KwK30 (20 mm)

The 20 mm KwK30 on the Pz.II C (DAK) gun mantlet.

Description

The 20 mm KwK30 is a German tank cannon. It was primarily as the main armament of the Pz.II C and the Pz.II C (DAK). The KwK30 also served as the basis for the 20 mm C/30L, which was used on the He 112 A-0. An improved version that had a higher rate of fire, the 20 mm KwK38, was mounted on the Pz.II F.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Pz.II C
• Pz.II C (DAK)
• Pz.II C TD
• ␗Sd.Kfz.222

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

• Default: API-T · HEFI-T* - The belt composition means that 50% of the shells (HEFI-T) are useless against tanks while the other 50% (API-T) is nearly useless against planes. However, this belt is reliable against open-topped or thin-skinned vehicles like SPAA vehicles. Since there are no dedicated high-explosive shells for the selection, having one belt of this in reserve does not hurt for those situations.
• PzGr: API-T - This belt offers a good transition from the Default to the PzGr 40 APCR belt. The round offers decent use and damage against lightly armoured tanks, especially at close range. Due to lack of high-explosive filler however, it is better to focus on the PzGr 40 belt to maximize penetration power.
• PzGr 40: HVAP-T - Probably the best belt with the best penetrating shell for the vehicle. While the damage effects post-penetration can be quite poor, the rapid fire from the autocannon can mitigate this problem by following up quickly with another penetrating shot. In close combat, these shells should be used against modules and crew member to make the most of each shell. Against angled armour, however, the APCR ammo may not be very effective, just like any other APCR shell.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEFI-T*	5	4	3	2	2	2
API-T	37	34	23	14	9	6
HVAP-T	48	45	31	20	13	8

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEFI-T*	900	0.12	0.1	0.1	10.2	79°	80°	81°
API-T	800	0.15	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
HVAP-T	1,050	0.1	-	-	-	66°	70°	72°

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

The high fire rate and excellent penetration of the Kwk30 allows enemy tanks to be killed quickly. However, a small magazine and a lengthy reload rate allows enemies to fire back and destroy you. After shooting at enemies, take cover to reload. Try to avoid long-range engagements, as the penetration rate drops off rapidly at around 500 m.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High fire rate, does a lot of damage
• Very good penetration at close to medium ranges
• Decent reload speed of 6~7 seconds
• Better penetration than other 20 mm cannons at its rank

Cons:

• Poor penetration when not using HVAP-T shells
• Penetration rate drops rapidly at longer ranges
• Relatively small magazine of 10 rounds

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon 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 weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-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 />.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)