Wiesel 1A4

This page is about the German SPAA Wiesel 1A4. For other versions, see Wiesel (Family).

Wiesel 1A4

Wiesel 1A4

Description

The Waffenträger Wiesel 1A4 MK is a rank German SPAA with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Ground Breaking".

The Wiesel 1A4, while very weak in both armour and armament, is very small and fast compared to most other vehicles at its BR. Given the ability to spot, use thermals, and help teammates with repairs, the Wiesel handles a lot closer to a light tank than an SPAA as it has very limited gun elevation at 45°. Even with its poor elevation, the Rh202 is capable of taking down aircraft found at its BR such as the Su-9 as well as lightly-armoured vehicles like the U-SH 405.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour is very thin throughout the vehicle, only able to protect from shrapnel and rifle-calibre machine gun fire. Anything with a calibre of 12.7 mm or larger will penetrate. The external fuel tank provides a minor increase in protection, but is still able to be penetrated by large-calibre machine guns. The interior armour provides minor protection to spalling and small shells, but isn't guaranteed to stop anything above 12.7 mm upon penetration. Two vents can be found on the tank with 5 mm of armour, one on the top above the radiator and the other in the middle of the left side, while not much of a difference, if shot at the right angle rifle-calibre machine gun fire can penetrate. The driver and gunner are sitting in a line if looking directly from the front or at a slight angle, which increases the likelihood of getting both knocked out with a single shot. Moreover, as there are only 2 crew members, losing even 1 man will knock out the vehicle unless on a point with crew replenishment.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, side, rear, roof, turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	8 mm (61°) Upper glacis 8 mm (10°) Lower plate 8 mm (67°) Lower glacis	8 mm (33°) Top 8 mm Bottom 8 mm (34°) Lower glacis	8 mm (47°) Upper plate 8 mm (29°) Lower plate 8 mm (29°-55°) Fuel Tank	8 mm (29°) Front glacis 8 mm (29°) Driver compartment 6 mm Fighting compartment 5 mm Engine vents
Turret	8 mm (51°) Turret front 6 mm (6°) Optic 6 mm (3°-7°) Ammo	8 mm (21-40°) Turret	8 mm (27°)	6 mm

Notes:

• There is a 5 mm RHA internal plate separating the engine compartment from the crew.
• Tracks, suspension wheels, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Mudguards and storage boxes are 5 mm thick, mud flaps are 2 mm thick.
• The gun breech is 150 mm thick and the gun mount is 6 mm thick (including ammo boxes).

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				124			__.__
Realistic				77			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

20 mm Rh202						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	400 (100)	800	-10°/+45°	±110°	N/A	52.8	73.1	88.8	98.2	104.5	10.40	9.20	8.48	8.00
Realistic						35.7	42.0	51.0	56.4	60.0

Ammunition

• Default: HVAP-T · HEFI-T
• DM51A1: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HVAP-T
• DM43: HVAP-T · HVAP-T · HVAP-T · HEFI-T
• DM63: APDS · APDS · APDS · HEFI-T

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	57	52	37	24	15	10
DM51A1	57	52	37	24	15	10
DM43	57	52	37	24	15	10
DM63	66	61	45	31	21	14

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Wiesel 1A4

Full ammo	Ammo type	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
4 400	Magazines Rounds	3 (+1) 300 (+100)	2 (+2) 200 (+200)	1 (+3) 100 (+300)	0 (+4) 0 (+400)	No

Notes:

• The ammunition is modeled as 4 magazines of 100 rounds.
• Even though racks 3 & 4 both are fed into the gun, the gun still reloads when switching from rack 3 to 4.

Usage in battles

Given the size and speed of the Wiesel, it is very competent at flanking or rushing objectives. With the ability to spot and use thermals, the Wiesel can help its team by spotting enemies when flanking, or help its team by assisting with repairs and shooting down low-flying aircraft. Because of the minimal armour though, the Wiesel will almost always die from a single shot because of this, being alone in open areas or near enemies is not a good idea.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent acceleration and mobility
• Good anti-air capability
• Low profile, can hide in small areas
• Its 20 mm has a high rate of fire
• Access to thermals, night vision and a laser rangefinder

Cons:

• Almost no armour
• Can't penetrate tanks reliably
• Turret can't rotate a full 360°
• Its gun heats up quite quickly
• Poor gun elevation compared to other SPAA

History

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

Media

Videos

Wiesel 1: Firepower for the Fallschirmjäger - Military History Visualized

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

• [Devblog] Wiesel armored vehicles: MK20/TOW/2 ADWC

Germany anti-aircraft vehicles
Wheeled	Sd.Kfz.222
Half-track	Sd.Kfz.251/21 · Sd.Kfz. 6/2
Flakpanzer IV	Wirbelwind · Ostwind · Ostwind II · Kugelblitz · Zerstörer 45
Other Flakpanzers	Flakpanzer I · Flakpanzer 38 · Flakpanzer 341
Wiesel AWC	Wiesel 1A4 · Ozelot
Radar SPAAG	Gepard · Gepard 1A2
Missile SPAA	FlaRakPz 1 · FlaRakRad