AML-90 (Israel)

This page is about the light tank AML-90 (Israel). For other versions, see AML-90 (Family).

AML-90

AMX-13

Sho't

AML-90

AMX-13

Sho't

Israel

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.0	7.7	7.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

Description

The AML-90 is a rank IV Israeli light tank with a battle rating of 7.0 (AB) and 7.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

It was developed by the French company Panhard in the late 1950s, as a response to a commission by the French Ministry of Defense. It is based on the earlier AML 60, which mounted a 60 mm mortar as its main weapon. The AML 90 replaced the mortar with a  DEFA low-pressure 90 mm rifled gun capable of firing high-explosive and high-explosive anti-tank shells. 

The AML 90 was used by several countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but one of its most notable users was Israel. Israel acquired about 23 AML 90s from France in the early 1960s, and used them extensively in the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973, amongst others.

The AML 90 was designed to be fast, agile, and air-transportable, making it suitable for various terrains and climates.

General info

Survivability and armour

Sadly, these traits came at the cost of the AML 90's armour, as the AML-90 (Israel) lacks protection against heavy machine gun fire and is susceptible to damage by light machine gun fire. The crew is located in a rather small compartment, making the armoured car prompt to being knocked out by a single shot from almost any direction. It is also vulnerable to overpressure, meaning chemical energy ammunition will take out your vehicle regardless of where they impact. A kinetic energy ammunition can damage your AML through the projectile itself or the spalling generated but the inflicted damages are lesser and has a higher chance to knock out the crew members or critical modules than to destroy the vehicle. It should be noted that the thin armour has a chance to not activate fused shells like APHE, APCBC, etc, although it will trigger HEAT, HEATFS, HE and ATGM.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
• Structural steel (mudguards, storage boxes)
• Wheel (tires)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	10 mm (51°) Upper glacis 10 mm (17°) Upper glacis	10 mm (4°) Front half 10 mm (6°) Rear half	10 mm Upper plate 10 mm (46°) Upper glacis 10 mm (20°) Lower glacis	10 mm (40°) Front glacis 10 mm (44°) Rear glacis
Turret	12 mm (30°) Turret front 12 mm (8°) Gun mantlet	10 mm (17-21°) 10 mm Viewports	10 mm (16°)	10 mm (16°) Front part 10 mm Rear part 8 mm Gunner hatch
Cupola	8 mm (spherical)

Notes:

• Wheels are 10 mm thick and a spare wheel covers the left side of the hull.
• Storage boxes and mudguards are 5 mm thick.
• The belly is 8 mm thick.
• The gun barrel is 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB101 / 20 km/h

RB and SB91 / 18 km/h

Number of gears10 forward

2 back

Weight5.5 t

Engine power

AB172 hp

RB and SB90 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB31.3 hp/t

RB and SB16.4 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	101	20	5.5	139	172	25.27	31.27
Realistic	91	18		80	90	14.55	16.36

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 445 → 3 550

RB2 954 → 4 289

SB3 995 → 5 800

Total cost of modifications52 700

90 600

Talisman cost1 700

Crew training57 000

Experts200 000

Aces800

Research Aces520 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

110 / 140 / 190 %

172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tires Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 210 Suspension Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 100 145 Brake System Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 100 145 Filters Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 155 Transmission Research: 4 300 Cost: 7 400 260 Engine Research: 4 300 Cost: 7 400 260	Improved Parts Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 210 Improved FPE Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 100 145 Crew Replenishment Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 155	Horizontal Drive Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 210 Adjustment of Fire Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 100 145 Airstrike Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 100 145 Elevation Mechanism Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 155 90mm_CN90_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 155 Smoke grenade Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 500 155 Artillery Support Research: 4 300 Cost: 7 400 260 Improved optics Research: 4 300 Cost: 7 400 260

Armaments

Main armament

90 mm DEFA F1 cannon

Ammunition20 rounds

First-order10 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

8.7 → 6.7 s

Vertical guidance-8° / 15°

90 mm DEFA F1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	20	-8°/+15°	±180°	N/A	23.8	32.9	40.0	44.2	47.1	8.71	7.71	7.10	6.70
Realistic					14.9	17.5	21.3	23.5	25.0

Ammunition

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
OCC 60-62	HEATFS	350	350	350	350	350	350
OE 90 F1	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
OCC 60-62	HEATFS	800	3.65	0.05	0.1	877.7	65°	72°	77°
OE 90 F1	HE	640	5.27	0.2	0.1	945	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
OFUM PH90-F2	640	5.4	9	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the AML-90 (Israel)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
20	17 (+3)	11 (+9)	6 (+14)	1 (+19)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 3 and 4 are first stage ammo racks. They total 10 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
  • These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammunition from rack 1 then 2 into ready rack 4 then 3. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

7.62 mm A-A-F1N machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 200 rounds

Belt capacity100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate900 shots/min

7.62 mm A-A-F1N machine gun

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate900 shots/min

7.62 mm A-A-F1N
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	800 (100)	900	-10°/+40°	±120°
Coaxial	2,200 (100)	900	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Is very short and narrow, can effectively hide itself and squeeze in-between tanks , shrubs and bushes while fighting in a city
• High speed on road (~50-80 km/h), faster than tracked light tanks like M41A1, can sometimes rush through enemy fire while taking superficial damage
• Generous speed off road (~40-50 km/h), allowing to be faster most medium tanks such as the T-54 and Leopard 1 although it may lag behind some tracked light tanks such as the Wiesel 1A4.
• 90 mm HEATFS is lethal thanks to its high penetration. Can go through almost all common tanks like Leopard 1 or T-44
• -18 km/h reverse speed can pull it out of a dangerous situation rather quickly
• Smoke grenades can conceal the vehicle when needed
• Stable hull, driving at maximum speed on flat terrain does not affect accuracy too much

Cons:

• Cannon itself isn't stabilised in any way, needs significant amount of time to aim after driving over a hill or any slope (particularly with the low "targeting" crew skill)
• Must be used without expert crew against elite crews of other nations, making it instantly inferior to the same tank of other nations at first
• Armour is so poor that even German 7.92 mm can penetrate it at close range, laughably easy to destroy with HMG even over long range, especially from the side
• HEATFS has limited post-penetration damage especially against spacious tanks like M60 and may fail to damage tanks like the T32E1
• HEATFS of AML-90 is slightly slower than general tank ammunition and thus its trajectory is quite curved, long range shots require practice
• Wheeled design and low mass makes it extremely sluggish when turning or driving through obstacles

History

The AML-90 is a variant of a light armoured car developed by the French company Panhard in the late 1950s. It was designed to replace the older and less capable scout vehicles that the French Army had used during World War II, such as the AMD 35 and the Laffly S15. The AML family of cars had a had a four-wheel drive chassis, a three-man crew, and the AML-90 had a 90 mm low-pressure gun that could fire high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shells. The AML-90 was also very agile and compact, making it suitable for reconnaissance and raiding missions in various terrains.

One of the most notable users of the AML-90 was Israel, who were impressed by the vehicle's mobility and compact size. Israel received their first batch of 29 vehicles by the end of 1963, where they were assigned to the reconnaissance units of the IDF, where they performed scouting, screening, and raiding missions. The AML-90s saw action in several conflicts with Israel’s Arab neighbours, such as the Six-Day War in 1967, the War of Attrition from 1967 to 1970, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, where the AML 90 demonstrated their mobility, firepower, and reliability in the harsh desert terrain. They often engaged enemy tanks and armoured vehicles at long distances, using their 90 mm HEATFS shells to penetrate their armour.

Of particular note is the the Arab–Israeli conflict , where the AML-90 achieved some of the highest armour-to-armour kill ratios achieved with the AML platform to date, which included the destruction of 13 Jordanian and Egyptian T-54's.

However, the AML-90s also faced many challenges and limitations in these wars. They were vulnerable to enemy anti-tank missiles, such as the Soviet-made AT-3 Sagger, which could hit them from longer ranges than their guns. They also lacked adequate protection against mines and artillery fire, which caused many casualties among their crews. Moreover, they were outnumbered by the larger and more modern tanks and armoured vehicles of the Arab and Jordanian armies, such as the T-54 , T55, and M48 Patton. As a result, the AML-90s suffered heavy losses in some battles, such as the Battle of Karameh in 1968 and the Battle of Chinese Farm in 1973.

The AML-90s continued to serve in the IDF until the late 1980s, when they were gradually replaced by more advanced vehicles, such as the M113 APCs and the Merkava tanks. They were also sold or donated to some of Israel’s allies, such as South Lebanon Army and Ethiopia.

1: AML 90 (Exhibit), Yad La-Shiryon, Latrun.: Armored Corps (Israel), 2015

2: Nachum Baruchy: The Hare'l (10th) Armoured Brigade In The Six Day War. Ariel Publishing, Jerusalem. 2010 (In Hebrew). Baruchy States that the 10th Brigade had one company (9 vehicles) of Panhard AML's.

3: Defence Update (International). Defence Update G.m.b.H., 1984, 1984–85 Volume Collected Issues 48–58

4: Hammad (2002), p.314

Other references:

“Operation Abirey-Halev”. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved August 3 , 2023.

“Battle of Karameh”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 3 , 2023.

“Battle of Chinese Farm”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 2 , 2023.

“Panhard AML”. Military-Today.com. Retrieved August 2 , 2023.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the AML-90 (Israel) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• AML-90 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Panhard
Armoured Cars	AML-90
AMD.35	AMD.35 · AMD.35 (SA35)
E.B.R.	E.B.R. (1951) · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963)
Export	AML-90

Israel light tanks
Tracked	AMX-13 · Namer 30
Wheeled	AML-90