Type 87 RCV

This page is about the Japanese light tank Type 87 RCV. For the other version, see Type 87 RCV (P). For other uses, see Type 87 (Disambiguation).

Type 87 RCV

Type 87 RCV

Description

The Type 87 RCV (87式偵察警戒車) is a 6x6 armoured vehicle designed by Komatsu for the JGSDF and introduced in 1987. It was developed to provide better firepower and protection than jeeps and motorcycles for reconnaissance missions after improvements in Japanese road infrastructure made operating heavy wheeled vehicles in the islands more feasible.

The Type 87 RCV was introduced in Update "Direct Hit". It has high mobility and a rapid-firing 25 mm Oerlikon autocannon with a full belt of APFSDS ammunition. The cannon can penetrate most targets from the side or rear, and some from the front, but it has low post-penetration damage. The vehicle lacks a stabiliser and has a bouncy suspension, which affects its accuracy. The commander should be aware of these limitations before engaging in combat.

General info

Survivability and armour

Most of the survivability will result from the lack of armour, most of the vehicle is covered by 10 mm armour with some frontal plates at 20 mm protection. It will be easy to be penalized by machine gun fire if spotted but, if the bullets/shells hit in empty spots from the side, the shells will go clean through without any damage to crew or components.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	10 mm (68°) Upper glacis 20 mm (31-66°) Lower glacis	10 mm (10°) Top 10 mm (0°) Bottom	10 mm (8°)	10 mm
Turret	20 mm	10 mm	4 + 10 mm	10 mm
Cupola	10 mm

Notes:

• Wheels are 10 mm thick
• Has some external modules like fuel cans, mud flaps & optics all at 4 mm thick
• Radiators are 5 mm thick

Mobility

As a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, it is able to get to positions rather fast especially when keeping on roads, allowing for easy flanking and getting on vantage points to scout out the enemy team.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				473			__.__
Realistic				270			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

With the armament the Type 87 RCV gets, it's most suitable as a support vehicle that can deal with lightly armoured vehicles and low flying aircraft. Once the APFSDS belt has been unlocked it can deal with most MBTs it faces by shooting out critical components one by one as this subcalibre 25 mm has barely any spalling effect.

25 mm Oerlikon KBA B02						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)	560	-10°/+45°	±180°	N/A	57.1	79.1	96.0	106.2	113.0	10.40	9.20	8.48	8.00
Realistic						35.7	42.0	51.0	56.4	60.0

Ammunition

• Default: APDS · HEI-T* · HEI-T* - The standard belt that can fulfill both roles (anti-air and lightly armoured vehicles) but weaker against ground targets.
• M792: HEI-T* · HEI-T* · HEI-T* - This belt is adapted for targeting aircraft with its high-explosive shells.
• M791: APDS · APDS · APDS - This belt is adapted for targeting lightly armoured vehicles with its armour-piercing rounds.
• PMB 090: APFSDS - This belt is adapted for targeting medium armoured vehicles with its armour-piercing fin-stabilized rounds.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
APDS	80	79	73	67	61	55
HEI-T*	7	6	4	3	3	3
APFSDS	92	90	83	75	62	58

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
APDS	1,335	0.13	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°
HEI-T*	1,100	0.19	0.1	0.1	54.4	79°	80°	81°
APFSDS	1,385	0.1	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
4	4 (+0)	3 (+1)	2 (+2)	1 (+3)	Yes

Machine guns

7.62 mm Type 74
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,000 (250)	701	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

As a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle with only a 25 mm autocannon to use, it's best played in its intended role, spotting the enemy team, using its fast manoeuvrability to flank, and shooting down low flying aircraft. It is best compared to the R3 T20 FA-HS with the benefits that a light tank gets: scouting and reducing SP for aircraft spawns.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• From the side on:
  • Crew spaced out enough to not die in a single shot
  • Because of light armour, it is able to take shells without much damage from spalling
• Powerful PBM 09 APFSDS round
  • High penetration, enough to penetrate many vehicles up to 500 - 1,000 m
  • High muzzle velocity, requiring little lead and little shell drop for engaging targets at range
  • Decent rate of fire
• Great mobility
  • Able to reach 100 km/h on roads with ease
  • Fast enough to reach 50 km/h off-road

Cons:

• Relatively high profile for a recon vehicle
• High chance of getting knocked out by a single shot frontally
• Default belt leaves much to desire
• Very lightly armoured
• Only 2 reverse gears allowing it to reach -20 km/h

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

Skins

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

Market

Camo "Type 87 'Kasuga Base Commemorative'"

Videos

The Shooting Range #274 - Metal Beasts section at 00:30 discusses the Type 87 RCV.

See also

Related Development

• Type 87 RCV (P)

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Freccia IFV

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

Komatsu Ltd. (株式会社小松製作所)
SPRG	Type 60 SPRG (C)
APC	Type 60 ATM
MLRS	Type 75 MLRS
RCV	Type 87 RCV (P) · Type 87 RCV

Japan light tanks
Type 89	I-Go Ko
Type 95	Ha-Go · Ha-Go Commander
Type 98	Ke-Ni
Other	Ka-Mi
IFV	Type 89
RCV	Type 87 RCV (P) · Type 87 RCV · RCV (P)
MCV	Type 16 (P) · Type 16 (FPS) · Type 16
USA	▅M24 · ▅M41A1