery strikes are lethal to the Rooikat.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret, cupola)
• Wheel (tires, torsion bars)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (77°) Upper glacis - Centre 10 mm (75°) Upper glacis - Sides 30 mm (23°) Lower glacis - Centre 15 mm (23°) Lower glacis - Sides	20 mm (25°) Top 25 mm (0-9°) Bottom	20 mm Upper plate 20 mm (29°) Lower plate	25 mm (13°) Front glacis - Centre 10 mm (15°) Front glacis - Sides 20 mm (0-13°) Driver compartment 10 mm (0-17°) Crew compartment 5 mm Radiator vents
Turret	25 mm (26-28°) Turret front 25 mm Gun mantlet - external 30 mm (cylindrical) Gun mantlet - internal	25 mm (12-16°)	15 mm (15°)	15 mm (9-12°)
Cupola	25 mm (cylindrical) Base 25 mm (spherical) Dome			25 mm (spherical) Dome

Notes:

• Tires and torsion bars are 10 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 15 mm thick.
• The internal part of the gun mantlet overlaps with parts of the turret front.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB134 / 41 km/h

RB and SB121 / 37 km/h

Number of gears12 forward

4 back

Weight28.5 t

Engine power

AB1 082 hp

RB and SB567 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB38.0 hp/t

RB and SB19.9 hp/t

Mobility is extremely good. The engine will propel the vehicle to 130 km/h (AB) / 120 km/h (RB/SB) maximum on roads, though the average speed is around 40 to 65 km/h in light terrain, but acceleration is relatively poor. The wheeled chassis will allow to turn the vehicle without losing too much speed, though turning on the spot is not possible. Its two frontal axles pivot give it a gigantic turn radius, meaning that manoeuvring inside cities can range from difficult to nearly impossible. When crossing deep snow or sand the driver sometimes can't decide which gear to use and the vehicle will be stuck at the speed of that specific gear change even if it potentially has the power to go faster. Performance on any sort of incline is pretty poor with low power making some normally accessible slopes impossible to climb, care should be taken so as to not get stuck at the bottom of a trough. It is potentially very fast on paved roads and hard terrain but loses out on soft terrain and speed-wise to some vehicles, like the Centauro and the Type 16.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	134	41	28.5	879	1,082	30.84	37.96
Realistic	121	37		501	567	17.58	19.89

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 676

RB2 841

SB3 489

Crew training10 000

Experts1 010 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces2 020 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 130 / 170 / 220 %

2 × 226 / 226 / 226 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tires Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment Smoke grenade	Horizontal Drive ESS 105mm_usa_M735_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire Airstrike 105mm_usa_HESH_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism Improved optics NVD Scout UAV Artillery Support Laser rangefinder 105mm_DM33_APDS_FS_ammo_pack

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

105 mm GT-7 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition32 rounds

First-order16 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

8.7 → 6.7 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

The vehicle is armed with the South African GT-7 105 mm rifled cannon, which is almost identical to the L7A3 used on the German Leopard and Leopard A1A1. It gets the same ammunition choices of DM12 HEATFS, DM512 HESH, and DM23 APFSDS, in addition to the improved DM33 APFSDS shell, as well as the same reload speed. The gun elevation speed is atrocious: the user has to be aware of the gun's current angle when fighting in close quarters. This can cause you to lose duels or make you overshoot in hectic close quarters engagements.

105 mm GT-7					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	32	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	38.1	52.7	64.0	70.8	75.3	8.71	7.70	7.10	6.70
Realistic					23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0

Ammunition

The HEATFS and APFSDS can easily deal with most enemies presented at its battle-rating. The HESH is very situational, but might be good for light-skinned vehicles or helicopters. It is usually best to mostly take APFSDS shells, since it can easily handle every vehicle type, but unlike HEATFS doesn't detonate on bushes or fences and isn't stopped by ERA.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
DM12	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
DM512	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
DM23	APFSDS	337	335	330	322	314	306
DM33	APFSDS	408	405	398	389	379	370

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
DM12	HEATFS	1,174	10.5	0.05	0.1	1.27	65°	72°	77°
DM512	HESH	732	11.2	0.1	4	4.31	73°	77°	80°
DM23	APFSDS	1,455	4.2	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°
DM33	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Rooikat 105

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty*	6th rack empty*	Visual discrepancy
32	29 (+3)	25 (+7)	21 (+11)	17 (+15)	8 (+24)	1 (+31)	No

To be noted that both 5th and 6th racks are First-stage ammo stowages.

Machine guns

7.62 mm Browning MG4 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm Browning MG4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Rooikat 105 is as fast as a cheetah, travelling at 120 km/h in RB and 130 km/h in AB. It is as nimble and powerful as an African rock python. Both of these almighty animals have one major weakness - they both lack protection, which is the same for the Rooikat 105.

A main advantage of the Rooikat 105 is its ability to capitalise on its speed,.It is able to find a concealed spot and wait for its prey to cross into its sights. The Rooikat 105 features an up-gunned cannon, from 76 mm to 105 mm, an increase of 38%. Which means it's a 38% larger round hitting the target. Its GT-7 105 mm rifled cannon is highly accurate, able to deliver its round on target over 3,000 m away. Additionally, the Rooikat 105 features thermal sights, which makes finding enemy tanks that are using foliage a breeze.

However, it lacks any armour, the thickest part of this fine tank is around the barrel at 40 mm. The front only offers up to, 30 mm. The side offers only up to 25 mm of thickness. This means that a .50 cal rifle will be able to penetrate the tank.

Engaging enemy tanks

Unlike other tanks in the British tree which allow for a broadside to be taken, the Rooikat cannot, as it lacks any type of protection, the only protection it allows for is over-penetration of high fuse rounds. The technical advantages of this tank must be played to the fullest extent by leveraging the advantages of the terrain on the map. This means that hills, houses, bridges, forests and ridges are used along with the appropriate camouflage selection for the map, to reduce the chances of being seen by the enemy.

When engaging enemy tanks, aim for the sides and front, ideally aim for the location of crew members and critical elements - anywhere which is flat.

• The DM33 APFSDS shell offers up to 400 mm of penetration.

The Rooikat will allow for them to be seen, whether it be day or night, using the thermal gun sight. Make sure to use the laser rangefinder to adjust and correct the shot so it hits the enemy tank the first time. If the shot misses, move the tank to another location the reload takes up to 6.7 seconds. Most rival tanks provide an autoloader which substantially reduces their reload times, they may be able to fire two or three rounds in this time towards your location. Only one round needs to hit to knock you out.

Commander sights placed up top means you can peek from behind ridgelines and hills, easily scouting enemy units from safe cover. Using commander override will facilitate quick snapshots as well.

Night Battles

Rooikat 105, is the African rock python, just like the snake itself at night this lightly armoured vehicle becomes the master of the battle. Its fast speed, high agility and accurate cannon allows for it to be unseen, in the dead of night. It's vital to use your thermal sights as well as using the vegetation to make sure enemy tanks such as the Object 120 do not detect you. They can easily knock you out with one shot from their pin-point accurate dart like rounds, which can destroy the toughest of tanks easily.

It's extremely important that, when you have fired a shot, you move to a new location, using the darkness of battle as your cover. Do not stay in the same spot, because the enemy tanks will have seen your muzzle flash and now would be scanning the battlefield in that area with their thermal sights or radar. Instead, fire a single shot, move and repeat and keep the enemy unaware of your presence.

Capturing & Defending Zones

Use the gunner's thermal sight to check the area of the cap zone making sure no light sources can be seen. If it is clear and no enemy tanks are hiding in the distance waiting for you to cross into their sights, head towards the cap. When approaching the cap zone head towards an object in the cap zone and stay behind it while you cap the zone.

Defending the cap zone is a easy process, withdraw from the zone and use the terrain to your advantage. The enemy will try to counterattack, wait for them to counterattack, then only once they are close use the APFSDS rounds to knock them out.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent mobility
• Has early access to the DM33 APFSDS, which arguably makes it even more dangerous than medium tanks, especially considering its top speed
• Decent gun handling, even on the move due to the two-plane gun stabilizer
• Has access to thermal optics, unlike the Rooikat_Mk.1D, allowing it to see through its own ESS, among other benefits

Cons:

• Poor survivability against autocannons, reloads slower than many light tanks
• Susceptible to the overpressure mechanic, it is possible to deny its rush attack by simply being prepared
• Poor turn rate

History

An upgrade and redesign program for the Rooikat was launched by Reumech OMC in 1990 for use internationally. This led to the development of the Rooikat 105 prototype with the GT-7 105 mm rifled cannon. The Rooikat 105 was made for high mobility operations taking place in both day and night. It was equipped with night vision and thermal imagery equipment for operations taking place in the dark of night. The gun used in the Rooikat 105 is the GT-7 105 mm rifled anti-tank gun. It fires a range of NATO tank shells including HEATFS, HESH and APFSDS. This gun can fire up to 6 rounds a minute (about 10 second reload). On the real version, there are two 7.62 mm machine guns for anti-infantry and anti-air, one in the turret and one in the commander's position. In-game there is only one in the turret. There are 4 smoke grenades on each side of the turret in a smoke screen configuration and the ability to use an exhaust generator. Automatic data input includes the laser rangefinder that can calculate the range of a target as well as the speed, direction of travel, wind speed, wind direction and weapon tilt. Manual data input only includes the ammunition type and the environment of its surroundings. The weapon system allows the Rooikat 105 to attack targets while on the move on rough terrain. The most complex systems of the Rooikat 105 are the gun stabiliser, the gunner's stabilised sight, the gunner's sight with night vision and the commander's individual panoramic sight.

Devblog

After the Rooikat 76 entered production in the early 1990s, South African engineers continued developing the vehicle in an effort to further expand upon its capabilities. As such, the engineers decided to, among other minor changes and improvements, fit the Rooikat with a larger 105 mm cannon, thus creating the Rooikat 105 in the process.

Development of the Rooikat 105 was completed in 1994 and a single prototype was built. However, after demonstrating the vehicle to the SANDF, the military decided not to procure the improved version of the Rooikat, given that they were already more than content with the base model of the vehicle.

As a result, the Rooikat 105 was subsequently offered on the export market in an effort to secure orders for the vehicles. However, despite its 105 mm cannon and compatibility with most NATO rounds, the Rooikat 105 failed to attract the interest of any potential foreign customers. In the end, only a single prototype of the Rooikat 105 was constructed, with the vehicle never entering production due to lacking demand.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Rooikat 105 from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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Videos

Premium Vehicles: Rooikat 105 - War Thunder Wiki

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Radkampfwagen 90
• Type 16
• Centauro ROMOR

External links

• [Devblog] Rooikat 105: The Cat With Bigger Claws
• [Military Today] Rooikat 105 Tank Destroyer