PGZ04A
Contents
Description
The HuoPao GaoShe ZiXing 04A is a rank VII Chinese SPAA with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Red Skies". PGZ is the Chinese PLA designation for its SPAA platforms. With PGZ being the Pinyin abbreviation for "炮，高射，自走" (Pao, Gaoshe, Zizou), or Lit. "Artillery, Anti-Air, Self-Propelled".
General info
Survivability and armour
An usual characteristic of a SPAAG is their light armor, and PGZ04A is no exception; at only 22.7t, do not have any higher expectation on its protection and very unlikely surviving any high explosive and overpressure damages
The chassis of PGZ04A is still enough to stop 12.7 mm AP(I) from going through it up front while that would not be the case if anything at the caliber of 12.7 mm start shooting at it, they go clean through the side and the rear of the chassis so at best keep your front at your enemies. While the turret is another story- with only 8 mm of steel on every side of the turret, it barely stops shrapnel and smaller caliber firearms, anything above 12.7 mm can turn this turret into a pile of scarp with ease.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 10 mm @69° | 8 mm Top 10 mm Bottom |
10 mm | 8 mm |
| Turret | 8 mm Turret front | 8 mm | 8 mm | 8 mm |
| Cupola | 8 mm | 8 mm | 8 mm | 8 mm |
Notes:
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 | 61 | 19 | 22.7 | _,___ | 731 | __.__ | 32.2 |
| Realistic | 56 | 18 | _,___ | 383 | __.__ | 16.87 | |
Thanks to its light weight and a F12L412 383hp diesel engine, The PGZ04A can drive at a surprising top speed of 53 km/h. It was also the very first Chinese vehicle that comes with a hydropneumatic suspension (only lifting/lowering), making it a fast and nimble enough vehicle to move around the battlefield and take cover if anything is coming to cause you some trouble.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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Armaments
Main armament
The PGZ04A is equipped with 4 x 25 mm PG87 25x183B AA guns mounted on the side of the turret, which isthe same gun as the ZSD63 at tier II.
With its above average velocity and high rate of fire, these 4 cannons in total can cause total annihilation of low-flying aircraft within its 2.5 km firing range and its ammunition has sufficient penetration to cause some trouble to lightly armoured vehicles. However, all this comes at a cost: you have only 1,032 rounds in total at your disposal. For players who are trigger-happy, this might a good chance to learn how to conserve their ammo and wait for the chance to deliver the fatal blow to enemy targets.
| 25 mm PG87 (x4) | 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 | 1,032 (258) | 600 | -5°/+85° | ±180° | Two-plane | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: AP-T · FI-T*
- Type 87 HE: FI-T*
- Type 87 AP: AP-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 | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Type 87 HE | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Type 87 AP | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Belt details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belt | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| Type 87 HE | FI-T* | ___ | _.__ | __ | _._ | ___ | __° | __° | __° |
| Type 87 AP | AP-T | ___ | _.__ | __ | _._ | ___ | __° | __° | __° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Additional armament
The HN-6 is a MANPADS that comes with a 7 km rear-aspect locking range and a 4.5 km all-aspect locking range, which will prove very useful for handling low-flying helicopters and sometimes earn a surprise kill on careless jets.
| HN-6 missile | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer |
| 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Ammunition
| Ammuntion details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Range (m) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| HN-6 | SAM | 651.7 | 7,000 | 10.7 | N/A | N/A | 770 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Usage in battles
With its rapid-firing 25 mm guns and IR missiles, the PGZ04A dominates in close to mid-range air defense. Consider it has two layers of defence: missiles for up to 7 km (often limited to a moderate 4.5 km due to lock-on aspect). And the 25 mm cannons for anything within 3 km. The IR missiles have questionable tracking ability and often gives up track on a target entirely if it manoeuvres to evade. However, it will help to distract incoming aircraft and bleed their speed, making them easier to be finished with the 25 mm cannons. The PGZ04A will have a tough time dealing with helicopters hovering at their maximum range launching ATGMs, as neither of the PGZ04 armaments can reach anything that's beyond 7 km.
The PGZ04A's anti ground ability is limited, due to its smaller caliber 25 mm cannons. They have no dedicated APDS rounds that were found in its predecessor, the PGZ09 (which also has larger cannons of 35 mm). The 25 mm struggles to penetrate the sides of top-tier MBTs, with some of them completely immune (for example, the Merkava Mk.3D). Although exterior modules can be quickly destroyed, especially tracks. If aimed well (and some luck), you can take out gun barrels of the enemy tank, but it is better to avoid engaging with MBTs to begin with. The 25 mm rounds also have poor post-pen effects, even on thinly armoured target.
It is suggested to play the PGZ04A as a dedicated anti-air platform. However, due to its shorter range than its counterparts, you need to leave the spawn to be effective. While doing that, always have friendly tanks to screen you, as the moment you're caught alone by enemy ground targets you will have exceptionally low chance of survival.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good rate of fire (600 rpm) plus 4 x autocannons mean high fire density
- 4 x IR missiles further improve its anti-air strengths especially against helicopters like AH-1
- Has search and fire control radars that provides a lead indicator
- Gunner thermal assists fighting in poor conditions
- Great mobility with adequate reverse speed
- 2 salvos of smoke grenades provide critical concealment
- Profile is quite low
Cons:
- IR missiles are quite short-ranged and slow, can be evaded/outran easily by fast jets like F-104, Su-7
- 25 mm shells are not as potent as 35 mm or 57 mm shells at longer ranges
- Low penetration of 25 mm guns means it is helpless against MBTs like M1
- Completely exposed autocannons and missiles mean they are easily damaged
- Search radar antenna is tall and big, can expose the location of PGZ04A
- Like all SPAA, armour can only resist small calibre machine gun bullets
History
The story of PGZ04A goes back to his predecessor, PGZ95.
During the 1980s when Mainland China was seeking for modernization of PLA, one major inventory they were lacking of was a SPAAG with onboard radar. It was during that time Egypt handed in some ZSU-23-4 to the Chinese, which at first decided that they would go for a reverse-engineered version of the infamous Shilka. But later, they found another major problem: Shilka's optical system wasn't designed for all-weather operations and capabilities at night would be very limited. Meanwhile, another group of PLAGF's officials often went to Europe for equipment development exchanges and weapon tests, one time during the 1980s, they saw the SIDAM 25 that came with all-weather operation capabilities .
The NORINCO Northwest Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (西北机电工程研究所 at Xianyang City, Xi'an, Shaanxi) started its development and eventually, the older brother of PGZ04A- PGZ95 was accepted into PLAGF commission and it was first shown on the parade on 1st October, 1999 (the 50th National Day of PRC). Completed with a S-band CLC-1 search radar and opto-electronic tracking system, as well as 2 pairs of QW-2 MANPADS mounted on its turret. Due to the new electronic system, estimations showed that a PGZ-95 was even more expensive than a brand new ZTZ99.
Later in the 2000s, the PGZ95 received an overhaul upgrade on its systems and upgraded its MANPADS to 2 pairs of HN-6 (exported by CATIC as FN-6), eventually this upgraded version was named a PGZ04A. Along the PGZ09, it became the cornerstone of PLAGF's field air defense.
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;
- other literature.
| China anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Radar SPAAG | PGZ09 |
| Gun and Missile SPAAG | PGZ04A |
| Missile SPAA | Antelope |
| Other | ZSD63/PG87 · ZSL92 · WZ305 |
| Germany | ␗Sd.Kfz.222 |
| North Vietnam | Phòng không T-34 |
| USA | CCKW 353 (M45) · ␗M42 |
| USSR | Tor-M1 |
