ELC bis
Contents
Description
The AMX ELC bis (1961) is a rank IV French tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".
General info
Survivability and armour
The ELC bis' armour is only sufficient to protect against small arms fire, and the 2-man crew means there is little chance of survival if shot at. In particular, while the front hull armour and parts of the front turret armour are sufficient to protect against .50 cals, there are weak spots on the front turret with an effective thickness as low as 13 mm, notably around the driver, making any encounter with vehicles equipped with .50 cals potentially deadly, even at up to 1500 m. The ELC can survive low shots however, as both the engine and transmission sit in the front of tank, and thus can absorb most of the damage if directly hit.
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
The ELC bis has a formidable top speed of 87 km/h (AB) and 80 km/h (RB/SB). However, it suffers from poor acceleration and speed retention through turns, which is particularly noticeable in RB/SB, where the ELC will in practice only reach 60 km/h at most even when fully upgraded. Thus, its mobility on the battlefield is comparable to the American M50 and M56, which both stand at the same BR. The reverse speed is only of -10 km/h, too slow to escape dangerous encounters, which is something players must keep in mind when engaging enemies. In contrast, the ELC bis has a particularly good power-to-weight ratio, even when compared to other light vehicles at the same BR.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 87 | 38 | 8.9 | 256 | 343 | 28.76 | 38.54 |
| Realistic | 81 | 35 | 159 | 180 | 17.87 | 20.22 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
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Armaments
Main armament
The 90 mm D915 cannon is unsuited for long range due to the poor ballistics of the HEATFS, and fails to make up for it in close quarters due to the average reload time. In addition, stabilizing the gun after stopping takes a few seconds, making snapshots impossible.
| 90 mm D915 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 36 | -8°/+13° | ±20° | N/A | 26.4 | 36.5 | 44.4 | 49.1 | 52.2 | 8.71 | 7.70 | 7.10 | 6.70 |
| Realistic | 17.9 | 21.0 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 30.0 | ||||||||
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 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 |
| 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 | 750 | 8.95 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 877.7 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| OE 90 F1 | HE | 640 | 10.45 | 0 | 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 | 10.2 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | 1 (+35) | No |
Notes:
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- The ELC bis has only one ammo rack, located at the rear of the tank, just before the fuel tank. As such, there is no real survivability decrease by taking a full ammo load.
Machine guns
The machine gun can only clear light obstacles, its primary use is to clear fences or other elements that would otherwise make your HEATFS shells detonate before reaching the target. Vehicles with exposed crew aren't particularly common at the ELC's battle rating, the main vehicles the ELC encounters where the machine gun can prove useful against are the American M42 and M56.
| 7.5 mm MAC 31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 4,800 (150) | 551 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
Despite looking like one, it is important to remember that the ELC bis is not a light tank. It is strictly a tank destroyer, a fact highlighted by the absence of the scouting ability. The ELC bis is mobile but is generally slower than other light vehicles of the same BR, thus it is not really able to capture points early-on. The ELC excels in camouflage and in taking spots normally unattainable, and the gameplay generally revolves around this. The ELC bis is best unseen: .50 cal MGs, which are common at the BR, can penetrate weak spots on the front turret and immediately knock out the crew. In addition, the reload speed being simply average makes engaging multiple enemies not desirable. But in RB and SB, that is where the ELC's top-notch camouflaging ability comes into play, as the ELC bis can take the time to choose its targets carefully and patiently wait for the right time to strike. The slow reverse speed can be deadly if an engagement turns out dangerous, but this can be alleviated with a promptly-timed usage of the smoke grenades.
HEATFS being the ELC's only available shell, large tanks can be hard to deal with, but in particular, extra care is required against the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE, as its ERA armour is extremely efficient against HEATFS rounds.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Incredibly small profile, can hide in places that are simply impossible for other vehicles
- Good mobility
- Formidable top speed of 80 km/h
- HEATFS rounds with 320 mm of penetration, making enemy armour not a concern
Cons:
- Only 2 crew members, both sitting in a small turret: hits on the turret are nearly always fatal
- Front turret weak spots make the ELC vulnerable to .50 cal MGs even from the front
- Weak top armour: 20 mm cannons and 50 cal MGs found on aircraft rip right through and knock out the crew as well
- Rarely reaches its top speed in RB and SB
- Reverse speed is underwhelming for a light tank
- Cannot fully traverse the turret 360 degrees
- Low muzzle velocity on the HEATFS shells: not suited for engaging moving targets at long range
- Low gun elevation
- Tank rocks back and forth when coming to a stop, which makes aiming very hard
History
Prototypes of the AMX ELC were manufactured by GIAT Industries under the AMX (Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux) designation, however the vehicle was not mass-produced and did not formally enter military service.
The vehicle weighed 6 tons, with the driver and gunner located on either side of the 90mm D. 915 gun mounted on the turret. Since in addition to being very light, the tank was also very short (half a meter shorter than the AMX-13), the driver used a reclined position and the gunner had to have his body halfway inside the hull, making turret traverse limited: the turret could be traversed through 360 degrees when immobile, with a far more modest traverse arc, comparable to that of an assault gun, being available when in motion. The AMX ELC had a SOFAM 8 Gxb engine. Several models of the turret (AMX ELC bis) were tested on chassis manufactured from plans created by Hotchkiss. The vehicle's drive suspension featured four roadwheels and two top rollers on each side. A new chassis began development in 1957, and was completed in 1961 under the designation of the ELC bis; this newer prototype had five roadwheels per side.
Media
- Skins
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
| Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX) | |
|---|---|
| Light tanks | |
| AMX-13 | AMX-13-M24 · AMX-13 (FL11) · AMX-13 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-90 · AMX-13 (HOT) |
| Armoured cars | AMX-10RC |
| Medium tanks | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) |
| MBTs | |
| AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 Super |
| AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 (105) · AMX-32 · AMX-40 |
| Heavy tanks | AMX-50 Surbaissé · AMX-50 Surblindé |
| Tank destroyers | ELC bis · AMX-50 Foch |
| SPAAGs | AMX-13 DCA 40 · AMX-30 S DCA |
| Export | AMX-13 |
| France tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Lorraine 40t derivatives | CA Lorraine · Lorraine 155 Mle.50 |
| ATGM | MEPHISTO · AMX-10M |
| Other | AMR.35 ZT3 · Lorraine 37L · SAu 40 · ARL-44 · ELC bis · AMX-50 Foch · AuF1 |
| USA | ▄M10 GMC · ▄M36B2 |
