Flakpanzer 38

Flakpanzer 38

Flakpanzer I

Sd.Kfz.222

Flakpanzer 38

Flakpanzer I

Sd.Kfz.222

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	1.7	1.7

Class:

SPAA

Research:2 000

Purchase:2 100

Show in game

This page is about the German SPAA Flakpanzer 38. For other uses, see LT-38 (Family).

Description

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

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	10 mm (65°) Front glacis 20 mm (14°) Lower glacis	15 mm	10-15 mm (40°)	8 mm
Turret	7 mm Turret front 7 mm Gun mantlet	0 mm	0 mm	0 mm

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

The gun is the same as its predecessor, the FlaK38. It has sufficient HE shells for planes, 46 mm penetration AP-I, and 64 mm penetration HVAP. 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

• Default: API-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T
• Sprgr.: HEFI-T
• PzGr: API-T
• PzGr.40: HVAP-T · API-T

Penetration statistics
Belts	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

Belt 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%
Sprgr.	HEFI-T	900	0.115	0.3	0.1	10.2	79°	80°	81°
PzGr	API-T	780	0.147	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Flakpanzer 38

Full ammo	1st rack empty	Visual discrepancy
54	1 (+53)	Yes

Usage in battles

At the start of the match, you can camp around the spawn point and wait until the enemy planes show up, this is the safest way, but it's passive and not efficient in terms of getting kills. So if you are brave / skilled enough, use it as a light tank as it has 42 km/h top speed. The 20 mm cannon is very deadly against any light and fast vehicles, it can finish up their crew easily when penetrated. However you must be very careful as the Flakpanzer 38 only has 2 crew, and losing one means death. Unfortunately, the gunner is the most exposed and unprotected crew and is extremely vulnerable to everything: artillery, MG fire, planes, small bombs, rockets, etc. Do whatever you can to stay alive, as this vehicle has more potential as the match progresses. Pick on those soft targets and avoid heavily armoured ones to ensure effective penetration and killing.

When shooting planes, avoid opening fire when the plane is far away from you. This will only waste your ammo and give your position away to both the plane and the tanks. Instead you have two tactics: one is to passively wait until the plane flies close and is unaware of you, then suddenly open fire. The other tactic is a bit risky. First find a good cover so you are not likely to get shot from tanks. Then regardless of the plane's distance from you, fire some random shells at it to get their attention. Once they know you're there, a lot of pilots will turn towards you and try to kill you, knowing that SPAAs usually have weak protection. When they're flying head-on towards you, use the fast fire rate and spray a stream of shells in their path and wait for them to crash into your shells, then quickly move away to dodge the bullets. Tip: aim slightly above the plane to compensate for the shell drop, as the distance between you and the plane is usually greater than you think.

In the late stages of the match you should be even more careful, as at this time most people will take out their SPAAs, and those fast-firing guns are your biggest threat. Try and be more aware of the surrounding situations, avoid running into anyone. Use the mobility to flank and the small profile to ambush.

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 firepower: wonderful combination of rapid firerate, adequate velocity, 20 round mag and various belt types. Sprgr. belt is destructive against low tier aircraft, while PzGr 40 is very deadly against armored targets (eg. M3A3, T-60 or even the B1 bis).
• Fast turret traverse allows it to keep up with close / fast targets easily, while the great elevation & depression means it can fight in any terrain
• Small frontal profile allows it to hide behind covers or bushes easily, which kind of makes up for its lack of protection.
• Decent top speed of 42 kph means it can get to certain positions alongside light tanks, which is great for ambushing.
• Thin turret armor can make some shells over-penetrate, dealing little damage.
• Hull armor can resist 12.7mm bullets, commonly used on US tanks like M13 MGMC and M8 Greyhound.

Cons:

• Extremely poor survivability: only two crew protected by hull-breakable thin armor makes it easily to get destroyed. Common threats include artillery strike, nearby bombs, strafing planes, MG (eg. M13, GAZ-AAA) and HEAT (eg. M8, Chi-Ha)
• Rather long reload time requires strict trigger control.
• The PzGr 40 belt is mixed with low-penetrating belts, reducing its anti tank capacity as half of the shells won't go through sometimes.
• Slow reverse speed of only 6 kph will get the player killed due to not being able to retreat from danger quickly.

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