Guided Shell

A Guided Shell is a projectile fired from the main gun of a tank, with the added possibility of guidance afterwards. As a side effect, the shell might be slower than regular tank shells.

Battlefield 3

Guided Shell
Vehicle	MBT (Driver) Tank Destroyer
Customization slot	Vehicle weapon
Progression
◄	Proximity Scan
►	Thermal Optics
Unlocked at	• 33200 MBT score • 16000 TD score
Effect
Special feature	Secondary anti-vehicle precision ordnance

"A Smart Target-Activated Fire and Forget shell that can lock on to and track enemy land vehicles and can acquire laser-designated targets even if they are out of line-of-sight."

— Battlelog description

Guided Shell is a vehicle specialization that grants the driver of a tank the ability to fire guided shells. The tanker can either use their own weapon lock, or assail a laser designated target.

When fired, the speed is about the same as a regular rocket, slower than the standard HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) round. The tank-based tracking system has an effective range of about 300m. Targeting time is very similar to heatseekers or guided rockets. Reloading takes about 4 seconds.

A single hit in self-guided mode will inflict damage similar to other common anti-vehicle weapons. When fired on laser designated targets, the shell will attack the top of the vehicle for increased damage, often enough to disable a full-health vehicle.

Target vehicles can protect themselves using IR Smoke, ECM Jammer or Reactive Armor plating. Thermal Camo and Stealth can also protect the target against lock-on based detection.

When combined with the CITV, Guided Shells allow a tank to independently designate and attack enemy vehicles with these highly damaging shells, as they do 50 damage to other Main Battle Tanks and instantly destroy air vehicles (assuming a laser designated shell hit). Against enemy tanks, a Guided Shell followed by a tank cannon shot will deal approximately 70 damage in a few seconds, making it an excellent strategy. An immediate follow up with a traditional HEAT is enough to nearly destroy a vehicle.

Alternatively, if a personnel is absent at the CITV Station, the player can choose to play as a Recon Class and equip themselves with a SOFLAM and proceed to enter the MBT equipped with Guided Shell. The player can then place down the SOFLAM in positions which covers a wide area, especially areas where vehicle traffic tends to be frequent and then proceed to re-enter their MBT. Once targets are locked, the player can persistently bombard enemy vehicles with the Guided Shell indefinitely from a more secluded and secure position, dealing massive damage and keeping enemy armor and air vehicles away. The player can then exit the MBT and re-adjust targets with the SOFLAM and repeat the above steps for maximum efficiency and destructive power without the need to resupply as with the FGM-148 Javelin or FGM-141 SRAW. Be aware that this tactic may be halted if the SOFLAM is destoyed, and must be resupplied from an Ammo Box in order to continue.

Trivia

• It is to be noted, unlike its counterpart in Battlefield 4, the Guided Shell, along with other land, and infantry based guided missile launchers, are unable to lock on to targets which are within extremely close proximity, even if the aiming reticle is already pointed squarely at the target (point-blank range at MBT barrel length).

Patche Notes

• A patch which was released alongside with Armored Kill, made the reload of the Canister Shell and Guided shell linked with the main gun (to prevented two shells from being fired in rapid succession) has greatly reduced the effectiveness of the Guided Shell. It has been "nerfed" to a point that running only the main gun will increase your damage output, because the guided shell does less damage than the regular one and that it is linked to the main gun so you must wait for the reload to fire the regular one. The guided shell is still useful though, as it can be assisted with laser designation and that is easier to hit a target on the move than the main gun or the TOW, which both require line of sight to engage.

Battlefield 4

Guided Shell
Vehicle	MBT (Driver)
Customization slot	Vehicle weapon
Progression
◄	Thermal Camo
►	Proximity Scan
Unlocked at	• 12000 MBT score
Effect
Special feature	Secondary anti-vehicle precision ordnance

"A laser-guided anti-tank shell that requires the user to maintain lock-on to the target. Can also lock on to laser-designated targets even if they are out of line-of-sight."

— Battlelog description

The Guided Shell appears as a vehicle specialization in Battlefield 4 for Main Battle Tanks (MBT). It functions similarly to its Battlefield 3 counterpart, requiring a lock-on in order to be fired. However, the lock-on must now be maintained in order for the shell to hit, similar to the FGM-148 Javelin. The shell is still capable of locking on to Laser Designated targets, and the lock does not have to be maintained when locking on to a target that has been laser designated.

Alternatively, if a gunner with Laser Designation is not present, the player can choose to play as a Recon Class and equip themselves with a SOFLAM (not PLD) and proceed to enter an MBT equipped with the Guided Shell Specialization. The player can then place down the SOFLAM in positions which covers a wide area, especially areas where vehicle traffic tends to be frequent and then proceed to re-enter their MBT. Once targets are locked, the player can persistently bombard enemy vehicles with the Guided Shell indefinitely from a more secluded and secure position, dealing massive damage and keeping enemy armor and air vehicles away. The player can then exit the MBT and re-adjust targets with the SOFLAM and repeat the above steps for maximum efficiency and destructive power without the need to resupply as with shoulder-fired lock-on launchers. Be aware that this tactic may be halted if the SOFLAM is destoyed, and must be resupplied from an Ammo Box or Supply Drop in order to continue.

 Damage Statistics & Effects

The following is a list of effects and damage to specific vehicle types from impacts by the Guided. Vehicles not listed are vehicles which are instantly destroyed upon shell impact at any angle. Such includes Jets of all Types, Quad Bikes, and PWCs

Damage resulting from impacts at an angle other than 90 degrees are not listed due to slight variations of damage at different angles of degrees of shell impact.

Damage results are gathered as of post-2015 Battlefield 4: Community Operations update, and may change without notice depending on developer game updates from time to time.

Vehicle Type	Rear	Sides	Front
Main Battle Tank	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit
Infantry Fighting Vehicle	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit	30, Critica; Hit
Light Jeeps	91, Critical Hit Disable	91, Critical Hit Disable	91, Critical Hit Disable
MRAP Jeeps	66, Critical Hit	66, Critical Hit	66, Critical Hit
Mobile Anti-Air	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit
M142 HIMARS	66, Critical Hit	66, Critical Hit	66, Critical Hit
Transport Helicopter*	61, Critical Hit	61, Critical Hit	61, Critical Hit
Attack Boat	49, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit	30, Critical Hit
RHIB Boat	64, Critical Hit	61, Critical Hit	61, Critical Hit
Attack Helicopter*	91, Critical Hit	91, Critical Hit	91, Critical Hit
Scout Helicopter*	91, Critical Hit	91, Critical Hit	91 Critical Hit

* Damage results from aircraft are done with the use of Laser Designation, as aircraft cannot be locked on to and fired upon by the Guided Shell in any other normal circumstances.

Trivia

• If the Guided Shell is fired but ends up striking an object(s) within point-blank barell-length range, it can cause reflective splash-damage and in cases where Reactive Armor Specialisation is not equipped, can critically disable to the MBT which fired it. In cases where the MBT is already heavily damaged, the player can effectively kill themselves in this way.

Patch History

• Originally, the Guided capable of destroying Scout and Attack Helicopters in one direct hit with the use of Laser Designation. This has since been patched, and the Guided Shell can no longer instantly destroy Attack and Scout Helicopters with no less than one Laser-Designated-assisted Guided Shell due to game balancing reasons.