Wiesel 1A2

This page is about the German tank destroyer Wiesel 1A2. For other versions, see Wiesel (Family).

Wiesel 1A2

RakJPz 2 (HOT)

Wiesel 1A2

RakJPz 2 (HOT)

Germany

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.0	9.7	9.7

Class:

Tank destroyer

ATGM vehicle

Research:260 000

Purchase:710 000

Show in game

Description

The Waffenträger Wiesel 1A2 TOW is a rank VII German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB) and 9.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Ground Breaking".

A tiny tankette with a big punch, the Wiesel 1A2 allows players to utilize the vehicle's tiny profile to bring the TOW anti-tank missile wherever they wish in the battlefield, just so long as they are not seen first.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull8 / 8 / 8

Turret0 / 0 / 0

Crew3 people

Visibility62 %

The armour on the Wiesel 1A2 is more likely meant for keeping the crew members out of the weather elements than actually for protecting the crew from any form of gunfire barring the weakest rifle-calibre ammunition. The 60° slope on the front of the tank will only spare the crew from rifle-calibre machine gun fire, providing about ~25 mm of protection against projectiles. Against heavy machine gun fire and large calibres, the front plate will be pierced, and the crew and ammo will quickly take damage.

In terms of survivability, the Wiesel performs rather poorly there as well. Being a compact tank, the crew of 3 men and the ammunition are cramped together, turning any penetration of the tank into a crew knock out, if not an outright ammo rack detonation since the racks are sitting behind the commander and the gunner. The only saving grace is the frontally left-mounted engine and transmission, which on extreme occasion will absorb an incoming projectile, even a main battle tank shell, but again, this is a rare occurrence.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	8 mm (60°)	8 mm Top 8 mm Bottom	8 mm	6 - 8 mm

Notes:

Mobility

The mobility of the Wiesel 1a2 is quite excellent, boasting 30 horsepower per ton with 87HP(spaded) on a 2.9T chasse. with such acceleration the Wiesel can quickly reach its top speed on both hard road and grassland ground very fast. The Wiesel does quite well climbing hills and steep inclines when spaded. Commanders of a spaded Wiesel can expect the tank to reach a top speed of about 51 KM/H on grass dirt terrain, and about 65 on roads, although higher speeds can be achieved in prolonged straight-line dashes.

Speedforward / back

AB87 / 32 km/h

RB and SB81 / 30 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

2 back

Weight2.9 t

Engine power

AB166 hp

RB and SB87 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB57.2 hp/t

RB and SB30.0 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	87	32	2.9	124	166	42.76	57.24
Realistic	81	30		77	87	26.55	30

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB4 640 → 6 389

RB4 801 → 6 610

SB6 790 → 9 349

Total cost of modifications211 000

352 000

Talisman cost2 800

Crew training200 000

Experts710 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces1 080 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

160 / 210 / 250 %

232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 240 Suspension Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 Brake System Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 Filters Research: 19 000 Cost: 30 000 500 Transmission Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 480 Engine Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 480	Improved Parts Research: 2 700 Cost: 14 000 240 Improved FPE Research: 3 900 Cost: 20 000 340 Crew Replenishment Research: 19 000 Cost: 30 000 500	Horizontal Drive Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 240 152mm_us_tow_2a_ammo_pack Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 240 NVD Research: 9 100 Cost: 14 000 240 Airstrike Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 Elevation Mechanism Research: 19 000 Cost: 30 000 500 Improved optics Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 480 152mm_us_tow_2_ammo_pack Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 480

The modification acquisition order for the Wiesel differs from other tanks severely. After getting Parts and FPE, the modification that should be pursued is the TOW-2A. Acquiring this missile will allow the Wiesel to frontally engage and kill any target at its BR with few exceptions, granting the tank a significant power boost. The next modification to be acquired is the thermals, as this will allow faster target acquisition and allow for more tolerable conditions in night battles. After the previously mentioned modifications are obtained, all other modifications are to be gathered at the user's preference.

Armaments

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

BGM-71 TOW ATGM

Ammunition8 rounds

Belt capacity1 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

13.0 → 10.0 s

Fire rate7 shots/min

Vertical guidance-20° / 20°

Horizontal guidance-45° / 45°

Fire on the moveup to 5 km/h

BGM-71 TOW missile					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	8	±20°	±45°	N/A	26.4	36.5	44.3	49.0	52.1	13.00	11.50	10.60	10.00
Realistic					17.9	21.0	25.5	28.2	30.0

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
TOW-2	ATGM	800	800	800	800	800	800
TOW-2A	ATGM (tandem)	800	800	800	800	800	800
TOW-2B	ATGM (OTA)	100	100	100	100	100	100

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
TOW-2	ATGM	329	3,750	21.45	0.05	0.1	4.41	80°	82°	90°
TOW-2A	ATGM (tandem)	329	3,750	22.63	0.4	0.01	4.51	80°	82°	90°

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
										0%	50%	100%
TOW-2B	ATGM (OTA)	309	3,750	22.59	0.05	0.1	30	3	3.38	80°	82°	90°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Wiesel 1A2

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
8	2 (+6)	1 (+7)	0 (+8)	No

Notes:

• Missiles are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Missiles deplete from rack 1 then 2. Rack 3 represents the ATGM launcher.

Machine guns

7.62 mm MG3A1 machine gun

Ammunition1 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate1 200 shots/min

7.62 mm MG3A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	1,000 (200)	1,200	-10°/+50°	-30°/+120°

Usage in battles

The primary use of the Wiesel 1A2 should be as an ambush tank destroyer. Utilizing the ATGM's impressive depression angle of -20* to conceal the Wiesel on the tops of hills and in ditches allow the player to be all but invisible to enemy armour. In terrains that lack such features such as cities, the Wiesel is able to best fulfill its role by hiding in corners and dead ends angles so that an enemy approaching the Wiesel will not be able to react in time. Due to the long reload of the ATGM paired with the paper-thin armour, it is not recommended to brawl with this tankette. However, if the Wiesel has the element of surprise, the punchy TOW-2A can deliver a killing blow in a single hit. Another aspect to note is the insanely good power-to-weight ratio, allowing Wiesel to climb steep inclines and to access locations not often accessible to most tanks. Use this mobility to place the Wiesel in a spot where enemy tanks will not be expecting it.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great ATGM, including top-down attack modification for countersniping and NERA tanks
• Good mobility
• Small silhouette, making it easy to hide
• Can properly hulldown behind short cover and has reasonable turret depression for the hills and high ground
• Can scout while being an ATGM tank - renders smoke screens and cover useless in AB, makes it easier to call for help and to get a replacement in RB

Cons:

• Almost no armour - can be broken, bullied and destroyed by using HMG or even LMG alone, will not sustain explosive damage either
• While the crew is located low enough to survive some AP shots passing through the roof, the ammo racks are placed way too high, it is necessary to spend ammunition fast to survive
• Low ATGM count, considering it can't stand up for itself in close quarters when rearming (Usually irrelevant in AB)
• TOW-2B is a tier 4 upgrade, until then 1A2 is not much better than ATGMs of lower BR

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 Wiesel 1A2 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #276 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the Wiesel 1A2.

See also

• M113A1 (TOW)
• M113A1 (TOW) (China)
• CM25
• UDES 33
• Pvrbv 551

External links

• [Devblog] Wiesel armored vehicles: MK20/TOW/2 ADWC