Type 87

This page is about the Japanese SPAA Type 87. For the Japanese light tank, see Type 87 RCV.

Type 87

SUB-I-II

Type 93

Type 87

SUB-I-II

Type 93

Japan

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.3	8.3	8.3

Class:

SPAA

Research:135 000

Purchase:380 000

Description

The Twin 35 mm Self-Propelled Gun Type 87 is a rank VI Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.67 "Assault". It is incredibly similar to the German Flakpanzer Gepard, using the same 35 mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons with a similar turret. The key difference is that the Type 87 uses a modified chassis of the Type 74, compared to the Gepard being mounted on the Leopard I chassis.

The Type 87 performs fairly well at its rank, being able to effectively engage aircraft quite well thanks to its high rate of fire, quick turret traverse and radar systems. It is also capable of fighting lightly armoured tanks such as most infantry fighting vehicles (BMP, Warrior, M3 Bradley) and effectively killing them in seconds with its rapid-fire guns. The Type 87's default belts have less penetration than its predecessor, the M42 Duster SDF, although this is not much of a difference (72 mm on M42 compared to 68 mm on Type 87), however the Type 87 gains the ability to fight other MBTs when it unlocks the Armour Piercing belts, which have 116 mm of penetration at 100 m. While this is not advised, it is an incredibly handy ability to have in an emergency.

The Type 87 is also extremely proficient at shooting down helicopters - the AH-1G is a common nuisance that the Type 87 has no difficulty in destroying. However, for more modern helicopters, most notably the Kamov Ka-50, the Type 87 is harmless.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

LWS

Notifies about the vehicle's exposure to laser emissions

Armourfront / side / back

Hull30 / 20 / 20

Turret25 / 20 / 15

Crew3 people

Visibility313 %

Armour type:

• Aluminum Alloy AMS 4050A (Turret)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	30 mm (78°) Front glacis 30 mm (21-63°) Lower glacis	20 mm	20 mm (16°) Top 20 mm (49°) Bottom	15 mm
Turret	25 mm (6-37°) 20 mm (76°) Turret underside	20 mm Turret side 10 mm Cannons	15 mm (3°)	15 mm 20 mm (69°) Turret underside

Mobility

 

Controlled suspension

It is possible to adjust the ground clearance or more complex suspension positions

Speedforward / back

AB58 / 9 km/h

RB and SB54 / 8 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

1 back

Weight38.0 t

Engine power

AB1 660 hp

RB and SB870 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB43.7 hp/t

RB and SB22.9 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	58	9	38	1,023	1,660	26.92	43.68
Realistic	54	8		637	870	16.76	22.89

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB4 795 → 6 617

RB4 102 → 5 660

SB5 159 → 7 119

Total cost of modifications113 200

194 600

Talisman cost2 300

Crew training110 000

Experts380 000

Aces1 400

Research Aces830 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

150 / 190 / 230 %

208 / 208 / 208 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 230 Suspension Research: 4 500 Cost: 7 200 170 Brake System Research: 4 500 Cost: 7 200 170 Filters Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 Transmission Research: 7 900 Cost: 13 000 300 Engine Research: 7 900 Cost: 13 000 300	Improved Parts Research: 1 800 Cost: 9 600 230 Improved FPE Research: 1 400 Cost: 7 200 170 Crew Replenishment Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 Smoke grenade Research: 7 900 Cost: 13 000 300	Horizontal Drive Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 230 35mm_kda_HE_ammo_pack Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 230 35mm_kda_APHEI_ammo_pack Research: 4 500 Cost: 7 200 170 Adjustment of Fire Research: 4 500 Cost: 7 200 170 LWS/LR Research: 4 500 Cost: 7 200 170 Elevation Mechanism Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 380 35mm_kda_APDS_ammo_pack Research: 7 900 Cost: 13 000 300 Artillery Support Research: 7 900 Cost: 13 000 300

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Main armament

2 x 35 mm Oerlikon KDA cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition680 rounds

Belt capacity320 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

1.3 → 1.0 s

Fire rate550 shots/min

Vertical guidance-5° / 85°

Main weapons are the 35 mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons, which are essentially the same as Gepard's. They are different from KDE gun variant of type 89 if you used it - they use completely different ammunition and fire much faster.

Guns will overheat if fired for longer than 15 seconds. They will cool off in about 30 seconds, but you can unjam them earlier by switching between ammunition belts.

The guns are placed close to the centre of a turret, typically, if you missed one shot, you probably missed both shots. For this reason SPAA relies more on precise lengthy bursts with enemy flight path prediction, rather than "fire a 30 shot burst there and forget about it" of Chieftain Marksman. You have more ammunition for the gun than British equivalent, to compensate for this.

35 mm gun is slightly weaker than the Bofors of M42. One thing to keep in mind is with this vehicle you are hunting jets and jets suffer much heavier stress from the speed they employ. This heavier stress equates to greater damage caused by even one or two hits of 35 mm HEI-T which will explode them or rip off their wings. For best results, you just need to hit them once or twice, which 35 mm guns are much better at doing.

For ammunition you can choose one main and one secondary belt. The secondary belt only has 40 shells, but it can be used to attack the enemy from capture points, as it rearms significantly faster. However, the secondary belt can be used in place of the main one for self-defence while the main belt rearms, so as to not leave the Type 87 defenceless.

35 mm Oerlikon KDA (x2)						Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	680 (320)	550	-5°/+85°	±180°	Two-plane	49.3	68.3	82.9	91.7	97.5	1.30	1.15	1.06	1.00
Realistic						33.3	39.2	47.6	52.7	56.0

Ammunition

• Default: API-T · HEI-T* - can attack planes and light tanks alike. HEI-T does fatal damage to aeroplanes, but has 3 mm penetration, being useless against tanks. API-T penetration is about 64 mm at 100 m at a flat angle. Keep in mind that it can fail to penetrate medium tanks. Against planes, API-T does kinetic damage and may rip off their wings on a good hit.
• DM11A1: HEI-T* · HEI-T* · HEI-T* · API-T - 75% of this belt does critical damage to aircraft but does nothing to ground vehicles.
• DM13: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEI-T* - 75% of this belt does significant damage to light tanks but does less damage to aircraft.
• DM23: APDS · APDS · APDS · APDS - APDS has better penetration value, easily penetrating 100 mm at 100 m at a flat angle, penetrating even decently protected tanks from the side and can threaten lightly armoured tanks even at 2km range. Cannot be chosen as the main belt.

Note: HEI-T does no damage to armoured targets, but critically damages planes. Penetration numbers are displayed for strongest shell in belt.

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	68	65	52	40	30	23
DM11A1	68	65	52	40	30	23
DM13	68	65	52	40	30	23
DM23	127	125	119	111	104	97

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Gepard (identical to Type 87)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	Visual discrepancy
4	0 (+4)	No

Radars

The Type 87 is equipped with a MPDR 12 search radar and an Albis tracking radar. Both radars are mounted at the rear of the turret, with the search radar mounted on top of an arm and the tracking radar mounted at the base of the arm. The radar system is capable of tracking a target while scanning, but can only track targets within a 200° arc from the front of the turret. It is not possible to fold the radars at this time.

Search radar of this tank may often fail to catch passing by planes at closer ranges, which can be still locked on by tracking radar. In such case, you can try to go to sniper mode and aim crosshairs at enemy aircraft, then press "lock on" key to trigger manual tracking radar scan (will be visible by a quick sweep on radar display). If it failed, then the enemy plane has way too low relative speed to be consistently tracked.

MPDR 12 - Target Detection Radar
Maximum Detection Range	Minimum Detection Range	Max Azimuth Scan Angle	Max Elevation Scan Angle	Minimum relative speed
15,000 m	500 m	360°	???	10 m/s (36 km/h)
Albis - Target Tracking Radar
Maximum Tracking Range	Minimum Tracking Range	Azimuth Tracking Angle	Elevation Tracking Angle	Minimum target speed
15,000 m	75 m	±100°	-20°/+85°	15 m/s (54 km/h)

Usage in battles

As an anti-aircraft vehicle, you should push with your team and defend cap points by protecting allies from aircraft with your powerful 35 mm guns. It should not be a problem to stay away from the main battle unless you are being pushed or your position is being overrun. In case if you see enemy light SPG or light tank, you can try to destroy them as well. With APDS belt you may dare to attack decently armoured medium tanks from the side, but you only have enough ammo for one or two encounters, so make it count.

Despite having radar, staying too far away from allies in arcade mode may backfire, as shells still take some time to reach enemy aircraft and hostile bombers only have to be 1.8 km away from them to drop bombs in the most efficient way possible, and it doesn't take a long time for them to reach that distance. If enemy aircraft is constantly wiggling, radar supported aim will also go all over the place, so try to guess where they are going, or press them to force them to change direction to one away from your allies.

In case if you actually got attacked by ground forces, you should then aim for cannon barrels and tracks of enemy vehicles. Your hull armour may deflect inbound shots if angled correctly, but don't expect your turret to do the same, as its armour is very thin and generally will be penetrated by everything at your battle rating and rank. Keep in mind, that your tank is a hull breakable vehicle, so avoid being hit by HEAT-FS rounds or by large kinetic shells into the engine compartment area.

Use Hydropneumatic suspension to get better search radar coverage and gun depression on your targets, or to keep yourself standing flat. Standing flat is important, as being angled too much may add horizontal targeting error.

In case if you are fighting multiple attackers or rocket helicopters, avoid being carpet-bombed, as the Type 87 is not built to survive such attacks. Be especially careful with Soviet helicopters, as they can carry both rockets and missiles. Remember - radar lock will help your gun to stay on target even when you are moving, and so, if you see a wall of rockets approaching you, sidestep it and don't just stand there and take it.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful, fast-firing 35 mm twin Oerlikon KDA cannon
• Quick with the Type 74 chassis, up to 58 km/h
• Hydropneumatic suspension with the Type 74 chassis
• Can engage tanks from their sides

Cons:

• -5 degrees of gun depression (bad compared to the Flakpanzer Gepard)
• 30 mm armour maximum
• Any main ammunition belts other than the default cost 6,600 silver lions
• You can only have one secondary belt selected with a meager ammo count
• Spinning radar dish may make you more visible in tank realistic battles

History

The Type 87 anti-aircraft gun entered into service in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces as a replacement for the hopelessly outdated American Duster SPAAG. The specification and concept for the new anti-aircraft vehicle was based on the German Gepard SPAAG that our players know so well. The vehicle used a modified Type 74 tank chassis and was equipped with the Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon system as used in the Gepard. The vehicle was a success – more than 50 of these SPAAGs were put into production and several units remain in service today.

- From Devblog

Media

• Skins and camouflages for the Type 87 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

The Type 87 is based on a modified Type 74 hull

• Type 74
• Type 74G

Vehicles equipped with the same guns

• Gepard
• Chieftain Marksman

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• M247
• ZSU-23-4
• AMX-30 DCA

External links

• [Devblog] Type 87: The Japanese Gepard

Japan anti-aircraft vehicles
Ke-Ni Derivatives	Ta-Se · So-Ki
Wheeled	Type 94
Tracked	SUB-I-II
Radar SPAAG	Type 87
Missile SPAA	Type 93 · Type 81 (C)
USA	▅M16 MGMC · ▅M19A1 · ▅M42