FV215b (183)
FV215b (183)
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[Client Values; Actual values in
5  Cost |
| 2000400 HP Hit Points |
| 60/6435.48/64 t Weight Limit |
- Commander (Radio Operator)
- Gunner
- Driver
- Loader
- Loader
| 800800 hp Engine Power |
| 34.3/12 km/h Speed Limit |
| 2424 deg/s Traverse |
| 13.3322.55 hp/t Power/Wt Ratio |
| YesYes Pivot |
| // mm Hull Armor |
AP/HE/HE
AP/HE/HE Shells |
2250/8000/1900
2250/8000/1900 Shell Cost |
| 1150/1750/17501150/1750/1750 HP Damage |
| 310/230/92310/230/92 mm Penetration |
|
2 r/m ▲
2 r/m Standard Gun ▲ Rate of Fire Standard Gun |
|
2300 ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun ▲
2300 Standard Gun ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun ▲ Damage Per Minute Standard Gun |
|
0.4 m ▲
0.4 m With 50% Crew: 0.496 m ▲ Accuracy With 50% Crew: 0.496 m |
| 3.4 s 3.4 s Aim time |
| 1616 deg/s Gun Traverse Speed |
| 90° Gun Arc |
| -5°/+15°-5°/+15° Elevation Arc |
| 2020 rounds Ammo Capacity |
| 2020 % Chance of Fire |
| 390 m 390 m View Range |
| 750 m 750 m Signal Range |
Additional Statistics
(Top Configuration)
Camouflage
- Stationary: 10.3%
- When Moving: 6.3%
- When Firing: 2%
Terrain Resistance
- On Hard Ground: 1.15
- On Medium Ground: 1.34
- On Soft Ground: 2.3
Dispersion Change Values
- Turret Contribution
- Rotation: 0.38
- Shot Recoil: 5.75
- Suspension Contribution
- Acceleration: 0.25
- Turning: 0.25
With 100% Crew
X
5
The FV215b (183) is a British tier 10 premium tank destroyer.
Project for a heavy SPG based on the Conqueror Mk II tank with a 183 mm gun and rear placement of the traversable turret and fighting compartment. The vehicle was designed to counter Soviet heavy tanks at long range (up to 1,829 m) and should have been able to withstand return fire from 122 mm guns at a distance of up to 500 m. After the development of 193 mm Malkara anti-tank rockets—which were a cheaper and more efficient choice for countering the IS-series tanks—the vehicle lost its relevance. The project was canceled shortly after a dummy vehicle was built.
Assault tank based on the Conqueror chassis with a 183mm gun mounted on it. The project was cancelled in the 1950s and it never saw military service.
Known as the "Death Star", this tank destroyer is well-known for its apocalyptic gun. Especially when loaded with premium shells, this monster is a death sentence to any tank and you must avoid frontal combat with this tank at all costs unless it's reloading.
As a downside, the FV215b (183) can only turn its turret 45 degrees either direction. The gun has a horrific load time and low ammo capacity, comparable to SPGs, and is not very accurate. So as long as you can outmaneuver its gun range you will be able to destroy it.
The FV215b (183) was replaced by the FV217 Badger turretless tank destroyer and became a special vehicle for those who had it before the replacement.
Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables
Modules
Guns
| Tier | Gun | Penetration (mm) |
Damage (HP) |
Rate of fire (rounds/minute) |
Dispersion (m/100m) |
Aiming time (s) |
Weight (kg) |
Price (  )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | 183 mm L4 | 310/230/92 | 1150/1750/1750 | 2 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 5400 | 335000 |
Engines
| Tier | Engine | Engine Power (hp) |
Chance of Fire on Impact (%) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | Rolls-Royce Meteor Mk. 12 | 800 | 20 | 744 | 50000 |
Suspensions
| Tier | Suspension | Load Limit (т) |
Traverse Speed (gr/sec) |
Rmin | Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | FV215b | 64 | 24 | 0 | 12000 | 82500 |
Radios
| Tier | Radio | Signal Range (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | SR C45 | 750 | 40 | 45600 |
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Unbelievable raw gun statistics: mind-boggling damage-per-shot, tied with the FV4005 for the best basic ammo penetration in the game
- Also tied with FV4005 for the largest gun caliber of all non-SPGs (183mm), allowing it to overmatch any tanks with sloped armor (Swedish TDs for example)
- HE premium rounds had highest alpha damage and highest penetration of all HE rounds in the game; can one-shot many Tier IX and below tanks
- Very wide fire arc vs other British TDs or even TDs in general, although its turret is not fully traversable.
- Fantastic turret armor
Cons:
- Tied with FV4005 for worst single shot reload time of any TD in the game (28 second with 100% crew)
- Hull armor is unreliable, side armor is very weak and not suitable for face-to-face sidescraping
- Poor gun handling: aim time is pretty long, dispersion bloom from any source is extreme; very poor accuracy and poor gun depression
- With all of the cons stated above, it's very vulnerable to flanking and hit-and-run.
- Very weak roof armor, any hit from SPGs will guarantee either the driver dies, or the engine being damaged. Also prone to engine fire due to fuel tanks being placed on the front
- Extremely poor mobility due to poor terrain resistances and p/w ratio, will never reach top speed unless it's downhill
- As a reward tank, the FV215 does not have increased credit income
Performance
This vehicle is essentially the tier X counterparts of the KV-2. The 183mm gun is still immensely powerful (currently the most powerful gun in the game after SPG rebalance) and has a turret as well. Due to these facts, the vehicle is capable to spread fear and unorganized retreat under its opponents on close and middle distances, making it a quite powerful defensive unit. Nevertheless, these advantages are only useful in urban battlefields, where flanking operations are often unavailable for the enemy due to cover from the own team.
On open and plain maps players should strictly avoid to lead a push in the first few minutes of a round if they do not want to get blown up by artillery fire and flanking medium or light tanks. Furthermore a player should look for good cover, where one can fire from . In case of the necessity of a push always stay in the second row and try to get flank cover from other tanks. If your teammates do not react or even refuse to cover you, try to use the landscape even more in order to avoid as much direct enemy fire as possible. When this is not possible, have an eye on the positions of the enemy and those of your team members and go to positions, from which you have natural cover from your team members (because then they will spot the enemy before they are able to spot you).
In its current version, the FV215b (183) is now able to carry up to twenty shells, which is enough to fill the AP and HE/premium HE(SH) for ammo switch depending on the situation; firing AP to maximize average damage-per-shot dealt against heavies and some mediums, normal HE against sidescraping opponents or when their weak spots were covered (or, if lucky enough, some tanks with paper-thin armor), its HE(SH) shell had the same behavior as other HE rounds (dealt some damage when hit spaced armor) but with 230mm penetration, which is enough to penetrate most tank's side and roof, and possibly get a penetrating hit and do full damage.
Early Research
Vehicle is elite in its stock configuration.
Suggested Equipment
Gallery
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Historical Info
Anti-IS QF L4 gun and its variants
In order to meet these requirements, the designers had to find a much more powerful gun than the L1A1. The British didn't bother with the small stuff and went right up to a caliber of 7.2 inches (183 mm). Using such a powerful caliber was no accident. This new gun was based on the 183 mm BL 7.2 inch Howitzer, which was developed from 8-inch howitzers dating back to World War 1. Initially, the howitzer had a barrel length of 22.4 calibers, but later versions of the howitzer extended the barrel length to 33.1 calibers. Unfortunately, even this extension was not enough to fight Soviet tanks.
In 1950, work started on the QF L4 gun, the most powerful tank gun in the world. The gun weighed a little under 4 tons and had nearly 87 tons of recoil force. In order to clear the fighting compartment of propellant fumes, the gun had a fume extractor fitted. Only one type of shell was planned for this gun: HESH (High Explosive Squashed Head). Not only is the caliber of the L4 stunning, but also the weight of the rounds. The propellant was separate from the shell, but this didn't make the loader's job much easier: the mass of the shell was 72 kg, and the mass of the propellant was 32.8 kg.
The 183mm was tested in live fire trials against a Centurion and a Conqueror. In 2 shots, the 183 blew the turret clean off the Centurion, and split the mantlet of the Conqueror in half.
On November 9th, 1950, the War Office held a meeting to determine what vehicle this super-powerful gun would be placed on. The meeting resulted in four variants:
A fully armoured fighting machine (effectively a tank) with a fully rotating turret. An SPG with powerful front armour, but a limited traverse angle. An SPG with a fully rotating turret, but thin armour. An SPG without armour.
Variant 1/2: FV215
The contract to develop the first variant went to Morris and was later transferred to Vickers-Armstrong. The chassis of the heavy FV200 tank was used, with the suspension from the heavy FV214 Conqueror tank. The project had multiple names: Heavy Gun Tank No.2, Heavy Anti-Tank SP No.2, FV215 Heavy Anti-Tank SP No.2 or simply FV215. The index Heavy Gun Tank No.2 was incorrectly interpreted by historians, resulting in a mythical project called FV215B. In reality, all these indices pointed to the same vehicle armed with the 183 mm L4 gun.
This project combined the first and second variants. Theoretically, the turret could rotate fully, but the gun was limited to firing within a 90 degree arc. The turret was placed in the rear in order to prevent the huge barrel from sticking out too far. The ammunition capacity was only 20 shells. The rate of fire of the tank was supposed to reach 6 RPM. but whoever set that requirement was a hopeless optimist. The size of the turret did not allow for a loading mechanism, and loading that quickly by hand was not possible. Aside from the gun, the tank had two machineguns. One was a coaxial Browning .30 Cal. (7.62mm) machine gun, supplied by 4000 rounds. It was mounted in a small structure on the forward right of the turret roof. The other machine gun was an .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2HB on an AA mounting above the Loader’s hatch, on the right rear of the turret.
The 65 ton vehicle was supposed to accelerate to 31.7 kph. In order to achieve this, the tank would have an 810 hp Meteor Mk.12 engine. As for the armour, it kept changing throughout the development process. The thickness of the upper front plate varied between 125 and 152 mm, the sides were 50 mm thick (plus spaced armour). As for the turret, the specification was only for the front, which was 254 mm (10 inches) thick.
The FV215 Heavy Anti-Tank SP No.2 was not meant to be. Morris was supposed to first build a full scale model and then two prototypes: one for mobility trials and one as a target for armour testing. In June of 1954, Vickers-Armstrong, the new owner of the contract, was given the same task. Development of the SPG continued until January of 1957. At that point, the full scale model and 80% of the blueprints were ready. But, the War Office got its own Khrushchev and the development of the FV215 Heavy Anti-Tank SP No.2 was shut down in favour of ATGMs.
Historical Gallery
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Historical Accuracy Errata
The "(183)" is only used as in-game name to distinguish it from the FV215b heavy tank which is completely fictional. However, the actual designation wasn't FV215b, but just FV215.
- The 183 mm gun was only meant to fire HESH rounds. The AP and HE shell configurations are fake.
- Its actual planned engine is Rover M120 No. 2 Mk. 1, which produced 810 hp, its in-game configuration with Rolls-Royce Meteor engine is fake.
- Due to "balancing" reasons, the premium HESH round type was changed into HE so that it can inflict damage to enemy tanks even if it hits spaced armor.
