AMX 50 Surblindé
Contents
Description
The AMX-50 Surblindé is a gift rank V French heavy tank with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB/RB/SB). The tank was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy" and has the distinction of being the first gift vehicle of the French tech trees. Member of the French AMX-50 tanks family, it is very similar to the AMX-50 Surbaissé. Compared to it, it is lower, has a more protected turret armour and has a 20mm MG 151 canon at the top, which is very efficient against aircraft and lightly armoured targets. Anyway, it is also heavier and hasn't smoke grenades launchers compared to the Surbaissé.
It could be obtained as the highest reward of the first season "Recon under Fire" of the World War mode, but can also be bought on the War Thunder Market.
General info
Survivability and armour
Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat?-
If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.
Mobility
The AMX-50 Surblindé has a very good speed (around 40 km/h on flat land when fully upgraded) for a super heavy tank, which allows a fast deployment on the battlefield aside medium and modern tanks. The manoeuvrability is also good and allows the commander to drive easily in an urban environment.
Armaments
Main armament
| Canon SA46 (120 mm) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | ||
| 50 | -6°/+10° | 360° | N/A | ||
| Turret rotation speed (°/s) | |||||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. |
| Arcade | 19.4 | 26.9 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Realistic | 14.3 | 16.8 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||
| Stock | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. | ||
| 6.0 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | ||
Ammunition
| Penetration Statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of Warhead | Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack | |||||
| 10m | 100m | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | ||
| 120 mm Obus de rupture | APBC | 301 | 298 | 286 | 272 | 258 | 245 |
| 120 mm Obus explosif | HE | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity in m/s |
Projectile Mass in kg |
Fuse delay
in m: |
Fuse sensitivity
in mm: |
Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent): |
Normalization At 30° from horizontal: |
Ricochet: | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| 120mm Obus de rupture | AP | 1067 | 23.1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| 120mm Obus explosif | HE | 762 | 22.84 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 4.65 | N/A | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Additional armament
| MG 151/20 (20 mm) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pintle mount | ||||||
| Capacity (Belt capacity) | Fire rate (shots/minute) |
Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance | |||
| 500 | N/A | N/A | 360° | |||
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.
Usage in battles
The AMX-50 Surblindé is a fast and very mobile super-heavy tank.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful 120mm gun, a shot can pen a target protected with an armour of about 300 mm
- Loading time is very short (6.0s), thanks to the autoloader
- Probably the most mobile super-heavy tank of the game, a careful commander can perform
- Very fast, can reach to 51 km/h on flat terrain
Cons:
- One shot in the turret can make the tank explode: up to 18 shells are stored at the back of the turret
History
Start of the project
In July 1945, in the aftermath of liberation, the general staff of the French armed forces expressed the need for a heavy tank of national design. In view of the rise of tensions with the USSR and with the balance sheets drawn from the last world conflict, the French Army presented a precise specification of what was to be the future main tank of the army. The tank was to be comparable on several points to already existing machines. Indeed, it was requested armament of a minimum power equivalent to the gun of 88 mm German Tiger II. It was also asked for a shield equivalent to that of the Panther and mobility close to that of the T-34.
The AMX-50 Surblindé
In 1955, an AMX 50 Surblindé (over-armoured) is produced, able to measure itself against the most powerful machines then in service. A variant of the AMX-50 Surbaissé with a reinforced armour, the front armour shape is inspired by Russian tanks IS-3 or T10. The weight of this prototype reached about 60 tons.
Abandonment of the project
The tests carried out indicated a tank superior to its American and Soviet counterparts that were M26 Pershing and IS-3 respectively. But the Americans did not want to finance a project that would not be adopted. It was, therefore, necessary that the two countries, France and West Germany, adopt the tank so that its development continues. If France seemed ready to accept the project, it was not the case of West Germany which was inspired by the doctrines of the former general Heinz Guderian, a supporter of lighter and faster tanks. In addition, the development of new technologies and capabilities in the field of missiles and hollow-shell shells would render the massive tank armour obsolete and unsuitable for future large-scale conflict.
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
| France heavy tanks | |
|---|---|
| B1 | B1 bis · B1 ter |
| 2C | 2C · 2C bis |
| ARL-44 | ARL-44 (ACL-1) |
| AMX-50 | Somua SM · AMX-50 Surbaissé · AMX-50 Surblindé |
| USA | ▄M4A3E2 |
