War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

Su-25BM

2023-12-31T04:38:29Z

U93342616: Improved readability and concision in the "Usage in Battles" section.

{{About
| about = gift Soviet strike aircraft '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = Su-25 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=su_25_558arz
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
|market=id50232_su_25bm_ussr
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}'''* (unified NATO codename: Frogfoot) is the Belarusian modification of the [[Su-25]] performed by the JSC "558 Aircraft Repair Plant" (Авиационный ремонтный завод; ARZ) in Baranovichi, Belarus for the Kazakh Air Defense Forces, mainly focusing on the modernization of the cockpit with modern avionics and new ECM equipment for the modern battlefield. According to the news in 2016, Kazakhstan sought Belarus for upgrades to their remaining fleet of Su-25. The aircraft were sent to the 558 ARZ for upgrades, trialled in mid-2017, and returned for service in Kazakhstan in 2018.

Introduced during [[Update "La Royale"]] as a reward for the [[wt:en/news/8384-event-summer-extreme-en|2023 Summer Extreme]] event, the Su-25BM featured new avionics in the cockpit with a new HUD and MFDs replacing most analogue gauges, as well as new PS-25 weapons control system for new weaponry like the infamous R-73 (AA-11 Archer) AAM and all previous air-to-ground ordnance ranging from GP bombs up to TV-guided bombs and laser-guided AGMs, enhancing the overall combat capabilities of the otherwise obsolete Frogfoots.

*Note: the code BM was first used by target-drone tow plane (Buksirovshchik Misheney); but it is likely the abbreviation of Belarus Modernizirovannyi (Belarusian Modernization) in this case.

== General info ==
=== Flight performance ===
{{Specs-Avia-Flight}}

For long-time players of the Su-25(K), the overall flight performance is very similar; for new players, do not underestimate the airframe of such an attacker. The R-95SH engine can quickly push the jet up to 960 km/h before structural failure in level flights even at high payload. Once players have used up all their A2G ordnances or brought only AAMs, the straight wing also allows the Su-25BM to turn with some heavy jets at its rank. However, due to the nature of being a subsonic attacker at top tier, enemy jets tend not to have dogfights especially with a Frogfoot even though it is a heavy target. Be sure not to be the first to enter the battlefield as there is a high likelihood for multiple enemies seeking out the relatively easy prey that is the Su-25BM.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
! colspan="2" | Max speed (km/h at 1,000 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (metres)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (metres/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (metres)
|-
! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB
|-
! Stock
| 969 || 962 || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 27.4 || 28.1 || 67.2 || 63.0 || rowspan="2" | 850
|-
! Upgraded
| 989 || 979 || 26.6 || 27.0 || 94.6 || 80.0
|-
|}

==== Details ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="6" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps !! Take-off flaps !! Landing flaps !! Air brakes !! Arrestor gear !! Drogue chute
|-
| ✓ || X || ✓ || ✓ || X || ✓ 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="7" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wings (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear (km/h)
! colspan="3" | Flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
|-
| 1,100  || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || 900 || - || 420 || ~7 || ~3
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities (km/h)
|-
! Ailerons !! Rudder !! Elevators !! Radiator
|-
| < 500 || < 600 || < 700 || -
|-
|}

==== Engine performance ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine
! colspan="4" | Aircraft mass
|-
! colspan="2" | Engine name || Number
! colspan="2" | {{Annotation|Basic mass|Mass of the aircraft with pilot and engine oil, but no fuel or weapons load}} || colspan="2" | Wing loading (full fuel)
|-
| colspan="2" | _____ || _
| colspan="2" | _,___ kg || colspan="2" | ___ kg/m2
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine characteristics
! colspan="3" | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) || rowspan="2" | {{Annotation|Max Gross Weight|Mass of the fully equipped aircraft with heaviest weapons load}}
|-
! Weight (each) || colspan="2" | Type
! _m fuel || __m fuel || __m fuel
|-
| ___ kg || colspan="2" | ___
| _,___ kg || _,___ kg || _,___ kg || _,___ kg
|-
! colspan="3" | {{Annotation|Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)|The maximum thrust produced by each engine, while mounted in the aircraft. NOTE: Thrust varies significantly depending on speed & altitude.}}
! colspan="4" | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (___%/WEP)
|-
! Condition || 100% || ___%/WEP
! _m fuel || __m fuel || __m fuel || MGW
|-
| ''Stationary'' || ___ kgf || ___ kgf
| _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Optimal'' || ___ kgf (_ km/h) || ___ kgf (_ km/h)
| _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}

The Su-25BM's airframe is strong, able to take hits on critical parts of the aircraft and still make it back to base. The Su-25BM has plenty of armour around the cockpit and inside the fuselage, with bulletproof glass being the main protection of the pilot.

256 countermeasures allow the aircraft to avoid IR and radar-guided missiles with ease. This, and the fact that the engines lack any type of afterburner/WEP, makes it hard for enemy missiles to follow the Su-25BM reliably. Only the more advanced missiles are able to get a good lock on the Su-25BM, and even then, manoeuvring after dropping 2 or 4 flares will be more than enough to avoid most of them.

Fuel tanks are self-sealing, which means that in case of any fuel tank fire, the fuel tank will be able to stop the fire most of the time. In case a fire happens inside the engine and not on a fuel tank, the Su-25BM also has EFS as a modification. This modification is capable of extinguishing any fire that's inside an engine, leaving the affected engine inoperable, but saving the airframe from further fire damage.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Avia-Armaments}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ballistic Computer]]
|-
! CCIP (Guns) !! CCIP (Rockets) !! CCIP (Bombs) !! CCRP (Bombs) !! Lead indicator
|-
| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Cross}}
|-
|}
=== Offensive armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Offensive}}

{{main|GSh-30-2 (30 mm)}}

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

* 1 x 30 mm GSh-30-2 cannon, chin-mounted (250 rpg)
* 256 x countermeasures

=== Suspended armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Suspended}}


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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! !! width="4%" | 1 !! width="4%" | 2 !! width="4%" | 3 !! width="4%" | 4 !! width="4%" | 5 !! width="4%" | 6 !! width="4%" | 7 !! width="4%" | 8 !! width="4%" | 9 !! width="4%" | 10
| rowspan="25" width="30%" | <div class="ttx-image">[[File:Hardpoints_Su-25.png]]</div>
|-
! [[GSh-23L (23 mm)|23 mm GSh-23L]] cannons (250 rpg)
| || || || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || || ||
|-
! [[OFAB-100 (100 kg)|100 kg OFAB-100]] bombs
| || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 ||
|-
! [[OFAB-250sv (250 kg)|250 kg OFAB-250sv]] bombs
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[OFAB-250Sh (250 kg)|250 kg OFAB-250Sh]] bombs
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[FAB-500M-62 (500 kg)|500 kg FAB-500M-62]] bombs
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[FAB-500Sh (500 kg)|500 kg FAB-500Sh]] bombs
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[KAB-500Kr (500 kg)|500 kg KAB-500Kr]] bombs
| || || || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || || ||
|-
! [[ZB-500 incendiary]] bombs
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[S-5K]] rockets
| || 32 || 32 || 32 || 32 || 32 || 32 || 32 || 32 ||
|-
! [[S-8KO]] rockets
| || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 ||
|-
! [[S-13OF]] rockets
| || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 ||
|-
! [[S-24B]] rockets
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[S-25O]] rockets
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[S-25OF]] rockets
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[S-25OFM]] rockets
| || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! [[Kh-25]] missiles
| || || 1 || 1 || || || 1 || 1 || ||
|-
! [[Kh-25ML]] missiles
| || || 1 || 1 || || || 1 || 1 || ||
|-
! [[Kh-29L]] missiles
| || || || || 1 || 1 || || || ||
|-
! [[Kh-29TE]] missiles
| || || || || 1 || 1 || || || ||
|-
! [[R-60MK]] missiles
| 1 || || || || || || || || || 1
|-
! [[R-73]] missiles
| || 1 || || || || || || || 1 ||
|-
! [[S-25L]] missiles
| || || 1 || 1 || || || 1 || 1 || ||
|-
! 800 l drop tanks
| || || || || 1 || 1 || || || ||
|-
| colspan="11" | Maximum permissible loadout weight: 4,400 kg Maximum permissible wing load: 2,200 kg Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 1,500 kg
|-
|}

{{Navigation-Start|Default weapon presets}}
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}

* 2 x 800 l drop tanks
* 2 x R-60MK missiles
* 2 x R-73 missiles
* 32 x 100 kg OFAB-100 bombs (3,200 kg total)
* 8 x 250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs (2,000 kg total)
* 8 x 250 kg OFAB-250Sh bombs (2,000 kg total)
* 8 x 500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs (4,000 kg total)
* 8 x 500 kg FAB-500Sh bombs (4,000 kg total)
* 4 x 500 kg KAB-500Kr bombs (2,000 kg total)
* 8 x ZB-500 incendiary bombs
* 256 x S-5K rockets
* 160 x S-8KO rockets
* 40 x S-13OF rockets
* 8 x S-24B rockets
* 8 x S-25O rockets
* 4 x S-25L missiles
* 4 x Kh-25ML missiles
* 2 x Kh-29L missiles
* 2 x Kh-29TE missiles
* 4 x 23 mm GSh-23L cannons (250 rpg = 1,000 total)
{{Navigation-End}}

== Usage in battles ==

Being essentially a modernized Su-25K, players will get used to this aircraft's performance very easily if they own other Frogfoots. With upgraded weaponry in both aerial combat and ground attack, the Su-25BM can be quite a versatile jet.

==== Air - Heavy but Packs a Punch ====
One thing players will soon notice is the identical airframe to preceding Su-25 variants. Not only does it retain the same engine from these jets, but the airframe is equally as heavy. 256 countermeasures is more than enough to evade missiles, but at such a slow speed, extra launches of countermeasures may be necessary. Using an attack aircraft as a fighter is never a good idea, and this especially applies to the Su-25BM. If any enemies come close, the all-aspect R-73 is enough to destroy or at least deter them. When enemies aren't present, attacking ground targets and bases is a viable option, as the guns are powerful enough to destroy MBTs with precise hits using the ballistic computer.

==== Ground - The Overwatcher ====
In addition to the original ground attack armament retained from preceding Su-25 variants, the BM is also provided with safer standoff weapons such as the KAB-500Kr or Kh-29T. Prioritizing the elimination of enemy SPAAs at a distance, players can then use unguided bombs and rockets to finish off remaining ground targets. R-73s are usually sufficient to eliminate any enemy air opposition.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Mounts R-73 missiles, which are extremely effective
* Capable of equipping a large amount of air-to-ground armament
* Powerful chin-mounted GSh-30-2 autocannon
* Access to more advanced, fire and forget standoff A2G armaments
* Could take additional hits thanks to the well-protected airframe
* Integrated avionics for better awareness in SB battles

'''Cons:'''

* Has a relatively low top speed, capable of ripping its own wings in level flight
* Low ammo count for the 30 mm cannon
* Low manoeuvrability due to the weight and obsolete engine
* Inferior SPO-15 RWR with worse situational awareness to radar sources

== History ==

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was an abundance of ex-Soviet strategic weapons (ICBMs, MIRVs, nuclear weapons, and strategic bombers) scattered throughout the ex-socialist republics. One of them was Kazakhstan, which had already quit the Union by October 1990. They returned the 40 Tu-95MS (13 MS-16 and 27 MS-6 respectively; where 7 of them were dismantled in Kazakhstan due to poor condition) of the 79th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division which was stationed at Dolon Airbase to Russia in 1992, as well as 370 tactical missiles with nuclear warheads; this in turn became a deal between Kazakhstan and Russia that some of the units from the Turkmenistan Military District would be returned to Kazakhstan in 1995, as well as new units including 12 Su-25 and 2 Su-25UB. These 14 aircraft were assigned to the (602nd) Chimkent Air Base as part of the composition of the newly-born Kazakh ADF.

Due to the aging and already obsolete airframe for future battlefield, there was news that Kazakhstan Aviation Industry and Belarusian JSC "558 Aircraft Repair Plant" planned for upgrades for the 12 Kazakh Su-25 in June 2016 where these jets would sent to Baranovichi, Belarus for the upgrades.<ref>https://airrecognition.com/index.php/news/defense-aviation-news/global-news-2016/june/2733-kazakhstan-plans-to-upgrade-its-fleet-of-su-25-combat-aircraft.html</ref> The upgrades included (based on the details of Bulgarian upgrades):<ref>https://www.key.aero/article/depth-look-bulgarias-modernised-frogfoot-fleet</ref>

* SOI-25 integrated flight display systems with ILS-31ZhK HUD and two MFI-10 MFDs
* New SNS navigation systems compatible with GPS/GLONASS
* New digital computer
* PS-25 weapon system for more advanced missiles and better engage altitude
* Satellite-M2 jammer system
* SVR-2T and Tester-U3-2 FDR

These new jets was first tested in mid-2017 in Belarus and first batches of the upgraded jets were return to the Kazakh ADF by early 2018<ref>https://defence-blog.com/kazakhstan-receives-refurbed-su-25-ground-attack-aircraft/</ref>; all of them are likely to be operational at present; these jets also became the foundation of Su-25K upgrades of Eastern Bloc countries.

The default livery in-game represents 02 of the 602nd Airbase stationed at Chimkent, while the purchasable/unlockable livery represents No.32 of 116th Guards Assault Air Base and the event-limited livery represents White 246 of 22th ShtAB, Bulgarian Air Force.

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|jBm6zmFL7Os|'''SU-25 BM Vehicle Overview''' - ''Bob Dickinson''}}

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[Su-25 (Family)]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/8387-development-su-25bm-558-arz-strike-jet-aircraft-en|[Devblog] Su-25BM 558 ARZ strike jet aircraft]]

{{AirManufacturer Sukhoi}}
{{USSR jet aircraft}}
<references />

ZSU-57-2

2023-04-11T12:55:23Z

U93342616: /* Armaments */ The Maus has two gun barrels that are a threat to the thinly armoured ZSU-57-2.

{{About
| about = Soviet SPAA '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = ZSU-57-2 (Sweden)
| link-2 = ZSU-57-2 (Israel)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_zsu_57_2
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.43]].

An SPAA built on a heavily-modified T-54 chassis, the ZSU-57-2 features two powerful 57 mm guns, good mobility, and very light armour. It has proven to be more of a menace to ground vehicles than aircraft with its high-velocity cannons, but low sustained rate of fire and poor accuracy.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 13.5 mm (61°) ''Front glacis'' 15 mm (53°) ''Lower glacis'' || 15 mm || 10 mm (17-49°) ''Top'' 6 mm (73°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 15 mm (14-57°) ''Turret front'' 15 mm (25-64°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 13.5 mm (9-61°) || 13.5 mm (4-59°) || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 13.5 mm thick.
* A 6 mm RHA plate separates the engine compartment from the crew.
* Hatches and air intake are 6 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=739|rbMinHp=460}}

The ZSU-57-2's mobility is rather good. It is faster than most medium tanks, while weighing 28 tons and having a 520 hp engine at 2,000 RPM. Manoeuvrability is good at all speeds, as its a relatively light tank with a powerful engine. It bleeds a lot of speed while turning, but the turning is fast and responsive and does not have neutral steering. The maximum speed is limited by the transmission to 51 km/h forwards and -8 km/h in reverse for RB, and 55/-9 km/h for AB.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|S-68 (57 mm)}}

Although this is an AA vehicle, its twin 57 mm cannons are still equally deadly against ground units. When stock, their accuracy isn't good so the shells fly all over the place as the distance increases, and the belt is made up of half AP, half HE, meaning it is not efficient when dealing with either planes or tanks. Therefore the best tactic for a fully stock ZSU-57-2 is to shoot the enemies' side up close or to target low-flying helicopters.

When the BR-281 belt (full APHE) is available, the player can go into full anti-tank mode as this shell packs quite a punch, and it can penetrate pretty much any tank's side armour (excluding the Maus, in which case take out its gun barrels) and some tanks' frontal armour. In a flank the ZSU-57-2 can finish off a group of opponents at an unbelievable speed. Two shells will slice through their side armour and explode, so theoretically one clip is enough to wipe out four tanks in a row (aiming at the crew compartment only, of course). A few seconds later, another clip will be loaded, ready to hunt more prey. Be aware that each clip only contains 8 rounds (4 for each of the two cannons), so do not waste your shots.

This shell also performs alright in the AA role, since its calibre is quite large for planes, and a direct hit usually critically damages the plane, if not killing it instantly. However, unlike its Chinese brother, WZ305, the ZSU-57-2 does not have access to any VT shells so it is always beneficial to lead with extra care and only open fire if the plane is close enough.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[S-68 (57 mm)|57 mm S-68]] (x2) || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 296 (4) || rowspan="2" | 120 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+85° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 52.8 || 73.1 || 88.8 || 98.2 || 104.5 || rowspan="2" | 2.60 || rowspan="2" | 2.30 || rowspan="2" | 2.12 || rowspan="2" | 2.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 35.7 || 42.0 || 51.0 || 56.4 || 60.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''Default:''' {{Annotation|HE*|High-explosive fragmentation (self-destroying)}}{{-}}{{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - Half the rounds in 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 can help.
* '''BR-281SP:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - An anti-tank belt, it is comprised of APCBC shells that can penetrate most tanks from the side. However, the shells do not contain any explosive filler, so it is recommended to upgrade to the BR-281U belt when possible.
* '''OR-281U:''' {{Annotation|HE*|High-explosive fragmentation (self-destroying)}} - For use against planes. One or two hits usually gets the job done. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
* '''BR-281U:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - Very similar to the preceding BR-281SP belt; however, the shells now have a small amount of explosive filler, making them slightly more efficient against ground vehicles.

{{:S-68 (57 mm)/Ammunition|BR-281SP, OR-281U, BR-281U}}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''74''' || 74 ''(+0)'' || 70 ''(+4)'' || 38 ''(+36)'' || 32 ''(+42)'' || 28 ''(+46)'' || 24 ''(+50)'' || 18 ''(+56)'' || N/A || Yes
|-
|}
'''Notes''':

* Visual discrepancy: the 8th ammo rack never empties, even with all ammunition spent.

== Usage in battles ==

Versatile in the anti-aircraft and anti-tank role this heavily modified [[T-54 (1947)|T-54]] chassis delivers two heavy 57 mm punches. The ZSU-57-2 can be used for two roles.

;Anti-air role

Even though the ZSU-57-2 was designed as an SPAA, it is not very good at destroying planes compared to other SPAA vehicles at similar battle ratings, which often have a significantly higher rate of fire or even radar. However, this is compensated for by its comparatively massive firepower compared to similar SPAA platforms. The large 57 mm cannons will often disable, or more likely destroy a plane with its first hit. It is also extremely effective in an anti-helicopter role, as helicopters are much slower than planes.

;Tank Destroyer

Using the 57 mm cannons in an anti-tank role is possible and have been exploited by many players. Using BR-281 ammo, the guns can effectively pierce the sides and rear of any tank (excluding the Maus). Remember the ZSU-57-2's armour does not compare to other tanks armour so one shot could be the end of the SPAA. Play cat-and-mouse and wait for the enemy to go into an engagement with another target and then jump out into the open and fire upon them while they are distracted. It is recommended to the first aim for their rear to disable their engine and cause a fire, they will have to stop what they are doing and put it out. During this time they won't be able to move or fire upon the ZSU-57-2, allowing a chance to finish off the crewmen inside by unloading the 57 mm cannons into the side of the enemy tank. Any shot from the 57 mm cannons into an enemies' ammo load will also instantly kill them. Almost all British tanks have very weak side armour, and your BR-281 ammo will easily rip through even at an angle. Aim for the front portion of their tank, where their driver is. Their ammo rack is located right next to the driver, meaning that you can easily ammo rack them.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Multi-role weaponry able to fight both planes and tanks
* Excellent turret rotation speed
* 57 mm guns will destroy or cripple aircraft with one hit, and can easily take out tanks from the sides too
* Very high penetration for an SPAA at 151 mm
* Very effective against lightly armoured vehicles like the [[Leopard 1]] or [[AMX-30]]

'''Cons:'''

* Large vehicle size
* Very vulnerable turret (ammo on all sides of turret + very thin armour)
* Crew is very crowded in the turret (1 shot has the potential to knock out 5 crew members with ease)
* Shells have bad accuracy after consecutive shots
* Sub-par anti-air capability due to low rate of fire and poor accuracy

== History ==

===Development===
The course of World War II revealed to the Soviets how dangerous the air power has become to their ground forces. It was determined that the best method of fighting these aircraft was to have ready vehicles in the front-lines with dedicated anti-aircraft roles to take out these assault aircraft. Experiences from other countries, such as the United States with their [[M3 Half-Track (Family)|M3 half-tracks]] equipped with anti-aircraft armament and Germany with their [[Wirbelwind]] and [[Ostwind]] anti-aircraft vehicles showed that the role of the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) makes a positive effect on the battlefield for the protection of the ground forces. The Soviet development of SPAAGs came as simple, truck-mounted weapons and armoured variants of SPAAG were scarce to begin. The first put into production was the [[ZSU-37]], which did not see the majority of World War II as it was put into production on February 1945, with production lasted only until 1948 and retired not long after that. The single 37 mm gun on the ZSU-37 was also reported on no longer being efficient against aircraft, so a major development project was initiated for a new SPAAG in Soviet service.

Few projects were started on the SPAAG concept following right after World War II. One was just a [[BTR-152A|BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier armed with two or four 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine guns]]. About two different vehicle development was made for the SPAAG role, designated the ZTPU-2 and ZTPU-4. Development, while slow at first, took up a large focus after the realization that the Soviet Union's enemy, the United States, posses a large air force power that could take the air supremacy of the battlefield anywhere. This causes the Soviets to begin investing in a SPAAG in order to fight against this. The first of such was in February 1946 where the design bureau at Works No. 174 at Omsk along with Research Institute No. 58 at Kaliningrad submitted their joint design of a SPAAG based off the [[T-34 (1942)|T-34]] chassis. The design had four 37 mm AA guns attached, but the design did not proceed as new tank production at the time had the High Command prioritize on the new tank chassis that was going to be produced.

Research Institute No. 58 during this time developed a twin 57 mm anti-aircraft gun under the guidance of Vasiliy G. Grabin. The 57 mm gun was based off the previous 57 mm S-60 gun from 1947 and the new one was called the S-68, which was ready by 1948. This armament is then chosen to be mounted onto the new SPAAG project currently known as ''Object 500'', but the designation for such vehicle would be called '''ZSU-57-2''' ("57" for the armament calibre and "2" for the twin armament). The project design finished in 1948 with the S-68 gun mounted onto the new [[T-54 (1949)|T-54]] tank chassis. The first prototype was completed in June 1950 and testings for the vehicle lasted from 27 January 1951 to 15 March 1951, which had the vehicle drive 1,500 km and fire 2,000 rounds. More prototypes were built for testings and had improvements built into their design such as more ammunition storage. Service update tests started in 1954 after much delays in deliveries of the S-68 guns and parts for it, but the ZSU-57-2 was finally put into service on 14 February 1955. First vehicles were completed by 1957 and a total of 2,023 ZSU-57-2s were completed by the time production ended at the end of the 1950s.

===Design===
The ZSU-57-2 used a modified T-54 chassis for its basis, the T-54 chassis uses four road wheels per side rather than five and uses thinner armour. However, the interior is nearly the same as the T-54, with more space due to the thinned armour. There are three crew compartments in the tank, the driver in the front, the fighting in the middle, and the engine in the back. The driver's position has been moved slightly forward and to the left and has accommodations for an infrared vision device. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 50 km/h and is considerably much faster than the T-54 due to the lighter weight while still powered by the same V-54 4-stroke diesel V12 engine.

The fighting compartment uses an open-topped turret that mounted the dual 57 mm S-68 gun. The gun is aimed via a sighting system that is adjusted based on the target's speed, direction, and range by the sight adjuster crew member. While the speed and direction must be estimated, the range can be found via a rangefinder or estimated. Two loaders are needed to load the two gun and a gunner fires using a trigger that fires both barrels or one of the two-foot pedals that fire either barrel independently. The gun is able to reach a firing rate of 240 rounds per minute with, but the practical rate of fire is about 140 rpm to maximize the barrel cooling rate and firing sustainability. Shells available for the gun are fragmentation and armour-piercing tracer, the fragmentation comes with a safety-destructor that causes the shell to explode after a certain amount of time so the rounds do not come back to the surface and do harm. The 57 mm shells were considered to be the most powerful anti-aircraft armament at the time and can very quickly destroy an aircraft if a shell connects.

A huge disadvantage of the ZSU-57-2 was the lack of fire-control radar, so it must rely on optical vision in order to find and eliminate targets. A ZSU-57-2 battery of four vehicles was less effective than a battery of six towed 57 mm S-60 anti-aircraft guns due to the latter having a fire control radar. The reliance on radar has been due to the increased proficiency of jets, which makes an estimation of distance and speed a very difficult process. Other disadvantages were its low firing rate due to the manual loading by loaders per gun, the air-cooled barrels heated up too quickly, and the turret traverse could not keep up with the newer and faster jet aeroplanes as well.

===Combat usage===
Entering service in 1955, the ZSU-57-2 replaced the older BTR-40As and BTR-152As in 1957 and was revealed to the public in November 1958 during a military parade. The ZSU-57-2 was issued out to tank regiments in one battery, which contained four ZSU-57-2s. This was later changed to two batteries per regiment, increasing the number of SPAAGs available. Some ZSU-57-2s saw service in motor rifle regiments as well as one battery. Despite its superior armament, the ZSU-57-2's performance among the newer aircraft technology along with jets causes the ZSU-57-2 to be considered unsatisfactory and obsolete by the early 1960s but stayed until the early 1970s as it was replaced by the [[ZSU-23-4]] Shilkas, which has radar-guided abilities. The remaining ZSU-57-2s were put into reserves, stored, repurposed into other roles, or scrapped.

Like much of the Soviet hardware, the ZSU-57-2 was also given out to the Soviet allies in the Warsaw Pact. Countries that bought the ZSU-57-2 range Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, and North Vietnam. These countries used the ZSU-57-2 to a greater extent than the Soviets did. East Germany was the first foreign operator to own the ZSU-57-2, which received 129 vehicles. Poland also received 129 units as well. Yugoslavia ordered 100 units, Slovenia owned a few for the 44th Armoured-mechanized battalion, Finland imported 12 units, and Cuba received 25 units during the missile crisis in 1962. Iraq, Iran, and Egypt ordered 100 units for deliveries, their use in conflicts would also end with the Israelis owning a few as well. North Korea developed its own units by using the Chinese Type 59 (a copy of the Soviet T-54A) tank chassis and bought the turrets to mount on them, about 250 were made like this. China created a copy of the ZSU-57-2 for Iraq by their request, using a reverse-engineered turret on a Type 69 chassis, which became the [[WZ305|Type 80 SPAAG]], though China is more well known for modernizing the S-68 ammunition with a proximity-fuze round.

The ZSU-57-2 saw use in many Cold-War conflicts in the hands of foreign operators. It saw action in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese and was used as air defence for tank regiments and against ground targets. The ZSU-57-2 also saw conflicts in the Middle East such as in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War against Israel by Syria and Egypt. These were used to defend the El-Arish airstrip, but they were not very successful and many were captured by the Israelis. Syria also used the vehicle again in the Lebanon War of 1982 against Israel, where they failed against the Israeli air force, but fair much better against ground targets. Iraq and Iran used the ZSU-57-2 against each other in the Iran-Iraq War, though Iraqi forces had access to Chinese copies and the benefit of radio information for their vehicles. Iraqi ZSU-57-2s also saw use in the Gulf War against the United States coalition where it manages to successfully shoot down a Tornado GR1 aircraft by the British, three more were reported to be heavily damaged as well. The Iraqis still used them up until the Second Gulf War. The ZSU-57-2s were used by many factions in the Yugoslav Wars and had air defence roles against the NATO air raids. The most recent usage of the ZSU-57-2 is in the Syrian Civil War, where 10 are still active in the Syrian Army, these are probably used exclusively against ground targets today.

{{break}}
{{Navigation-Start|{{Annotation|Archive of the in-game description|An archive of the historical description of the vehicle that was presented in-game prior to Update 1.55 'Royal Armour'}}}}
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}
In 1947 at the NII-58 research institute plans were made under the direction of B.G. Grabin to pair a 57 mm automatic cannon with a C-68 anti-air cannon on the basis of the C-60. It was intended to be installed on either a track-based chassis or a body with wheels.

The track-based chassis was based on aggregates of the T-54 medium tank. The self-propelled version of the vehicle received the factory designation of Object 500 and the military designation of ZSU-57-2.

The ZSU-57-2 underwent comprehensive testing from 1950-1954. In 1955 the ZSU-57-2 was accepted into the arsenal of the Soviet Army. It was produced at factory #174 in Omsk from 1955 to 1960. A total of 857 ZSU-57-2s were produced.
{{Navigation-End}}

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_zsu_57_2 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|HdY1bQ65ih4|'''SPAA versus TANK. Is there a place for such vehicles in War Thunder at all? ZSU-57-2''' - ''HowToPlay1337''}}

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[WZ305]]
* [[ZSU-57-2 (Sweden)]]
* [[ZSU-57-2 (Israel)]]

== External links ==


* [[wikipedia:ZSU-57-2|[Wikipedia] ZSU-57-2]]
* [https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/USSR/ZSU-57-2.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> ZSU-57-2]

{{TankManufacturer Omsktransmash}}
{{USSR anti-aircraft vehicles}}

ZSU-57-2

2023-04-11T12:54:24Z

U93342616: /* Armaments */ Outdated/contradictory information removed.

{{About
| about = Soviet SPAA '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| and
| usage = other versions
| link-1 = ZSU-57-2 (Sweden)
| link-2 = ZSU-57-2 (Israel)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_zsu_57_2
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.43]].

An SPAA built on a heavily-modified T-54 chassis, the ZSU-57-2 features two powerful 57 mm guns, good mobility, and very light armour. It has proven to be more of a menace to ground vehicles than aircraft with its high-velocity cannons, but low sustained rate of fire and poor accuracy.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 13.5 mm (61°) ''Front glacis'' 15 mm (53°) ''Lower glacis'' || 15 mm || 10 mm (17-49°) ''Top'' 6 mm (73°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 15 mm (14-57°) ''Turret front'' 15 mm (25-64°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 13.5 mm (9-61°) || 13.5 mm (4-59°) || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 13.5 mm thick.
* A 6 mm RHA plate separates the engine compartment from the crew.
* Hatches and air intake are 6 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=739|rbMinHp=460}}

The ZSU-57-2's mobility is rather good. It is faster than most medium tanks, while weighing 28 tons and having a 520 hp engine at 2,000 RPM. Manoeuvrability is good at all speeds, as its a relatively light tank with a powerful engine. It bleeds a lot of speed while turning, but the turning is fast and responsive and does not have neutral steering. The maximum speed is limited by the transmission to 51 km/h forwards and -8 km/h in reverse for RB, and 55/-9 km/h for AB.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|S-68 (57 mm)}}

Although this is an AA vehicle, its twin 57 mm cannons are still equally deadly against ground units. When stock, their accuracy isn't good so the shells fly all over the place as the distance increases, and the belt is made up of half AP, half HE, meaning it is not efficient when dealing with either planes or tanks. Therefore the best tactic for a fully stock ZSU-57-2 is to shoot the enemies' side up close or to target low-flying helicopters.

When the BR-281 belt (full APHE) is available, the player can go into full anti-tank mode as this shell packs quite a punch, and it can penetrate pretty much any tank's side armour (excluding the Maus, in which case take out its gun barrel) and some tanks' frontal armour. In a flank the ZSU-57-2 can finish off a group of opponents at an unbelievable speed. Two shells will slice through their side armour and explode, so theoretically one clip is enough to wipe out four tanks in a row (aiming at the crew compartment only, of course). A few seconds later, another clip will be loaded, ready to hunt more prey. Be aware that each clip only contains 8 rounds (4 for each of the two cannons), so do not waste your shots.

This shell also performs alright in the AA role, since its calibre is quite large for planes, and a direct hit usually critically damages the plane, if not killing it instantly. However, unlike its Chinese brother, WZ305, the ZSU-57-2 does not have access to any VT shells so it is always beneficial to lead with extra care and only open fire if the plane is close enough.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[S-68 (57 mm)|57 mm S-68]] (x2) || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 296 (4) || rowspan="2" | 120 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+85° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 52.8 || 73.1 || 88.8 || 98.2 || 104.5 || rowspan="2" | 2.60 || rowspan="2" | 2.30 || rowspan="2" | 2.12 || rowspan="2" | 2.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 35.7 || 42.0 || 51.0 || 56.4 || 60.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''Default:''' {{Annotation|HE*|High-explosive fragmentation (self-destroying)}}{{-}}{{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - Half the rounds in 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 can help.
* '''BR-281SP:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - An anti-tank belt, it is comprised of APCBC shells that can penetrate most tanks from the side. However, the shells do not contain any explosive filler, so it is recommended to upgrade to the BR-281U belt when possible.
* '''OR-281U:''' {{Annotation|HE*|High-explosive fragmentation (self-destroying)}} - For use against planes. One or two hits usually gets the job done. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
* '''BR-281U:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - Very similar to the preceding BR-281SP belt; however, the shells now have a small amount of explosive filler, making them slightly more efficient against ground vehicles.

{{:S-68 (57 mm)/Ammunition|BR-281SP, OR-281U, BR-281U}}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''74''' || 74 ''(+0)'' || 70 ''(+4)'' || 38 ''(+36)'' || 32 ''(+42)'' || 28 ''(+46)'' || 24 ''(+50)'' || 18 ''(+56)'' || N/A || Yes
|-
|}
'''Notes''':

* Visual discrepancy: the 8th ammo rack never empties, even with all ammunition spent.

== Usage in battles ==

Versatile in the anti-aircraft and anti-tank role this heavily modified [[T-54 (1947)|T-54]] chassis delivers two heavy 57 mm punches. The ZSU-57-2 can be used for two roles.

;Anti-air role

Even though the ZSU-57-2 was designed as an SPAA, it is not very good at destroying planes compared to other SPAA vehicles at similar battle ratings, which often have a significantly higher rate of fire or even radar. However, this is compensated for by its comparatively massive firepower compared to similar SPAA platforms. The large 57 mm cannons will often disable, or more likely destroy a plane with its first hit. It is also extremely effective in an anti-helicopter role, as helicopters are much slower than planes.

;Tank Destroyer

Using the 57 mm cannons in an anti-tank role is possible and have been exploited by many players. Using BR-281 ammo, the guns can effectively pierce the sides and rear of any tank (excluding the Maus). Remember the ZSU-57-2's armour does not compare to other tanks armour so one shot could be the end of the SPAA. Play cat-and-mouse and wait for the enemy to go into an engagement with another target and then jump out into the open and fire upon them while they are distracted. It is recommended to the first aim for their rear to disable their engine and cause a fire, they will have to stop what they are doing and put it out. During this time they won't be able to move or fire upon the ZSU-57-2, allowing a chance to finish off the crewmen inside by unloading the 57 mm cannons into the side of the enemy tank. Any shot from the 57 mm cannons into an enemies' ammo load will also instantly kill them. Almost all British tanks have very weak side armour, and your BR-281 ammo will easily rip through even at an angle. Aim for the front portion of their tank, where their driver is. Their ammo rack is located right next to the driver, meaning that you can easily ammo rack them.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Multi-role weaponry able to fight both planes and tanks
* Excellent turret rotation speed
* 57 mm guns will destroy or cripple aircraft with one hit, and can easily take out tanks from the sides too
* Very high penetration for an SPAA at 151 mm
* Very effective against lightly armoured vehicles like the [[Leopard 1]] or [[AMX-30]]

'''Cons:'''

* Large vehicle size
* Very vulnerable turret (ammo on all sides of turret + very thin armour)
* Crew is very crowded in the turret (1 shot has the potential to knock out 5 crew members with ease)
* Shells have bad accuracy after consecutive shots
* Sub-par anti-air capability due to low rate of fire and poor accuracy

== History ==

===Development===
The course of World War II revealed to the Soviets how dangerous the air power has become to their ground forces. It was determined that the best method of fighting these aircraft was to have ready vehicles in the front-lines with dedicated anti-aircraft roles to take out these assault aircraft. Experiences from other countries, such as the United States with their [[M3 Half-Track (Family)|M3 half-tracks]] equipped with anti-aircraft armament and Germany with their [[Wirbelwind]] and [[Ostwind]] anti-aircraft vehicles showed that the role of the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) makes a positive effect on the battlefield for the protection of the ground forces. The Soviet development of SPAAGs came as simple, truck-mounted weapons and armoured variants of SPAAG were scarce to begin. The first put into production was the [[ZSU-37]], which did not see the majority of World War II as it was put into production on February 1945, with production lasted only until 1948 and retired not long after that. The single 37 mm gun on the ZSU-37 was also reported on no longer being efficient against aircraft, so a major development project was initiated for a new SPAAG in Soviet service.

Few projects were started on the SPAAG concept following right after World War II. One was just a [[BTR-152A|BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier armed with two or four 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine guns]]. About two different vehicle development was made for the SPAAG role, designated the ZTPU-2 and ZTPU-4. Development, while slow at first, took up a large focus after the realization that the Soviet Union's enemy, the United States, posses a large air force power that could take the air supremacy of the battlefield anywhere. This causes the Soviets to begin investing in a SPAAG in order to fight against this. The first of such was in February 1946 where the design bureau at Works No. 174 at Omsk along with Research Institute No. 58 at Kaliningrad submitted their joint design of a SPAAG based off the [[T-34 (1942)|T-34]] chassis. The design had four 37 mm AA guns attached, but the design did not proceed as new tank production at the time had the High Command prioritize on the new tank chassis that was going to be produced.

Research Institute No. 58 during this time developed a twin 57 mm anti-aircraft gun under the guidance of Vasiliy G. Grabin. The 57 mm gun was based off the previous 57 mm S-60 gun from 1947 and the new one was called the S-68, which was ready by 1948. This armament is then chosen to be mounted onto the new SPAAG project currently known as ''Object 500'', but the designation for such vehicle would be called '''ZSU-57-2''' ("57" for the armament calibre and "2" for the twin armament). The project design finished in 1948 with the S-68 gun mounted onto the new [[T-54 (1949)|T-54]] tank chassis. The first prototype was completed in June 1950 and testings for the vehicle lasted from 27 January 1951 to 15 March 1951, which had the vehicle drive 1,500 km and fire 2,000 rounds. More prototypes were built for testings and had improvements built into their design such as more ammunition storage. Service update tests started in 1954 after much delays in deliveries of the S-68 guns and parts for it, but the ZSU-57-2 was finally put into service on 14 February 1955. First vehicles were completed by 1957 and a total of 2,023 ZSU-57-2s were completed by the time production ended at the end of the 1950s.

===Design===
The ZSU-57-2 used a modified T-54 chassis for its basis, the T-54 chassis uses four road wheels per side rather than five and uses thinner armour. However, the interior is nearly the same as the T-54, with more space due to the thinned armour. There are three crew compartments in the tank, the driver in the front, the fighting in the middle, and the engine in the back. The driver's position has been moved slightly forward and to the left and has accommodations for an infrared vision device. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 50 km/h and is considerably much faster than the T-54 due to the lighter weight while still powered by the same V-54 4-stroke diesel V12 engine.

The fighting compartment uses an open-topped turret that mounted the dual 57 mm S-68 gun. The gun is aimed via a sighting system that is adjusted based on the target's speed, direction, and range by the sight adjuster crew member. While the speed and direction must be estimated, the range can be found via a rangefinder or estimated. Two loaders are needed to load the two gun and a gunner fires using a trigger that fires both barrels or one of the two-foot pedals that fire either barrel independently. The gun is able to reach a firing rate of 240 rounds per minute with, but the practical rate of fire is about 140 rpm to maximize the barrel cooling rate and firing sustainability. Shells available for the gun are fragmentation and armour-piercing tracer, the fragmentation comes with a safety-destructor that causes the shell to explode after a certain amount of time so the rounds do not come back to the surface and do harm. The 57 mm shells were considered to be the most powerful anti-aircraft armament at the time and can very quickly destroy an aircraft if a shell connects.

A huge disadvantage of the ZSU-57-2 was the lack of fire-control radar, so it must rely on optical vision in order to find and eliminate targets. A ZSU-57-2 battery of four vehicles was less effective than a battery of six towed 57 mm S-60 anti-aircraft guns due to the latter having a fire control radar. The reliance on radar has been due to the increased proficiency of jets, which makes an estimation of distance and speed a very difficult process. Other disadvantages were its low firing rate due to the manual loading by loaders per gun, the air-cooled barrels heated up too quickly, and the turret traverse could not keep up with the newer and faster jet aeroplanes as well.

===Combat usage===
Entering service in 1955, the ZSU-57-2 replaced the older BTR-40As and BTR-152As in 1957 and was revealed to the public in November 1958 during a military parade. The ZSU-57-2 was issued out to tank regiments in one battery, which contained four ZSU-57-2s. This was later changed to two batteries per regiment, increasing the number of SPAAGs available. Some ZSU-57-2s saw service in motor rifle regiments as well as one battery. Despite its superior armament, the ZSU-57-2's performance among the newer aircraft technology along with jets causes the ZSU-57-2 to be considered unsatisfactory and obsolete by the early 1960s but stayed until the early 1970s as it was replaced by the [[ZSU-23-4]] Shilkas, which has radar-guided abilities. The remaining ZSU-57-2s were put into reserves, stored, repurposed into other roles, or scrapped.

Like much of the Soviet hardware, the ZSU-57-2 was also given out to the Soviet allies in the Warsaw Pact. Countries that bought the ZSU-57-2 range Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, and North Vietnam. These countries used the ZSU-57-2 to a greater extent than the Soviets did. East Germany was the first foreign operator to own the ZSU-57-2, which received 129 vehicles. Poland also received 129 units as well. Yugoslavia ordered 100 units, Slovenia owned a few for the 44th Armoured-mechanized battalion, Finland imported 12 units, and Cuba received 25 units during the missile crisis in 1962. Iraq, Iran, and Egypt ordered 100 units for deliveries, their use in conflicts would also end with the Israelis owning a few as well. North Korea developed its own units by using the Chinese Type 59 (a copy of the Soviet T-54A) tank chassis and bought the turrets to mount on them, about 250 were made like this. China created a copy of the ZSU-57-2 for Iraq by their request, using a reverse-engineered turret on a Type 69 chassis, which became the [[WZ305|Type 80 SPAAG]], though China is more well known for modernizing the S-68 ammunition with a proximity-fuze round.

The ZSU-57-2 saw use in many Cold-War conflicts in the hands of foreign operators. It saw action in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese and was used as air defence for tank regiments and against ground targets. The ZSU-57-2 also saw conflicts in the Middle East such as in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War against Israel by Syria and Egypt. These were used to defend the El-Arish airstrip, but they were not very successful and many were captured by the Israelis. Syria also used the vehicle again in the Lebanon War of 1982 against Israel, where they failed against the Israeli air force, but fair much better against ground targets. Iraq and Iran used the ZSU-57-2 against each other in the Iran-Iraq War, though Iraqi forces had access to Chinese copies and the benefit of radio information for their vehicles. Iraqi ZSU-57-2s also saw use in the Gulf War against the United States coalition where it manages to successfully shoot down a Tornado GR1 aircraft by the British, three more were reported to be heavily damaged as well. The Iraqis still used them up until the Second Gulf War. The ZSU-57-2s were used by many factions in the Yugoslav Wars and had air defence roles against the NATO air raids. The most recent usage of the ZSU-57-2 is in the Syrian Civil War, where 10 are still active in the Syrian Army, these are probably used exclusively against ground targets today.

{{break}}
{{Navigation-Start|{{Annotation|Archive of the in-game description|An archive of the historical description of the vehicle that was presented in-game prior to Update 1.55 'Royal Armour'}}}}
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}
In 1947 at the NII-58 research institute plans were made under the direction of B.G. Grabin to pair a 57 mm automatic cannon with a C-68 anti-air cannon on the basis of the C-60. It was intended to be installed on either a track-based chassis or a body with wheels.

The track-based chassis was based on aggregates of the T-54 medium tank. The self-propelled version of the vehicle received the factory designation of Object 500 and the military designation of ZSU-57-2.

The ZSU-57-2 underwent comprehensive testing from 1950-1954. In 1955 the ZSU-57-2 was accepted into the arsenal of the Soviet Army. It was produced at factory #174 in Omsk from 1955 to 1960. A total of 857 ZSU-57-2s were produced.
{{Navigation-End}}

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_zsu_57_2 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|HdY1bQ65ih4|'''SPAA versus TANK. Is there a place for such vehicles in War Thunder at all? ZSU-57-2''' - ''HowToPlay1337''}}

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[WZ305]]
* [[ZSU-57-2 (Sweden)]]
* [[ZSU-57-2 (Israel)]]

== External links ==


* [[wikipedia:ZSU-57-2|[Wikipedia] ZSU-57-2]]
* [https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/USSR/ZSU-57-2.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> ZSU-57-2]

{{TankManufacturer Omsktransmash}}
{{USSR anti-aircraft vehicles}}

ASU-57

2022-11-09T03:26:04Z

U93342616: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_asu_57
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed as an airborne self-propelled gun to provide fire support and anti-tank capability for the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Due to the weight restrictions necessary for air portability, the ASU-57 has nearly no armour to speak of, and the side armour can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns. It has no armoured roof, and is thus extremely vulnerable to strafing runs by aircraft.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof !! Belly
|-
| Body || 6 mm (21-65°) ''Front Plate'' 6 mm (38°) ''Lower glacis'' || 4 mm || 6 mm (9°) || 5 mm || 6 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=78|rbMinHp=49}}

While the ASU-57 has a top speed below 50 km/h, it has an excellent power/weight ratio that allows the vehicle to accelerate very quickly to reach its top speed. It is thus very mobile and turns very quickly. However, it has a poor reverse speed of only 5 km/h, which makes it hard to back up into cover or away from a threat.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|Ch-51M (57 mm)}}

The ASU-57 is armed with the 57 mm Ch-51M, a derivative of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun encountered previously on the [[ZiS-30]]. The mounting has a very limited amount of gun depression and traverse due to the small size of the ASU-57. The gun itself has a fairly fast reload, which is a good thing since it is not uncommon for the first penetrating hit to not completely destroy the target.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ch-51M (57 mm)|57 mm Ch-51M]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+12° || rowspan="2" | ±8° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.57 || 14.63 || 17.76 || 19.64 || 20.89 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.14 || 8.40 || 10.20 || 11.28 || 12.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''BR-271SP''': APBC; a solid shot with a good penetration but no explosive filler. It is your stock shell, use it until you unlock BR-271M.
* '''BR-271M''': APCBC; an armour-piercing round with ballistic cap and explosive filler. It will punch through most targets frontally and its explosive filler will take out most targets in a single shot. This should be your main shell once you unlock it.
* '''BR-271N''': APCR; a composite round with a slightly increased penetration but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces. The small added penetration (a few mm) does not make a viable ammo choice to deal with heavily armoured targets.
* '''O-271''': HE; a slow round with a high explosive mass useful for taking out the crew of open-topped vehicles. As it won't consistently kill SPAAGs due to the small calibre and low explosive mass, don't try to hunt these vehicles as they will kill you much faster than you will.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 142 || 139 || 125 || 109 || 96 || 84
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 155 || 151 || 135 || 118 || 102 || 89
|-
| O-271 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 159 || 155 || 140 || 123 || 108 || 94
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 975 || 3.14 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 1,020 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| O-271 || HE || 695 || 3.72 || N/A || 0.1 || 220 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 1,125 || 2.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''30''' || 25 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+11)'' || 1 ''(+29)'' || No
|-
|}
'''Note''':

* Right side empty: 19 ''(+11)'' shells.

== Usage in battles ==


One of the smallest tracked vehicles in the game, weighing only 3.3 tons, the ASU-57's complete lack of armour makes it extremely vulnerable. Its only defense is its small size, making it extremely difficult to notice, let alone hit. It accelerates quickly and is very nimble for a turretless tank destroyer.

The ASU-57 is very difficult but can be very rewarding and fun to play. It is not recommended for arcade battles, as its primary advantage, stealth, is lost. The ASU-57 is a master of stealth, famed and beloved by the community for its ability to sneak up on tanks using its extremely small size. When using the ASU-57, objects that other tanks would ignore or simply drive over are capable of completely hiding the vehicle, making ambushes and surprise attacks the specialty of the ASU-57. This size comes at a cost, however, as the ASU-57 is extremely vulnerable to almost anything that can shoot at it. Aircraft are especially dangerous due to the open crew compartment.

The ASU-57 is best used as an ambusher/flanker, executing surprise attacks from unexpected locations other vehicles would struggle or be unable to reach. The ASU-57 is incredibly short, and by driving up next to an enemy it can render the enemy tank completely helpless, as almost no vehicle has enough gun depression to reach it. For this reason, it is recommended to only go after isolated vehicles, as an enemy teammate will be able to assist their ally by destroying the ASU-57. For the maximum efficiency of this tactic, knock out the driver of the enemy vehicle, then rush up to their side before they can bring their gun to bear.

Sniping can also be a very good tactic, thanks to the amazing velocity of BR-271M (over 1,000 m/s) and consequently penetration, also thanks to your very low profile you are very hard to spot/hit at far range. Be careful though when engaging American vehicles as they can just spray their .50 cals at you, knocking your crew out even at long range.

Note that the ASU-57 is the lowest ranked vehicle in the game with access to night vision devices, a useful feature in night battles.

;Enemies worth noting:

As the ASU-57 can be easily knocked out by most enemies, it does not makes sense to list all opponents. However, some foes are more dangerous than others as they may survive your shots.

* [[Panther D]], [[Tiger H1]]: in uptiers you can see those two big cats. The Panther's UFP is immune to all your rounds, so better aim for the left side (right when facing it) of the gun mantlet, this will usually knock out gunner, commander and with some luck the gun breech. For the Tiger, aim for the front hull if it is not angled as you can punch right through. If it is angled, in this situation it is better to just retreat and relocate. The best is still to get a side shot on both of them. An important note is that with their enormous size and your rounds small explosive mass, you can and will struggle to destroy them; actually a shot to the middle of the Tiger's UFP wont take out a single crew member, only damage them.
* KV-1B/C (germany). Those can be really tricky even side shots can non-pen, treat similarly as a Tiger, the armour layout is very similar, especially on the hull.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Tiny size, can easily hide in unexpected places, making it difficult to spot and hit
* Smallest of bushes are able to hide the tank
* Armour is too thin to trigger APHE fuses
* Excellent mobility
* Second most powerful 57 mm gun in the game
* Lowest ranked vehicle that has access to NVDs
* Given the abilities of a light tank (scouting, help repair)
* Very short profile, most tanks can't kill it with their main gun up close

'''Cons:'''

* Virtually no armour: can be destroyed by overpressure, 12.7 mm will chew right through it and even 7.62 mm machine guns can penetrate the armour at close range.
* Open-topped, extremely vulnerable to aircraft
* Low ammunition capacity
* 57 mm gun rarely destroys vehicles with one shot
* Zero stabilisation and extremely bouncy suspension, making quick shoot and scoots difficult
* Poor gun depression and horizontal traverse
* Gun located at the bottom of the vehicle, meaning in order to fire the whole tank must be exposed
* NVDs are only available in 3rd person or in the Commander's view

== History ==

===Development===
In mid-1940s, sometime either late in World War II or post-war, a proposal was made to develop a vehicle for the airborne troops. The vehicle was to be a lightweight assault gun able to support the paratroopers by being transportable by air. The task was given to two design bureaus, OKB-40 headed by Nikolaj Astrov in Mytischi and the other to Anatoly Karvtsev in Moscow. Astrov designed his vehicle as the ''ASU-76'', armed with a 76 mm D-56T gun. The design ended up being too heavy and its armour way too thin for adequate protection and was cancelled. Kartsev's project was the ''K-73'' which was amphibious and used a 57 mm Ch-51 anti-tank gun as its armament. This was even more thinly armoured than the ASU-76 and was also cancelled.

In 1949, Astrov was able to continue work on his design, but with specifications that the vehicle be made lighter and use the 57 mm Ch-51 gun instead due to its anti-tank performances. The redesigned vehicle was labeled ''Object 572'' and passed the test phases in 1949. It was formally accepted for service as the '''ASU-57''' in 1951 and production lasted from 1950 to 1952 with amounts produced up to a thousand.

===Usage===
The ASU-57, as an airborne vehicle, was made to be air-dropped from planes and land via a rocket-assisted parachute. It was then crewed by its airborne crew and support the airborne troops in their operation. Each airborne division had 54 vehicles at its disposal. It proved successful despite its weak armour and small caliber as this type of vehicle was invaluable in the hands of airborne troops, able to use a mobile artillery vehicle behind enemy lines. The ASU-57 stayed in service in the Soviet Airborne Forces for around 20 years before being replaced by the [[ASU-85]].

The ASU-57 was also given out to the Soviet Union's allies from 1960s to 70s. Such included Egypt, East Germany, North Korea, Poland, Sahrawi Republic, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Ethiopia.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_asu_57 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:18 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|W1VPU4wqfkI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|i-V5rB5UOgA|'''ASU-57 Soviet Airborne Tank Destroyer''' - ''yolkhere''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[SU-57B]]
* [[ASU-85]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3724-development-asu-57-air-delivery-en/|[Devblog] ASU-57: Air Delivery]]
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-57|[Wikipedia] ASU-57]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

Panther II

2020-06-02T14:24:05Z

U93342616:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_panther_II}}
{{About
| about = German medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = other tanks of the family
| link-1 = Panther tank (Family)
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = Panther (Disambiguation)
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{Break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]] as a main tree vehicle, however, as of [[Update 1.91 "Night Vision"]] it was shifted to become a gift vehicle for players who previously owned it.

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


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

{| class="wikitable"
!Armour
!Front(Slope angle)
!Sides(Slope angle)
!Rear(Slope angle)
!Roof
|-
|Hull
|100 mm(55-56°) ''Front plate''
60 mm(50°) ''Lower glacis''
|60 mm(30°) ''Top''
60 mm(0°) ''Bottom''
|40 mm(29-33°)
|30 mm
|-
|Turret
|120 mm(20-21°)''Turret front''
300 mm ''Gun Mantlet''
|60 mm(25)
|60 mm(25°)
|30 mm
|-
!Armour
!Sides
!Roof
|
|
|-
|Cupola
|100 mm
|30 mm
|
|
|}

* Part of the hull's sides are added with 5 mm plating as additional protection against explosive warhead
* Tracks are 20 mm thick
* Each wheel is 20 mm thick
* Part of the hull is covered by tracks, adding additional 20 mm of armour
* Gun barrel is 20 mm thick

The armour on this variant is the same as the armour on the [[Panther F]]. Although sufficient to protect against most small-calibre guns, it won't hold up when facing higher calibre guns such as the [[M3 (90 mm)]], [[D-25T (122 mm)]] and [[20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm)]] that it will likely meet at its rank. The best tactic to survive is to not get hit by an enemy attacker, as the crew is quite cramped and will typically be disabled with one well-placed shot.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 1395|rbMinHp= 796|}}

As with all Panthers, this tank has excellent mobility both on and off road. One notable difference between the {{PAGENAME}} and the other Panthers is its reverse speed. Comparing to a max -4 km/h reverse speed on the rest of the Panthers, the Panther II provides a -12 km/h reverse speed, which can help a lot in battles.

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

{{main|KwK43 (88 mm)}}

The Panther II boasts the excellent 88 mm KwK 43 with its notably punchy PzGr 39/43 shell, with a reload speed comparable to that of the [[Tiger II (P)|Tiger II]]. Thus, it represents a threat for every tank on the battlefield, even at long ranges. Its rather poor gun handling, however (7.1°/s turret rotation on a stock tank with a level 1 crew) means close-quarters engagements and particularly urban combat should be avoided if possible. This can be somewhat remedied by its ability to neutral steer to acquire a firing solution faster. The optimal ammo loadout is 15 rounds, since it eliminates the ammo racks at the sides of the hull, while still providing a decent quantity of ammunition. It is not recommended to load anything other than PzGr 39/43 shells since it can readily hull break most opponents that have such a feature and it provides consistent ballistic characteristics, while still maintaining a fairly good penetration against sloped armour.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[KwK43 (88 mm)|88 mm KwK43]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 50 || rowspan="2" | -8°/+15° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 11.4 || 15.7 || __._ || __._ || __._ || rowspan="2" | 11.1 || rowspan="2" | __.__ || rowspan="2" | __.__ || rowspan="2" | 8.5
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || __._ || __._ || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Hl.Gr 39 || HEAT || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110
|-
| PzGr 39/43 || APCBC || 237 || 234 || 222 || 207 || 194 || 181
|-
| PzGr 40/43 || APCR || 279 || 273 || 252 || 227 || 205 || 185
|-
| Sprgr.43 || HE || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! rowspan="2" | Normalisation at 30° from horizontal
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Hl.Gr 39 || HEAT || 600 || 7.64 || N/A || 0.3 || 1,098 || +0.0° || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| PzGr 39/43 || APCBC || 1,000 || 10.16 || 1.2 || 14.0 || 108.8 || +4.0° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 40/43 || APCR || 1,130 || 7.3 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr.43 || HE || 820 || 9.4 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 1,000 || +0.0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''50''' || 42 ''(+8)'' || 34 ''(+16)'' || 26 ''(+24)'' || 18 ''(+32)'' || 11 ''(+39)'' || 5 ''(+45)'' || 1 ''(+49)'' || No
|-
|}

Note: Racks 6 & 7 are ready-racks.

==== [[Optics]] ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} Optics
|-
!
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| X2.5 || X6.0
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | ___
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG34 (7.92 mm)}}

The Panther II's coaxial 7.92 mm MG 34 is rather anaemic, and thus, not very versatile. It won't pose much of a threat to any vehicle that doesn't have exposed crew members, and it won't do much damage to aircraft. It can, however, be used to highlight enemy vehicles to friendlies, but it comes with the risk of alerting enemies of an enemy vehicle.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[MG34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG34]]
|-
! Mount
! Capacity (Belt capacity)
! Rate of fire (shots/minute)
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
|-
| Coaxial || 3,000 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in 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 instead 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).''

=== Modules ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Tier
! colspan="2" | Mobility
! Protection
! colspan="3" | Firepower
|-
| I
| Tracks
|
| Parts
| Horizontal Drive
|
|
|-
| II
| Suspension
| Brake System
| FPE
| Adjustment of Fire
| Hl.Gr 39
|
|-
| III
| Filters
|
| Crew Replenishment
| Elevation Mechanism
| Smoke grenade
| NVD
|-
| IV
| Transmission
| Engine
|
| Artillery Support
| PzGr 40/43
| Rangefinder
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Gun is powerful against its battle rated opponents
* Mobility is good
* Reverse speed is much better (14 km/h) compared to earlier Panthers
* Upper frontal plate can sometimes bounce shots
* Has neutral steering
* In RB and SB, the stock camo can hide the tank pretty well
* Wiggling the turret can prove useful, because the conical gun mantlet will bounce most shots

'''Cons:'''

* IR gear on the commander's cupola makes it very easy to spot
* Turret armour is not great, it can be penetrated easily if given the chance
* Turret crew is cramped, a penetrating shot can disable all of the crewmen
* Sides are littered with ammo racks, like the early Panthers
* Transmission is mounted frontally, so it can catch fire easily; on the other hand, it can eat up some shots and spare the crewmen inside
* Firepower to damage tanks frontally is lacking if up-tiered
* Turret traverse speed is not very good
* The scope for driver prevents the gun from aiming down

== History ==

=== Development ===
In late 1942, German designers started the development of a more powerful and slightly larger version of [[Panther D|Panther]] mounted on a newly designed chassis. In January of 1943, Adolf Hitler agreed on the development of Panther with increased armour protection especially for the needs of the Eastern Front. This project was designated '''Panther II''' and its design was planned along with the development of [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]]. In February of 1943, it was decided that Panther II, in its design would resemble Tiger II and would have many common components such as tracks, transmission, suspension and road wheels. Both designs had common components in an attempt to standardize the production. Overall dimensions were very similar to those of [[Panther G]] hull's design was very similar to that of the late model Panther G but with many modernizations such as the arrangement of observation equipment and new engine deck. Its armour protection was significantly increased if compared to any other Panther variant produced. Side armour protection was 60 mm thick while frontal armour protection was 100 mm thick. It was planned to arm Panther II with the latest 75 mm KwK 42 L/100 or even 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 (without a muzzle brake) gun mounted in the newly designed narrow turret – Schmalturm (designed by Rheinmetall in 1944 and to be produced by Daimler-Benz).

Panther II's ''Schmalturm'' (narrow) turret was slightly different than that of [[Panther F]]. The turret's armour protection was significantly increased if compared to any other Panther turret. The front was 120-125 mm, gun mantlet was 150 mm, while sides and rear were 60 mm and the top was 30 mm thick. Schmalturm had special mountings for infra-red device and telescopic range finder. All of those modifications increased Panther II's weight to 47 tons. Panther II was to be powered by a new Maybach HL234 engine with a total power of 900 hp operated by 8-speed hydraulic transmission. Instead, Maybach HL 230 P 30 engine was mounted and Maybach HL234 was later on due to being completed in August of 1945, for future Panther series. It was believed that Panther II's performance would be similar to that of Panther G, while if ever produced Panther II would most likely suffer from the same problems as Tiger II. Simply because of its great weight and high fuel consumption which made it extremely slow. It is also unknown what other modifications would be made if Panther II would be combat tested.

In March of 1943, plans were laid that the production of the first series would start in late 1943 or early 1944 and that by spring of 1944, full-scale production of Panther II would start. On May 20th of 1943, Rheinmetall-Borsig proposed special air-defence turret designed for Panther II, mounted with four 20 mm MG151/20 guns but it never reached prototype stage.

=== Production and cancellation ===
In early 1944, MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nuremberg) was allowed to produce two prototypes but was only able to produce one in early 1945, without the newly designed Schmalturm turret. On May 4th of 1944, it was realized that German industry was unable to start Panther II's production and this project was abandoned in favour of further development of Panther based on lessons learned from Panther II. On June 3rd of 1944, all companies which were to produce Panther II were ordered to instead start the production on the regular Panther tank. The war ended with only one Panther II chassis produced.

The lessons from Panther II, specifically the ''Schmalturm'' turret, would be used on main Panther tank, resulting in the planned [[Panther F]] variant.

===Survivor===
The Americans captured the Panther II chassis and it was shipped to the states. Sometimes after 1946, a Panther G turret was added onto the chassis while it was at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. In the 1960s, the Panther II chassis was transferred to the Smithsonian Institute, who proceeded to give the tank to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox in the 1970s. Following the closure of the Patton Museum, the Panther II is currently at the in-construction National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning.<ref name="ArmorJournalPantherII">The Armor Journal. "Panther II. NACM, Ft.Benning. TAJ Walkarounds." Panther II. NACM, Ft.Benning. TAJ Walkarounds. Waddling Penguin Publishing, LLC, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017. [http://www.armorjournal.com/index-tanks-PantherII-NACM.php Website]</ref>

=== In-game description ===
Having adopted the Tiger II tank in the autumn of 1943, the Ministry of Armaments ordered the development of a new Panther II tank, specifying that maximum compatibility between the assembly of the two tanks be maintained. Development of the new tank design was assigned to the company Henschel & Sohn. The new tank was to have thicker armour (100 mm in the front and 60 mm on the sides) and was to be equipped with a Schmalturm turret. The main armament consisted of an 88 mm 8,8 cm KwK 43 L/70 tank gun with a long 70-calibre barrel, the same gun which was installed on the Tiger II (P). The tank's weight had to be increased to 55 tons or more. The main design problem was the lack of a suitable engine for the heavier vehicle. Several options were developed for installing a MAN/Argus LD 220 750 hp engine or a Maybach HL 234 900 hp engine, using an eight-speed hydromechanical AK 7-200 gearbox, but this work was never completed. The chassis of the new Panther consisted of 7 all-metal rollers on a single torsion bar. The tank's treads were 660 mm wide.

By late 1944, the company had only managed to build one tank hull, which for testing purposes was fitted with a turret from a production Panther G. The testing was never completed, and the tank was captured by American troops. This tank's hull is kept in the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor in Fort Knox.

It is likely that two Panther II prototypes were built which may have participated in battles at the end of the war. Further work, however, virtually stopped. Project E50 was commissioned to replace both the Panther I and the Panther II.

== 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 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}}
[[Category:Hidden vehicles]]
<references />