VEAK 40
Contents
Description
The VEAK 40 was developed by the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors by request of the Swedish army as a 1960s next generation Swedish SPAA, following limited production of the Lvkv fm/43 SPAA in the 1940s and failed Lvkv 42 prototype in the 1950s. A single prototype based on the Strv 103 chassis was built and delivered for testing in 1964. The project was delayed somewhat by this point, but testing commenced regardless and the vehicle proved to be ahead of its time regarding its armament and fire control systems. This, however, made the vehicle too expensive and in the end the project had to be scrapped due to resource reallocation to the Swedish Air Force rather than additional air defenses. The name VEAK 40 follows Bofors' own naming scheme, not the Swedish army's naming scheme. Its full historical Bofors-name was Bofors VEAK 40 X 60, VEAK indicating type (tracked vehicle with FC-radar and autocannons), 40 indicating calibre (40 mm) and 60 indicating year of design (1960).
The Vagn Eldledning AutomatKanon 40 (English: "Wagon Fire-control AutoCannon 40"), or VEAK 40 for short, was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury". It is armed with two 40 mm Bofors L/70 autocannons (Swedish designation: lvakan m/48) which each have a fire rate of 300 rounds per minute. It has decent mobility and subpar protection but features excellent vertical and horizontal traverse speed for its guns, giving it fast reactivity to enemy threats. It also comes equipped with a tracking and search radar that allows the player to find and track airborne targets within a 12 km radius, a big advantage over other 7.7 SPAAs such as the M163 with only a tracking radar up to ~3km and the ZSU-37-2/ZSU-23-4 which have radars that scan the sky extremely slowly on 360' mode leading to big gaps in awareness.
General info
Survivability and armour
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| External armour on the VEAK 40 | Internal armour on the VEAK 40 |
The frontal armour of the VEAK 40 is roughly 15 mm thick all around with very limited sloping angles to back it up. The gun mantlet, roof of both hull and turret, as well as the back are 5 mm thick and vulnerable even to 40 mm HE, as well as even 7.62 mm MG fire when unangled.
Heavy machine guns can easily knock out the vehicle as well, by firing at the turret from any direction from even a moderate distance. The turret is also very big and boxy and also houses all of the vehicle's ammunition and crew, thus a shot there usually results in an ammo rack detonation and a loss of the vehicle.
The hull however is fairly empty of components and only houses the transmission and engine which are located in their own compartment, resulting in substantial amounts of empty space in the hull under the turret. There is also a small internal screen to protect the turret compartment from stray shots. Attack to the lower hull usually leave the vehicle crippled but not critically damaged (you may be immobilized but you will retain your turret), although the likelihood of being shot in the hull compared to the very easy target that is the turret is fairly limited.
The radar on top of the vehicle may be stowed (stock bind Alt + R on PC) by turning the radar off; while the turret is still much too large for this to decrease your silhouette much, it does mean you no longer have a spinning object on top of your tank and can help if you're trying to stay hidden as movement of any sort can give you away.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
- Cast homogeneous armour (Cupolas)
- Structural steel (Radar mast, Radar dish, Mud skirts, Suspension)
| Armour | Front (Slope°) | Sides [Internal] (Slope°) | Rear (Slope°) | Roof (Slope°) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 5-15 mm (77°) Front glacis 15 mm (18-71°) Lower glasis |
5-15 mm [+5 mm] Upper sides 15 mm Lower sides |
15 mm Upper rear 15 mm (13°) Lower rear |
15 mm (90°) Roof 4 mm (29-77°) Mud skirts |
| Turret | 15 mm (25°) Upper right sheek 15 mm Upper left sheek 15 mm (26°) Upper right front 15 mm (41°) Upper left front 15 mm (17°) Lower front |
5 mm (74°) Upper sides 15 mm Forward sides 5 mm Backward sides |
5 mm (73°) Upper rear 5 mm Lower rear |
5 mm Roof 15 mm (0-35°) Radar mast 15 mm (0-68°) Radar dish |
| Cupola | 15 mm | 15 mm | 15 mm | 15 mm (44-83°) Cupola dome |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels, tracks and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
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 | 66 | 21 | 29 | 767 | 1,030 | 26.45 | 35.52 |
| Realistic | 61 | 19 | 478 | 540 | 16.48 | 18.62 | |
The mobility of the VEAK 40 is fairly decent. The vehicle is based on the chassis of the Strv 103A and features the same transmission and engine (although currently lacking turbine engine sound) while being 7.9 tons lighter. The engine gives out 540 HP in realistic when fully upgraded, giving this 29 ton vehicle a power to ton ratio of 18.62. This gives the tank great acceleration on shorter distances and allows it to effectively move around the battlefield like your average speedy light tank.
Mobility times on flat paved terrain (realistic)
- Time to 60 km/h (max effective) forward: > 25 s
- Time to 20 km/h forward: > 2 s
- Time to 18 km/h (max effective) reverse: > 2 s
- Time to rotate 360°: < 8 s
Mobility times on flat grass terrin (realistic)
- Time to 40 km/h (max effective) forward: < 11 s
- Time to 20 km/h forward: > 2 s
- Time to 18 km/h (max effective) reverse: > 2 s
- Time to rotate 360°: < 8 s
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The VEAK 40 uses two Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft autocannon L/70 guns, in Swedish service designated 40 mm lvakan m/48. These have extremely good stats in all regards, with an excellent rate of fire, excellent muzzle velocity and are effective against both aircraft and tanks.
The downside compared to 35 mm counterparts is the somewhat questionable accuracy, compounded by the fact the VEAK 40 no longer has HE-VT ammunition, necessitating a direct hit to disable a vehicle. It is also really easy to spend half of the ammunition without even noticing - each gun consumes a clip every 10 shots, but the UI presents it as 20 shots in the same box, which might be confusing. To avoid confusion, always divide current amount of clips by 2.
| 40 mm lvakan m/48 (x2) | 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 | 420 (10) | 300 | -5°/+85° | ±180° | Two-plane | 74.9 | 103.6 | 125.8 | 139.1 | 148.0 | 0.65 | 0.58 | 0.53 | 0.50 |
| Realistic | 50.6 | 59.5 | 72.2 | 79.9 | 85.0 | |||||||||
Ammunition
The ammunition of the VEAK 40 is below average for its type. The penetration values even of the AP ammunition is too low to penetrate any heavy tank, but it can penetrate lighter tanks through weak spots in the majority of situations.
- Default: SAPHEI · HEFI-T
- slsgr m/36C: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · SAPHEI
- slpprj m/42B: AP · AP · AP · HEFI-T
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| SAPHEI | 68 | 64 | 49 | 35 | 25 | 18 | |
| HEFI-T | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | |
| AP | 95 | 90 | 72 | 55 | 42 | 32 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| SAPHEI | 880 | 1 | 1.2 | 9 | 38 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
| HEFI-T | 850 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 44 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
| AP | 910 | 1.2 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 30 (+12) | 11 (+31) | No |
Machine guns
Beyond its main weaponry, the VEAK 40 also features a cupola mounted 7,62 mm FN MAG machine gun, in Swedish service designated 7,62 mm ksp m/58B. This is extremely rare for SPAAs and makes it one of two SPAAs that has a secondary machine gun (the other one being the Lvkv 9040C). While there is no realistic use case for this machine gun aside from near improbable circumstances (such as if your main gun is repairing but a plane is diving you or if you see something exposed like a M56 with your main guns damaged), it's still available to you and can be used to ping targets on the minimap if you have to.
| 7.62 mm ksp 58 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 1,000 (250) | 600 | -10°/+50° | ±120° |
Usage in battles
The VEAK 40 is a quite capable tier 5 SPAA. It has both a search and tracking radar and anti air guns that can take out any aircraft within a 3 km radius. The guns also have fairly high penetration on its armour-piercing ammo and will easily take out lightly armoured vehicles from the front and the majority of vehicles from the sides. Its protection, however, is more or less non-existent and the VEAK 40 can be dealt with even regular low-calibre machine guns.
You have two primary modes of operation; anti-air and anti-tank. When there are enemy aircraft up, your main focus would be to engage them and clear the skies. Due to the large caliber of your shells, a single hit will usually suffice when it comes to critically damaging your enemy, which rewards good marksmanship as a result. You have a great advantage in this regard as your radar is much more capable than other 7.7-8.0 SPAAs at this tier, being roughly equivalent to radars found on the Gepard or Chieftain Marksman than on the ZSU-23-4 etc. when it comes to search radar performance. This lets you be acutely aware of enemy aircraft and/or helicopters compared to other SPAAGs of the BR, and offers a unique niche for the VEAK 40 as a result. For anti-tank work, you stow your radar and flank the enemy, just like a light tank would. While you can handle lightly armored vehicles like BMP-1s easily you can't handle say, a T-55A frontally if you meet him on equal terms. Flank your enemies, and unload AP shells into their thin sides to secure kills.
Due to the large profile of the turret there are rarely options for the VEAK 40 to hide behind most objects, and thus it is best to play aggressively using your high speed, stabilized guns and high fire rate to defeat enemy tanks. An alternative playstyle could be to use your third person camera controls (default PC bind "C" for lookaround camera) to ambush enemies as they pass, lining up your guns and waiting for an unsuspecting soul to pass your line of sight.
Overall, the VEAK 40 provides a fairly grounded response to the ever-improving set of aircraft and helicopters you will be facing in uptiers. The later ItPsV Leopard offers a more mobile and armored chassis with more well rounded guns, but the VEAK still acts as a solid anchor for the Swedish 7.7-8.7 lineups nonetheless, although the removal of its HE-VT does noticeably diminish its effectiveness against aircraft compared to when it was at 8.7.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Twin 40 mm lvakan m/48 cannons are very effective against air units
- Has a lot of meaningful options for ammo belts:
- Has SAPHEI/HE belt like the early Swedish SPAA to obliterate poorly armoured vehicles and exploit weak spots
- AP belt has 3/1 composition and can penetrate MBT hulls from the side easily
- Radar is a Combined Search and Tracking radar, can track targets through a full 360°, will not randomly alert other aircraft while focusing on one
- At 7.7 its search radar gives it unparalleled awareness due to its fast scan rate and long detection range (12km)
- Fairly mobile
Cons:
- Guns are fairly inaccurate
- Both guns use the same belt, meaning ammo will run out twice as fast than the UI suggests
- The turret is very thinly armored and houses the majority of the crew and ammunition
- Can be taken out by even rifle-calibre (7.62mm) machine guns flat-on at close range
- Easily spotted due to its very tall turret
- Engine is very loud, can easily give away your position while moving
- Replaced by the ItPsV Leopard fairly quickly as it is much more flexible
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
See also
- Related development
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| AB Bofors | |
|---|---|
| MBTs | |
| Strv 103 | Strv 103-0 · Strv 103A · Strv 103С |
| Tank Destroyers | SAV 20.12.48 · Bkan 1C |
| SPAA | Lvkv 42 |
| Radar | VEAK 40 |
| SAM | ASRAD-R* |
| See Also | BAE Systems AB |
| *Saab Bofors Dynamics | |
| Sweden anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| SPAA | Pvlvv fm/42 · Lvtdgb m/40 · Pbv 301 · Lvkv 42 · U-SH 204 GK |
| Radar SPAA | VEAK 40 · Lvkv 9040C |
| SAM | Lvrbv 701 · ASRAD-R |
| Finland | L-62 ANTI II · ▄ZSU-57-2 · ItO 90M · ItPsV Leopard |
