War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

Typhoon Mk Ia

2019-06-30T07:57:49Z

U39982399: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=typhoon_mk1a}}
{{About
| about = British fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = Typhoon Mk Ib
| link-2 = Typhoon Mk Ib/L
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a fast fighter for its rank but isn't good at turning due to its massively thick wings.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a great fighter for the rank it is at. The first thing you will notice with the Typhoon Mk Ia is that it is insanely fast, so diving at a five to ten-degree angle, if you are being attacked or if your attack failed, is a solid choice if you have the altitude that is. However, if you are playing Arcade battles with this plane the diving tactic may not work since the Arcade battle maps are quite small, it is still worth trying since it is a low tier plane and because of that have a low repair cost. One other thing worth noting is that the Typhoon Mk Ia has 12 x 0.303 calibre machine guns, which is a lot of guns, but they are only rifle calibre guns so if you want to take down bombers, you should consider getting another plane with cannons. But you are a fighter after all, not a bomber hunter.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 612 || 596 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 21.9 || 22.5 || 14.5 || 14.5 || 580
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 656 || 634 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 20.1 || 21.0 || 20.1 || 17.1 || 580
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps
! Take-off flaps
! Landing flaps
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|constructions}} || {{Specs|destruction|chassis}} || 420 || ~11 || ~5
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons (km/h)
! Rudder (km/h)
! Elevators (km/h)
! Radiator (km/h)
|-
| < 390 || < 440 || < 480 || > 337
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,447 m || 1,960 hp || 2,077 hp
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 4,981 m || 1,650 hp || 1,749 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===


* 3 mm Steel - Armored engine plate
* 1 mm Steel - Fore cockpit plate
* 12.7 mm Steel - Armor plate behind pilot's seat
* 42.8 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===

{{main|Browning .303 (7.7 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 12 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg outer x2 + 460 rpg center x2 + 500 rpg inner x2 = 5,840 total)(Rate of Fire - 12,000rpm combined)

=== Suspended armament ===

{{main|G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV (250 lb)|G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV (500 lb)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
* 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==
'''Arcade Battle -'''

so, for Air RB, you will want to use Boom and Zoom tactics, as your high power (for 2.7) and wing loading will allow for high speed passes on lower flying planes.

When encountering fighters, avoid turnfights at all cost, this aircraft simply doesn't turn very well. Your best bet is to either outrun them by WEP'ing and diving, which will force them to break off pursuit or break off their wings, or utilize engine controls to manuver as to get behind them. with bombers and less manuverable aircraft, Boom and Zoom applies.

'''Realistic Battle -'''

'''''Tank RB: "In Fast, Target Blast, Out Fast."''''' One of the unique capacities the Typhoon occupies, is being able to carry two 500lb bombs, giving you ground strike capabilities.

Seriously learn to use MEC (manual engine controls) as they are crucial to getting the most potential out of this aircraft, given the lack of Auto propeller pitch control.

Using MEC, (which should ideally be within reach of your keyboard hand if on PC, such as the number keys above the WASD keys) hold down the button for 100% Propeller Pitch and Mixture, while using the mouse wheel to control throttle. Use it to get a quick takeoff, and then set it to 90-93% throttle (using whichever key is assigned to engine control toggle 1) and cruise to the battlefield. It is recommended to keep an eye on the map by toggling M periodically, to indicate potential targets. By the time you are at the Area of Operations, you should have a target in mind. Fly around the far outskirts of the map, to an angle of approach that you think will be the opposite of where your target is looking. Considering you will likely be going over 250mph, wait until your target is about to be in sight, then toggle engine controls back on, hold the MECs to 100%, dump the throttle, Gear on/Flaps Landing (once below 250mph), Gear Off. doing so will effectively perform a hard braking manuver, slowing you down enough to accuractely place your munitions. Make sure to set the timers on the bombs to at least 3-5 seconds, as the bombs going off too early will likely destroy your aircraft with the shock wave.

Once you've dropped your bombs, flaps raised, throttle WEP, and run out of there as quickly as possible before the enemy SPAA can react.

The biggest advantage to this method is you can effectively enter the airspace, and engage targets faster most other aircraft, with as little warning to enemy forces as possible excepting enemy aircraft. At the same time, because of your brutal acceleration, you can engage a target and then use your superior speed (against ground attackers like Stukas, russian light bombers, japanese light bombers) to annihilate enemy air forces using your 12 machine guns.

'''''Air RB:'''''

Your biggest threat is the He-100 D-1. It can match you for top airspeed in level flight, but the Typhoon can accelerate far better, meaning that you are not without hope.

If you find yourself in pursuit, be prepared to use the MEC and throttle to keep them in front of you. If they get behind you, lead them into a turn or a dive, using the engine controls to let them whiz past you at top speed, as you cut inside their turn thanks to your lower airspeed. Then, a quick burst of your 12x1,000rpm .303 browning MGs will shred them like a cylindrical cheese grater mounted to the crankshaft of a car at rev limit. Against enemy fighters and bombers otherwise, the "boom and zoom" tactic is most applicable, as you simply don't have the turning capabilities of dogfighters at 2.7.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Controllable Not auto controlled
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| rowspan="2" | Not controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Combined || rowspan="2" | Controllable 2 gears || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage repair
| Radiator
|
| Offensive 7 mm
|
|-
| II
|
| Compressor
| Airframe
|
| HSBC mk.2
|-
| III
| Wings repair
| Engine
|
| New 7 mm MGs
| HMBC mk.2
|-
| IV
|
| Engine injection
| Cover
|
|
|-
|}

* Of the rank I upgrades, only ''Offensive 7 mm'' is of noticeable effect to allow for belt choice for the 7.7 mm armaments. The next level's ''Compressor'' should be the first choice, with ''Airframe'' and the ''HSBC mk.2'' as unattractive choices. Having the option of a last-ditch ground attack with the bombs may save the occasional game though. For rank III: ''Engine'', ''New 7 mm MGs'' and ''Wings repair'' in that order, just having the ability to perform long, accurate burst fire (against bombers) makes the armament upgrade worthwhile. The last level is ''Engine Injection''. The remaining modules can be chosen for research by personal preference.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great speed, especially in a dive
* A lot of guns
* Powerful engine
* Can carry bombs
* Average climb rate, similar climb rate to the [[Bf 109 E-3]]
* A great fighter in AB, a great fighter-bomber in RB and SB. The Typhoon is a versatile aircraft.

'''Cons:'''

* Slow roll rate
* 7mm machine guns will not do much against anything with armor
* Volatile
* Poor turn fighter, especially at low speed

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
The Hawker Typhoon was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter, first designed as a high speed interceptor.

Even before the new Hurricane fighter was launched into full-scale production, the engineers of Hawker Aircraft Ltd.'s design office, headed by Sir Sydney Camm, embarked on the development of а next-generation interceptor for the RAF. It was proposed that the new aircraft would be equipped with a new engine whose power would surpass that of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Hawker Aircraft received a contract to develop two prototypes: one had a Rolls-Royce Vulture liquid-cooled engine (an Х-block); the second had a Napier Sabre engine (an Н-block). Both engines had 24 cylinders and provided about 2,000 hp.

The first prototype was named the Hawker Tornado and featured a ventral radiator in the same position that the Hurricane did. The second prototype, named the Typhoon, was equipped with a distinctive chin-mounted radiator in the forward fuselage.

Since the development of the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine progressed more quickly, the Hawker Tornado was the first to be test flown in October 1939. The first Hawker Typhoon (P5212) prototype made its maiden flight in February 1940.

After delays caused by the Battle of Britain, the full-scale production of Typhoon Mk IA, with a 2,100 hp Napier Sabre Mk.IIA engine and a de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller, was launched. Work on the Hawker Tornado was ceased due to serious problems with the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine after the first production aircraft was built.

Subsequent to the results found during flight trials, the tail fin of the Typhoon Mk.IA was enlarged to improve longitudinal stability and the aircraft obtained its distinctive rudder with a straight rear edge. The starboard door and the folding part of the canopy were used to enter the fighter's cockpit; in an emergency both doors and the folding part of the canopy could be jettisoned.

The armament provided for the aircraft consisted of wing-mounted machine guns in the ""A"" type wing (Mk.IA) and cannons in the ""B"" type wing (Mk.IB). The first 110 fighters built were of the Typhoon Mk.IA version, with 12 wing-mounted 0.303 inch Colt-Browning Mk.II machine guns, because of the shortage of belt-feed mechanisms for the Hispano Mk.II cannons.

The early service life of the Typhoon was less than impressive. With a relatively poor rate of climb and sluggish performance at high altitudes, it was not able to maintain pace with the latest enemy fighters in its planned role as an interceptor. Furthermore, the first RAF squadrons to use the Typhoon found, like the test pilots who had helped to develop the Typhoon, that an alarming number of accidents, sometimes fatal, were attributed to the new fighter. Hawker was able to ascertain that the cause of many accidents was metal fatigue resulting in several cases of the entire tail section detaching in flight. However, even after this issue was resolved, high speed buffeting and an unreliable engine caused the early Typhoons to be less than popular with their crews.

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain fighters}}

Typhoon Mk Ia

2019-06-30T07:57:19Z

U39982399: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=typhoon_mk1a}}
{{About
| about = British fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = Typhoon Mk Ib
| link-2 = Typhoon Mk Ib/L
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a fast fighter for its rank but isn't good at turning due to its massively thick wings.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a great fighter for the rank it is at. The first thing you will notice with the Typhoon Mk Ia is that it is insanely fast, so diving at a five to ten-degree angle, if you are being attacked or if your attack failed, is a solid choice if you have the altitude that is. However, if you are playing Arcade battles with this plane the diving tactic may not work since the Arcade battle maps are quite small, it is still worth trying since it is a low tier plane and because of that have a low repair cost. One other thing worth noting is that the Typhoon Mk Ia has 12 x 0.303 calibre machine guns, which is a lot of guns, but they are only rifle calibre guns so if you want to take down bombers, you should consider getting another plane with cannons. But you are a fighter after all, not a bomber hunter.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 612 || 596 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 21.9 || 22.5 || 14.5 || 14.5 || 580
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 656 || 634 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 20.1 || 21.0 || 20.1 || 17.1 || 580
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps
! Take-off flaps
! Landing flaps
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|constructions}} || {{Specs|destruction|chassis}} || 420 || ~11 || ~5
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons (km/h)
! Rudder (km/h)
! Elevators (km/h)
! Radiator (km/h)
|-
| < 390 || < 440 || < 480 || > 337
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,447 m || 1,960 hp || 2,077 hp
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 4,981 m || 1,650 hp || 1,749 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===


* 3 mm Steel - Armored engine plate
* 1 mm Steel - Fore cockpit plate
* 12.7 mm Steel - Armor plate behind pilot's seat
* 42.8 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===

{{main|Browning .303 (7.7 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 12 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg outer x2 + 460 rpg center x2 + 500 rpg inner x2 = 5,840 total)(Rate of Fire - 12,000rpm combined)

=== Suspended armament ===

{{main|G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV (250 lb)|G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV (500 lb)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
* 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==
'''Arcade Battle -'''

so, for Air RB, you will want to use Boom and Zoom tactics, as your high power (for 2.7) and wing loading will allow for high speed passes on lower flying planes.

When encountering fighters, avoid turnfights at all cost, this aircraft simply doesn't turn very well. Your best bet is to either outrun them by WEP'ing and diving, which will force them to break off pursuit or break off their wings, or utilize engine controls to manuver as to get behind them. with bombers and less manuverable aircraft, Boom and Zoom applies.

'''Realistic Battle -'''

'''''Tank RB: "In Fast, Target Blast, Out Fast."''''' One of the unique capacities the Typhoon occupies, is being able to carry two 500lb bombs, giving you ground strike capabilities.

Seriously learn to use MEC (manual engine controls) as they are crucial to getting the most potential out of this aircraft, given the lack of Auto propeller pitch control.

Using MEC, (which should ideally be within reach of your keyboard hand if on PC, such as the number keys above the WASD keys) hold down the button for 100% Propeller Pitch and Mixture, while using the mouse wheel to control throttle. Use it to get a quick takeoff, and then set it to 90-93% throttle (using whichever key is assigned to engine control toggle 1) and cruise to the battlefield. It is recommended to keep an eye on the map by toggling M periodically, to indicate potential targets. By the time you are at the Area of Operations, you should have a target in mind. Fly around the far outskirts of the map, to an angle of approach that you think will be the opposite of where your target is looking. Considering you will likely be going over 250mph, wait until your target is about to be in sight, then toggle engine controls back on, hold the MECs to 100%, dump the throttle, Gear on/Flaps Landing (once below 250mph), Gear Off. doing so will effectively perform a hard braking manuver, slowing you down enough to accuractely place your munitions. Make sure to set the timers on the bombs to at least 3-5 seconds, as the bombs going off too early will likely destroy your aircraft with the shock wave.

Once you've dropped your bombs, flaps raised, throttle WEP, and run out of there as quickly as possible before the enemy SPAA can react.

The biggest advantage to this method is you can effectively enter the airspace, and engage targets faster most other aircraft, with as little warning to enemy forces as possible excepting enemy aircraft. At the same time, because of your brutal acceleration, you can engage a target and then use your superior speed (against ground attackers like Stukas, russian light bombers, japanese light bombers) to annihilate enemy air forces.

'''''Air RB:'''''

Your biggest threat is the He-100 D-1. It can match you for top airspeed in level flight, but the Typhoon can accelerate far better, meaning that you are not without hope.

If you find yourself in pursuit, be prepared to use the MEC and throttle to keep them in front of you. If they get behind you, lead them into a turn or a dive, using the engine controls to let them whiz past you at top speed, as you cut inside their turn thanks to your lower airspeed. Then, a quick burst of your 12x1,000rpm .303 browning MGs will shred them like a cylindrical cheese grater mounted to the crankshaft of a car at rev limit. Against enemy fighters and bombers otherwise, the "boom and zoom" tactic is most applicable, as you simply don't have the turning capabilities of dogfighters at 2.7.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Controllable Not auto controlled
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| rowspan="2" | Not controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Combined || rowspan="2" | Controllable 2 gears || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage repair
| Radiator
|
| Offensive 7 mm
|
|-
| II
|
| Compressor
| Airframe
|
| HSBC mk.2
|-
| III
| Wings repair
| Engine
|
| New 7 mm MGs
| HMBC mk.2
|-
| IV
|
| Engine injection
| Cover
|
|
|-
|}

* Of the rank I upgrades, only ''Offensive 7 mm'' is of noticeable effect to allow for belt choice for the 7.7 mm armaments. The next level's ''Compressor'' should be the first choice, with ''Airframe'' and the ''HSBC mk.2'' as unattractive choices. Having the option of a last-ditch ground attack with the bombs may save the occasional game though. For rank III: ''Engine'', ''New 7 mm MGs'' and ''Wings repair'' in that order, just having the ability to perform long, accurate burst fire (against bombers) makes the armament upgrade worthwhile. The last level is ''Engine Injection''. The remaining modules can be chosen for research by personal preference.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great speed, especially in a dive
* A lot of guns
* Powerful engine
* Can carry bombs
* Average climb rate, similar climb rate to the [[Bf 109 E-3]]
* A great fighter in AB, a great fighter-bomber in RB and SB. The Typhoon is a versatile aircraft.

'''Cons:'''

* Slow roll rate
* 7mm machine guns will not do much against anything with armor
* Volatile
* Poor turn fighter, especially at low speed

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
The Hawker Typhoon was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter, first designed as a high speed interceptor.

Even before the new Hurricane fighter was launched into full-scale production, the engineers of Hawker Aircraft Ltd.'s design office, headed by Sir Sydney Camm, embarked on the development of а next-generation interceptor for the RAF. It was proposed that the new aircraft would be equipped with a new engine whose power would surpass that of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Hawker Aircraft received a contract to develop two prototypes: one had a Rolls-Royce Vulture liquid-cooled engine (an Х-block); the second had a Napier Sabre engine (an Н-block). Both engines had 24 cylinders and provided about 2,000 hp.

The first prototype was named the Hawker Tornado and featured a ventral radiator in the same position that the Hurricane did. The second prototype, named the Typhoon, was equipped with a distinctive chin-mounted radiator in the forward fuselage.

Since the development of the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine progressed more quickly, the Hawker Tornado was the first to be test flown in October 1939. The first Hawker Typhoon (P5212) prototype made its maiden flight in February 1940.

After delays caused by the Battle of Britain, the full-scale production of Typhoon Mk IA, with a 2,100 hp Napier Sabre Mk.IIA engine and a de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller, was launched. Work on the Hawker Tornado was ceased due to serious problems with the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine after the first production aircraft was built.

Subsequent to the results found during flight trials, the tail fin of the Typhoon Mk.IA was enlarged to improve longitudinal stability and the aircraft obtained its distinctive rudder with a straight rear edge. The starboard door and the folding part of the canopy were used to enter the fighter's cockpit; in an emergency both doors and the folding part of the canopy could be jettisoned.

The armament provided for the aircraft consisted of wing-mounted machine guns in the ""A"" type wing (Mk.IA) and cannons in the ""B"" type wing (Mk.IB). The first 110 fighters built were of the Typhoon Mk.IA version, with 12 wing-mounted 0.303 inch Colt-Browning Mk.II machine guns, because of the shortage of belt-feed mechanisms for the Hispano Mk.II cannons.

The early service life of the Typhoon was less than impressive. With a relatively poor rate of climb and sluggish performance at high altitudes, it was not able to maintain pace with the latest enemy fighters in its planned role as an interceptor. Furthermore, the first RAF squadrons to use the Typhoon found, like the test pilots who had helped to develop the Typhoon, that an alarming number of accidents, sometimes fatal, were attributed to the new fighter. Hawker was able to ascertain that the cause of many accidents was metal fatigue resulting in several cases of the entire tail section detaching in flight. However, even after this issue was resolved, high speed buffeting and an unreliable engine caused the early Typhoons to be less than popular with their crews.

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain fighters}}

Typhoon Mk Ia

2019-06-30T07:55:36Z

U39982399: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=typhoon_mk1a}}
{{About
| about = British fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = Typhoon Mk Ib
| link-2 = Typhoon Mk Ib/L
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a fast fighter for its rank but isn't good at turning due to its massively thick wings.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a great fighter for the rank it is at. The first thing you will notice with the Typhoon Mk Ia is that it is insanely fast, so diving at a five to ten-degree angle, if you are being attacked or if your attack failed, is a solid choice if you have the altitude that is. However, if you are playing Arcade battles with this plane the diving tactic may not work since the Arcade battle maps are quite small, it is still worth trying since it is a low tier plane and because of that have a low repair cost. One other thing worth noting is that the Typhoon Mk Ia has 12 x 0.303 calibre machine guns, which is a lot of guns, but they are only rifle calibre guns so if you want to take down bombers, you should consider getting another plane with cannons. But you are a fighter after all, not a bomber hunter.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 612 || 596 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 21.9 || 22.5 || 14.5 || 14.5 || 580
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 656 || 634 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 20.1 || 21.0 || 20.1 || 17.1 || 580
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps
! Take-off flaps
! Landing flaps
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|constructions}} || {{Specs|destruction|chassis}} || 420 || ~11 || ~5
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons (km/h)
! Rudder (km/h)
! Elevators (km/h)
! Radiator (km/h)
|-
| < 390 || < 440 || < 480 || > 337
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,447 m || 1,960 hp || 2,077 hp
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 4,981 m || 1,650 hp || 1,749 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===


* 3 mm Steel - Armored engine plate
* 1 mm Steel - Fore cockpit plate
* 12.7 mm Steel - Armor plate behind pilot's seat
* 42.8 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===

{{main|Browning .303 (7.7 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 12 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg outer x2 + 460 rpg center x2 + 500 rpg inner x2 = 5,840 total)(Rate of Fire - 12,000rpm combined)

=== Suspended armament ===

{{main|G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV (250 lb)|G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV (500 lb)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
* 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==
'''Arcade Battle -'''

so, for Air RB, you will want to use Boom and Zoom tactics, as your high power (for 2.7) and wing loading will allow for high speed passes on lower flying planes.

When encountering fighters, avoid turnfights at all cost, this aircraft simply doesn't turn very well. Your best bet is to either outrun them by WEP'ing and diving, which will force them to break off pursuit or break off their wings, or utilize engine controls to manuver as to get behind them. with bombers and less manuverable aircraft, Boom and Zoom applies.

'''Realistic Battle -'''

'''''Tank RB: "In Fast, Target Blast, Out Fast."''''' One of the unique capacities the Typhoon occupies, is being able to carry two 500lb bombs, giving you ground strike capabilities.

Seriously learn to use MEC (manual engine controls) as they are crucial to getting the most potential out of this aircraft, given the lack of Auto propeller pitch control.

Using MEC, (which should ideally be within reach of your keyboard hand if on PC, such as the number keys above the WASD keys) hold down the button for 100% Propeller Pitch and Mixture, while using the mouse wheel to control throttle. Use it to get a quick takeoff, and then set it to 90-93% throttle (using whichever key is assigned to engine control toggle 1) and cruise to the battlefield. It is recommended to keep an eye on the map by toggling M periodically, to indicate potential targets. By the time you are at the Area of Operations, you should have a target in mind. Fly around the far outskirts of the map, to an angle of approach that you think will be the opposite of where your target is looking. Considering you will likely be going over 250mph, wait until your target is about to be in sight, then toggle engine controls back on, hold the MECs to 100%, dump the throttle, Gear on/Flaps Landing (once below 250mph), Gear Off. doing so will effectively perform a hard braking manuver, slowing you down enough to accuractely place your munitions. Make sure to set the timers on the bombs to at least 3-5 seconds, as the bombs going off too early will likely destroy your aircraft with the shock wave.

Once you've dropped your bombs, flaps raised, throttle WEP, and run out of there as quickly as possible before the enemy SPAA can react.

The biggest advantage to this method is you can effectively enter the airspace, and engage targets faster most other aircraft, with as little warning to enemy forces as possible excepting enemy aircraft. At the same time, because you are flying a fighter equipped with 12 .303 machine guns, you can engage a ground target and then use your superior speed (against ground attackers like Stukas, russian light bombers, japanese light bombers) to annihilate enemy air forces.

'''''Air RB:'''''

Your biggest threat is the He-100 D-1. It can match you for top airspeed in level flight, but the Typhoon can accelerate far better, meaning that you are not without hope.

If you find yourself in pursuit, be prepared to use the MEC and throttle to keep them in front of you. If they get behind you, lead them into a turn or a dive, using the engine controls to let them whiz past you at top speed, as you cut inside their turn thanks to your lower airspeed. Then, a quick burst of your 12x1,000rpm .303 browning MGs will shred them like a cylindrical cheese grater mounted to the crankshaft of a car at rev limit. Against enemy fighters and bombers otherwise, the "boom and zoom" tactic is most applicable, as you simply don't have the turning capabilities of dogfighters at 2.7.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Controllable Not auto controlled
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| rowspan="2" | Not controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Combined || rowspan="2" | Controllable 2 gears || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage repair
| Radiator
|
| Offensive 7 mm
|
|-
| II
|
| Compressor
| Airframe
|
| HSBC mk.2
|-
| III
| Wings repair
| Engine
|
| New 7 mm MGs
| HMBC mk.2
|-
| IV
|
| Engine injection
| Cover
|
|
|-
|}

* Of the rank I upgrades, only ''Offensive 7 mm'' is of noticeable effect to allow for belt choice for the 7.7 mm armaments. The next level's ''Compressor'' should be the first choice, with ''Airframe'' and the ''HSBC mk.2'' as unattractive choices. Having the option of a last-ditch ground attack with the bombs may save the occasional game though. For rank III: ''Engine'', ''New 7 mm MGs'' and ''Wings repair'' in that order, just having the ability to perform long, accurate burst fire (against bombers) makes the armament upgrade worthwhile. The last level is ''Engine Injection''. The remaining modules can be chosen for research by personal preference.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great speed, especially in a dive
* A lot of guns
* Powerful engine
* Can carry bombs
* Average climb rate, similar climb rate to the [[Bf 109 E-3]]
* A great fighter in AB, a great fighter-bomber in RB and SB. The Typhoon is a versatile aircraft.

'''Cons:'''

* Slow roll rate
* 7mm machine guns will not do much against anything with armor
* Volatile
* Poor turn fighter, especially at low speed

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
The Hawker Typhoon was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter, first designed as a high speed interceptor.

Even before the new Hurricane fighter was launched into full-scale production, the engineers of Hawker Aircraft Ltd.'s design office, headed by Sir Sydney Camm, embarked on the development of а next-generation interceptor for the RAF. It was proposed that the new aircraft would be equipped with a new engine whose power would surpass that of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Hawker Aircraft received a contract to develop two prototypes: one had a Rolls-Royce Vulture liquid-cooled engine (an Х-block); the second had a Napier Sabre engine (an Н-block). Both engines had 24 cylinders and provided about 2,000 hp.

The first prototype was named the Hawker Tornado and featured a ventral radiator in the same position that the Hurricane did. The second prototype, named the Typhoon, was equipped with a distinctive chin-mounted radiator in the forward fuselage.

Since the development of the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine progressed more quickly, the Hawker Tornado was the first to be test flown in October 1939. The first Hawker Typhoon (P5212) prototype made its maiden flight in February 1940.

After delays caused by the Battle of Britain, the full-scale production of Typhoon Mk IA, with a 2,100 hp Napier Sabre Mk.IIA engine and a de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller, was launched. Work on the Hawker Tornado was ceased due to serious problems with the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine after the first production aircraft was built.

Subsequent to the results found during flight trials, the tail fin of the Typhoon Mk.IA was enlarged to improve longitudinal stability and the aircraft obtained its distinctive rudder with a straight rear edge. The starboard door and the folding part of the canopy were used to enter the fighter's cockpit; in an emergency both doors and the folding part of the canopy could be jettisoned.

The armament provided for the aircraft consisted of wing-mounted machine guns in the ""A"" type wing (Mk.IA) and cannons in the ""B"" type wing (Mk.IB). The first 110 fighters built were of the Typhoon Mk.IA version, with 12 wing-mounted 0.303 inch Colt-Browning Mk.II machine guns, because of the shortage of belt-feed mechanisms for the Hispano Mk.II cannons.

The early service life of the Typhoon was less than impressive. With a relatively poor rate of climb and sluggish performance at high altitudes, it was not able to maintain pace with the latest enemy fighters in its planned role as an interceptor. Furthermore, the first RAF squadrons to use the Typhoon found, like the test pilots who had helped to develop the Typhoon, that an alarming number of accidents, sometimes fatal, were attributed to the new fighter. Hawker was able to ascertain that the cause of many accidents was metal fatigue resulting in several cases of the entire tail section detaching in flight. However, even after this issue was resolved, high speed buffeting and an unreliable engine caused the early Typhoons to be less than popular with their crews.

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain fighters}}

Typhoon Mk Ia

2019-06-30T07:54:45Z

U39982399: /* Armaments */

{{Specs-Card|code=typhoon_mk1a}}
{{About
| about = British fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = Typhoon Mk Ib
| link-2 = Typhoon Mk Ib/L
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a fast fighter for its rank but isn't good at turning due to its massively thick wings.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a great fighter for the rank it is at. The first thing you will notice with the Typhoon Mk Ia is that it is insanely fast, so diving at a five to ten-degree angle, if you are being attacked or if your attack failed, is a solid choice if you have the altitude that is. However, if you are playing Arcade battles with this plane the diving tactic may not work since the Arcade battle maps are quite small, it is still worth trying since it is a low tier plane and because of that have a low repair cost. One other thing worth noting is that the Typhoon Mk Ia has 12 x 0.303 calibre machine guns, which is a lot of guns, but they are only rifle calibre guns so if you want to take down bombers, you should consider getting another plane with cannons. But you are a fighter after all, not a bomber hunter.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 612 || 596 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 21.9 || 22.5 || 14.5 || 14.5 || 580
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 656 || 634 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 20.1 || 21.0 || 20.1 || 17.1 || 580
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps
! Take-off flaps
! Landing flaps
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|constructions}} || {{Specs|destruction|chassis}} || 420 || ~11 || ~5
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons (km/h)
! Rudder (km/h)
! Elevators (km/h)
! Radiator (km/h)
|-
| < 390 || < 440 || < 480 || > 337
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,447 m || 1,960 hp || 2,077 hp
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 4,981 m || 1,650 hp || 1,749 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===


* 3 mm Steel - Armored engine plate
* 1 mm Steel - Fore cockpit plate
* 12.7 mm Steel - Armor plate behind pilot's seat
* 42.8 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===

{{main|Browning .303 (7.7 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 12 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg outer x2 + 460 rpg center x2 + 500 rpg inner x2 = 5,840 total)(Rate of Fire - 12,000rpm combined)

=== Suspended armament ===

{{main|G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV (250 lb)|G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV (500 lb)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
* 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==
'''Arcade Battle -'''

so, for Air RB, you will want to use Boom and Zoom tactics, as your high power (for 2.7) and wing loading will allow for high speed passes on lower flying planes.

When encountering fighters, avoid turnfights at all cost, this aircraft simply doesn't turn very well. Your best bet is to either outrun them by WEP'ing and diving, which will force them to break off pursuit or break off their wings, or utilize engine controls to manuver as to get behind them. with bombers and less manuverable aircraft, Boom and Zoom applies.

'''Realistic Battle -'''

'''''Tank RB: "In Fast, Target Blast, Out Fast."''''' One of the unique capacities the Typhoon occupies, is being able to carry two 500lb bombs, giving you ground strike capabilities.

Seriously learn to use MEC (manual engine controls) as they are crucial to getting the most potential out of this aircraft, given the lack of Auto propeller pitch control.

Using MEC, (which should ideally be within reach of your keyboard hand if on PC, such as the number keys above the WASD keys) hold down the button for 100% Propeller Pitch and Mixture, while using the mouse wheel to control throttle. Use it to get a quick takeoff, and then set it to 90-90% throttle (using whichever key is assigned to engine control toggle 1) and cruise to the battlefield. It is recommended to keep an eye on the map by toggling M periodically, to indicate potential targets. By the time you are at the Area of Operations, you should have a target in mind. Fly around the far outskirts of the map, to an angle of approach that you think will be the opposite of where your target is looking. Considering you will likely be going over 250mph, wait until your target is about to be in sight, then toggle engine controls back on, hold the MECs to 100%, dump the throttle, Gear on/Flaps Landing (once below 250mph), Gear Off. doing so will effectively perform a hard braking manuver, slowing you down enough to accuractely place your munitions. Make sure to set the timers on the bombs to at least 3-5 seconds, as the bombs going off too early will likely destroy your aircraft with the shock wave.

Once you've dropped your bombs, flaps raised, throttle WEP, and run out of there as quickly as possible before the enemy SPAA can react.

The biggest advantage to this method is you can effectively enter the airspace, and engage targets faster most other aircraft, with as little warning to enemy forces as possible excepting enemy aircraft. At the same time, because you are flying a fighter equipped with 12 .303 machine guns, you can engage a ground target and then use your superior speed (against ground attackers like Stukas, russian light bombers, japanese light bombers) to annihilate enemy air forces.

'''''Air RB:'''''

Your biggest threat is the He-100 D-1. It can match you for top airspeed in level flight, but the Typhoon can accelerate far better, meaning that you are not without hope.

If you find yourself in pursuit, be prepared to use the MEC and throttle to keep them in front of you. If they get behind you, lead them into a turn or a dive, using the engine controls to let them whiz past you at top speed, as you cut inside their turn thanks to your lower airspeed. Then, a quick burst of your 12x1,000rpm .303 browning MGs will shred them like a cylindrical cheese grater mounted to the crankshaft of a car at rev limit. Against enemy fighters and bombers otherwise, the "boom and zoom" tactic is most applicable, as you simply don't have the turning capabilities of dogfighters at 2.7.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Controllable Not auto controlled
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| rowspan="2" | Not controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Combined || rowspan="2" | Controllable 2 gears || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage repair
| Radiator
|
| Offensive 7 mm
|
|-
| II
|
| Compressor
| Airframe
|
| HSBC mk.2
|-
| III
| Wings repair
| Engine
|
| New 7 mm MGs
| HMBC mk.2
|-
| IV
|
| Engine injection
| Cover
|
|
|-
|}

* Of the rank I upgrades, only ''Offensive 7 mm'' is of noticeable effect to allow for belt choice for the 7.7 mm armaments. The next level's ''Compressor'' should be the first choice, with ''Airframe'' and the ''HSBC mk.2'' as unattractive choices. Having the option of a last-ditch ground attack with the bombs may save the occasional game though. For rank III: ''Engine'', ''New 7 mm MGs'' and ''Wings repair'' in that order, just having the ability to perform long, accurate burst fire (against bombers) makes the armament upgrade worthwhile. The last level is ''Engine Injection''. The remaining modules can be chosen for research by personal preference.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great speed, especially in a dive
* A lot of guns
* Powerful engine
* Can carry bombs
* Average climb rate, similar climb rate to the [[Bf 109 E-3]]
* A great fighter in AB, a great fighter-bomber in RB and SB. The Typhoon is a versatile aircraft.

'''Cons:'''

* Slow roll rate
* 7mm machine guns will not do much against anything with armor
* Volatile
* Poor turn fighter, especially at low speed

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
The Hawker Typhoon was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter, first designed as a high speed interceptor.

Even before the new Hurricane fighter was launched into full-scale production, the engineers of Hawker Aircraft Ltd.'s design office, headed by Sir Sydney Camm, embarked on the development of а next-generation interceptor for the RAF. It was proposed that the new aircraft would be equipped with a new engine whose power would surpass that of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Hawker Aircraft received a contract to develop two prototypes: one had a Rolls-Royce Vulture liquid-cooled engine (an Х-block); the second had a Napier Sabre engine (an Н-block). Both engines had 24 cylinders and provided about 2,000 hp.

The first prototype was named the Hawker Tornado and featured a ventral radiator in the same position that the Hurricane did. The second prototype, named the Typhoon, was equipped with a distinctive chin-mounted radiator in the forward fuselage.

Since the development of the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine progressed more quickly, the Hawker Tornado was the first to be test flown in October 1939. The first Hawker Typhoon (P5212) prototype made its maiden flight in February 1940.

After delays caused by the Battle of Britain, the full-scale production of Typhoon Mk IA, with a 2,100 hp Napier Sabre Mk.IIA engine and a de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller, was launched. Work on the Hawker Tornado was ceased due to serious problems with the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine after the first production aircraft was built.

Subsequent to the results found during flight trials, the tail fin of the Typhoon Mk.IA was enlarged to improve longitudinal stability and the aircraft obtained its distinctive rudder with a straight rear edge. The starboard door and the folding part of the canopy were used to enter the fighter's cockpit; in an emergency both doors and the folding part of the canopy could be jettisoned.

The armament provided for the aircraft consisted of wing-mounted machine guns in the ""A"" type wing (Mk.IA) and cannons in the ""B"" type wing (Mk.IB). The first 110 fighters built were of the Typhoon Mk.IA version, with 12 wing-mounted 0.303 inch Colt-Browning Mk.II machine guns, because of the shortage of belt-feed mechanisms for the Hispano Mk.II cannons.

The early service life of the Typhoon was less than impressive. With a relatively poor rate of climb and sluggish performance at high altitudes, it was not able to maintain pace with the latest enemy fighters in its planned role as an interceptor. Furthermore, the first RAF squadrons to use the Typhoon found, like the test pilots who had helped to develop the Typhoon, that an alarming number of accidents, sometimes fatal, were attributed to the new fighter. Hawker was able to ascertain that the cause of many accidents was metal fatigue resulting in several cases of the entire tail section detaching in flight. However, even after this issue was resolved, high speed buffeting and an unreliable engine caused the early Typhoons to be less than popular with their crews.

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain fighters}}

Typhoon Mk Ia

2019-06-30T07:53:37Z

U39982399: (weapons) - filled in the gap with there being no display of the rate of fire. (Usage in battles) - rewrote due to the prior being written with clearly little understanding of the aircraft, creating an inaccurate description about how to use the aircraft

{{Specs-Card|code=typhoon_mk1a}}
{{About
| about = British fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = Typhoon Mk Ib
| link-2 = Typhoon Mk Ib/L
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a fast fighter for its rank but isn't good at turning due to its massively thick wings.

The Typhoon Mk Ia is a great fighter for the rank it is at. The first thing you will notice with the Typhoon Mk Ia is that it is insanely fast, so diving at a five to ten-degree angle, if you are being attacked or if your attack failed, is a solid choice if you have the altitude that is. However, if you are playing Arcade battles with this plane the diving tactic may not work since the Arcade battle maps are quite small, it is still worth trying since it is a low tier plane and because of that have a low repair cost. One other thing worth noting is that the Typhoon Mk Ia has 12 x 0.303 calibre machine guns, which is a lot of guns, but they are only rifle calibre guns so if you want to take down bombers, you should consider getting another plane with cannons. But you are a fighter after all, not a bomber hunter.

== General info ==
=== Flight Performance ===
''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="8" | Characteristics
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Stock''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 612 || 596 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 21.9 || 22.5 || 14.5 || 14.5 || 580
|-
! colspan="8" | ''Upgraded''
|-
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,157 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (meters)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (meters/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (meters)
|-
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
! AB
! RB
|-
| 656 || 634 || {{Specs|ceiling}} || 20.1 || 21.0 || 20.1 || 17.1 || 580
|-
|}

====Details====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps
! Take-off flaps
! Landing flaps
! Air brakes
! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wing-break speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear limit (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Combat flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! +
! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|constructions}} || {{Specs|destruction|chassis}} || 420 || ~11 || ~5
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities
|-
! Ailerons (km/h)
! Rudder (km/h)
! Elevators (km/h)
! Radiator (km/h)
|-
| < 390 || < 440 || < 480 || > 337
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,447 m || 1,960 hp || 2,077 hp
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 2
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 4,981 m || 1,650 hp || 1,749 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===


* 3 mm Steel - Armored engine plate
* 1 mm Steel - Fore cockpit plate
* 12.7 mm Steel - Armor plate behind pilot's seat
* 42.8 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen

== Armaments ==
=== Offensive armament ===

{{main|Browning .303 (7.7 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 12 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg outer x2 + 460 rpg center x2 + 500 rpg inner x2 = 5,840 total)
* Rate of Fire - 1,000rpm per gun, equaling to 12,000rpm in total.

=== Suspended armament ===

{{main|G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV (250 lb)|G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV (500 lb)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
* 2 x 500 lb G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==
'''Arcade Battle -'''

so, for Air RB, you will want to use Boom and Zoom tactics, as your high power (for 2.7) and wing loading will allow for high speed passes on lower flying planes.

When encountering fighters, avoid turnfights at all cost, this aircraft simply doesn't turn very well. Your best bet is to either outrun them by WEP'ing and diving, which will force them to break off pursuit or break off their wings, or utilize engine controls to manuver as to get behind them. with bombers and less manuverable aircraft, Boom and Zoom applies.

'''Realistic Battle -'''

'''''Tank RB: "In Fast, Target Blast, Out Fast."''''' One of the unique capacities the Typhoon occupies, is being able to carry two 500lb bombs, giving you ground strike capabilities.

Seriously learn to use MEC (manual engine controls) as they are crucial to getting the most potential out of this aircraft, given the lack of Auto propeller pitch control.

Using MEC, (which should ideally be within reach of your keyboard hand if on PC, such as the number keys above the WASD keys) hold down the button for 100% Propeller Pitch and Mixture, while using the mouse wheel to control throttle. Use it to get a quick takeoff, and then set it to 90-90% throttle (using whichever key is assigned to engine control toggle 1) and cruise to the battlefield. It is recommended to keep an eye on the map by toggling M periodically, to indicate potential targets. By the time you are at the Area of Operations, you should have a target in mind. Fly around the far outskirts of the map, to an angle of approach that you think will be the opposite of where your target is looking. Considering you will likely be going over 250mph, wait until your target is about to be in sight, then toggle engine controls back on, hold the MECs to 100%, dump the throttle, Gear on/Flaps Landing (once below 250mph), Gear Off. doing so will effectively perform a hard braking manuver, slowing you down enough to accuractely place your munitions. Make sure to set the timers on the bombs to at least 3-5 seconds, as the bombs going off too early will likely destroy your aircraft with the shock wave.

Once you've dropped your bombs, flaps raised, throttle WEP, and run out of there as quickly as possible before the enemy SPAA can react.

The biggest advantage to this method is you can effectively enter the airspace, and engage targets faster most other aircraft, with as little warning to enemy forces as possible excepting enemy aircraft. At the same time, because you are flying a fighter equipped with 12 .303 machine guns, you can engage a ground target and then use your superior speed (against ground attackers like Stukas, russian light bombers, japanese light bombers) to annihilate enemy air forces.

'''''Air RB:'''''

Your biggest threat is the He-100 D-1. It can match you for top airspeed in level flight, but the Typhoon can accelerate far better, meaning that you are not without hope.

If you find yourself in pursuit, be prepared to use the MEC and throttle to keep them in front of you. If they get behind you, lead them into a turn or a dive, using the engine controls to let them whiz past you at top speed, as you cut inside their turn thanks to your lower airspeed. Then, a quick burst of your 12x1,000rpm .303 browning MGs will shred them like a cylindrical cheese grater mounted to the crankshaft of a car at rev limit. Against enemy fighters and bombers otherwise, the "boom and zoom" tactic is most applicable, as you simply don't have the turning capabilities of dogfighters at 2.7.

===Manual Engine Control===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil
! Water
! Type
|-
| Controllable || rowspan="2" | Controllable Not auto controlled
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| rowspan="2" | Not controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Controllable Auto control available || rowspan="2" | Combined || rowspan="2" | Controllable 2 gears || rowspan="2" | Not controllable
|-
|}

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="1" | Tier
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
! colspan="1" | Survivability
! colspan="2" | Weaponry
|-
| I
| Fuselage repair
| Radiator
|
| Offensive 7 mm
|
|-
| II
|
| Compressor
| Airframe
|
| HSBC mk.2
|-
| III
| Wings repair
| Engine
|
| New 7 mm MGs
| HMBC mk.2
|-
| IV
|
| Engine injection
| Cover
|
|
|-
|}

* Of the rank I upgrades, only ''Offensive 7 mm'' is of noticeable effect to allow for belt choice for the 7.7 mm armaments. The next level's ''Compressor'' should be the first choice, with ''Airframe'' and the ''HSBC mk.2'' as unattractive choices. Having the option of a last-ditch ground attack with the bombs may save the occasional game though. For rank III: ''Engine'', ''New 7 mm MGs'' and ''Wings repair'' in that order, just having the ability to perform long, accurate burst fire (against bombers) makes the armament upgrade worthwhile. The last level is ''Engine Injection''. The remaining modules can be chosen for research by personal preference.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great speed, especially in a dive
* A lot of guns
* Powerful engine
* Can carry bombs
* Average climb rate, similar climb rate to the [[Bf 109 E-3]]
* A great fighter in AB, a great fighter-bomber in RB and SB. The Typhoon is a versatile aircraft.

'''Cons:'''

* Slow roll rate
* 7mm machine guns will not do much against anything with armor
* Volatile
* Poor turn fighter, especially at low speed

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== Encyclopedia Info ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

=== In-game description ===
The Hawker Typhoon was a single-seat, all-metal monoplane fighter, first designed as a high speed interceptor.

Even before the new Hurricane fighter was launched into full-scale production, the engineers of Hawker Aircraft Ltd.'s design office, headed by Sir Sydney Camm, embarked on the development of а next-generation interceptor for the RAF. It was proposed that the new aircraft would be equipped with a new engine whose power would surpass that of the Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Hawker Aircraft received a contract to develop two prototypes: one had a Rolls-Royce Vulture liquid-cooled engine (an Х-block); the second had a Napier Sabre engine (an Н-block). Both engines had 24 cylinders and provided about 2,000 hp.

The first prototype was named the Hawker Tornado and featured a ventral radiator in the same position that the Hurricane did. The second prototype, named the Typhoon, was equipped with a distinctive chin-mounted radiator in the forward fuselage.

Since the development of the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine progressed more quickly, the Hawker Tornado was the first to be test flown in October 1939. The first Hawker Typhoon (P5212) prototype made its maiden flight in February 1940.

After delays caused by the Battle of Britain, the full-scale production of Typhoon Mk IA, with a 2,100 hp Napier Sabre Mk.IIA engine and a de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller, was launched. Work on the Hawker Tornado was ceased due to serious problems with the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine after the first production aircraft was built.

Subsequent to the results found during flight trials, the tail fin of the Typhoon Mk.IA was enlarged to improve longitudinal stability and the aircraft obtained its distinctive rudder with a straight rear edge. The starboard door and the folding part of the canopy were used to enter the fighter's cockpit; in an emergency both doors and the folding part of the canopy could be jettisoned.

The armament provided for the aircraft consisted of wing-mounted machine guns in the ""A"" type wing (Mk.IA) and cannons in the ""B"" type wing (Mk.IB). The first 110 fighters built were of the Typhoon Mk.IA version, with 12 wing-mounted 0.303 inch Colt-Browning Mk.II machine guns, because of the shortage of belt-feed mechanisms for the Hispano Mk.II cannons.

The early service life of the Typhoon was less than impressive. With a relatively poor rate of climb and sluggish performance at high altitudes, it was not able to maintain pace with the latest enemy fighters in its planned role as an interceptor. Furthermore, the first RAF squadrons to use the Typhoon found, like the test pilots who had helped to develop the Typhoon, that an alarming number of accidents, sometimes fatal, were attributed to the new fighter. Hawker was able to ascertain that the cause of many accidents was metal fatigue resulting in several cases of the entire tail section detaching in flight. However, even after this issue was resolved, high speed buffeting and an unreliable engine caused the early Typhoons to be less than popular with their crews.

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the aircraft;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain fighters}}

Pz.III J1

2019-06-02T12:47:40Z

U39982399: /* Pros and Cons */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_III_ausf_J}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage Pz.IIIJ1.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' ('''Panzer III J1''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.43]]. An improvement over the J version with the longer [[KwK 39 (50 mm)|50 mm KwK 39]] gun: the Panzer III J1 provides a better punch.

This variant, compared to its predecessor - [[Pz.III J|Pz.III J]], features only few, but very important upgrades.

Most importantly, the J1 variant is the first Panzer III to have the long barreled KwK 39 L/60 50mm tank gun. This gun offers 96mm of armour penetration at a range of 100 m and 79 mm at 500 m. In a practical sense, it is just enough to deal with most tanks at this BR, although targeting weakspots, or side/rear armour is often necessary, especially against well-armoured heavy tanks like the KV-1 but that is why you have APCR ammunition. APCR comes in two sets, PzGr40 and PzGr40/1. PzGr40 has the highest penetration - 150mm at close range, but loses penetration quite rapidly when shooting far targets and is also a higher tier modification. ''(->More info can be found below in the "[[#Ammunition|Ammunition]]" section.)''

The second important upgrade is the electric turret drive - greatly improving the turret traverse speed, and removing the long present weakness of all older Panzer III variants.

Optimal combat distance for this vehicle is somewhere between medium to close range. But don't be mistaken, the Panzer III J1 is not an frontline tank. You should be always on the move and harass the enemy without rest as any return fire will be lethal. Don't trust your armour and instead rely on your mobility. Flanking is the best option for J1 as you can use the high RoF for good effect and hopefully avoid the incoming retribution. You don't have the best mobility for a medium tank, but you definitely remain competitive against most enemy tanks you may encounter. Always try to find some good firing positions, with available cover, and if necessary, pull back and relocate. Always avoid direct close range confrontations with main enemy force; never try to fight more than 1 enemy at the time. However - playing purely as support/sniper tank isn't optimal either, because of your lower armour penetration.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Barrel shroud, Cupola)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 50 mm (12°) ''Front plate'' 25 mm (86°), 50 mm (53°) ''Front glacis'' 50 mm (23-69°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 mm || 50 mm (15-41°) ''Top'' 50 mm (11-66°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 50 mm (12-25°) ''Turret front'' 50 mm (12-46°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 30 mm (22-25°) || 30 mm (13-16°) || 10 mm
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 10 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 21.8 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 59 (AB)
|-
|53 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|465
|572
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|265
|300
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|21.33
|26.24
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|12.16
|13.76
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|KwK 39 (50 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 39 (50 mm)|50 mm KwK 39]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 92 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.33 || 18.45 || 22.4 || 24.77 || 26.35
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 8.33 || 9.80 || 11.90 || 13.16 || 14.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 4.81 || 4.25 || 3.92 || 3.70
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr 39 || APC || 95 || 92 || 76 || 61 || 49 || 39
|-
| PzGr 40/1 || APCR || 128 || 126 || 91 || 61 || 40 || 27
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR || 150 || 149 || 108 || 72 || 48 || 32
|-
| Sprgr. 38 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr 39 || APC || 835 || 2.05 || 1.2 || 25 || 28.9 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 40/1 || APCR || 1,140 || 1.07 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR || 1,180 || 0.93 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr. 38 || HE || 550 || 1.81 || 2.0 || 0.1 || 170 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

====Shell types====

*'''PzGr 39''' - Armour Piercing Capped shell - This is your main ammo type, use it whenever you think it has enough penetration to penetrate your target. It deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
*'''PzGr 40/1''' - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - This type of ammo should be used if you are having trouble penetrating your opponent, or trying to hit a fast moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower, because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration.
*'''PzGr 40''' - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - this variation of APCR is lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration (up to 150mm). Use it against heavily armoured beasts like the [[KV-1 (Family)|KV-1]] (If you can't flank them). However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration, it is even worse than that of PzGr 40/1. It basically only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path. It is therefore almost useless to fire them at things like turret cupolas, as it will usually just fly right through them.
* '''SprGr 38''' - High Explosive ammo - You should carry only very few of these. They are completely useless against anything other than unarmoured AA vehicles, to which it is lethal.

==== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_Pz.IIIJ1.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the Panzer III J1.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''92''' || 70 ''(+22)'' || 47 ''(+45)'' || 24 ''(+68)'' || 1 ''(+91)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

Turret empty: 70 ''(+22)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 3,750 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
'''"Offensive"'''

with this tank, you have essentially a "jack of all trades, somewhat good at all of them" kind of option set. you can stick with friendly tanks, and use your high ROF and excellent stats with APCR to get a mix of assists and kills, OR go for a flanking move, since at practical distances (400-1000m) your gun's pen statistics are far less than the max advertised, but still enough at those ranges to at least immobilize particularly important enemy tanks like a KV-1 or Churchill with a drivetrain shot. you can attempt multiple shots to kill enemies, but by that point you will begin recieving "responsive fire", and your tank's armor is not good enough to withstand more than 1-2 hits before being taken out.

a possible solution is to use "shoot and scoot" manuvers, popping out to fire and then scurrying to a different spot, but this poses issues if the terrain won't allow you to have consistent cover (which may result in a downed tank between cover) or if there simply isn't much of any cover. (the map Kursk's outer capture points are a perfect example of this.)

'''"Defensive"'''

when on the defense, you have a number of advantages and some severe disadvantages - being able to hunker down and hammer in shots with the long 5cm mean that most tanks that you will face (early shermans, early brits, early russian tanks) will likely be more focused on any Pz.4s in your team, which may cause them to unintentionally show their hull sides (due to being focused on some guy with a Pz.4 F2 or something) and that combined with your excellent rate of fire and pen statistics means you can make quick work of an unsuspecting light or medium tank, assuming you can find cover in a location the enemy will not be looking at.

if detected or ranged by a tank or tank destroyer (assuming they have an angle that negates your cover's protection) your armor (more on par with a cromwell than anything really) will not protect you from very much, as even AP 20mm rounds can pen if close enough. if you simply find yourself stuck behind cover because the enemy has your position, it is advised to pop smoke (as you have multiple use smoke-nade launchers) and use the smoke to full effect, making it as difficult as possible for enemy tanks to get an exact bearing on your position as you try to move to better or other cover in general.

=== '''Pros and Cons''' ===

'''Pros:'''

* High rate of fire
* High shell velocity
* Mobile and fast
* Excellent gun depression
* APCR ammo is great against moving targets

'''Cons:'''

* Poor damage against modules and crew
* Gun lacks penetration at range, is likely to bounce from slopes
* Overall weak armour
* Modules are sensitive to damage
* APCR is pathetic at long ranges and deals very little damage upon penetration

== History ==


===Development===
The '''Panzerkampfwagen III''' medium tank, or the '''Panzer III''' was developed in the 1930s. Starting in early 1934, Heinz Guderian set down some specifications for a new tank, which the Army Weapons Department took up to design the tank to weigh no more than 24,000 kilograms with a top speed of 35 km per hour. This tank's role was to be the main tank of the German army and was expected to destroy opposing tanks, as opposed to a tank made to destroy anti-tank guns and opposing infantrymen, which the [[Pz.IV C|Panzer IV]] served as.

Daimler-Benz, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall produced prototypes meeting the specifications and the Daimler-Benz model was chosen after testing in 1936-1937. The Panzer III model used a leaf-spring suspension in its early models (Ausf. A - Ausf. D) before utilizing a six-wheeled torsion-bar suspension in the [[Pz.III E|Ausf. E]] and beyond. The Panzer III had a crew of five men, the commander, gunner, loader, driver, and assistant driver. The best feature of the Panzer III during its introduction that is the most overlooked was the three-man turret, which was not as common at the time. This frees the commander to be able to effectively command the tank while maintaining situational awareness, rather than be burdened by the role of a loader or gunner, improving combat effectiveness of the tank. The 37 mm (later 50 mm) anti-tank gun was also very effective against contemporary tanks. Despite this rather advanced design, the turret did not have a turret basket for the crew. It was a proven design and production began in May 1937. The total number of Panzer III tanks constructed in its production life was 5,774 units (excluding the far more produced [[StuG III F|StuG III]] variant).

===Specifications===
The '''Panzer III Ausf. J1''' features a much better 50 mm gun compared to its predecessors, the 50 mm KwK 39, which is an improvement over the 50 mm KwK 38 by its longer barrel that provided additonal accuracy. Longer cartridges with more propellant charge were used, providing extra velocity and penetration. This new 50 mm gun gives the Panzer III a fighting edge against [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]]s and [[M4|M4 Shermans]], which the older 50 mm KwK 38 had trouble fighting against. The Panzer III Ausf. J1 still featured the 50 mm armour thickness on the front and rear originally from the [[Pz.III J|Ausf. J]] variant, but later models had new offset armour on the front of the hull and turret that provide 20 mm of effective protection These armour also apply as spaced armour due to not being attached to the hull or turret mantlet. The spaced armour on the front helped defend the tank against Soviet anti-tank rounds or HEAT rounds fired at it on those plates, as it dissipates the penetration power before striking the hull.

===Combat usage===
The Panzer III J1 was only a stopgap design to integrate the 50 mm KwK 39 into service as fast as possible. The final designs in its later models were later redesignated the [[Pz.III L|Panzer III Ausf. L]] and [[Pz.III M|Panzer III Ausf. M]]. It saw service on the eastern front, where it performed poorly against superior [[T-34 (Family)|T-34]] and [[KV-1 (Family)|KV-1]] tanks. However, it also saw service in North Africa, where it would easily defeat allied light tanks such as the [[M3 Stuart]] and the [[Crusader Mk III|Crusader]], even when outnumbered. However, the introduction of more medium tanks by the allies in the African theater would prove to be problematic for the Panzer III. Those that survived the defeat in Africa would try to defend Sicily from the allied invasion of Italy.

=== In-game description ===
One of the serial modification to the Pz.Kpfw.III light tank, 1,549 of these tanks were produced from March to October, 1941.
The armor plating installed on tanks of the Ausf.H modification was a temporary measure. Tanks of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.J modification began to be released in March, 1941. The thickness of the single-layer, homogeneous armor of the front and rear plates was 50 mm.

The design of the spherical machine gun installation had to be modified due to the increase in the thickness of the armor plates. A large number of less significant changes were also made.

The first vehicles released were added to the arsenal of the African Corps, but the overwhelming majority entered divisions that were performing combat operations in the incipient war with the Soviet Union.

== Media ==


'''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the ''Panzer III Ausf. J1'' from live.warthunder.com. There are plenty of category terms flying around. So looking through every one of them will be necessary. Some of these might not work. Look for the Panzer 3 tanks with the very long barrel, or see what the description says.

*[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23panzer_iii_j1 #panzer_iii_j1]

===Sights===

* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]

== 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 ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany medium tanks}}

Pz.III J1

2019-06-02T12:44:57Z

U39982399: /* Usage in battles */ honestly I found the version prior difficult and considerably unclear in the useability of this tank, which I have quite a bit of experience with.

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_III_ausf_J}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage Pz.IIIJ1.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' ('''Panzer III J1''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.43]]. An improvement over the J version with the longer [[KwK 39 (50 mm)|50 mm KwK 39]] gun: the Panzer III J1 provides a better punch.

This variant, compared to its predecessor - [[Pz.III J|Pz.III J]], features only few, but very important upgrades.

Most importantly, the J1 variant is the first Panzer III to have the long barreled KwK 39 L/60 50mm tank gun. This gun offers 96mm of armour penetration at a range of 100 m and 79 mm at 500 m. In a practical sense, it is just enough to deal with most tanks at this BR, although targeting weakspots, or side/rear armour is often necessary, especially against well-armoured heavy tanks like the KV-1 but that is why you have APCR ammunition. APCR comes in two sets, PzGr40 and PzGr40/1. PzGr40 has the highest penetration - 150mm at close range, but loses penetration quite rapidly when shooting far targets and is also a higher tier modification. ''(->More info can be found below in the "[[#Ammunition|Ammunition]]" section.)''

The second important upgrade is the electric turret drive - greatly improving the turret traverse speed, and removing the long present weakness of all older Panzer III variants.

Optimal combat distance for this vehicle is somewhere between medium to close range. But don't be mistaken, the Panzer III J1 is not an frontline tank. You should be always on the move and harass the enemy without rest as any return fire will be lethal. Don't trust your armour and instead rely on your mobility. Flanking is the best option for J1 as you can use the high RoF for good effect and hopefully avoid the incoming retribution. You don't have the best mobility for a medium tank, but you definitely remain competitive against most enemy tanks you may encounter. Always try to find some good firing positions, with available cover, and if necessary, pull back and relocate. Always avoid direct close range confrontations with main enemy force; never try to fight more than 1 enemy at the time. However - playing purely as support/sniper tank isn't optimal either, because of your lower armour penetration.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Barrel shroud, Cupola)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 50 mm (12°) ''Front plate'' 25 mm (86°), 50 mm (53°) ''Front glacis'' 50 mm (23-69°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 mm || 50 mm (15-41°) ''Top'' 50 mm (11-66°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 50 mm (12-25°) ''Turret front'' 50 mm (12-46°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 30 mm (22-25°) || 30 mm (13-16°) || 10 mm
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 10 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 21.8 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 59 (AB)
|-
|53 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|465
|572
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|265
|300
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|21.33
|26.24
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|12.16
|13.76
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|KwK 39 (50 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 39 (50 mm)|50 mm KwK 39]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 92 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.33 || 18.45 || 22.4 || 24.77 || 26.35
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 8.33 || 9.80 || 11.90 || 13.16 || 14.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 4.81 || 4.25 || 3.92 || 3.70
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr 39 || APC || 95 || 92 || 76 || 61 || 49 || 39
|-
| PzGr 40/1 || APCR || 128 || 126 || 91 || 61 || 40 || 27
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR || 150 || 149 || 108 || 72 || 48 || 32
|-
| Sprgr. 38 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr 39 || APC || 835 || 2.05 || 1.2 || 25 || 28.9 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 40/1 || APCR || 1,140 || 1.07 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR || 1,180 || 0.93 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr. 38 || HE || 550 || 1.81 || 2.0 || 0.1 || 170 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

====Shell types====

*'''PzGr 39''' - Armour Piercing Capped shell - This is your main ammo type, use it whenever you think it has enough penetration to penetrate your target. It deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
*'''PzGr 40/1''' - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - This type of ammo should be used if you are having trouble penetrating your opponent, or trying to hit a fast moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower, because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration.
*'''PzGr 40''' - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - this variation of APCR is lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration (up to 150mm). Use it against heavily armoured beasts like the [[KV-1 (Family)|KV-1]] (If you can't flank them). However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration, it is even worse than that of PzGr 40/1. It basically only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path. It is therefore almost useless to fire them at things like turret cupolas, as it will usually just fly right through them.
* '''SprGr 38''' - High Explosive ammo - You should carry only very few of these. They are completely useless against anything other than unarmoured AA vehicles, to which it is lethal.

==== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_Pz.IIIJ1.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the Panzer III J1.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''92''' || 70 ''(+22)'' || 47 ''(+45)'' || 24 ''(+68)'' || 1 ''(+91)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

Turret empty: 70 ''(+22)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 3,750 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
'''"Offensive"'''

with this tank, you have essentially a "jack of all trades, somewhat good at all of them" kind of option set. you can stick with friendly tanks, and use your high ROF and excellent stats with APCR to get a mix of assists and kills, OR go for a flanking move, since at practical distances (400-1000m) your gun's pen statistics are far less than the max advertised, but still enough at those ranges to at least immobilize particularly important enemy tanks like a KV-1 or Churchill with a drivetrain shot. you can attempt multiple shots to kill enemies, but by that point you will begin recieving "responsive fire", and your tank's armor is not good enough to withstand more than 1-2 hits before being taken out.

a possible solution is to use "shoot and scoot" manuvers, popping out to fire and then scurrying to a different spot, but this poses issues if the terrain won't allow you to have consistent cover (which may result in a downed tank between cover) or if there simply isn't much of any cover. (the map Kursk's outer capture points are a perfect example of this.)

'''"Defensive"'''

when on the defense, you have a number of advantages and some severe disadvantages - being able to hunker down and hammer in shots with the long 5cm mean that most tanks that you will face (early shermans, early brits, early russian tanks) will likely be more focused on any Pz.4s in your team, which may cause them to unintentionally show their hull sides (due to being focused on some guy with a Pz.4 F2 or something) and that combined with your excellent rate of fire and pen statistics means you can make quick work of an unsuspecting light or medium tank, assuming you can find cover in a location the enemy will not be looking at.

if detected or ranged by a tank or tank destroyer (assuming they have an angle that negates your cover's protection) your armor (more on par with a cromwell than anything really) will not protect you from very much, as even AP 20mm rounds can pen if close enough. if you simply find yourself stuck behind cover because the enemy has your position, it is advised to pop smoke (as you have multiple use smoke-nade launchers) and use the smoke to full effect, making it as difficult as possible for enemy tanks to get an exact bearing on your position as you try to move to better or other cover in general.

=== '''Pros and Cons''' ===

'''Pros:'''

* High rate of fire
* High shell velocity
* Mobile and fast
* Excellent gun depression
* APCR ammo is great against moving targets

'''Cons:'''

* Poor damage against modules and crew
* Gun lacks penetration at range, is likely to bounce from slopes, and isn't very accurate
* Overall weak armour
* Modules are sensitive to damage
* APCR is pathetic at long ranges and deals very little damage upon penetration

== History ==


===Development===
The '''Panzerkampfwagen III''' medium tank, or the '''Panzer III''' was developed in the 1930s. Starting in early 1934, Heinz Guderian set down some specifications for a new tank, which the Army Weapons Department took up to design the tank to weigh no more than 24,000 kilograms with a top speed of 35 km per hour. This tank's role was to be the main tank of the German army and was expected to destroy opposing tanks, as opposed to a tank made to destroy anti-tank guns and opposing infantrymen, which the [[Pz.IV C|Panzer IV]] served as.

Daimler-Benz, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall produced prototypes meeting the specifications and the Daimler-Benz model was chosen after testing in 1936-1937. The Panzer III model used a leaf-spring suspension in its early models (Ausf. A - Ausf. D) before utilizing a six-wheeled torsion-bar suspension in the [[Pz.III E|Ausf. E]] and beyond. The Panzer III had a crew of five men, the commander, gunner, loader, driver, and assistant driver. The best feature of the Panzer III during its introduction that is the most overlooked was the three-man turret, which was not as common at the time. This frees the commander to be able to effectively command the tank while maintaining situational awareness, rather than be burdened by the role of a loader or gunner, improving combat effectiveness of the tank. The 37 mm (later 50 mm) anti-tank gun was also very effective against contemporary tanks. Despite this rather advanced design, the turret did not have a turret basket for the crew. It was a proven design and production began in May 1937. The total number of Panzer III tanks constructed in its production life was 5,774 units (excluding the far more produced [[StuG III F|StuG III]] variant).

===Specifications===
The '''Panzer III Ausf. J1''' features a much better 50 mm gun compared to its predecessors, the 50 mm KwK 39, which is an improvement over the 50 mm KwK 38 by its longer barrel that provided additonal accuracy. Longer cartridges with more propellant charge were used, providing extra velocity and penetration. This new 50 mm gun gives the Panzer III a fighting edge against [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]]s and [[M4|M4 Shermans]], which the older 50 mm KwK 38 had trouble fighting against. The Panzer III Ausf. J1 still featured the 50 mm armour thickness on the front and rear originally from the [[Pz.III J|Ausf. J]] variant, but later models had new offset armour on the front of the hull and turret that provide 20 mm of effective protection These armour also apply as spaced armour due to not being attached to the hull or turret mantlet. The spaced armour on the front helped defend the tank against Soviet anti-tank rounds or HEAT rounds fired at it on those plates, as it dissipates the penetration power before striking the hull.

===Combat usage===
The Panzer III J1 was only a stopgap design to integrate the 50 mm KwK 39 into service as fast as possible. The final designs in its later models were later redesignated the [[Pz.III L|Panzer III Ausf. L]] and [[Pz.III M|Panzer III Ausf. M]]. It saw service on the eastern front, where it performed poorly against superior [[T-34 (Family)|T-34]] and [[KV-1 (Family)|KV-1]] tanks. However, it also saw service in North Africa, where it would easily defeat allied light tanks such as the [[M3 Stuart]] and the [[Crusader Mk III|Crusader]], even when outnumbered. However, the introduction of more medium tanks by the allies in the African theater would prove to be problematic for the Panzer III. Those that survived the defeat in Africa would try to defend Sicily from the allied invasion of Italy.

=== In-game description ===
One of the serial modification to the Pz.Kpfw.III light tank, 1,549 of these tanks were produced from March to October, 1941.
The armor plating installed on tanks of the Ausf.H modification was a temporary measure. Tanks of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.J modification began to be released in March, 1941. The thickness of the single-layer, homogeneous armor of the front and rear plates was 50 mm.

The design of the spherical machine gun installation had to be modified due to the increase in the thickness of the armor plates. A large number of less significant changes were also made.

The first vehicles released were added to the arsenal of the African Corps, but the overwhelming majority entered divisions that were performing combat operations in the incipient war with the Soviet Union.

== Media ==


'''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the ''Panzer III Ausf. J1'' from live.warthunder.com. There are plenty of category terms flying around. So looking through every one of them will be necessary. Some of these might not work. Look for the Panzer 3 tanks with the very long barrel, or see what the description says.

*[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23panzer_iii_j1 #panzer_iii_j1]

===Sights===

* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]

== 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 ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany medium tanks}}

Sturer Emil

2019-05-29T20:23:23Z

U39982399: /* Usage in the battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzsflk40_sturer_emil}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_SturerEmil.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''Sturer Emil''' (officially ''12,8 cm Selbstfahrlafette auf VK30.01(H)'' (12.8 cm Self-Propelled on VK 30.01 (Henschel)) is a Rank III German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]].

The Sturer Emil is quite similar to the [[Dicker_Max|"Dicker Max"]]; no armor, excellent gun, great gun depression. Due to its limited horizontal gun traverse, it can be a little trickier to use in urban maps, but it can still be used to guard positions as long as cover is available. Being unarmored, always avoid being shot at.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

The Sturer Emil is typical of the German open-topped tank destroyers: fragile and particularly vulnerable to air attack. With a maximum of 50 mm of armour, the best protection is to not get shot at in the first place. On the plus side, the Sturer Emil cannot be hull-broken.

The sides of the superstructure are covered by ammunition and any clean hit on the Sturer Emil is likely to detonate the ammunition. The loader also stands in a particularly exposed position at the back of the tank destroyer, where he is very vulnerable to stray bullets or shrapnel. The rest of the crew is fairly spread out, which means that it is not easy to get a crew knock-out with one shot.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 12 mm (83-88°) ''Front glacis'' 50 mm (10°) ''Driver/Co-driver ports'' 50 mm (12°) ''Lower glacis'' || 20 mm || 10 mm (47°) || 12 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 50 mm (16-17°) ''Front'' 50 mm (9-52°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 30 mm (11°) || 20 mm (0-12°) || 0-10 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 10 mm thick.
* Superstructure roof armour barely covers the crew
* Tracks at the lower glacis and superstructure front provides +15 mm armour.

=== Mobility ===

Based on the VK 30.01 (H) heavy tank chassis, the Sturer Emil has very lacklustre mobility thanks to the weak engine. It is not very well suited to mobile, fast moving battles, and cannot relocate easily.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 36.5 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 27.2 (AB)
|-
|25.0 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|440
|___
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|274
|310
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|12.05
|__.__
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|7.51
|8.49
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|K.40 (128 mm)}}

The 12,8 cm K 40 is easily the most powerful gun carried by any vehicle within the Sturer Emil's BR range, and it is a very deadly threat; it is capable of frontally penetrating any vehicle the Sturer Emil faces. On top of that, the APHE shells have a massive amount of explosive filler, all but guaranteeing a one-shot kill upon penetration. It should be noted, however, that the APHE shells have a 28 mm fuse threshold, and are likely to penetrate lightly armoured vehicles without exploding.

Conversely, the large size and weight of the 12,8 cm shells result in a long reload time. If the loader is knocked out, the reload time is massively increased, crippling the tank destroyer. The vehicle is also not very spacious, resulting in an ammunition capacity of only 15 rounds. The gun also has a limited amount of elevation and traverse, which can make it rather difficult to bring the gun to bear in some situations. This, combined with the lack of any machine guns, also renders the Sturer Emil virtually helpless against aircraft.

The Sturer Emil platform also provides the gun with an excellent gun depression angles, allowing the Sturer Emil to go hull-down on relatively steep slopes while exposing very little of the vehicle. The gun is mounted near the top of the superstructure as well, which allows the Sturer Emil to use its gun while exposing very little of the vehicle.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[K.40 (128 mm)|128 mm K.40]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 15 || -15°/+10° || -5°/+6° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 7.1 || 9.9 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 7.1 || 8.4 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 23.6 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || APC || 226 || 224 || 201 || 175 || 153 || 133
|-
| Sprgr || HE || 36 || 36 || 36 || 36 || 36 || 36
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC || 239 || 237 || 225 || 210 || 197 || 185
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APC || 860 || 28 || 0.8 || 28 || 786.5 || -1° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Sprgr || HE || 880 || 28 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 3,700 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC || 880 || 28 || 0.8 || 28 || 786.5 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_SturerEmil.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the Sturer Emil.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Ammo Part
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''15''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 11 ''(+3)'' 7 ''(+8)'' || 3 ''(+12)'' 1 ''(+14)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

Methods of combat with the Sturer Emil -

'''Direct Engagement'''

AKA how you use any other Tank Destroyer - find a good vantage point, and use your gun's impressive long range pen stats to decimate even heavy tanks. when doing so, keep in mind to make as much use of your tank's depression as possible, and backing away from the open when reloading, as that is when most tanks will attempt to take you out.

'''Indirect Fire'''

one of the greatest capabilities of large caliber guns like the Sturer Emils, is that they allow you to take advantage of their high angle of projectile drop.

when on long range maps like Sands of Sinai or Maginot Line (or really any map that provides for long distance shots) drive to places where you are on the back slope of a hill relative to potential targets. from there, DO NOT POKE OUT. you can then use binoculars to look for long range targets. when you fire, the round will essentially be fired over your cover (due to the necissary adjustment to your gun's elevation to hit targets at distance), with the rate of projectile drop allowing you to essentially hit targets who cannot even see your position.

another benefit of this method is being able to maintain position during reloading (as opposed to receding to cover as stated in "direct engagement") meaning that while you wait for reload, you can correct your aim for range and target heading, allowing you to home into where you need to aim to make accurate hits.

here is a visual depiction of "Indirect Fire" so as to make it as clear as possible -
[[File:Visualization.png|thumb|a depiction of indrect fire as drawn by AManAndHisTank using GIMP 2.8.]]

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

*Outstanding gun depression, same as the [[Dicker_Max|"Dicker Max"]]
*Extremely powerful gun with very lethal APHE shells
*Five fairly spread out crew members
*AP shells with HE filler will have little trouble doing damage
*Cannot be hull-broken
*Good gun placement high in the superstructure

'''Cons:'''

*Poor mobility
*Long reload time and limited ammunition capacity
*Exposed loader
*Very vulnerable to airstrikes due to open top
*Limited gun traverse and elevation angles
*Poor armour

== History ==

The '''Selbstfahrlafette auf VK30.01(H)''', or better known as the '''Sturer Emil''' (''Stubborn Emil''), was a heavy self-propelled anti-tank gun developed by Nazi Germany sometime in 1941 and 1942. The Sturer Emil mounted the extremely large 12.8 cm gun on a extended chassis from the cancelled Henschel VK 30.01 armoured vehicle. The gun was laid on the back with the engine in the middle and the driver up front.

Not too much is known about the vehicle, only two were ever made in 1942, but they were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad. One was destroyed, but the other was captured during that battle in January 1943. When it was discovered, painting on the barrel indicates a score of 31 tank kills before its demise. The sole remaining Sturer Emil remains at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== Read also ==
[http://warthunder.com/en/news/3752-development-sturer-emil-en/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Sturer Emil] 

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

File:Visualization.png

2019-05-29T20:22:12Z

U39982399:

a dirt-simple explanation of indirect fire.

Wirbelwind

2019-05-20T04:27:56Z

U39982399: /* Usage in the battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_flakpanzer_IV_Wirbelwind}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Wirbelwind.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in Update 1.43.

The Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind is a anti-aircraft platform on a Panzer IV chassis. Armed with quad 20mm FlaK38 cannons, this machine will absolutely obliterate any enemy plane that's unfortunate enough to cross paths with it. Due to the high fire rate, this machine effectively spews out a river of high exlposives. Any airplane unfortunate enough to even touch that stream will at least burst into flames, if not more severe damage. However, they are incredibly easy to spot because of the tracers. While an individual 20mm shell does not do much damage, it is very hard when using the Wirbelwind to hit an aircraft with only one shell. The sheer number of shells will overwhelm the aircraft, and act like a laser, cutting off pieces and burning others.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 80 mm (11°) ''Front plate'' 20 mm (72°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (11-12°) ''Lower glacis''|| 30 mm || 30 mm (4-15°) || 10 mm
|-
| Turret || 16 mm (19-24°) || 16 mm (21-27°) || 16 mm (17-22°) || N/A
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Some track links are placed on the front glacis, adding 15 mm armour at their area.
* Belly armour is 10 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 25.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 42 (AB)
|-
|39 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|426
|525
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|265
|300
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|17.04
|21.00
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.60
|12.00
|-
|}

== Armaments ==

{{main|FlaK 38 (20 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[FlaK 38 (20 mm)|20 mm FlaK 38]] (x4)
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="3" | 480 (20) || 480 || -10°/+90° || ±180°
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 35.7 || 49.4 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 35.7 || 42.0 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 5.2 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
|}

=== Ammunition ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 46 || 45 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 64 || 63 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 780 || 0.15 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 900 || 0.12 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 10.2 || +0° || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

===Belt types===
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |'''''Default ''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]], [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer – High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
|-
| align="left" |'''''Sprgr.''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Versus planes and open combat compartment vehicles. Aircraft will usually take three to six hits. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Intermediate usage until the better PzGr 40 can be used. Decent enough versus light tanks and other vehicles from the rear. Due the lack of HE filler underwhelming damage, yet still better than the PzGr 40.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr 40''''' || align="left" | HVAP-T, API-T (High Velocity Armour Piercing tracer - Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Best penetrating shell of this vehicle. However, the damage effects are very poor. In close combat snipe for modules and crewmember for increased survival rate. Nothing is more annoying than emptying a clip and then to get destroyed in the reload because the enemy gunner survived. Against angled armoured it is not very effective like any other ACPR shell, this is offset by the very high base penetration though.
|}

=== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ===
[[File:Ammoracks_Wirbelwind.png|x250px|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] for the Wirbelwind.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''160''' || 36 ''(+128)'' || 32 ''(+128)'' || 24 ''(+136)'' || 20 ''(+140)'' || 16 ''(+144)'' || 12 ''(+148)'' || 8 ''(+152)'' || 0 ''(+160)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

Clips with 20 rounds each (3,200 rounds max)

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ammunition clips in turret do not empty

== Usage in the battles ==
'''Anti-Aircraft -'''

unfortunately, this is where SPAA tend to not be nearly as effective against ground forces, but also see marked improvement in their intended role as CAS counter and deterrent.

to that end, your 4x20mm automatic cannons give you the ability to fire a lethal stream of explosive round at any pilot who wanders into your sights.

while in tank guns dispersion (the MOA cone that is used to determine accuracy) is something that is ideally kept to a minimum, this vehicle benefits from it by having shots spread out in a sort of "shotgun" effect, rather than having 4 seperate beams of projectiles. this means that if you can get your lead point right, your odds of shredding aircraft with even a momentary burst is exceptional compared to other types of AA present at the ranks that you will be operating this vehicle.

rather unfortunately, you only have 20 rounds per gun (for a total of 80), meaning that it is best to fire 3-5 round bursts, to make effective use of what ammunition you have and your magazine size. this is one of the few areas the wirbelwind is caught lacking, the others being an open crew compartment roof and the fact that your SPAA houses most of it's crew in a thinly armored turret.

'''Other -'''

so, this is where it's performance tapers off a cliff.

while you do have access to APCR/Pzgr.40 belts, they are largely useless against medium and heavy tanks, which become very numerous at 3.7BR.

you can definitely take out light tanks, but if you are playing as a SPAA and even see enemy tanks, your team is likely about to be spawncamped, and you are really only able to generate SL from hitting enemy tanks. on paper the pen stats look good, but when you actually look at the pen statistics at 200-500 yards, it would require the enemy to be within rock throwing distance to penetrate.

===Modules===
'''Tier 1''': ''Spr.Gr.'' (new HE belts) -> ''Parts'' (for repairs) -> ''Turet drive'' (faster turn rate) 
'''Tier 2''': ''FPE'' (fire extinguisher) -> plus something of desire ''Adjustment of fire'' is not recommended with 1800rpm. Spray a minefield! 
'''Tier 3''': ''Elevation mechanism'' (faster barrel raise) -> Anything else 
Everything else can be researched at leisure.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* High rate of fire (1800 rounds per minute combined!)
* Impressive ammo capacity of 3200 rounds / 2 minutes of fire
* Will devastate planes at close range
* Excellent turret traverse make it possible to stay on aircraft
* Extreme fire rate, compared to other SPAA
* Excellent armour for an AA vehicle
* High driving speed able to move from cover to cover with little to no problem.

'''Cons:'''

* Open top design makes vehicle vulnerable to strafing runs by enemy aircraft
* Hexagonal turret susceptible to HE rounds
* Less effective at firing at distant aircraft
* Reloading rate sub-par compared to other SPAAs at 5.6 seconds
* With continuous firing, a magazine is emptied very fast
* 20mm shells have difficulty dealing with bombers due to both durability and average alltitude of targets
* Weak side armour, where an ammo rack is located

== History ==

===Development===
Development of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns that could keep up with the Panzer formations were not taken into consideration in the early years of World War II due to the Luftwaffe's superiority over the air, but gradual losses in the Luftwaffe and inability to support their flights gave the Allies the upper hand in the air, granting them air superiority. The growing air power of the Allies forced the Germans to develop methods to protect their tank formations from strafing from Allied aircraft, one early design to protect the front line tanks was the ''Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen'', an interim design as Flakpanzer designs underwent development. SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause of the 12th SS Panzer Division came up with the concept of the '''Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind''' in the summer of 1944. The commander of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, received this and presented it to Hitler, to which he approved for its development.

The design called for use of the proven Panzer IV design. The Wirbelwind uses the Panzer IV hull, but the original Panzer IV turret was removed and replaced with a open-topped nine-sided turret that mounted the anti-aircraft armament. The anti-aircraft armament chosen for the vehicle was a quadruple mounted 2 cm FlaK 38. Though a closed-top turret design was desired, the amount of gasses given out by the gun made this impossible for the crew. The production of the Wirbelwind commenced at the Ostbau Werke at Sagan, Silesia. Between 87 to 105 Wirbelwinds were manufactured from May to November 1944, with the discrepancies due to differences in the Wehrmacht service records and Ostbau Werke's production records.

===Combat usage===
The troops nicknamed the Wirbelwind the ''"Keksdose"'' (Biscuit Tin) due to its unique turret shape. The Wirbelwind were equipped with Panzer formations to protect them against low-flying aircraft. During the Battle of Normandy in 1944, flak units in the 12th SS Panzer Division was credited with shooting down 45 allied planes. However, there weren't enough to go around in the front-lines so many Panzer formations were left vulnerable to enemy aircraft due to lack of availability of the Flakpanzers. Not only did their small numbers made their effect on the front minimal, the 20 mm cannon was determined to insufficient against the more armoured aircraft that the Allies are fielding. Thus, the design was changed to not use the quadruple 2 cm Flak 38, but instead the 3.7 cm FlaK 43 in the new designation [[Ostwind|Flakpanzer IV Ostwind]]. Aside from that the Wirbelwind also served as a ground support role, which it proved very well at with its rapid firing 20 mm cannons.

It was determined that the Flakpanzer IV in the ''Wirbelwind'' and ''Ostwind'' configurations were to be replaced by the [[Kugelblitz]] by early 1945, in an attempt to yet again increase the firepower of the anti-aircraft guns. But this never happened due to the war ending before the Kugelblitz could be deployed.

== Media ==
Skins and camouflages for the [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23wirbelwind Wirbelwind].

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany anti-aircraft vehicles}}

Wirbelwind

2019-05-20T04:26:23Z

U39982399: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_flakpanzer_IV_Wirbelwind}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Wirbelwind.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in Update 1.43.

The Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind is a anti-aircraft platform on a Panzer IV chassis. Armed with quad 20mm FlaK38 cannons, this machine will absolutely obliterate any enemy plane that's unfortunate enough to cross paths with it. Due to the high fire rate, this machine effectively spews out a river of high exlposives. Any airplane unfortunate enough to even touch that stream will at least burst into flames, if not more severe damage. However, they are incredibly easy to spot because of the tracers. While an individual 20mm shell does not do much damage, it is very hard when using the Wirbelwind to hit an aircraft with only one shell. The sheer number of shells will overwhelm the aircraft, and act like a laser, cutting off pieces and burning others.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 80 mm (11°) ''Front plate'' 20 mm (72°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (11-12°) ''Lower glacis''|| 30 mm || 30 mm (4-15°) || 10 mm
|-
| Turret || 16 mm (19-24°) || 16 mm (21-27°) || 16 mm (17-22°) || N/A
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Some track links are placed on the front glacis, adding 15 mm armour at their area.
* Belly armour is 10 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 25.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 42 (AB)
|-
|39 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|426
|525
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|265
|300
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|17.04
|21.00
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.60
|12.00
|-
|}

== Armaments ==

{{main|FlaK 38 (20 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[FlaK 38 (20 mm)|20 mm FlaK 38]] (x4)
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="3" | 480 (20) || 480 || -10°/+90° || ±180°
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 35.7 || 49.4 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 35.7 || 42.0 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 5.2 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
|}

=== Ammunition ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 46 || 45 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 64 || 63 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 780 || 0.15 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 900 || 0.12 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 10.2 || +0° || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

===Belt types===
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |'''''Default ''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]], [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer – High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
|-
| align="left" |'''''Sprgr.''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Versus planes and open combat compartment vehicles. Aircraft will usually take three to six hits. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Intermediate usage until the better PzGr 40 can be used. Decent enough versus light tanks and other vehicles from the rear. Due the lack of HE filler underwhelming damage, yet still better than the PzGr 40.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr 40''''' || align="left" | HVAP-T, API-T (High Velocity Armour Piercing tracer - Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Best penetrating shell of this vehicle. However, the damage effects are very poor. In close combat snipe for modules and crewmember for increased survival rate. Nothing is more annoying than emptying a clip and then to get destroyed in the reload because the enemy gunner survived. Against angled armoured it is not very effective like any other ACPR shell, this is offset by the very high base penetration though.
|}

=== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ===
[[File:Ammoracks_Wirbelwind.png|x250px|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] for the Wirbelwind.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''160''' || 36 ''(+128)'' || 32 ''(+128)'' || 24 ''(+136)'' || 20 ''(+140)'' || 16 ''(+144)'' || 12 ''(+148)'' || 8 ''(+152)'' || 0 ''(+160)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

Clips with 20 rounds each (3,200 rounds max)

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ammunition clips in turret do not empty

== Usage in the battles ==
'''Anti-Aircraft -'''

unfortunately, this is where SPAA tend to not be nearly as effective against ground forces, but also see marked improvement in their intended role as CAS counter and deterrent.

to that end, your 4x20mm automatic cannons give you the ability to fire a lethal stream of explosive round at any pilot who wanders into your sights.

while in tank guns dispersion (the MOA cone that is used to determine accuracy) is something that is ideally kept to a minimum, this vehicle benefits from it by having shots spread out in a sort of "shotgun" effect, rather than having 4 seperate beams of projectiles. this means that if you can get your lead point right, your odds of shredding aircraft with even a momentary burst is exceptional compared to other types of AA present at the ranks that you will be operating this vehicle.

rather unfortunately, you only have 20 rounds per gun (for a total of 80), meaning that it is best to fire 3-5 round bursts, to make effective use of what ammunition you have and your magazine size. this is one of the few areas the wirbelwind is caught lacking, the others being an open crew compartment roof and the fact that your SPAA houses most of it's crew in a thinly armored turret.

'''Other -'''

so, this is where it's performance tapers off a cliff.

while you do have access to APCR/Pzgr.40 belts, they are largely useless against medium and heavy tanks, which become very numerous at 3.7BR.

you can definitely take out light tanks, but if you are playing as a SPAA and even see enemy tanks, your team is likely about to be spawncamped, and you are really only able to generate SL from hitting enemy tanks.

in summary - if you are not using this as a SPAA, you are not enjoying this vehicle to it's full potential. it's a SPAA, end of story.

===Modules===
'''Tier 1''': ''Spr.Gr.'' (new HE belts) -> ''Parts'' (for repairs) -> ''Turet drive'' (faster turn rate) 
'''Tier 2''': ''FPE'' (fire extinguisher) -> plus something of desire ''Adjustment of fire'' is not recommended with 1800rpm. Spray a minefield! 
'''Tier 3''': ''Elevation mechanism'' (faster barrel raise) -> Anything else 
Everything else can be researched at leisure.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* High rate of fire (1800 rounds per minute combined!)
* Impressive ammo capacity of 3200 rounds / 2 minutes of fire
* Will devastate planes at close range
* Excellent turret traverse make it possible to stay on aircraft
* Extreme fire rate, compared to other SPAA
* Excellent armour for an AA vehicle
* High driving speed able to move from cover to cover with little to no problem.

'''Cons:'''

* Open top design makes vehicle vulnerable to strafing runs by enemy aircraft
* Hexagonal turret susceptible to HE rounds
* Less effective at firing at distant aircraft
* Reloading rate sub-par compared to other SPAAs at 5.6 seconds
* With continuous firing, a magazine is emptied very fast
* 20mm shells have difficulty dealing with bombers due to both durability and average alltitude of targets
* Weak side armour, where an ammo rack is located

== History ==

===Development===
Development of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns that could keep up with the Panzer formations were not taken into consideration in the early years of World War II due to the Luftwaffe's superiority over the air, but gradual losses in the Luftwaffe and inability to support their flights gave the Allies the upper hand in the air, granting them air superiority. The growing air power of the Allies forced the Germans to develop methods to protect their tank formations from strafing from Allied aircraft, one early design to protect the front line tanks was the ''Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen'', an interim design as Flakpanzer designs underwent development. SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause of the 12th SS Panzer Division came up with the concept of the '''Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind''' in the summer of 1944. The commander of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, received this and presented it to Hitler, to which he approved for its development.

The design called for use of the proven Panzer IV design. The Wirbelwind uses the Panzer IV hull, but the original Panzer IV turret was removed and replaced with a open-topped nine-sided turret that mounted the anti-aircraft armament. The anti-aircraft armament chosen for the vehicle was a quadruple mounted 2 cm FlaK 38. Though a closed-top turret design was desired, the amount of gasses given out by the gun made this impossible for the crew. The production of the Wirbelwind commenced at the Ostbau Werke at Sagan, Silesia. Between 87 to 105 Wirbelwinds were manufactured from May to November 1944, with the discrepancies due to differences in the Wehrmacht service records and Ostbau Werke's production records.

===Combat usage===
The troops nicknamed the Wirbelwind the ''"Keksdose"'' (Biscuit Tin) due to its unique turret shape. The Wirbelwind were equipped with Panzer formations to protect them against low-flying aircraft. During the Battle of Normandy in 1944, flak units in the 12th SS Panzer Division was credited with shooting down 45 allied planes. However, there weren't enough to go around in the front-lines so many Panzer formations were left vulnerable to enemy aircraft due to lack of availability of the Flakpanzers. Not only did their small numbers made their effect on the front minimal, the 20 mm cannon was determined to insufficient against the more armoured aircraft that the Allies are fielding. Thus, the design was changed to not use the quadruple 2 cm Flak 38, but instead the 3.7 cm FlaK 43 in the new designation [[Ostwind|Flakpanzer IV Ostwind]]. Aside from that the Wirbelwind also served as a ground support role, which it proved very well at with its rapid firing 20 mm cannons.

It was determined that the Flakpanzer IV in the ''Wirbelwind'' and ''Ostwind'' configurations were to be replaced by the [[Kugelblitz]] by early 1945, in an attempt to yet again increase the firepower of the anti-aircraft guns. But this never happened due to the war ending before the Kugelblitz could be deployed.

== Media ==
Skins and camouflages for the [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23wirbelwind Wirbelwind].

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany anti-aircraft vehicles}}

Wirbelwind

2019-05-20T04:25:13Z

U39982399: /* Usage in the battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_flakpanzer_IV_Wirbelwind}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Wirbelwind.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in Update 1.43.

The Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind is a anti-aircraft platform on a Panzer IV chassis. Armed with quad 20mm FlaK38 cannons, this machine will absolutely obliterate any enemy plane that's unfortunate enough to cross paths with it. Due to the high fire rate, this machine effectively spews out a river of high exlposives. Any airplane unfortunate enough to even touch that stream will at least burst into flames, if not more severe damage. However, they are incredibly easy to spot because of the tracers. While an individual 20mm shell does not do much damage, it is very hard when using the Wirbelwind to hit an aircraft with only one shell. The sheer number of shells will overwhelm the aircraft, and act like a laser, cutting off pieces and burning others.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 80 mm (11°) ''Front plate'' 20 mm (72°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (11-12°) ''Lower glacis''|| 30 mm || 30 mm (4-15°) || 10 mm
|-
| Turret || 16 mm (19-24°) || 16 mm (21-27°) || 16 mm (17-22°) || N/A
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Some track links are placed on the front glacis, adding 15 mm armour at their area.
* Belly armour is 10 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 25.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 42 (AB)
|-
|39 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|426
|525
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|265
|300
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|17.04
|21.00
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.60
|12.00
|-
|}

== Armaments ==

{{main|FlaK 38 (20 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[FlaK 38 (20 mm)|20 mm FlaK 38]] (x4)
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="3" | 480 (20) || 480 || -10°/+90° || ±180°
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 35.7 || 49.4 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 35.7 || 42.0 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 5.2 || __.__ || __.__ || __.__
|-
|}

=== Ammunition ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 46 || 45 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 64 || 63 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 780 || 0.15 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T || 900 || 0.12 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 10.2 || +0° || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

===Belt types===
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |'''''Default ''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]], [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer – High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
|-
| align="left" |'''''Sprgr.''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Versus planes and open combat compartment vehicles. Aircraft will usually take three to six hits. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Intermediate usage until the better PzGr 40 can be used. Decent enough versus light tanks and other vehicles from the rear. Due the lack of HE filler underwhelming damage, yet still better than the PzGr 40.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr 40''''' || align="left" | HVAP-T, API-T (High Velocity Armour Piercing tracer - Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Best penetrating shell of this vehicle. However, the damage effects are very poor. In close combat snipe for modules and crewmember for increased survival rate. Nothing is more annoying than emptying a clip and then to get destroyed in the reload because the enemy gunner survived. Against angled armoured it is not very effective like any other ACPR shell, this is offset by the very high base penetration though.
|}

=== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ===
[[File:Ammoracks_Wirbelwind.png|x250px|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] for the Wirbelwind.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''160''' || 36 ''(+128)'' || 32 ''(+128)'' || 24 ''(+136)'' || 20 ''(+140)'' || 16 ''(+144)'' || 12 ''(+148)'' || 8 ''(+152)'' || 0 ''(+160)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

Clips with 20 rounds each (3,200 rounds max)

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ammunition clips in turret do not empty

== Usage in the battles ==
'''Anti-Aircraft -'''

unfortunately, this is where SPAA tend to not be nearly as effective against ground forces, but also see marked improvement in their intended role as CAS counter and deterrent.

to that end, your 4x20mm automatic cannons give you the ability to fire a lethal stream of explosive round at any pilot who wanders into your sights.

while in tank guns dispersion (the MOA cone that is used to determine accuracy) is something that is ideally kept to a minimum, this vehicle benefits from it by having shots spread out in a sort of "shotgun" effect, rather than having 4 seperate beams of projectiles. this means that if you can get your lead point right, your odds of shredding aircraft with even a momentary burst is exceptional compared to other types of AA present at the ranks that you will be operating this vehicle.

rather unfortunately, you only have 20 rounds per gun (for a total of 80), meaning that it is best to fire 3-5 round bursts, to make effective use of what ammunition you have and your magazine size. this is one of the few areas the wirbelwind is caught lacking, the others being an open crew compartment roof and the fact that your SPAA houses most of it's crew in a thinly armored turret.

'''Other -'''

so, this is where it's performance tapers off a cliff.

while you do have access to APCR/Pzgr.40 belts, they are largely useless against medium and heavy tanks, which become very numerous at 3.7BR.

you can definitely take out light tanks, but if you are playing as a SPAA and even see enemy tanks, your team is likely about to be spawncamped, and you are really only able to generate SL from hitting enemy tanks.

in summary - if you are not using this as a SPAA, you are not enjoying this vehicle to it's full potential. it's a SPAA, end of story.

===Modules===
'''Tier 1''': ''Spr.Gr.'' (new HE belts) -> ''Parts'' (for repairs) -> ''Turet drive'' (faster turn rate) 
'''Tier 2''': ''FPE'' (fire extinguisher) -> plus something of desire ''Adjustment of fire'' is not recommended with 1800rpm. Spray a minefield! 
'''Tier 3''': ''Elevation mechanism'' (faster barrel raise) -> Anything else 
Everything else can be researched at leisure.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* High rate of fire (1800 rounds per minute combined!)
* Impressive ammo capacity of 3200 rounds / 2 minutes of fire
* Will devastate planes at close range
* Excellent turret traverse make it possible to stay on aircraft
* Extreme fire rate, compared to other SPAA
* Excellent armour for an AA vehicle
* HVAP and API mix can penetrate most tanks at its BR frontally in close quarters, or even some Rank IV vehicles if aimed at weak points.
* High driving speed able to move from cover to cover with little to no problem.

'''Cons:'''

* Open top design makes vehicle vulnerable to strafing runs by enemy aircraft
* Hexagonal turret susceptible to HE rounds
* Less effective at firing at distant aircraft
* Reloading rate sub-par compared to other SPAAs at 5.6 seconds
* With continuous firing, a magazine is emptied very fast
* 20mm shells have difficulty dealing with bombers due to both durability and average alltitude of targets
* Weak side armour, where an ammo rack is located

== History ==

===Development===
Development of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns that could keep up with the Panzer formations were not taken into consideration in the early years of World War II due to the Luftwaffe's superiority over the air, but gradual losses in the Luftwaffe and inability to support their flights gave the Allies the upper hand in the air, granting them air superiority. The growing air power of the Allies forced the Germans to develop methods to protect their tank formations from strafing from Allied aircraft, one early design to protect the front line tanks was the ''Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen'', an interim design as Flakpanzer designs underwent development. SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause of the 12th SS Panzer Division came up with the concept of the '''Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind''' in the summer of 1944. The commander of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, received this and presented it to Hitler, to which he approved for its development.

The design called for use of the proven Panzer IV design. The Wirbelwind uses the Panzer IV hull, but the original Panzer IV turret was removed and replaced with a open-topped nine-sided turret that mounted the anti-aircraft armament. The anti-aircraft armament chosen for the vehicle was a quadruple mounted 2 cm FlaK 38. Though a closed-top turret design was desired, the amount of gasses given out by the gun made this impossible for the crew. The production of the Wirbelwind commenced at the Ostbau Werke at Sagan, Silesia. Between 87 to 105 Wirbelwinds were manufactured from May to November 1944, with the discrepancies due to differences in the Wehrmacht service records and Ostbau Werke's production records.

===Combat usage===
The troops nicknamed the Wirbelwind the ''"Keksdose"'' (Biscuit Tin) due to its unique turret shape. The Wirbelwind were equipped with Panzer formations to protect them against low-flying aircraft. During the Battle of Normandy in 1944, flak units in the 12th SS Panzer Division was credited with shooting down 45 allied planes. However, there weren't enough to go around in the front-lines so many Panzer formations were left vulnerable to enemy aircraft due to lack of availability of the Flakpanzers. Not only did their small numbers made their effect on the front minimal, the 20 mm cannon was determined to insufficient against the more armoured aircraft that the Allies are fielding. Thus, the design was changed to not use the quadruple 2 cm Flak 38, but instead the 3.7 cm FlaK 43 in the new designation [[Ostwind|Flakpanzer IV Ostwind]]. Aside from that the Wirbelwind also served as a ground support role, which it proved very well at with its rapid firing 20 mm cannons.

It was determined that the Flakpanzer IV in the ''Wirbelwind'' and ''Ostwind'' configurations were to be replaced by the [[Kugelblitz]] by early 1945, in an attempt to yet again increase the firepower of the anti-aircraft guns. But this never happened due to the war ending before the Kugelblitz could be deployed.

== Media ==
Skins and camouflages for the [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23wirbelwind Wirbelwind].

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany anti-aircraft vehicles}}

FCM.36

2019-05-20T04:06:33Z

U39982399: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=fr_fcm_36}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' (Light support tank FCM.36) is a Rank {{specs|rank}} French light tank {{Battle-rating|1}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.75 "La Résistance"]]. The FCM.36 was removed as a researchable vehicle from the main tech tree during [[Update 1.85 "Supersonic"]] after the ammo update, though it is still unlockable after reaching rank II French ground vehicles.

Generally speaking, the main reason you'd play the FCM.36 is so it can unlock better vehicles like the [[AMR.35 ZT3]] to have better firepower at the rank. Bearing the awful SA18 L/21 cannon as main armament with 40 mm of armour all around and bad mobility, this tank resembles the [[H.35]] in many ways. However, the FCM.36 does have good sloped armour for the rank to be a tad useful during long range engagements, but the underperforming gun makes the FCM.36 act more like a shield rather than a spear.

Compared to the reserve [[H.35]], the FCM.36 features a design with "better" armour and a more powerful engine, bringing the power ratio to a more manegeable 12.4 HP/ton. With wider tracks than the H.35, this tank feels faster than other BR 1.0 French tanks. It turns quite smoothly and reaches its top speed fairly easily on road. 40 mm all around is enough to survive incoming rounds at long distances (~ 500+ m) but its bad angling makes it unreliable at close range, whereas your gun enters its actual combat ranges. Keeping the awful SA18 L/21 canon as main armament, this gun is what makes an otherwise good tank so bad as it is. As the Devblog claims: "Wait Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!", you will have to get up close and personal with this tank in order to penetrate another tank. With -17° of gun depression, this is actually a depressing gun.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Cast homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 40 mm (24-37°) ''Front plate'' 40 mm (70°) ''Front glacis'' 40 mm (26°) ''Lower glacis'' || 8-20 mm (44°) ''Top left'' 20 (8°) + 20 mm (40-44°) ''Bottom left'' 8-20 mm (46°) ''Top right'' 20 (9°) + 20 mm (42-46°) ''Bottom right'' || 20 mm (50-65°) ''Top'' 8 mm (65°) ''Engine grille'' 20 mm (30-65°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 40 mm (24-70°) ''Turret front'' 45 mm (33°) ''Left side'' 20 mm (4-45°) ''Gun mantlet'' 40 mm (18°) ''Cupola'' || 40 mm (12-28°) || 40 mm (37°) || 15 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are all 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 12.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 26.6 (AB)
|-
|24.0 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|163
|___
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|93
|105
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|13.14
|__.__
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|7.50
|8.47
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|SA18 (37 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[SA18 (37 mm)|37 mm SA18 L/21]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 102 || -17°/+20° || ±180° || Vertical
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.30 || 18.45 || _.__ || _.__ || 26.35
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 8.30 || 9.80 || _.__ || _.__ || 14.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 4.03 || _.__ || _.__ || 3.10
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Mle1937 || APCR || 36 || 33 || 24 || 16 || 8 || 5
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Mle1937 || APCR || 600 || 0.5 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumbnail|250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''102''' || 43 ''(+59)'' || 1 ''(+101)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MAC 31 (7.5 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MAC 31 (7.5 mm)|7.5 mm MAC 31]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 3,000 (150) || 1,350 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

'''Bullet magnet''':

Sit down in an open field, angle yourself and stay at a good distance (500+ m) from any threat. Watch enemy shells ricochet of your armour, spot enemies for the team. Whenever a potent gun comes your way, '''flee''' and hope not to get shot at. Blind such big guns with your good MAC 31 coaxial machine gun and attempt a few shots on the move (big guns generally means poor armour at this BR).

if you intend to play in RB or SB, use brush or other things to obscure your vehicle's outline, so that the enemy doesn't entirely know what you are, and therefore have a chance of not taking shots at your weak points such as your gun mantle or driver port.

'''"Brawler":'''

''Never'' engage an enemy upfront: assist your allies in flanking manœuvres and don't bother stealing a score since it's all you can get with such a poor cannon. Feel free to turn you back anytime and flee when allies are lacking, go find friends and act as a bullet magnet for them as they attempt to flank enemies.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Decent frontal armour with good sloping
* Relatively small
* -17° of depression
* 40 mm all-around
* Primitive "LOCK" stabiliser makes stop-and-shoot tactic easier.

'''Cons:'''

* Very bad penetration
* As the same gun as the [[H.35]] ('''worst''' main armament in War Thunder)
* Puny 102 HP engine
* Max speed is 24 km/h
* Cannot angle properly without exposing a flat surface (driver's port)
* Only 2 crew members are cramped and lined-up makes one-shot easy
* Bad reverse speed : -3 km/h

== History ==

In 1934, the FCM company received an order from the French army to design a modern tank for their light tank regiments. FCM was an experienced tank manufacturer, having proved themselves with work on previous projects (such as the Char 2C and Char B1), and quickly developed a new light tank design. Just over a year after the initial wooden mockup was presented and approved by the Army, the first prototype was tested in April 1935. During the one year testing period, multiple changes were made to make the vehicle more reliable, lighter, and better protected.

In July 1936, the FCM 36 was declared the best of three competing vehicles (which included the Hotchkiss H35 and Renault R35), although all three vehicles were still produced. But due to the Rhineland crisis in May 1936, the FCM company received orders for 100 of the FCM 36 tanks before it was even proclaimed the winner of the competition. Production of the FCM 36 did not begin until 1937, after tests of an improved version failed to produce the desired results. The first FCM 36 tanks left the factory floor in May 1938, and joined the ranks of the Army the following year. After the initial order of 100 vehicles was fulfilled, production was discontinued in favour of the Char B1, (also manufactured by FCM).

During the Invasion of France in 1940, the 100 FCM 36s in service with the French army saw limited success against the latest German armour—most notably the Panzer III. Although both vehicles offered similar overall performance, long tank battles against the Panzer III often resulted with neither vehicle able to achieve a fatal blow against the other. Unfortunately, the welds of the FCM 36’s heavily angled and complex armour would eventually break from extensive and repeated battle damage, which left the Panzer III as the victor in the long run. During the German occupation, the FCM 36 was initially used by the German army as a training or reserve vehicle. In 1943/44, 37 captured FCM 36s were converted into tank destroyers or self-propelled artillery pieces.

''- From [https://warthunder.com/en/news/5190-development-fcm-36-wait-until-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes-en Devblog]''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as 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 ==


* [https://warthunder.com/en/news/5190-development-fcm-36-wait-until-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> FCM 36 - Wait Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!]
* [http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/liste-chronologique/de-1930-a-1940?task=view&id=801 Char-francais page on FCM.36]

{{France light tanks}}

M24

2019-05-20T04:01:49Z

U39982399: explained a basic version of why the reload is slower, since no reason is given.

{{Specs-Card|code=us_m24_chaffee}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[M24 (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_M24.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the rest of the initial American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. The M24 Chaffee is a big improvement over the American light tank path from the [[M5A1|Stuart]] tanks, presenting a better driving handling and a 75 mm gun.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour
*Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 25.4 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' 25.4 mm (44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 25.4 mm (13°) ''Front'' 12.7 mm (13°) ''Rear'' || 12.7 mm (71-74°) ''Top'' 19 mm (1-43°) ''Bottom'' || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 38.1 mm (8-40°) ''Turret front'' 38.1 mm (1-45°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 25.4 mm (17-26°) || 25.4 mm || 12.7 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 38.1 mm || 38.1 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.
* Gun barrel is 20 mm thick.
* Gun breech is 300 mm thick in structural steel

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 18.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 63 (AB)
|-
|56 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|459
|565
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|262
|296
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|24.94
|30.71
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|14.24
|16.09
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|M6 (75 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[M6_(75_mm)|75 mm M6]]
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 48 || -10°/+15° || ±180°
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 14.28 || 19.80 || 24.0 || 26.60 || 28.20
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.4 || 22.60 || 24.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 8.45 || 7.47 || 6.89 || 6.50
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| M72 shot || AP || 110 || 109 || 92 || 76 || 62 || 51
|-
| M48 shell || HE || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10
|-
| M61 shot || APCBC || 90 || 88 || 81 || 73 || 65 || 59
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| M72 shot || 619 || 6.3 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M48 shell || 463 || 6.3 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 666 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M61 shot || 618 || 6.8 || 1.2 || 20 || 63.7 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| M89 || 381 || 6.9 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
|-
|}

* M61 shells are for: 

Heavy tanks like [[KV-1 (L-11)]]s and [[KV-2_(1939)|KV-2]]s or possibly [[M4 |Sherman]]s if in a mixed game.
Medium tanks with applique armour such as the [[Pz.III M|Panzer III Ausf. M]] and etc.

* M72 shells are for: 

Medium tanks and Light tanks like [[Pz.III J1|Panzer III Ausf. J1]] or the [[T-50]].

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks M24.png|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo rack]] of the M24 Chaffee|x250px]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''48''' || 25 ''(+23)'' || 1 ''(+47)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|Browning M2HB (12.7 mm)|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[Browning M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,000 (200) || 576 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,800 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

The M24 ''Chaffee'' is a very good tank with a fairly interesting play style. Instead of being permanently stationed at a single point and continuously firing at an enemy, this tank offers impressive maneuverability and speed which allows it to perform impressive flanking maneuvers. The M24 can travel at around 38 km/h forward and -25 km/h backwards. Its reverse speed is very good if a quick getaway by going backwards is needed. Thus, this tank excels at "peek-a-boo" tactics in which one hides behind a rock or other large piece of cover and repeatedly inches out to fire at an enemy.

The tank offers a 75 mm M6 gun, which has a slower reload than the [[M4|''Sherman'']] M4/M4A1's 75mm M3 gun. the reload is not actually due to any difference in the gun (beyond it being somewhat lighter than the M3) but due to the smaller confines of the vehicle being an obstacle to reloading not seen in the M4/M4A1. Its shells come in handy for certain tanks; they generally penetrate armour very well. It is rare to experience a ricochet or be to unable to penetrate any armour.

'''Do not:''' Continuously shoot at a tank without backing up/moving. The vehicle's armour is very thin and will most likely be destroyed if it stays in one position and does not stop changing positions. Always try to get the first shot off in a head-on attack. Typically, the best shell to use is the M61 shell but it can also be beneficial to have M72 shells as well.

Another way to go around is to flank the enemy. If attacking with a more direct approach, keep hidden behind a building or boulder and pop out every now and then to take a shot at the enemy. Also, prioritize targets who are busy fighting others and cannot retaliate. Usually, after the first shot, it may disable their tank depending on what it is. Disabling the enemy tank's crew, tracks, engine, etc. allows for retaliation without the risk of any incoming enemy shells.

a final option is to essentially make use of your tank's mobility to fire, move, fire, move, fire, so as to prevent enemy tanks and tank destroyers from accurately guessing range. this can be difficult however, as you must be very versed in your own tank's ballistics to make shots, as you will have to estimate range on the fly. don't think this means firing on the move - if you are going faster than 10mph, the stabilizer will not allow for accurate shots, and it is only a vertical stabilizer.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Low profile.
* The best cannon for light tanks in its rank.
* Very agile.
* Very fast reverse, thanks to the 4-speed reverse gear.
* Fast turret traverse.
* Equipped with a vertical plane stabilizer, allowing for more accurate shots on the move or shoot-n-scoot tactics.
* Pintle mounted HMG allows for air defense.

'''Cons:'''

* Thin armour on all sides.
* Low ammo count can be a problem in long games or RB/SB matches.
* Vulnerable to nearby explosions.
* Reload is quite slow for its caliber.

== History ==

===Development===
As early as 1942, the light tanks [[M3 Stuart|M3]] and [[M5A1|M5 ''Stuart'']] have been seen as severely lacking in the modernizing design of tanks and how they fight. The armour was seen as insufficient and the [[M3 (37 mm)|37 mm gun]] was also deemed useless against even the standard German tanks like the [[Pz.III J|Panzer III]] and [[Pz.IV F2|Panzer IV]]. The system needed an upgrade, specifically a light tank that mounts the [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm gun]] seen on the [[M4|''Shermans'']]. An attempt to mount a 75 mm gun on a ''Stuart'' was deemed inefficient as it reduced ammo stowage and left the armour too thin on the design.

In April 1943, the U.S. Ordnance Department worked with Cadillac to start on a project for the new light tank, designated ''Light Tank T24''. The powertrain and transmission of the M5 ''Stuart'' was used with the ultimate goal of producing a vehicle weighing less than 20 tons. This left the vehicle with relatively thin armour to stay lightweight. At the time, a lighter 75 mm gun was developed for mounting on the [[B-25J-20|B-25 Mitchell bomber]] without sacrificing performance, and this was mounted onto the light tank in development. The tank used 410 mm wide tracks with a torsion bar suspension that greatly improves cross-country travel. The engine was a Cadillac 44T24 V-8 petrol engine. The chassis was designed with the expectation that it would be used as a basis of many different vehicle roles so it was called the "Light Combat Team". The light tank end design had a low profile at 9 ft. 1 in. height and featuring a crew of five with a three-man turret, an improvement over the two-man turrets of the Stuarts. The first finished vehicle arrived on October 15, 1943 and was deemed a success, starting a contract for 1,000 units that was later raised to 5,000 units. The vehicle was classified as the '''Light Tank M24''' and as the ''' ''Chaffee'' ''' by the British after US General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr., who helped develop some of America's earliest tank designs. The vehicle was produced by Cadillac and Massey-Harris from April 1944 to August 1945 with a total of 4,731 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The first batch of M24s reached the battlefields of Europe in November of 1944 and first assigned to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group in France. The M24 gradually entered widespread use by December 1944, some ''Chaffees'' went to the British to replace their ''Stuart'' tanks as well. The M24s were first used in the Battle of the Bulge with the 2nd and 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron sent to support the southern sector of the battle. The ''Chaffees'' were slow to enter use in the front-lines as even by the end of the war, some armoured division did not have the M24 light tanks. Despite that, the reception of the ''Chaffee'' was positive even though it may not have the firepower to fight the better German tanks like the [[Panther G|Panther tanks]]. The 75 mm gun gave the crew much more firepower than the earlier 37 mm. The light armour, though allowing the tank to pick up speed, was penetrable by most anti-tank weapons in service by Germany. The effect of the M24 ''Chaffee'' in World War II was deemed insignificant as it was not used in great numbers in comparison to the ''Stuarts'' in service since the start of the war.

The M24 ''Chaffee'' served a greater role in the Korean War and were sent in large numbers to combat the North Korean Armoured Forces, however they were severely undergunned with their 75 mm cannon and the light armour was easily destroyed by the Soviet-supplied [[T-34-85]] tanks. Plus, the deficiency in crew training also contributed to the poor performance of the M24 against the North Koreans. Due to their inferiority, they were used as a delaying measure until better tanks like the [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3E8 ''Shermans'']] and [[M26|M26 ''Pershings'']] could be brought in. Once with supports with these better tanks, the Chaffees were relegated to reconnaissance roles, where they served with better results.

The M24, after being replaced in America by the [[M41A1|M41 ''Walker Bulldog'']], was sent to many other countries for use. The French Army deployed the M24s during their fighting in Indochina and famously in the Battle for Dien Bien Phu. Some M24s went to the hands of the ARVN in South Vietnam to support the troops during the Vietnam War. The Pakistani Army used them as well in 1971 against India during the Indo-Pakistani War. The M24 ''Chaffee'' was also adapted in different roles by using the chassis for different designs, such as the ''[[M19|M19 TGMC anti-air gun]]'' and self-propelled guns with the ''M37 105 mm HMC'' and ''M41 155 mm HMC''.

The ''Chaffee'' had turned out to be one of the greatest light tanks the Allies developed during World War II. Though arriving too late to be a main turning factor for the war, the design has turned out to be so reliable that some countries like Uruguay still operate modernized versions. Austria has since retired its M24 fleet, but their turrets still serve on as bunkers.

== Media ==

[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23M24 '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Chaffee from live.warthunder]

== Read also ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/2936/current/ Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> M24 Chaffee]

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{USA light tanks}}

M24

2019-05-20T03:59:49Z

U39982399: just corrected the definition of which sherman they specified in the "Usage in the battles" section, and added in a tactic that I've used quite successfully with this vehicle.

{{Specs-Card|code=us_m24_chaffee}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[M24 (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_M24.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the rest of the initial American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. The M24 Chaffee is a big improvement over the American light tank path from the [[M5A1|Stuart]] tanks, presenting a better driving handling and a 75 mm gun.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour
*Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 25.4 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' 25.4 mm (44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 25.4 mm (13°) ''Front'' 12.7 mm (13°) ''Rear'' || 12.7 mm (71-74°) ''Top'' 19 mm (1-43°) ''Bottom'' || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 38.1 mm (8-40°) ''Turret front'' 38.1 mm (1-45°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 25.4 mm (17-26°) || 25.4 mm || 12.7 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 38.1 mm || 38.1 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.
* Gun barrel is 20 mm thick.
* Gun breech is 300 mm thick in structural steel

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 18.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 63 (AB)
|-
|56 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|459
|565
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|262
|296
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|24.94
|30.71
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|14.24
|16.09
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|M6 (75 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[M6_(75_mm)|75 mm M6]]
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 48 || -10°/+15° || ±180°
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 14.28 || 19.80 || 24.0 || 26.60 || 28.20
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.4 || 22.60 || 24.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 8.45 || 7.47 || 6.89 || 6.50
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| M72 shot || AP || 110 || 109 || 92 || 76 || 62 || 51
|-
| M48 shell || HE || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10
|-
| M61 shot || APCBC || 90 || 88 || 81 || 73 || 65 || 59
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| M72 shot || 619 || 6.3 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M48 shell || 463 || 6.3 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 666 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M61 shot || 618 || 6.8 || 1.2 || 20 || 63.7 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| M89 || 381 || 6.9 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
|-
|}

* M61 shells are for: 

Heavy tanks like [[KV-1 (L-11)]]s and [[KV-2_(1939)|KV-2]]s or possibly [[M4 |Sherman]]s if in a mixed game.
Medium tanks with applique armour such as the [[Pz.III M|Panzer III Ausf. M]] and etc.

* M72 shells are for: 

Medium tanks and Light tanks like [[Pz.III J1|Panzer III Ausf. J1]] or the [[T-50]].

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks M24.png|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo rack]] of the M24 Chaffee|x250px]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''48''' || 25 ''(+23)'' || 1 ''(+47)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|Browning M2HB (12.7 mm)|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[Browning M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,000 (200) || 576 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,800 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

The M24 ''Chaffee'' is a very good tank with a fairly interesting play style. Instead of being permanently stationed at a single point and continuously firing at an enemy, this tank offers impressive maneuverability and speed which allows it to perform impressive flanking maneuvers. The M24 can travel at around 38 km/h forward and -25 km/h backwards. Its reverse speed is very good if a quick getaway by going backwards is needed. Thus, this tank excels at "peek-a-boo" tactics in which one hides behind a rock or other large piece of cover and repeatedly inches out to fire at an enemy.

The tank offers a 75 mm M6 gun, which has a slower reload than the [[M4|''Sherman'']] M4/M4A1's 75mm M3 gun but is otherwise the same. Its shells come in handy for certain tanks; they generally penetrate armour very well. It is rare to experience a ricochet or be to unable to penetrate any armour.

'''Do not:''' Continuously shoot at a tank without backing up/moving. The vehicle's armour is very thin and will most likely be destroyed if it stays in one position and does not stop changing positions. Always try to get the first shot off in a head-on attack. Typically, the best shell to use is the M61 shell but it can also be beneficial to have M72 shells as well.

Another way to go around is to flank the enemy. If attacking with a more direct approach, keep hidden behind a building or boulder and pop out every now and then to take a shot at the enemy. Also, prioritize targets who are busy fighting others and cannot retaliate. Usually, after the first shot, it may disable their tank depending on what it is. Disabling the enemy tank's crew, tracks, engine, etc. allows for retaliation without the risk of any incoming enemy shells.

a final option is to essentially make use of your tank's mobility to fire, move, fire, move, fire, so as to prevent enemy tanks and tank destroyers from accurately guessing range. this can be difficult however, as you must be very versed in your own tank's ballistics to make shots, as you will have to estimate range on the fly. don't think this means firing on the move - if you are going faster than 10mph, the stabilizer will not allow for accurate shots, and it is only a vertical stabilizer.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Low profile.
* The best cannon for light tanks in its rank.
* Very agile.
* Very fast reverse, thanks to the 4-speed reverse gear.
* Fast turret traverse.
* Equipped with a vertical plane stabilizer, allowing for more accurate shots on the move or shoot-n-scoot tactics.
* Pintle mounted HMG allows for air defense.

'''Cons:'''

* Thin armour on all sides.
* Low ammo count can be a problem in long games or RB/SB matches.
* Vulnerable to nearby explosions.
* Reload is quite slow for its caliber.

== History ==

===Development===
As early as 1942, the light tanks [[M3 Stuart|M3]] and [[M5A1|M5 ''Stuart'']] have been seen as severely lacking in the modernizing design of tanks and how they fight. The armour was seen as insufficient and the [[M3 (37 mm)|37 mm gun]] was also deemed useless against even the standard German tanks like the [[Pz.III J|Panzer III]] and [[Pz.IV F2|Panzer IV]]. The system needed an upgrade, specifically a light tank that mounts the [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm gun]] seen on the [[M4|''Shermans'']]. An attempt to mount a 75 mm gun on a ''Stuart'' was deemed inefficient as it reduced ammo stowage and left the armour too thin on the design.

In April 1943, the U.S. Ordnance Department worked with Cadillac to start on a project for the new light tank, designated ''Light Tank T24''. The powertrain and transmission of the M5 ''Stuart'' was used with the ultimate goal of producing a vehicle weighing less than 20 tons. This left the vehicle with relatively thin armour to stay lightweight. At the time, a lighter 75 mm gun was developed for mounting on the [[B-25J-20|B-25 Mitchell bomber]] without sacrificing performance, and this was mounted onto the light tank in development. The tank used 410 mm wide tracks with a torsion bar suspension that greatly improves cross-country travel. The engine was a Cadillac 44T24 V-8 petrol engine. The chassis was designed with the expectation that it would be used as a basis of many different vehicle roles so it was called the "Light Combat Team". The light tank end design had a low profile at 9 ft. 1 in. height and featuring a crew of five with a three-man turret, an improvement over the two-man turrets of the Stuarts. The first finished vehicle arrived on October 15, 1943 and was deemed a success, starting a contract for 1,000 units that was later raised to 5,000 units. The vehicle was classified as the '''Light Tank M24''' and as the ''' ''Chaffee'' ''' by the British after US General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr., who helped develop some of America's earliest tank designs. The vehicle was produced by Cadillac and Massey-Harris from April 1944 to August 1945 with a total of 4,731 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The first batch of M24s reached the battlefields of Europe in November of 1944 and first assigned to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group in France. The M24 gradually entered widespread use by December 1944, some ''Chaffees'' went to the British to replace their ''Stuart'' tanks as well. The M24s were first used in the Battle of the Bulge with the 2nd and 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron sent to support the southern sector of the battle. The ''Chaffees'' were slow to enter use in the front-lines as even by the end of the war, some armoured division did not have the M24 light tanks. Despite that, the reception of the ''Chaffee'' was positive even though it may not have the firepower to fight the better German tanks like the [[Panther G|Panther tanks]]. The 75 mm gun gave the crew much more firepower than the earlier 37 mm. The light armour, though allowing the tank to pick up speed, was penetrable by most anti-tank weapons in service by Germany. The effect of the M24 ''Chaffee'' in World War II was deemed insignificant as it was not used in great numbers in comparison to the ''Stuarts'' in service since the start of the war.

The M24 ''Chaffee'' served a greater role in the Korean War and were sent in large numbers to combat the North Korean Armoured Forces, however they were severely undergunned with their 75 mm cannon and the light armour was easily destroyed by the Soviet-supplied [[T-34-85]] tanks. Plus, the deficiency in crew training also contributed to the poor performance of the M24 against the North Koreans. Due to their inferiority, they were used as a delaying measure until better tanks like the [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3E8 ''Shermans'']] and [[M26|M26 ''Pershings'']] could be brought in. Once with supports with these better tanks, the Chaffees were relegated to reconnaissance roles, where they served with better results.

The M24, after being replaced in America by the [[M41A1|M41 ''Walker Bulldog'']], was sent to many other countries for use. The French Army deployed the M24s during their fighting in Indochina and famously in the Battle for Dien Bien Phu. Some M24s went to the hands of the ARVN in South Vietnam to support the troops during the Vietnam War. The Pakistani Army used them as well in 1971 against India during the Indo-Pakistani War. The M24 ''Chaffee'' was also adapted in different roles by using the chassis for different designs, such as the ''[[M19|M19 TGMC anti-air gun]]'' and self-propelled guns with the ''M37 105 mm HMC'' and ''M41 155 mm HMC''.

The ''Chaffee'' had turned out to be one of the greatest light tanks the Allies developed during World War II. Though arriving too late to be a main turning factor for the war, the design has turned out to be so reliable that some countries like Uruguay still operate modernized versions. Austria has since retired its M24 fleet, but their turrets still serve on as bunkers.

== Media ==

[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23M24 '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Chaffee from live.warthunder]

== Read also ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/2936/current/ Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> M24 Chaffee]

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{USA light tanks}}

User talk:U28580205

2019-02-01T09:52:08Z

U39982399: Created page with "as the person who wrote the base version of the Pz.II C bio, which you appear to have edited - please go back through and fix some of the grammar. also, a 1 dollar US coin..."

as the person who wrote the base version of the Pz.II C bio, which you appear to have edited -
please go back through and fix some of the grammar.
also,
a 1 dollar US coin is approximately 1 3/4 inch in diameter. by changing it to "Coin", it's a bit ambiguous.
I've not bothered to change it because I really only intended to do a basic Bio, because I knew others would come along to edit it and refine it.
-AManAndHisTank.

Pz.II C

2019-02-01T09:49:00Z

U39982399:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_II_ausf_C}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' ('''{{Specs|pseudonym}}''') is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German light tank {{Battle-rating|1}}. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

The Pz.II C is a vehicle that fits well for any line-up using low-rank German tanks. The first of its line in the German tech tree, the Pz.II C can be distinguished from the later [[Pz.II F|Ausf. F]] by it heavier frontal armor. However, a distinguishing feature for this series of Panzer II is the trademark 20 mm automatic cannon, which can be a curse for new users and a gift for players who know how to use the vehicle well. This autocannon can give several misconception on the Pz.II utility, which lures players into assuming it's a close quarters vehicle. The reality is much different - at close ranges, the 20 mm autocannon with its 280 round per minute rate of fire and APCR PzGr.40 ammo can have great effect on a single target, but the reload time and capacity of 10 rounds per magazine will backfire hard if facing against more tanks than a single magazine can deal with.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

The Pz.II C has (on the surface) decent frontal armor, with a total of 35 mm for the upper mantlet, a section of heavily sloped 30 mm armor, and then the lower mantlet has the same as the top. The side armor is a paltry 15 mm, and the back, hull roof, and turret sides are all the same. The front turret face is 30 mm, and despite appearances, does not overlap, meaning there is no chance of an enemy shot ricocheting off a sliver that constitutes 60 mm!

Generally speaking, the Pz.II C does not have enough armor to defend itself unless the enemy is engaging from an extreme range (which most early tanks can't reasonably do well) or are facing SPAA who are only using HE, as well as some early french tanks.

Put shortly - do everything to ensure that the Pz.II C is not hit, because even one well placed shot in the crew compartment will likely destroy the Pz.II C in one shot.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 35 mm (11°) ''Front plate'' 30 mm (73°) ''Front glacis'' 35 mm (36°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 15 mm || 15 mm || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 30 mm (9-74°) ''Turret front'' 30 mm (5-52°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 15 mm (20-46°) || 15 mm (16-22°) || 10 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 15 mm || 10 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 5 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

Mobility wise, the Pz.II C is actually better than most, but the BT series tanks and M3 Stuarts will still outrun the tank quite easily. Regardless, the Pz.II C can get around the battlefield quite respectably, and the vehicle's power to weight ratio makes for easier going up hills than larger, heavier vehicles. Odds are that the Pz.II C is not going to outrun the enemy team, therefore locating good cover is immensely useful.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 9.1 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 49 (AB)
|-
|44 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|217
|267
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|124
|140
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|23.85
|29.34
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|13.63
|15.38
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|KwK 30 (20 mm)}}

The main armament of the Pz.II C is the KwK 30, 20 mm automatic cannon.

With the ability to access APCR capable of penetrating 64mm at point blank, this thing will go through enemy armor like it is fabric.

The biggest problem with the autocannon is the 10 round magazines combined with a 7.4 stock reload time, meaning that the tank may successfully take out 2-3 enemy tanks with controlled bursts, but likely to be taken out during the reload. The second biggest problem is also the tank's biggest pro, and that's the PzGr.40 ammunition, which has great pen statistics out to 200-300 yards, but does not maintain velocity beyond those distances as well as the standard PzGr. round in the standard belt.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 30 (20 mm)|20 mm KwK 30]]
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="2" | 150 (10) || 280 || -9°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 8.30 || 11.50 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 8.30 || 9.80 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 7.80 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 46 || 45 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 64 || 63 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T* || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 780 || 0.15 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 1050 || 0.1 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T* || 900 || 0.11 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 10.2 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

=====Belt types=====
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |'''''Default ''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]], [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer – High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Intermediate usage until the better PzGr 40 can be used. Decent enough versus light tanks and other vehicles from the rear. Due the lack of HE filler underwhelming damage, yet still better than the PzGr 40.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | HVAP-T (High Velocity Armour Piercing tracer) shell || align="left" | Best penetrating shell of this vehicle. However, the damage effects are very poor. In close combat snipe for modules and crewmember for increased survival rate. Nothing is more annoying than emptying a clip and then to get destroyed during the reload because the enemy gunner survived. Against angled armoured it is not very effective like any other APCR shell, this is offset by the very high base penetration though.
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''15''' || 8 ''(+7)'' || 1 ''(+14)'' || style="text-align:center" | Yes
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

Mounted opposite to the 20 mm Automatic is an MG 34, loading AP-I/AP-I/AP-T in 50 round belts. With 13 mm of maximum penetration at point blank, this gun's 800 rpm rate of fire will make short work of unarmored vehicles like the truck based SPAA as well as exposed tank destroyer crewmen.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,800 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

The main key to success with this vehicle is to drive aggressively, trying to get shots at relatively close range (100m-300m or even less). Aiming for the enemy's weak spots, it is often possible to set the opponent on fire, allowing the Pz II to take on vehicles beyond its battle rating.

Where possible, try to use the terrain to remain hull down, even the smallest undulations are quite often enough to mask the hull, allowing the Pz.II C to take quick shots with minimal risk, however closing the distance quickly with the opponent is really the only way to ensure the shells penetrate and destroy the enemy, as the Pz.II thin armour is not enough to slug it out in a face up fight.

Also, as a light tank with good speed, the Pz.II C can spot tanks (not the scouting way unfortunately) for allies to hit or use the artillery support to disable opponents by breaking their tracks and then calling in support.

Alternatively, the Pz.II C can be played as a support vehicle for friendly tanks when pushing the cap, a second line tank to say the least. Use short (2-4 rounds ideally) bursts to disable enemy vehicles by targeting points like their transmission or turret crew, then use the remaining ammo to take out the rest of the enemy crew, or let friendly tankers take them out to earn multiple assists. The Pz.II C lack the mobility to disengage and run from tanks like the M3 Stuarts or BT series tanks, but if their transmission, driver or tracks are taken out (all of which are visible from the front in both cases), the Pz.II C player can buy themselves enough time to scurry back to friendly lines, simultaneously luring those enemy tanks towards the bulk of the friendly team.

The biggest threat to the Pz.II C are tanks that put all their points into armor, to the extent that their mobility are hindered, but not necessarily firepower. The Valentine, FCM 36, and Matilda are examples of tanks that will easily deflect 20 mm shots with even the PzGr.40 loaded, either due to their impressive frontal hull and turret armor, or just because they are so slow that the Pz.II C will engage them at ranges that render the shell penetration power ineffective. If one of these tanks are spotted trundling along in the distance, do not bother taking shots because the 20 mm are not likely to even scratch them, while drawing their attention and revealing the Pz.II C position due to the shell tracers.

Generally speaking, if the target is smaller than a coin when looking at it on max zoom in the gunner's sight, do not bother firing.

=== Pros and cons ===
'''Pros:'''

* Good armour on the front
* Autocannon provides better damage than most guns of its rank
* Can fire off several shots in quick succession to scan the target for weak spots, and then fire at them.
* Fast, very agile
* Low Profile
* Turret is hard to jam
* Extra armour plates on the upper and lower mantlet give 30-40mm of effective armour to areas of the turret front
* Dangerous to lightly armoured vehicles
* Very good at urban-based maps, small width can maneuvre through narrow passages
* Loader is often hard to incapacitate from the front
* Engine is placed far right of the vehicle
* PzGr 40 rounds are extremely powerful- a 6-round burst can knock out most tanks
* Very distinctive profile means friendly fire can be effectively nil

'''Cons:'''

* Poor penetration when not using HVAP-T rounds
* Low amount of crew members
* Lacking at ranged shootouts
* Penetration values scales poorly when uptiered and especially at longer ranges
* Top speed is slower than the fastest tank encountered, which are common opponents
* Does not enjoy the luxury of SPAA 20 mm autocannons that have more rounds per magazine
* Aggressive enemies will view the Pz.II C as an easy target and will gun for it
* Relatively cramped interior make it easy for tank to be knocked out in one shot, as shot can hit crew, fuel, or ammo

== History ==

===Development===
In 1934, the development of the new German tanks, which would be the [[Pz.III E|Panzer III]] and [[Pz.IV E|Panzer IV]], was falling behind schedule despite an urgent need for tanks. As a stopgap solution until the designs were finalized, the Germany Army submitted a request for a new tank, giving the responsibility of designing to Krupp, MAN, Henschel, and Daimler-Benz. The product was a design that is based off the German Panzer I light tank, but was larger with the addition of an extra bogie wheel and had a 20 mm autocannon as its main armament. The finished tank was designated the '''Panzer II''' and production was to start in 1935, but did not start delivering tanks until 18 months later. At this time, it was in a low rate production status by 1936. By the time the Panzer II reached the '''Ausf. C''' designation it was fitted with a superior suspension system to support the weight of the tank. The changes included five larger wheels attached to new leaf springs. In 1937 the Ausf. C entered full production with MAN and other manufacturers. Over 1,600 Panzer II light tanks were produced between 1937 to 1942.

The Panzer II incorporated new design changes from the Panzer I following experiences on tank warfare from the Spanish Civil War. The armour was widened to block shells rather than machine gun fire and shrapnel, so the armour thickness was 14 mm on front, sides, and back in the Panzer II Ausf. A through C. The 20 mm autocannon on the turret was based off the 20 mm FlaK 30 then in use with a firing rate of 600 rpm from a 10-round magazine, the tank also came with a coaxial machine gun as well. The turret was hand cranked by the commander, who doubled as the gunner of the tanks. The crew of the Panzer II consist of three people, the driver, commander, and loader who doubled as a radio operator. The Panzer II Ausf. C could reach a speed of 40 km/h with its leaf spring suspension system and Maybach HL62TR engine.

===Combat usage===
The Panzer II would serve in the initial stages of World War II in the Battle of Poland, France, and in the North African Campaign and Operation Barbarossa as Germany's most numerous tank (By May 1940, there were about a thousand Panzer Is and IIs, but only 381 Panzer III and 290 Panzer IVs). By 1941, it was clear that the Panzer II was starting to become obsolete, and with increasing quantity of Panzer IIIs and IVs, the Panzer II was relegated to reconnaissance duties. By 1942, it was largely removed from front lines and production ceased by 1943. The turrets of these obsolete tanks were used as gun turrets on defensive bunkers on the Atlantic Wall, and the chassis stayed in use for other purposes, such as a self-propelled gun and tank destroyer in the ''Wespe'' and ''Marder II'' respectively.

Early in the war during the Poland and French Campaigns, the Panzer II Ausf. C's 14 mm armour was deemed inadequate as every anti-tank weapon served at the time could penetrate this armour. The German response was to increase the armour, first with a front armour increase to 30 mm on the Ausf. D, then ending with a 35 mm front armour and 20 mm side armour on the [[Pz.II F|Panzer II Ausf. F]].

== Media ==

== Live.Warthunder ==
[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23Pz_II_c '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Panzer II C from live.warthunder.com.]

===Sights===

* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]

== Read also ==

* [https://warthunder.com/en/news/2778/current/ Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> PzKpfw II Ausf C/F and DAK]

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany light tanks}}

Pz.II C

2019-02-01T09:48:34Z

U39982399:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_II_ausf_C}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' ('''{{Specs|pseudonym}}''') is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German light tank {{Battle-rating|1}}. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

The Pz.II C is a vehicle that fits well for any line-up using low-rank German tanks. The first of its line in the German tech tree, the Pz.II C can be distinguished from the later [[Pz.II F|Ausf. F]] by it heavier frontal armor. However, a distinguishing feature for this series of Panzer II is the trademark 20 mm automatic cannon, which can be a curse for new users and a gift for players who know how to use the vehicle well. This autocannon can give several misconception on the Pz.II utility, which lures players into assuming it's a close quarters vehicle. The reality is much different - at close ranges, the 20 mm autocannon with its 280 round per minute rate of fire and APCR PzGr.40 ammo can have great effect on a single target, but the reload time and capacity of 10 rounds per magazine will backfire hard if facing against more tanks than a single magazine can deal with.\

!I just have to say, as the original person who wrote this - whoever came through and re-edited this did a good job for stats and linking, but someone should go through and fix some of the serious grammar errors made. - AManAndHisTank

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

The Pz.II C has (on the surface) decent frontal armor, with a total of 35 mm for the upper mantlet, a section of heavily sloped 30 mm armor, and then the lower mantlet has the same as the top. The side armor is a paltry 15 mm, and the back, hull roof, and turret sides are all the same. The front turret face is 30 mm, and despite appearances, does not overlap, meaning there is no chance of an enemy shot ricocheting off a sliver that constitutes 60 mm!

Generally speaking, the Pz.II C does not have enough armor to defend itself unless the enemy is engaging from an extreme range (which most early tanks can't reasonably do well) or are facing SPAA who are only using HE, as well as some early french tanks.

Put shortly - do everything to ensure that the Pz.II C is not hit, because even one well placed shot in the crew compartment will likely destroy the Pz.II C in one shot.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 35 mm (11°) ''Front plate'' 30 mm (73°) ''Front glacis'' 35 mm (36°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 15 mm || 15 mm || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 30 mm (9-74°) ''Turret front'' 30 mm (5-52°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 15 mm (20-46°) || 15 mm (16-22°) || 10 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 15 mm || 10 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 5 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===

Mobility wise, the Pz.II C is actually better than most, but the BT series tanks and M3 Stuarts will still outrun the tank quite easily. Regardless, the Pz.II C can get around the battlefield quite respectably, and the vehicle's power to weight ratio makes for easier going up hills than larger, heavier vehicles. Odds are that the Pz.II C is not going to outrun the enemy team, therefore locating good cover is immensely useful.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 9.1 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 49 (AB)
|-
|44 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|217
|267
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|124
|140
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|23.85
|29.34
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|13.63
|15.38
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|KwK 30 (20 mm)}}

The main armament of the Pz.II C is the KwK 30, 20 mm automatic cannon.

With the ability to access APCR capable of penetrating 64mm at point blank, this thing will go through enemy armor like it is fabric.

The biggest problem with the autocannon is the 10 round magazines combined with a 7.4 stock reload time, meaning that the tank may successfully take out 2-3 enemy tanks with controlled bursts, but likely to be taken out during the reload. The second biggest problem is also the tank's biggest pro, and that's the PzGr.40 ammunition, which has great pen statistics out to 200-300 yards, but does not maintain velocity beyond those distances as well as the standard PzGr. round in the standard belt.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 30 (20 mm)|20 mm KwK 30]]
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="2" | 150 (10) || 280 || -9°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 8.30 || 11.50 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 8.30 || 9.80 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 7.80 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 46 || 45 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 64 || 63 || 33 || 23 || 15 || 11
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T* || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || API-T || 780 || 0.15 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| PzGr 40 || HVAP-T || 1050 || 0.1 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr. || HEFI-T* || 900 || 0.11 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 10.2 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

=====Belt types=====
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |'''''Default ''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]], [[:Category:Ammunition#Cannon_shells|HEFI-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer – High Explosive Fragmentation Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | [[:Category:Ammunition#Kinetic_energy_shells|API-T]] (Armour Piercing Incendiary tracer) shell || align="left" | Intermediate usage until the better PzGr 40 can be used. Decent enough versus light tanks and other vehicles from the rear. Due the lack of HE filler underwhelming damage, yet still better than the PzGr 40.
|-
| align="left" |'''''PzGr''''' || align="left" | HVAP-T (High Velocity Armour Piercing tracer) shell || align="left" | Best penetrating shell of this vehicle. However, the damage effects are very poor. In close combat snipe for modules and crewmember for increased survival rate. Nothing is more annoying than emptying a clip and then to get destroyed during the reload because the enemy gunner survived. Against angled armoured it is not very effective like any other APCR shell, this is offset by the very high base penetration though.
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''15''' || 8 ''(+7)'' || 1 ''(+14)'' || style="text-align:center" | Yes
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

Mounted opposite to the 20 mm Automatic is an MG 34, loading AP-I/AP-I/AP-T in 50 round belts. With 13 mm of maximum penetration at point blank, this gun's 800 rpm rate of fire will make short work of unarmored vehicles like the truck based SPAA as well as exposed tank destroyer crewmen.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 1,800 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

The main key to success with this vehicle is to drive aggressively, trying to get shots at relatively close range (100m-300m or even less). Aiming for the enemy's weak spots, it is often possible to set the opponent on fire, allowing the Pz II to take on vehicles beyond its battle rating.

Where possible, try to use the terrain to remain hull down, even the smallest undulations are quite often enough to mask the hull, allowing the Pz.II C to take quick shots with minimal risk, however closing the distance quickly with the opponent is really the only way to ensure the shells penetrate and destroy the enemy, as the Pz.II thin armour is not enough to slug it out in a face up fight.

Also, as a light tank with good speed, the Pz.II C can spot tanks (not the scouting way unfortunately) for allies to hit or use the artillery support to disable opponents by breaking their tracks and then calling in support.

Alternatively, the Pz.II C can be played as a support vehicle for friendly tanks when pushing the cap, a second line tank to say the least. Use short (2-4 rounds ideally) bursts to disable enemy vehicles by targeting points like their transmission or turret crew, then use the remaining ammo to take out the rest of the enemy crew, or let friendly tankers take them out to earn multiple assists. The Pz.II C lack the mobility to disengage and run from tanks like the M3 Stuarts or BT series tanks, but if their transmission, driver or tracks are taken out (all of which are visible from the front in both cases), the Pz.II C player can buy themselves enough time to scurry back to friendly lines, simultaneously luring those enemy tanks towards the bulk of the friendly team.

The biggest threat to the Pz.II C are tanks that put all their points into armor, to the extent that their mobility are hindered, but not necessarily firepower. The Valentine, FCM 36, and Matilda are examples of tanks that will easily deflect 20 mm shots with even the PzGr.40 loaded, either due to their impressive frontal hull and turret armor, or just because they are so slow that the Pz.II C will engage them at ranges that render the shell penetration power ineffective. If one of these tanks are spotted trundling along in the distance, do not bother taking shots because the 20 mm are not likely to even scratch them, while drawing their attention and revealing the Pz.II C position due to the shell tracers.

Generally speaking, if the target is smaller than a coin when looking at it on max zoom in the gunner's sight, do not bother firing.

=== Pros and cons ===
'''Pros:'''

* Good armour on the front
* Autocannon provides better damage than most guns of its rank
* Can fire off several shots in quick succession to scan the target for weak spots, and then fire at them.
* Fast, very agile
* Low Profile
* Turret is hard to jam
* Extra armour plates on the upper and lower mantlet give 30-40mm of effective armour to areas of the turret front
* Dangerous to lightly armoured vehicles
* Very good at urban-based maps, small width can maneuvre through narrow passages
* Loader is often hard to incapacitate from the front
* Engine is placed far right of the vehicle
* PzGr 40 rounds are extremely powerful- a 6-round burst can knock out most tanks
* Very distinctive profile means friendly fire can be effectively nil

'''Cons:'''

* Poor penetration when not using HVAP-T rounds
* Low amount of crew members
* Lacking at ranged shootouts
* Penetration values scales poorly when uptiered and especially at longer ranges
* Top speed is slower than the fastest tank encountered, which are common opponents
* Does not enjoy the luxury of SPAA 20 mm autocannons that have more rounds per magazine
* Aggressive enemies will view the Pz.II C as an easy target and will gun for it
* Relatively cramped interior make it easy for tank to be knocked out in one shot, as shot can hit crew, fuel, or ammo

== History ==

===Development===
In 1934, the development of the new German tanks, which would be the [[Pz.III E|Panzer III]] and [[Pz.IV E|Panzer IV]], was falling behind schedule despite an urgent need for tanks. As a stopgap solution until the designs were finalized, the Germany Army submitted a request for a new tank, giving the responsibility of designing to Krupp, MAN, Henschel, and Daimler-Benz. The product was a design that is based off the German Panzer I light tank, but was larger with the addition of an extra bogie wheel and had a 20 mm autocannon as its main armament. The finished tank was designated the '''Panzer II''' and production was to start in 1935, but did not start delivering tanks until 18 months later. At this time, it was in a low rate production status by 1936. By the time the Panzer II reached the '''Ausf. C''' designation it was fitted with a superior suspension system to support the weight of the tank. The changes included five larger wheels attached to new leaf springs. In 1937 the Ausf. C entered full production with MAN and other manufacturers. Over 1,600 Panzer II light tanks were produced between 1937 to 1942.

The Panzer II incorporated new design changes from the Panzer I following experiences on tank warfare from the Spanish Civil War. The armour was widened to block shells rather than machine gun fire and shrapnel, so the armour thickness was 14 mm on front, sides, and back in the Panzer II Ausf. A through C. The 20 mm autocannon on the turret was based off the 20 mm FlaK 30 then in use with a firing rate of 600 rpm from a 10-round magazine, the tank also came with a coaxial machine gun as well. The turret was hand cranked by the commander, who doubled as the gunner of the tanks. The crew of the Panzer II consist of three people, the driver, commander, and loader who doubled as a radio operator. The Panzer II Ausf. C could reach a speed of 40 km/h with its leaf spring suspension system and Maybach HL62TR engine.

===Combat usage===
The Panzer II would serve in the initial stages of World War II in the Battle of Poland, France, and in the North African Campaign and Operation Barbarossa as Germany's most numerous tank (By May 1940, there were about a thousand Panzer Is and IIs, but only 381 Panzer III and 290 Panzer IVs). By 1941, it was clear that the Panzer II was starting to become obsolete, and with increasing quantity of Panzer IIIs and IVs, the Panzer II was relegated to reconnaissance duties. By 1942, it was largely removed from front lines and production ceased by 1943. The turrets of these obsolete tanks were used as gun turrets on defensive bunkers on the Atlantic Wall, and the chassis stayed in use for other purposes, such as a self-propelled gun and tank destroyer in the ''Wespe'' and ''Marder II'' respectively.

Early in the war during the Poland and French Campaigns, the Panzer II Ausf. C's 14 mm armour was deemed inadequate as every anti-tank weapon served at the time could penetrate this armour. The German response was to increase the armour, first with a front armour increase to 30 mm on the Ausf. D, then ending with a 35 mm front armour and 20 mm side armour on the [[Pz.II F|Panzer II Ausf. F]].

== Media ==

== Live.Warthunder ==
[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23Pz_II_c '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Panzer II C from live.warthunder.com.]

===Sights===

* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]

== Read also ==

* [https://warthunder.com/en/news/2778/current/ Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> PzKpfw II Ausf C/F and DAK]

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany light tanks}}

Pz.II C

2019-01-31T04:59:56Z

U39982399: I did my best to give as real of a description as I could of this vehicle, while doing my best to prepare those who are considering trying it for what they are in for.

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_II_ausf_C}}

== Description ==
so, you've decided to play low tier germans? good for you! the Pz.II C is the first in it's lineup, and can be distinguished from the Ausf. F by it heavier frontal armor. another distinguishing feature is it's trademark 20mm automatic cannon, which can be a curse for new users and a gift for players who know how to use the vehicle well.

the Pz.2's biggest misconception is it's autocannon, which lures players into assuming it's a close quarters vehicle. the reality is much different - at close ranges, you may be able to utilize your 280RPM rate of fire and PzGr.40 APCR to great effect on a single target, but the reload time and capacity of 10 rounds per magazine will betray you if faced against more tanks than you have ammo for in a single magazine.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
for armor, you have (on the surface) decent frontal armor, with a total of 35mm for your upper mantle, a section of heavily sloped 30mm armor, and then your lower mantle has the same as the top. your sides are a paltry 15mm, and the back, top of your hull and turret sides are all the same. the front turret face is 30mm, and despite appearances, does not overlap, meaning no chance of an enemy shot ricocheting off a sliver that constitutes 60mm!

generally speaking, you do not have enough armor to defend yourself unless the enemy is engaging you from extreme range (which most early tanks can't reasonably do well) or are facing SPAA who are only using HE, as well as some early french tanks.

put shortly - do everything in your power to ensure that you are not hit, because even 1 well placed shot in the crew compartment will likely OSK you. (one shot kill).

=== Mobility ===
mobility wise, the Pz.II C is actually better than most (27.2mph), but the BT series tanks(33mph) and M3 Stuarts(34mph) will still outrun you quite easily. reguardless, you can get around the battlefield quite respectably, and the vehicle's power to weight ratio makes for easier going up hills than larger, heavier vehicles. reguardless, odds are that you are not going to outrun the enemy team, therefore locating good cover is immensely useful.

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===
the main armament of this little devil is the KwK-30, 20mm Automatic Cannon.

with the ability to access APCR capable of penetrating 64mm at point blank, this thing will go through enemy armor like it is fabric.

it's biggest problem is, you only have 10 round magazines, with a 7.4 stock reload time, meaning that you may successfully take out 2-3 enemy tanks with controlled bursts, but are likely to be taken out during your reload. it's second biggest problem is also it's biggest Pro, and that's the PzGr.40 ammunition, which has great pen statistics out to 200-300 yards, but does not maintain velocity beyond those distances as well as the standard PzGr. found in it's own belt as well as the standard belts.

Ammo Statistics -

{| class="wikitable"
!Type
!Composition
!0(yd.)
!500
!1000
!2000
|-
|Default
|API-T/HEFI-T/API-T/HEFI-T
|46mm
|33mm
|23mm
|11mm
|-
|PzGr.
|API-T/API-T/API-T/API-T
|46mm
|33mm
|23mm
|11mm
|-
|PzGr.40
|APCR/APCR/APCR/APCR
|64mm
|26mm
|8mm
|1mm
|}

=== Machine guns ===
mounted opposite to the 20mm Automatic is an MG-34, loading AP-I/AP-I/AP-T in 50 round belts. at 13mm of maximum pen at point blank, this gun's 800rpm ROF will make short work of unarmored vehicles like the truck based SPAA as well as exposed Tank Destroyer crewmen.

== Usage in the battles ==
your goal as a Pz.II C player, should be to support friendly tanks with pushing the cap, a second line tank if you will. use short (2-4 rounds ideally) bursts to disable enemy vehicles by targeting points like their transmission or turret crew, then use your remaining ammo to take out the rest of the enemy crew, or let your friendly tankers take them out to earn multiple assists. you lack the mobility to disengage and run from tanks like the M3 Stuarts or BT series tanks, but if you can take out their transmission, driver or tracks (all of which are visible from the front in both cases) you may buy yourself enough time while they repair to scurry back to friendly lines, simultaniously luring those enemy tanks towards your team.

the biggest threat to you is tanks that put all their points into armor, to an extent that mobility was hindered, but not neccissarily firepower;

the Valentine, FCM 36 and Matilda are examples of tanks that will easily defeat your shots with even the PzGr.40 loaded, either due to their impressive frontal hull and turret armor, or just because they are so slow that you are forced to engage them at ranges that render your muntions ineffective. if you spot one of them trundling along in the distance, do not bother taking shots because you are not likely to even scratch them, while drawing attention to yourself due to you shooting at them, and the tracer fire revealing your location.

generally speaking, if the target is smaller than a 1 dollar US coin when looking at it on max zoom in the gunner's sight, do not bother firing.

=== Pros and cons ===
'''Pros:'''

* small, easy to manuver through narrow passages that wider vehicles may find impassable
* gun will easily dispatch most vehicles you encounter in the 1.0-2.0 battle rating range you will face
* your odds of being mistaken for an enemy tank by your team are effectively nil
* due to it's use of an automatic cannon rather than a traditional cannon or howitzer, you can prospectively eliminate 3-4 enemy with the 10 rounds available if you use adequate trigger discipline.

*

'''Cons:'''

* your top speed is slower than the fastest tanks you will encounter, and they are a very common encounter.
* players used to the Flakpanzer 1 and Gepard (38t) will be annoyed by the 10 less rounds per magazine situation
* because of how much of a danger it is to the enemy team and what little armor you have, the enemy team will see you as an easy target.
* it's relatively cramped interior makes it easy to be 1 shotted due to there only being 3 crew, and they are surrounded by fuel tanks and ammunition.

*

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

Pz.II C

2019-01-31T04:42:27Z

U39982399:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_II_ausf_C}}

== Description ==
so, you've decided to play low tier germans? good for you! the Pz.II C is the first in it's lineup, and can be distinguished from the Ausf. F by it heavier frontal armor. another distinguishing feature is it's trademark 20mm automatic cannon, which can be a curse for new users and a gift for players who know how to use the vehicle well.

the Pz.2's biggest misconception is it's autocannon, which lures players into assuming it's a close quarters vehicle. the reality is much different - at close ranges, you may be able to utilize your 280RPM rate of fire and PzGr.40 APCR to great effect on a single target, but the reload time and capacity of 10 rounds per magazine will betray you if faced against more tanks than you have ammo for in a single magazine.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
for armor, you have (on the surface) decent frontal armor, with a total of 35mm for your upper mantle, a section of heavily sloped 30mm armor, and then your lower mantle has the same as the top. your sides are a paltry 15mm, and the back, top of your hull and turret sides are all the same. the front turret face is 30mm, and despite appearances, does not overlap, meaning no chance of an enemy shot ricocheting off a sliver that constitutes 60mm!

generally speaking, you do not have enough armor to defend yourself unless the enemy is engaging you from extreme range (which most early tanks can't reasonably do well) or are facing SPAA who are only using HE, as well as some early french tanks.

put shortly - do everything in your power to ensure that you are not hit, because even 1 well placed shot in the crew compartment will likely OSK you. (one shot kill).

=== Mobility ===
mobility wise, the Pz.II C is actually better than most, but the BT series tanks and M3 Stuarts will still outrun you quite easily. reguardless, you can get around the battlefield quite respectably, and the vehicle's power to weight ratio makes for easier going up hills than larger, heavier vehicles. reguardless, odds are that you are not going to outrun the enemy team, therefore locating good cover is immensely useful.

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===
the main armament of this little devil is the KwK-30, 20mm Automatic Cannon.

with the ability to access APCR capable of penetrating 64mm at point blank, this thing will go through enemy armor like it is fabric.

it's biggest problem is, you only have 10 round magazines, with a 7.4 stock reload time, meaning that you may successfully take out 2-3 enemy tanks with controlled bursts, but are likely to be taken out during your reload. it's second biggest problem is also it's biggest Pro, and that's the PzGr.40 ammunition, which has great pen statistics out to 200-300 yards, but does not maintain velocity beyond those distances as well as the standard PzGr. found in it's own belt as well as the standard belts.

Ammo Statistics -

{| class="wikitable"
!Type
!Composition
!0(yd.)
!500
!1000
!2000
|-
|Default
|API-T/HEFI-T/API-T/HEFI-T
|46mm
|33mm
|23mm
|11mm
|-
|PzGr.
|API-T/API-T/API-T/API-T
|46mm
|33mm
|23mm
|11mm
|-
|PzGr.40
|APCR/APCR/APCR/APCR
|64mm
|26mm
|8mm
|1mm
|}

=== Machine guns ===
mounted opposite to the 20mm Automatic is an MG-34, loading AP-I/AP-I/AP-T in 50 round belts. at 13mm of maximum pen at point blank, this gun's 800rpm ROF will make short work of unarmored vehicles like the truck based SPAA as well as exposed Tank Destroyer crewmen.

== Usage in the battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''

'''Pros:'''

*

'''Cons:'''

*

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

Pz.II C

2019-01-31T04:34:04Z

U39982399:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_II_ausf_C}}

== Description ==
so, you've decided to play low tier germans? good for you! the Pz.II C is the first in it's lineup, and can be distinguished from the Ausf. F by it heavier frontal armor. another distinguishing feature is it's trademark 20mm automatic cannon, which can be a curse for new users and a gift for players who know how to use the vehicle well.

the Pz.2's biggest misconception is it's autocannon, which lures players into assuming it's a close quarters vehicle. the reality is much different - at close ranges, you may be able to utilize your 280RPM rate of fire and PzGr.40 APCR to great effect on a single target, but the reload time and capacity of 10 rounds per magazine will betray you if faced against more tanks than you have ammo for in a single magazine.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
for armor, you have (on the surface) decent frontal armor, with a total of 35mm for your upper mantle, a section of heavily sloped 30mm armor, and then your lower mantle has the same as the top. your sides are a paltry 15mm, and the back, top of your hull and turret sides are all the same. the front turret face is 30mm, and despite appearances, does not overlap, meaning no chance of an enemy shot ricocheting off a sliver that constitutes 60mm!

generally speaking, you do not have enough armor to defend yourself unless the enemy is engaging you from extreme range (which most early tanks can't reasonably do well) or are facing SPAA who are only using HE, as well as some early french tanks.

put shortly - do everything in your power to ensure that you are not hit, because even 1 well placed shot in the crew compartment will likely OSK you. (one shot kill).

=== Mobility ===
mobility wise, the Pz.II C is actually better than most, but the BT series tanks and M3 Stuarts will still outrun you quite easily. reguardless, you can get around the battlefield quite respectably, and the vehicle's power to weight ratio makes for easier going up hills than larger, heavier vehicles. reguardless, odds are that you are not going to outrun the enemy team, therefore locating good cover is immensely useful.

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===
the main armament of this little devil is the KwK-30, 20mm Automatic Cannon.

with the ability to access APCR capable of penetrating 64mm at point blank (26mm at 500 yards) this thing will go through enemy armor like it is fabric.

it's biggest problem is, you only have 10 round magazines, with a 7.4 stock reload time, meaning that you may successfully take out 2-3 enemy tanks with controlled bursts, but are likely to be taken out during your reload.

=== Additional armament ===
''Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.''

=== 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 the battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''

'''Pros:'''

*

'''Cons:'''

*

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''