AMX-13

AMX-13
Israeli AMX-13 on display at "Yad La-Shiryon" armor museum
Type	Light tank
Place of origin	France
Service history
Wars	Suez Crisis Algerian War Sand War Dominican Civil War Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Six Day War Yom Kippur War Western Sahara War Lebanese Civil War
Production history
Designer	Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux
Designed	1946
Manufacturer	Atelier de Construction Roanne
Produced	1952–1987
Number built	7,700 (Total) 3,400 (Exported) 4,300 (Used in French military)
Specifications
Weight	13.7 t (30,000 lb) empty 14.5 t (32,000 lb) combat
Length	4.88 m (16 ft 0 in) hull 6.36 m (20 ft 10 in) with gun
Width	2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height	2.35 m (7 ft 9 in)
Crew	3 (Commander, gunner and driver)
Armour	10–40 mm (0.39–1.57 in)
Main armament	75 mm (or 90 mm or 105 mm) with 32 Rounds
Secondary armament	7.5 mm (or 7.62 mm) coaxial MG with 3,600 Rounds, 7.62 mm AA MG (optional), 2×2 smoke grenade dischargers
Engine	SOFAM Model 8Gxb 8-cyl. water-cooled petrol 250 hp (190 kW)
Power/weight	15 hp (13.9 Kw) / tonne
Suspension	Torsion bar suspension
Operational range	400 km (250 mi)
Speed	60 km/h (37 mph)

The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1953 to 1985. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 25 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and reliable chassis, it was fitted with an oscillating turret built by GIAT Industries (now Nexter) with revolver type magazines, which were also used on the Austrian SK-105 Kürassier. Including prototypes and export versions, there are over a hundred variants including self-propelled guns, anti-aircraft systems, APCs, and ATGM versions.

The tank was designed at the Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX) in 1946 to meet a requirement for an air-portable vehicle to support paratroopers. The first prototype ran from 1948. The compact chassis had torsion bar suspension with five road-wheels and two return rollers; the engine runs the length of the tank on the right side, with the driver on the left. It features an uncommon two-part oscillating turret, where the gun is fixed to the turret and the entire upper turret changes elevation. The turret is set to the rear of the vehicle and holds the commander and gunner. The original 75 mm gun was loaded by an automatic loading system fed by two six-round magazines located in on either side of the automatic loader in the turret's bustle. The 12 rounds available in the drum magazines meant that the crew could engage targets quickly; however, once those rounds were expended, the vehicle had to retreat to cover and the crew had to reload shells from outside the vehicle.

Production began at ARE (Atelier de Construction Roanne) in 1952, with the first tanks delivered the following year. In 1964, production was transferred to Creusot-Loire at Chalon-sur-Saône, as ARE switched to the production of the AMX 30 MBT, and the numbers produced declined significantly.