AS 42/47

This page is about the Italian tank destroyer AS 42/47. For the SPAA version, see AS 42.

AS 42/47

AS 42/47

Description

The Camionetta AS 42 Tipo II "Metropolitana" 47/32 is a rank Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice".

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour on the AS 42/47 is non-existent. Even a spray of rifle-calibre bullets can quickly knock out the fully exposed crew.

Armour type:

• Structural steel (chassis, gun breech, gun mount)
• Wheel (tires & spares)
• Gun Steel (cannon barrel)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Chassis	3 mm
Gun mount	150 mm Gun Breech 20 mm Gunner's Seat 20 mm Elevation and Traverse Mechanisms

Notes:

• Tires are 10 mm thick.
• There is a spare tire on the front and on the rear of the vehicle.
• Storage boxes, fuel containers and fenders are 3 mm thick.
• Storage Boxes and fuel Containers cover much of the flanks in addition to the chassis armour.
• The belly of the car is 3 mm thick.

Mobility

The AS-42/47 has very high mobility with speeds exceeding 80 km/h on concrete and 35 km/h offroad.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				156			__.__
Realistic				97			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

47 mm 47/32 mod.39					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	312	-8°/+15°	±150°	-	30.8	42.6	51.8	57.2	60.9	3.77	3.33	3.07	2.90
Realistic					20.8	24.5	29.8	32.9	35.0

The armament present on AS 42 47/32, in other words the 47mm cannon (47/32) that you can also find on M13/40s, M14/41s is a cannon with mediocre penetration, the shots present for research are really similar and only the penetration changes.

The excellent reloading of the cannon allows the vehicle to fire quickly, in particular AS 42 at its BR can encounter lightly armoured targets and this makes it capable of destroying ground targets easily, meanwhile if we talk about destroying air targets, it would be better to use its AA version armed with a 20mm cannon (AS 42).

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Granata Perforante mod.35	APHE	50	47	37	27	20	15
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	48	47	41	35	30	26

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Granata Perforante mod.35	APHE	630	1.5	1.2	9	30	47°	60°	65°
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	630	1.44	1.2	9	30	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the AS 42/47

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty
312	274 (+38)	235 (+77)	196 (+116)	157 (+155)
5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
118 (+194)	79 (+233)	40 (+272)	1 (+311)	No

Notes:

• As they are modeled by sets of 3, shells disappear from the rack only after you've fired all shells in the set.
• To go into battle with the right side empty, load 157 (+155) shells.

Usage in battles

The AS 42/47 should be mainly used for flanking. It has the speed to reach flanking positions before the enemy does. The gun, while not impressive, has enough penetration and explosive filler to knock out most tanks that it can meet, especially when you hit them from the side. However, the penetration is still not very good, and as such the AS 42/47 suffers when uptiered with the B1 and SU-122 being your worst nightmares as even the sides of them are nearly immune to your gun. Armour-wise, it practically doesn't have any as the crew is completely exposed, making every near exploding artillery shell, machine gun of any size, aircraft strafing, or HE shell a serious threat. That's why you shouldn't drive to choke and capture points with a lot of artillery shelling. Use your speed to change position constantly and don't shoot multiple times from the same position as that could attract an artillery strike from the enemy and with that a free ticket back to the respawn screen.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast on paved roads, quick to reposition
• High reverse speed (-22 km/h) allows it to pull out of danger safely
• Very small profile, easier to conceal
• 47 mm cannon has enough penetration and explosives to frontally penetrate & knock out most opponents
• -8° gun depression plus low gun mount makes hilly terrain combat effective
• Huge ammo capacity of 300+ rounds allows prolonged battle

Cons:

• Extremely low survivability, anything can destroy it easily (MG bullets, shrapnels, overpressure)
• Wheeled design becomes sluggish off-road
• 5-second reload is not very fast for its calibre
• Cannon cannot rotate to the rear which may be dangerous in some situations

History

The AS (Autosahariana) 42 was derived from the AB 41 armoured car. It was, however, unarmoured and did not have the rear driver position. Designed for long-range reconnaissance in North Africa, it had a cross country range of almost 500 miles (800 km). It was also known as the Camionetta Desertica (Desert Weapons Carrier) mod. 42, or "la Sahariana" (the Saharan). The main armament varied: 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons (see the AS 42 entry for details), 20 mm anti-tank rifles, and machine guns were common alternatives. For heavier firepower, some were fitted with a Breda M35 47 mm anti-tank gun, which is the variant described in this article. About 200 were built and saw service in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After the armistice, some continued in use with Fascist Italian forces and Germany, including on the Eastern Front, and in the Ardennes in 1944-45.

Post-war, about a dozen survivors, painted amaranth red and disarmed, were used by the Polizia di Stato in Udine and Bologna.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the AS 42/47 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #332 - Metal Beasts section at 00:26 discusses the AS 42/47.

See also

Related development

• AS 42