Giraf

Giraf

Giraf

Description

Shortly after the introduction of the M113, Israel became one of the largest users of this vehicle. With over 6,000 vehicles acquired over the years from the US, the M113 became one of the most common vehicles in IDF service, being capable of fulfilling multiple roles such as APC, IFV, ATGM carrier, and Short Range Air Defence vehicle. Giraf was the name given by the Israeli Defence Force to the M113A1 carrying a TOW missile launcher. Countries like the United States, Italy, and Taiwan were already experienced with this system and many M113 were modified to serve as tank destroyers using the TOW missile. The vehicle served with Israel until the introduction of the Spike anti-tank guided missile, which was also fitted to the M113 under the name "Hafiz".

It was introduced in Update "Air Superiority". The M113A1 TOW Girafis very similar to other ATGM carriers in-game. It uses the BGM-71C I-TOW anti-tank guided missile as its main armament. With access to a coaxial 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and 10 rounds for its main armament, it has a very good gun depression with -20° and the missiles have a good speed of almost 300 metres per second and a decent range of almost 4 kilometres. Like most M113s, the Giraf is not very mobile and in fact is outmatched by many other ATGM carriers like the AMX-13 (HOT), and the protection is nothing special, being very vulnerable to 20 mm or 14.5 mm autocannon shots. Thus, it should be played very passively, staying behind the cover of hills and teammates.

General info

Survivability and armour

Like other anti-tank guided missile carriers on the M113 platform, this vehicle is not very survivable, in fact it is vulnerable to even relatively weak projectiles from 14.5 mm and 20 mm guns. The crew compartment is very crammed and a single shot from a tank or missile is often enough to destroy the vehicle. But even with that into consideration, the launcher is separated from the hull of the vehicle and it can be used to hide the main body while launching from above obstacles and hills.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				_,___		__.__	__.__
Realistic				_,___		__.__	__.__

Armaments

Main armament

Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.

BGM-71B TOW missile					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	10	-20°/+25°	±45°	-	__._	__._	__._	__._	__._	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					__._	__._	__._	__._	__._

BGM-71C I-TOW missile					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	10	-20°/+25°	±45°	-	__._	__._	__._	__._	__._	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					__._	__._	__._	__._	__._

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
TOW	ATGM	430	430	430	430	430	430

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
TOW	ATGM	299	3,000	18.82	0.05	0.1	3.75	80°	82°	90°

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
I-TOW	ATGM	630	630	630	630	630	630

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
I-TOW	ATGM	296	3,750	19.05	0.05	0.1	2.88	80°	82°	90°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
10	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
	___ (___)	___	__°	__°

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

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

• Powerful ATGM, can penetrate most tanks at the BR range
• ATGM can overpressure lightly armored tanks and open-tops
• ATGM can be manually guided to destroy helicopters

Cons:

• Very weak armor, extremely vulnerable to 12.7mm and autocannons
• ATGM cannot go through fences and other obstacles due to HEAT warhead

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

Israel tank destroyers
Artillery	M109 · Rochev · Sholef
ATGM	Zachlam Tager · Giraf