Pz.IV (Sweden)

This page is about the medium tank Pz.IV (Sweden). For other versions, see Pz.IV (Family).

▄Pz.IV

▄Pz.IV

Description

The ▄Pz.IV is a rank Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice".

While its KwK40 L48 main gun is quite powerful for its BR, it has obvious weaknesses in its armour and should not be used as a main line tank or you will quickly be back to the hangar screen. Staying with allies to assist in finishing a tank off or staying behind to act as a sniper is this tank preferred job description.

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	80 mm	30 mm	20 mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	50 mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	30 mm	30 mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.

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

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm KwK40 L48					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	87	-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A	__._	__._	__._	__._	__._	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					__._	__._	__._	__._	__._

Ammunition

• PzGr 39; APCBC shell - These, already available when stock, should make up the majority of one's ammo loadout. They have good penetration and decent post-penetration damage due to the explosive filler carried inside.
• Hl.Gr 38B; HEAT shell - it is recommended to completely avoid this kind of shell as its performance is vastly inferior in all aspects compared to APCBC or APCR ammo used by this tank.
• PzGr 40; APCR shell - This type of ammo should be used only if there is trouble penetrating the opponent, or trying to hit a fast moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration.
• Sprgr. 34; HE shell - Carrying a few of these is recommended, as they can be very useful against open-topped vehicles due to overpressure. They should be loaded with caution though, since they're completely ineffective against any other vehicles.
• K.Gr.Rot Nb. - Smoke shells are useful to blind enemy vehicles that block your advance while being being too remote for you to disable.

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
PzGr 39	APCBC	145	143	130	116	104	93
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
PzGr 40	APCR	182	177	159	140	122	107
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

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%
PzGr 39	APCBC	770	6.8	1.2	14	17	48°	63°	71°
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	450	4.4	0.05	0.1	872.1	62°	69°	73°
PzGr 40	APCR	990	4.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
Sprgr. 34	HE	550	5.74	0	0.1	686	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
K.Gr.Rot Nb.	540	6.23	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Pz.IV (Sweden)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty
87	84 (+3)	82 (+5)	80 (+7)	72 (+15)	63 (+24)	54 (+33)
7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
46 (+41)	38 (+49)	30 (+57)	24 (+63)	1 (+86)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled by sets of 2 and disappear after the last shell in the set starts being loaded.
• Racks 5 and 6 have a shell set in common.
• Carrying 30 (+57) shells leaves the sides of the hull empty.

Machine guns

The MG34 can deal with open-topped vehicles, it can also be used to assist in marking targets for friendly forces. As there is no external MG, it has a very limited use when dealing with hostile aircraft.

7.92 mm MG34
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,150 (150)	900	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Pz.IV suffers from its slow, manual turret traverse rate. This causes the Panzer IV to lose flexibility in reacting to close encounters without turning the entire hull around. As such, it is recommended not to use the Panzer IV as a front-line assaulter in combat.

Tactics-wise, the Panzer IV is perfect for sniping and ambushes, where the slower turret traverse rate affects its combat performance less. Attack from a distance, especially while that enemy is focused on other allies in the team. Ambushes can also work in close-range events when watching corners, street intersections, and choke points, but be wary of any enemies trying to outmanoeuvre the Panzer IV as it would require drastic action with the slow turret rate. Try not to engage the enemy in a straight-up front confrontation as most enemies would be able to easily cleave through the front armour and knock out your vehicle.

Although any tank of Rank III can destroy the Panzer IV pretty quickly, the tanks that mostly need to avoided in open combat are IS-2, KV-2, SU-152, Tiger H1 and Panther tanks. Most of the heavy tanks that it will face include Tigers, the last of KV series, IS-1s, and even some IS-2s. Particularly, IS-2s will be the toughest opponent and can take out the Panzer IV with one hit. Avoid frontal confrontation at all cost. Instead try to be sneaky and attack them from the sides where they become vulnerable.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 75 mm APCBC shell has high penetration and great post-penetration, can knock out all common foes with a single shot
• -10° gun depression is very handy when fighting among hills
• Satisfactory speed (~35 km/h on average) allows it to keep up with most teammates
• Smoke grenades help to conceal the tank when needed
• 80 mm frontal hull armour may deflect some shells when angled properly
• 5 mm turret side skirt protects it from tanks using HEAT/HE shells

Cons:

• Extremely poor turret traverse, targeting process is slow and dangerous
• Weak survivability: cramped crew, thin frontal turret & side hull armour. Usually gets frontally penetrated easily
• Sluggish acceleration
• Large transmission at the front often gets broken by frontal hits, immobilising the whole tank
• APCBC struggles to penetrate well-armoured tanks at long range (>800 m)
• Low reverse speed of -8 km/h may put the player in a fatal situation

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

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

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.