VFW

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VFW
germ_vsw_flak_41.png
GarageImage VFW.jpg
ArtImage VFW.png
ArtImage2 VFW.png
VFW
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Description

The Versuchsflakwagen is a premium gift rank III German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On" as a reward in the "Battlefield Engineer" event.

Also known as the Grille 10, the 8.8 cm Flak 37 auf Sonderfahrgestell (German: 8.8 cm Flak 37 on special chassis), or the abbreviated technical name Sfl.IVc (Selbstfahrlafette: self-propelled gun mount IVc), was originally developed as a mobile gun platform using 8.8 cm Flak guns.

Designed by the Krupp corporation originally as an anti-tank vehicle in 1941, it was realized that by using 8.8 cm Flak cannons, it could achieve not only an anti-tank role but also an anti-aircraft one as well. Because of this, this vehicle was given the 8.8 cm Flak 41 as its main and only armament.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull20 / 14 / 14
Turret12 / 0 / 0
Crew6 people
Visibility101 %

The VFW has decently high survivability in battle, utilizing its thin armour to great effect. After all,"no armour is the best armour". The vehicle is effective both with side skirts up and down and out of the way. The Versuchsflakwagen does have hull-break, so you have to worry about high caliber HE shells triggering instant destruction of the vehicle.

When the side skirts are in the up position, they will cover the sides of the exposed crew and gun, offering two layers of 5 mm armour, adding up to a total of 10 mm of armour which can protect you from oncoming machine gun fire. They may also prevent damage by shrapnel from artillery barrages that land near, though not directly on your vehicle. However, they will not hold up to a round fired from the main gun of a tank. Fortunately, due to the thin armour, enemy shells may simply pass through without detonating, only doing minor damage depending on where they hit. Its armour is not enough to protect it from high caliber machine guns and autocannons.

With the skirts down, the tank destroyer can easily be disabled due to the exposure of the four crew members to the elements, or the gun being taken out of commission. On the other hand, if the tank, gun, or both are still in action, the front panels of the Flak 41 can be used to block machine gun fire, effectively protecting any crew still remaining to operate the gun. Folding the side skirts down also allows the turret to rotate 360 degrees horizontally.

In both configurations, the crew is very spaced out, and separated by armour into three groups, greatly enhancing its suitability. It is near impossible for an enemy tank to take out all its crew members in a single shot. The loader, gunner, and commander can be killed by a shot to the left of the turret, but both crew members in the driving compartment and the second loader will likely survive so you can escape. The only real danger of the VFW being destroyed in one hit would either be from an ammo rack detonation, which is unlikely as all the ammunition is safely stored in the hull, or from a bomb or artillery landing too close. Beware that its survivability depends solely on crew count and placement rather than armour. In other words, you can easily take one or two hits, but ultimately there is a limited number of shots you can tank before you are sent back to the hangar.

Armour type:

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull ___ mm ___ mm Top
___ mm Bottom
___ mm ___ - ___ mm
Turret ___ - ___ mm Turret front
___ mm Gun mantlet
___ - ___ mm ___ - ___ mm ___ - ___ mm
Cupola ___ mm ___ mm ___ mm ___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB66 / 6 km/h
RB and SB60 / 5 km/h
Number of gears7 forward
1 back
Weight26.0 t
Engine power
AB687 hp
RB and SB360 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB26.4 hp/t
RB and SB13.8 hp/t
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 6 26 511 687 19.65 26.42
Realistic 60 5 318 360 12.23 13.85

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB1 725 Sl icon.png
RB2 104 Sl icon.png
SB2 820 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts290 000 Sl icon.png
Aces710 Ge icon.png
Research Aces960 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 110 / 180 / 230 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 166 / 166 / 166 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods tank additional armor.png
Side skirts up
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement ger.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods tank rangefinder.png
Rangefinder
Mods tank ammo.png
88mm_kwk_36_43_APCR_ammo_pack

Armaments

Rangefinder
Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Main armament

Ammunition48 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
5.2 → 4.0 s
Vertical guidance-3° / 90°
Main article: Flak 41 (88 mm)
88 mm Flak 41 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)*
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 48 -3°/+90° ±180° N/A 8.8 12.2 14.8 16.4 17.4 5.20 4.60 4.24 4.00
Realistic 6.0 7.0 8.5 9.4 10.0

Notes:

  • The reloading rate on the following table corresponds to when the VFW's "Side skirts up" modification is uninstalled. When it is installed, the reload goes up by 2.1 seconds.

The VFW is armed with the 88 mm Flak 41 cannon allowing it to disable or destroy a majority of its intended targets at its battle rating. The reload speed of the gun is around 5 seconds which allows for quick and consistent fire upon targets.

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
PzGr 39/43 APCBC 230 228 215 201 188 175
Sprgr. Flak 41 HE-TF* 25 25 24 22 20 19
PzGr 40/43 APCR 277 272 250 226 204 184
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
PzGr 39/43 APCBC 980 10.16 1.2 14 108.8 48° 63° 71°
Sprgr. Flak 41 HE-TF* 1,000 9.4 0.05 0.1 1,000 79° 80° 81°
PzGr 40/43 APCR 1,125 7.3 - - - 66° 70° 72°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the VFW
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
48 37 (+11) 25 (+23) 13 (+35) (+47) No

Note:

  • Shells are modeled individually and disappear from the rack after having been shot or loaded.

Usage in battles

Because of its great cannon and non-existent armour, the VFW is best used as a glass cannon for long range engagements. Find a spot on a hill or slope and wait for targets. If use in urban area is unavoidable, choose the "side skirts down" mode. This makes the cannon more flexible and gives you a quicker reload time. Make sure to stay in cover, since with your side skirts down, you will be an easy target for planes and artillery.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • A very fast reload on a very powerful gun
  • Surprising durability, very difficult to one-shot
  • Large crew allows for fast reloading
  • Reasonable transverse allows for quick escape when in a tight spot
  • Side-skirts can be raised for added protection from machine guns
  • Side-skirts can be lowered for a greater range of turret movement

Cons:

  • Virtually nonexistent gun depression
  • Very thin armour, exposed crew and wide vehicle profile (large target)
  • Extremely vulnerable to virtually any form of enemy aircraft or artillery fire
  • If side-skirts are raised, turret movement is restricted; an immobilized VFW can only fire at vehicles directly in front of it
  • Side-skirts can only be raised or lowered before the start of the game

History

The VFW was the first of several projects of the Krupp company to mount a heavy anti-air gun on a mobile armoured chassis. This initially developed version, which mounts the 8.8cm FlaK 41 cannon onto a heavily modified Panzer IV chassis, was created in 1944.

Initial tests of the vehicle were performed throughout 1944. However, apart from tests producing mixed results, it was lacking interest that eventually led to the project's ultimate cancellation later that year. As a result, the VFW never left prototype stage and only a single experimental vehicle was ever produced.

- From Devblog

  • Due to its box-like shape, the player base gave this vehicle the nickname "Flaktoaster" or just "Toaster"

Media

Skins
Images
Videos

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


Germany tank destroyers
Pz. I Derivatives  Panzerjäger I
Pz. II Derivatives  15cm sIG 33 B Sfl
Pz. 38(t) Derivatives  Marder III · Marder III H · Jagdpanzer 38(t)
Pz. III Derivatives  StuG III A · StuG III F · StuG III G · StuH 42 G
Pz. IV Derivatives  Jagdpanzer IV · Panzer IV/70(A) · Panzer IV/70(V) · Dicker Max · Nashorn · Brummbär · VFW
Pz. V Derivatives  Jagdpanther G1 · Bfw. Jagdpanther G1
Pz. VI Derivatives  Sturer Emil · Elefant · Ferdinand · 38 cm Sturmmörser · Jagdtiger
Wheeled/Half-track  8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl. · Sd.Kfz.251/9 · Sd.Kfz.251/10 · Sd.Kfz.251/22 · Sd.Kfz.234/3 · Sd.Kfz.234/4 · 15 cm Pz.W.42
ATGM Carrier  RakJPz 2 · RakJPz 2 (HOT) · Wiesel 1A2
Other  Waffenträger · M109G · JPz 4-5 · Raketenautomat · VT1-2

Germany premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  Pz.II C (DAK) · Pz.Sfl.Ic · Pz.Sp.Wg.P204(f) KwK · Sd.Kfz. 140/1 · Sd.Kfz.234/1 · Ru 251 · SPz 12-3 LGS · TAM 2IP
Medium tanks  Nb.Fz. · Pz.III N · Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J · ▀M4 748 (a) · ▀T 34 747 (r) · Ersatz M10
  mKPz M47 G · Turm III · Leopard A1A1 (L/44) · Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123)
Heavy tanks  ▀Pz.Kpfw. Churchill · ▀KV-IB · ▀KW I C 756 (r) · ▀KW II 754 (r)
  VK 45.01 (P) · ␠Tiger · Pz.Bef.Wg.VI P · Tiger II (H) Sla.16
Tank destroyers  Sd.Kfz.234/3 · Sd.Kfz.234/4 · Sd.Kfz.251/10 · Sd.Kfz.251/22 · 15 cm Pz.W.42
  Brummbär · Panzer IV/70(A) · VFW · Bfw. Jagdpanther G1 · Elefant · 38 cm Sturmmörser