Sho't () is the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i designation of the 105 mm L7 armed

Centurion tank The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing ...

, which entered Israeli service in the late 1960s.

Versions

Sho't Meteor

The Sho't Meteor is a Centurion tank with the original

Rolls-Royce Meteor The Rolls-Royce Meteor later renamed the Rover Meteor is a British tank engine that was developed during the Second World War. It was used in British tanks up to 1964. It was a result of co-operation between Leyland Motors and Rolls-Royce who betw ...

petrol engine.

Sho't Kal Alef/Bet/Gimel/Dalet

The Shot Kal is a modernised Centurion tank with a new powerpack (the Continental AVDS-1790-2A

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

and the Allison CD850-6

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

). The addition "Kal" refers to the abbreviation of the engine manufacturer

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...

, originally notated in Hebrew as "שוטקל" and transliterated as "sho'tqal". The Kal entered service in 1970, and by 1974 all Israeli Centurions and Sho't Meteor were upgraded to Sho't Kal. Subvariants indicate upgrades received by Sho't Kal tanks during their operational life, including a new turret rotating mechanism, a new

gun stabilizer A gun stabilizer is a device that facilitates aiming an artillery piece by compensating for the motion of the platform on which it is mounted. For naval applications see ship gun fire-control system. Moving land-based systems tend to require more s ...

, a new

fire-control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a ...

and preparations for the installation of the Blazer

reactive armour Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic ener ...

Combat history

The Sho't tank served in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

in 1967 and the

Yom Kippur war The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

in 1973; one of them, belonging to the

188th Armored Brigade The 188th "Barak" (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armored brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The emblem of the Barak Armored Brigade is a red-bordered rhombus bearing a sword against a blue and white background ...

, was operated by Captain

Zvika Greengold Zvi Greengold ( he, צבי "צביקה" גרינגולד; born 10 February 1952) is a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer who fought during the 1973 Yom Kippur War as a tank commander. He is one of only eight people who fought in the war to ...

, an Israeli tank ace. However, as all tanks in the opening days of the 1973 Yom Kippur war, it proved exceedingly vulnerable to Soviet-made weapons such as the

RPG-2 The RPG-2 (Russian: РПГ-2, Ручной противотанковый гранатомёт, ''Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot''; English: "hand-held antitank grenade launcher") is a man-portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that was desi ...

RPG-7 The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. ...

, and briefcase Sagger guided missile, weapons which the Egyptians used in large numbers in the crossing of the Bar Lev line. It is estimated that the Israeli armed forces lost up to 40% of their southern armored groups during the first two days of the war, highlighting the necessity for infantry support to armoured groups, culminating in the

Merkava The Merkava ( he, מרכבה, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces and the backbone of the IDF's armored corps. The tank began development in 1970, and its first generation, the Merkava mark 1, entere ...

main battle tanks being equipped with rear troop bays. The Sho't was also used in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and 1982 invasions of Lebanon.

References

{{Israeli AFVs Tanks of the Cold War Main battle tanks of Israel Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s

Versions

Sho't Meteor

Sho't Kal Alef/Bet/Gimel/Dalet

Combat history

See also

References