Flakpanzer 38

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A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
Flakpanzer 38
germ_flakpanzer_38t_gepard.png
Flakpanzer 38
AB RB SB
2.0 1.7 1.7
Class:
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This page is about the German SPAA Flakpanzer 38. For other uses, see LT-38 (Family).

Description

GarageImage Flakpanzer 38.jpg


The Flakpanzer 38, 2 cm, Pz.Fgst.38 (t) Sf., officially named Flakpanzer 38(t) auf Selbstfahrlafette 38(t) Ausf M (Sd.Kfz. 140), is a rank I German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB) and 1.7 (RB/SB). It is sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as the Gepard, which may lead to confusion with the unrelated Flakpanzer Gepard. It was introduced in Update 1.47 "Big Guns".

General info

Survivability and armour

The Flakpanzer 38(t) has thin but highly sloped front armour that resists 7-8 mm machine bullets and even 12.7 mm machine gun rounds. The gun shield will shrug off smaller rifle-calibre rounds but not 12.7 mm bullets and larger. Like its predecessor, the Flakpanzer I, it maintains a crew of two and is also hull-breakable.

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 46 7 9.8 213 286 21.73 29.18
Realistic 43 7 133 150 13.57 15.31

Top speed and power-to-weight ratio are much higher than the Flakpanzer I, topping out at 46 km/h forward, -6 km/h backwards, and a power-to-weight ratio in realistic and simulator battles of 15.31 hp/ton.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: FlaK38 (20 mm)

The gun is the same as its predecessor, the FlaK 38. It has sufficient HE shells for planes, 46 mm penetration AP-I, and 64 mm penetration APCR. The belt size is identical. Reload between clips is long. The gun can pen most things the tank encounters, barring Valentines, Matildas, B1 bis, B1 ter, and T-28E.

20 mm FlaK38 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 1,080 (20) 480 -10°/+90° ±180° N/A 30.82 42.66 51.79 57.28 60.94 3.90 3.45 3.18 3.00
Realistic 20.83 24.50 29.75 32.90 35.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
Default 36 34 26 19 14 10
Sprgr. 2 2 2 2 2 2
PzGr 36 34 26 19 14 10
PzGr 40 64 63 26 19 14 10

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
1,080 __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __

Usage in battles

The Flakpanzer 38 is an even better flanker and support unit than the Flakpanzer I and should be used in the same way. Flank around, engage tanks mainly, shoot planes when they aren't aware of you.

Just like the Flakpanzer I, avoid heavily armoured opposition, especially frontally. You can barely pen B1 bis, M3 Lee variations, and T-28Es on the side, but cannot pen Valentines, Matildas, or B1 ters from much of any side.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive Sprgr.
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire PzGr
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support PzGr 40

For this vehicle, two very important modifications to keep an eye out for are the Sprgr. and PzGr 40 ammo belts. The first provides a boost to the vehicle's anti-air capabilities, being completely filled with high explosive shells, and the second turns the Flakpanzer into a deadly anti-tank machine with high-penetration HVAP rounds.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Great penetrating cannon with PzGr 40 belt
  • Fast fire rate
  • Fast turret traverse
  • Great mobility
  • Hull shrugs off up to 12.7 mm machine gun rounds

Cons:

  • Low-survivability due to two crew and hull-breakability
  • Long reload between clips is very punishing if you spray too much
  • Open-topped and vulnerable to planes using any weapon
  • Best penetrating PzGr 40 belt is mixed with standard PzGr ammunition
  • Not a long-range SPAA

History

In-game description

The Flakpanzer 38(t) self-propelled anti-air mount was a temporary transitional version that was used until the development of a real anti-air tank on the chassis of the Panzer IV was completed. The vehicle was produced from November, 1943 to February, 1944. The first 87Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles appeared at the front in January, 1944 and made up Flugabwehrzug (AA platoons) in tank divisions and tank grenadier divisions (sometimes in Waffen SS divisions such as the Hitlerjugend 12th Waffen SS division in Norway in 1944).

In 1944-1945 Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles were used actively on the Italian and Western Fronts, where they were effective against low-flying aircraft.

A total of 141 Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles were released.

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;
  • encyclopedia page on the tank;
  • other literature.


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