Churchill AVRE Petard
| This page is about the British heavy tank Churchill AVRE Petard. For other variants, see Churchill (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Churchill Mk.III AVRE Petard, officially the "Mortar, Recoiling, Spigot, 29mm, Mk I", was the first vehicle to bear the name "AVRE" (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineer) as a breakthrough tank for the British Army's Royal Engineers. The 1942 Dieppe Raid revealed a dire need for a vehicle that could assist in breaching extensive bunker/pillbox defences, particularly when attempting to break through enemy lines from new beachheads. This vehicle would serve as a mobile cover for Royal Engineers while operating in the battlefield. After evaluations of several tanks, the Churchill infantry tank became the chosen vehicle for this mission. Aside from some components being replaced by engineering supplies and having larger side doors for infantry operation, a new 290 mm spigot mortar, dubbed the "flying dustbin", was also installed in the turret to launch ranged demolition charges without having to leave the vehicle during crossfire. After trials in 1943, the new vehicle, now known as the Churchill AVRE, was ready for service and proved very successful during the breakthrough stage in the Normandy Landings in June 1944. The 79th Armoured Division, with their "Hobart's Funnies" vehicles, successfully provided reliable support for the first wave of assault groups. The AVRE name would also be retained for all new vehicles designed for these purposes, including the Centurion Mk.5 AVRE which was still in service during the Gulf War of the 1990s.
Introduced during Update "Alpha Strike" as a reward for the 2024 Operation Overlord event, the Churchill AVRE plays similarly to the German Sturmtiger, as instead of a cannon it has a 230 mm Petard mortar, which launches huge 18 kg projectiles. However, such a weapon requires special skill: aiming is not easy due to the low initial velocity of the projectile. For the same reason, the effective range of the mortar's flight does not exceed 100 metres, so the Churchill AVRE is effective only at short combat distances, such as in urban areas. The outstanding protection of the Churchill will be very useful to get close enough to enemy vehicles, allowing it to survive several hits. However, it should be noted that the gun has a long reload time, and the loaded shell in the barrel can be easily detonated with even machine gun fire.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Churchill AVRE's protection is identical to that of a baseline Churchill III. For its rank, the Churchill has relatively reliable protection thanks to its true identity - a heavy tank (although officially an infantry tank). However, remember that "reliable" does not equate to "invincible"; there are still some cannons that can penetrate the III series, for example, the Soviet F-34 and German Kwk 42, as well as US 3-inch guns. In most cases, if their shot lands on sloped parts of the hull, the AVRE will very unlikely be harmed at all. Be sure to keep the flanks clear, even if this means being less aggressive than one would normally indulge with the Churchill series to avoid being overwhelmed while reloading.
As for the crew and internal compartments, the overall layout is mostly identical to a Churchill III, but the major difference lies in the remaining demolition charges stored inside the vehicle. While the sufficiently spacious interior might mitigate some damage, a direct hit on those charges will certainly blow the turret to the height of Big Ben. Therefore, pointing the hull at oncoming fire is essential for the Churchill AVRE's service.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 89 mm Front plate 89 + 89 mm Front plate (MG Port) 38 mm (63°) Front glacis 76.2 mm (19°) Lower glacis |
63.5 mm Overall side armour 76.2 mm Side hatch 38.1 mm Side edge |
50.8 mm 25.4 mm (60-69°) Bottom |
19.05 mm Front 15.87 mm Rear |
| Turret | 89 mm (0-49°) Turret front 89 mm (0-30°) Gun mantlet 19.05 mm (77°) Roof area |
76.2 mm (0-47°) | 76.2 + 7 mm | 19.05 mm |
Notes:
Mobility
The Churchill III uses the same engine as any previous or later production of the Churchill series, namely the Belford "Flat Twelve" 12-cylinder, horizontal petrol engine. Although it can drive the vehicle, it will never be the first to hit the frontline due to its rather slow acceleration and a top speed of 24 km/h.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 30 | 3 | 39 | 452 | 668 | 11.59 | 17.13 |
| Realistic | 28 | 3 | 310 | 350 | 7.95 | 8.97 | |
Modifications and economy
2 × 40 / 60 / 60 % 2 × 118 / 118 / 118 % | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
The 29 mm of the tank's designation refers to the spigot (the tube that the ammunition is inserted onto); the ammunition itself is 230 mm and known as the "Petard", or commonly as the "flying dustbin" referring to its dustbin-like appearance. With around 17.8 kg of TNT explosive charge, a single hit can demolish most, if not all, targets the AVRE will face at its tier. Be careful of its rather long reload time (reloaded by the driver from an overhead hatch into the barrel) and damage to the ammunition itself, even from machine gun fire.
| 230 mm Petard | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 16 | -3°/+15° | ±180° | - | 19.4 | 26.9 | 32.6 | 36.1 | 38.4 | 26.00 | 23.00 | 21.20 | 20.00 |
| Realistic | 14.3 | 16.8 | 20.4 | 22.6 | 24.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| No.1 Demolition Bomb | Rocket | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| 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% | ||||||||||
| No.1 Demolition Bomb | Rocket | 50 | 18.14 | 0 | 0.1 | 17.73 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Machine guns
All British-built tanks in WWII mount a .303 BESA machine gun; in this case, the machine gun is mounted in the turret for taking out exposed crews of enemy vehicles.
| 7.92 mm BESA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 9,450 (225) | 600 | - | - |
Usage in battles
Unlike common Churchill series with 75 mm gun, AVRE is equipped with a "29 mm Spigot" instead for breaching defense lines; the caliber itself is indeed harmless at first glance, but do remember spigot means the base tube of the weapon - the diameter of the projectile itself is 230 mm, second largest to Sturmtiger's 38 cm rocket in ground battle. To say at least, at its tier, nothing can survive a direct hit from that demolition charge. While the charge sounds invincible against any targets, if players underestimate any potential enemies, they can often find ways to sent the AVRE to its kingdom come. Thus it has to use with caution while holding devastating power.
A thumb rule for any petard mortars is - it will never fly straight. For players who might have experiences or knowledge on such type of weapon, it can be said as an oversized PIAT anti-tank launcher. Due to the supersize of the demolition charge and method of launching, even with the propellent charges ignited, the 40 lbs (or, 18.2 kg) charge can only fly at most 150 meters; in reality during WWII, the vehicle was usually used for breaching enemy fortifications or fortified buildings at very close range without risking the lives of Royal Engineers, which also means the vehicle is designed for scenario with very few or none AT weapon from the enemy. In most cases in game, around the tier of AVRE, most tanks with low caliber guns or short barrel are powerless against the AVRE; this do applies to tanks with only full-caliber kinetic shells, sometimes players might run into tank destroyers with long-barrel gun or tanks with HEAT and even APDS shells (exclusive to Swedish tanks). Churchill III (its chassis) by itself is certainly durable by this tier with 89 mm of armor up front, this time even with spare tracks as applique armor; do remember that is perpendicular to the ground, thus enemy guns just only need to get in range with sufficient penetration to hit the tank, those aforementioned guns will not have problem doing so given the tank is not angled at all; angling on a Churchill is quite an experience due to the tank design - since the tank has a somewhat complicated side layout and the tracks are covered by steel plates, by just angling the tank by some extent, the ballistics of enemy shells will become very complicated upon penetration, thus bouncing the shell or not having enough penetration to harm the combat compartment. As long as players can keep the vehicle operational and reach firing radius, aiming for the closest enemy is a good idea to earn income as it doesn't require gun sight adjustments before firing, due to the rather curve ballistics and extremely slow velocity, the demolition charge can only travel up to 150 m at most; this is also risky without any support from friendly vehicles to defend against flanking or eliminating high-threat targets with high-penetration gun, any misses on enemy also leads to a up-to 26 second reload - more than enough for any tanks at its tier to fire 4 times. For most targets, landing the charge on them is already a certain death sentence to them or at least disable them enough for another shot, hitting heavy targets i.e KVs or StuGs needs the player to aim for their top plates as close as possible to overpressure them for good.
The AVRE is a quite unique experience for a combat vehicle at its tier: while it has the most devastating firepower, the ballistics become a major drawback of the vehicle. But when players can advance the vehicle with caution for flanking enemies and only advances to vantage points with sufficient cover for retreat, enemy will have very hard time dealing with the "flying dustbin" and its demolition charge. Plan wisely for advance while being a spearhead to break through enemy lines.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Huge explosive filler in mortar shell can obliterate anything it touches, even above its BR
- Due to curved arc of the mortar, it can be easily lobbed over obstacles or terrain to hit target hiding behind them
- Extremely thick armour, especially for its BR
Cons:
- Extremely terrible shell velocity; cannot shoot further than 10 meters in a straight line, and has a maximum range of only 150 meters
- Being a mortar shell, the shell takes very long time to lob and descend onto the target if shooting at range, making it very difficult to hit moving targets
- Due to very limited range of the mortar, the tank struggle to perform in open terrain where virtually all enemies can outrange it
- Mortar shell can be detonated inside the barrel, potentially causing lethal damage
- Very poor top speed and mobility, highly vulnerable to airstrike
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
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Britain heavy tanks | |
|---|---|
| Matilda | Matilda III · Matilda Hedgehog |
| Churchill | Churchill I · Churchill III · Churchill VII · Churchill Crocodile · Churchill NA75 · Black Prince |
| Post-war | Caernarvon · Conqueror |
| Other | Independent · Excelsior · TOG II |
| Britain premium ground vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Light tanks | A13 Mk I (3rd R.T.R.) · A13 Mk II 1939 · AEC Mk II · Crusader "The Saint" · Rooikat 105 |
| Medium tanks | A.C.I · Grant I · Cromwell V (RP-3) · Sherman IC "Trzyniec" · A.C.IV · Comet I "Iron Duke IV" |
| Centurion Mk.2 · ▄Strv 81 (RB 52) · Centurion Mk.5 AVRE · Centurion Mk.5/1 · ▄Sho't Kal Dalet · Centurion Action X | |
| Vijayanta · Khalid · Challenger DS · Challenger 2 OES | |
| Heavy tanks | Independent · Matilda Hedgehog · Excelsior · TOG II · Churchill Crocodile · Black Prince |
| Tank destroyers | Alecto I · Achilles (65 Rg.) · QF 3.7 Ram |
