Difference between revisions of "8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl."
Dauphineus (talk | contribs) m (Flak Bus is now in rank III, so information was outdated) (Tag: Visual edit) |
Colok76286 (talk | contribs) (Edits) |
||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
Due to limited gun vertical traverse, smaller vehicles with lower chassis such as ASU-57 or similar can easily defeat it in extremely closer quarters engagement by simply driving up and make physical contact with the vehicle. The limited vertical traverse of the 88mm gun will mean the attacking vehicle cannot be damaged or destroyed in this situation. | Due to limited gun vertical traverse, smaller vehicles with lower chassis such as ASU-57 or similar can easily defeat it in extremely closer quarters engagement by simply driving up and make physical contact with the vehicle. The limited vertical traverse of the 88mm gun will mean the attacking vehicle cannot be damaged or destroyed in this situation. | ||
| − | There are multiple ways to destroy this vehicle. Users must take note that the design of the targeted vehicle has separated compartments for driving, gunnery and ammunition storage. Each one must be targeted best in accordance to different situations presented. Attacking forces unfamiliar with the vehicle may be confused as to which compartment to target first; the exposed ammunition storage, disable the gunnery or disable its movements; valuable time expended on this decision usually results in destruction of the unwitting user's vehicle. This does not become a problem if attacking vehicles are equipped with High- | + | There are multiple ways to destroy this vehicle. Users must take note that the design of the targeted vehicle has separated compartments for driving, gunnery and ammunition storage. Each one must be targeted best in accordance to different situations presented. Attacking forces unfamiliar with the vehicle may be confused as to which compartment to target first; the exposed ammunition storage, disable the gunnery or disable its movements; valuable time expended on this decision usually results in destruction of the unwitting user's vehicle. This does not become a problem if attacking vehicles are equipped with High-explosive shells, as even a glancing hit will completely disable or destroy it without the need to selectively target individual compartments. If not equipped with High-explosive shells and the user is unfamiliar with the target vehicle, they may opt do disable the gunnery controls first and buying more valuable time to target the remaining compartments. Alternatively, due to the vehicle being constructed of light armour, can be easily perforated with .50 cal or higher calibre shells to ensure quick destruction if the first shell misses or fails to deal critical damage. Artillery Strike can also easily and quickly disable or destroy the vehicle. Due to the exposed crew and light armour, a brief strafe from a fighter can also quickly disable or destroy it in a single pass. Most AP rounds, however, especially 75 and 88 mm rounds, if they hit the ammo rack from the front or rear, will not finish the Flak 37 off. The best chance to destroy a Flakbus with an Ammo rack detonation is to shoot the storage box that is mounted on the rear of the hull, from the side. |
=== Mobility === | === Mobility === | ||
| Line 126: | Line 126: | ||
Despite the presence of a whopping 88 mm gun on the back of this half-track, the complete lack of any armour, as well as the overpressure mechanic, give this vehicle a short lifespan on the front lines. Thus, the best course is to keep the half-track as far away from the battle as possible. | Despite the presence of a whopping 88 mm gun on the back of this half-track, the complete lack of any armour, as well as the overpressure mechanic, give this vehicle a short lifespan on the front lines. Thus, the best course is to keep the half-track as far away from the battle as possible. | ||
| − | The gun has a slow gun traverse and a terrible depression when angled towards the front, so firing against targets at close range on level ground will leave the vulnerable and unable to return fire against targets of low-profile chassis. The gun however can be depressed further at a lower degree when pointed to the sides and rear of the vehicle as it provides more physical clearance. As such when engaging targets on level ground at close to medium ranges, it is recommended to turn the entire vehicle clockwise or counterclockwise for 45 degrees and the gun turret 45 degrees in opposition to the angle of the chassis for clearance. This should be accomplished only in areas with enough | + | The gun has a slow gun traverse and a terrible depression when angled towards the front, so firing against targets at close range on level ground will leave the vulnerable and unable to return fire against targets of low-profile chassis. The gun however can be depressed further at a lower degree when pointed to the sides and rear of the vehicle as it provides more physical clearance. As such when engaging targets on level ground at close to medium ranges, it is recommended to turn the entire vehicle clockwise or counterclockwise for 45 degrees and the gun turret 45 degrees in opposition to the angle of the chassis for clearance. This should be accomplished only in areas with enough manoeuvring room to ingress and egress to guarantee clearance, or else the half-rack will find itself stuck (in some cases literally) between a rock and a hard place. Find cover behind rocks or other obstacles, inch out of cover only enough to show the gun, then race back into cover after firing to avoid being shot and losing valuable crew members. |
In the ways of modification purchases, try to obtain the spare parts and FPE first. From there, research Horizontal Drive, Adjustment of Fire, and Elevation Mechanism to increase your total combat effectiveness. The stock halftrack's turn rate is rather poor and needs improvement if you want to be able to quickly react to a changing battlefield. One thing that cannot be stressed enough is the fact that this vehicle is the definition of a ''Glass Cannon''. Most of the time, your TD will be destroyed by either an ammo rack explosion or most commonly a tank burn-down. Since the Flak.37 does not have armour, HEAT and HE shells can destroy you with one well placed shot. | In the ways of modification purchases, try to obtain the spare parts and FPE first. From there, research Horizontal Drive, Adjustment of Fire, and Elevation Mechanism to increase your total combat effectiveness. The stock halftrack's turn rate is rather poor and needs improvement if you want to be able to quickly react to a changing battlefield. One thing that cannot be stressed enough is the fact that this vehicle is the definition of a ''Glass Cannon''. Most of the time, your TD will be destroyed by either an ammo rack explosion or most commonly a tank burn-down. Since the Flak.37 does not have armour, HEAT and HE shells can destroy you with one well placed shot. | ||
| Line 139: | Line 139: | ||
* Six crew members | * Six crew members | ||
* Gun elevation maxed at 85°, some may use it to fight larger aircraft | * Gun elevation maxed at 85°, some may use it to fight larger aircraft | ||
| − | * Paper thin armour makes AP shell more likely to pass through | + | * Paper-thin armour makes AP shell more likely to pass through |
* More than adequate ammo for prolonged combat | * More than adequate ammo for prolonged combat | ||
'''Cons:''' | '''Cons:''' | ||
| − | * Very little armour, a heavy machine gun or strafing aircraft, and ramming planes will | + | * Very little armour, a heavy machine gun or strafing aircraft, and ramming planes will knock out of this vehicle easily |
| − | * Crew exposed, any explosion | + | * Crew exposed to overpressure, any nearby explosion can be lethal |
* Boxes near the rear are ammo racks, smart players will just take out your gunner and shoot there | * Boxes near the rear are ammo racks, smart players will just take out your gunner and shoot there | ||
* Heavy half-track and gun gives low and sluggish speed | * Heavy half-track and gun gives low and sluggish speed | ||
* With a gun depression of -3 degrees and the gun being high off the ground, you will have a near impossible chance of hitting short tanks that are really close to you on level ground | * With a gun depression of -3 degrees and the gun being high off the ground, you will have a near impossible chance of hitting short tanks that are really close to you on level ground | ||
| − | |||
== History == | == History == | ||
| Line 157: | Line 156: | ||
===The gun=== | ===The gun=== | ||
| − | The 8.8 cm FlaK is a German anti-aircraft artillery and one of their mainstay anti-air and anti-tank weapons in World War II. The 8.8 cm | + | The 8.8 cm FlaK is a German anti-aircraft artillery and one of their mainstay anti-air and anti-tank weapons in World War II. The 8.8 cm calibre was developed in 1917 during the times of World War I from available naval calibre to effectively combat Allied aircraft. The first of the FlaK series, the FlaK 18, was mounted on a easily deployable and traversable gun platform, has a semi-automatic loading system, and had a wide variety of ammunition available from high-explosives and armour-piercing. The guns first saw service in the Spanish Civil War and it proved as one of the most effective anti-aircraft guns of the period. Improvements to the Flak led to the FlaK 36 and FlaK 37 with new features such as a two-piece barrel and ability to fire without deploying the gun platform. Though the set-up time for the platform was quick at two and a half minutes, the weight of the gun required a half-track such as the Sd.Kfz 7 to quickly move it to a new position. The gun proved effective on ground targets as well, much of an impact that it was adapted as a tank armament on the [[Tiger H1|Tiger I]] heavy tank. The FlaK series ended up being produced in the thousands from 1933 to 1945, with up to 21,000 units produced in that time period. |
===8.8 cm Flak.37 sfl=== | ===8.8 cm Flak.37 sfl=== | ||
| Line 183: | Line 182: | ||
* ''other literature.'' --> | * ''other literature.'' --> | ||
| − | * [[wt:en/news/4244-development-8-8cm-flak-37-sf-auf-s-zgkw-18t-a-heavyweight-flak-en | + | * [[wt:en/news/4244-development-8-8cm-flak-37-sf-auf-s-zgkw-18t-a-heavyweight-flak-en|[Devblog] 8.8cm Flak 37 (Sf.) auf s. Zgkw. 18t - A Heavyweight Flak]] |
* [[Wikipedia:Sd.Kfz._9#Variants|[Wikipedia] Sd.Kfz._9 - Variants]] | * [[Wikipedia:Sd.Kfz._9#Variants|[Wikipedia] Sd.Kfz._9 - Variants]] | ||
{{Germany tank destroyers}} | {{Germany tank destroyers}} | ||
[[Category:Half-tracks]] | [[Category:Half-tracks]] | ||
Revision as of 16:23, 16 May 2022
Contents
Description
The 8.8cm Flak 37 Selbstfahrlafette auf 18 ton Zugkraftwagen is a rank III German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB), 4.0 (RB), and 3.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters". It features the famous 8.8 cm FlaK 37 cannon on a half-track mount, presenting heavy firepower at the cost of armour and even mobility due to its heavy weight.
The vehicle is affectionately nicknamed as the "Flak-Bus" or the "Flak-Track".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (engine and driver compartment, gun shield, ammo box)
- Structural steel (chassis, flatbed)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half-track | 10 mm Grille 8 mm (85-86°) Front hood 14.5 mm (50°) Driver View |
14.5 mm | 14.5 mm | 14.5 mm |
| Gun shield | 14.5 mm (17-41°) | 10 mm (14°) | N/A | N/A |
Notes:
- Tracks are 10 mm thick while suspension wheels are 15 mm thick.
If encountered in combat, attacking players can attempt to dispatch it at longer ranges. At slightly higher Battle-Ratings it is extremely unlikely that a player will use this vehicle to lead in the front line, but if he/she does, it can usually be easily dispatched from a concealed position. When the enemy is sniping, it is a difficult vehicle to destroy in a map with uneven and hilly terrain like Kuban where plentiful cover allows it to hide easily, but can be destroyed more easily on congested and more urban maps like Advance to the Rhine as there is increased difficulty for long ranged combat due to abundances of buildings and walls to use as cover for both sides.
Due to limited gun vertical traverse, smaller vehicles with lower chassis such as ASU-57 or similar can easily defeat it in extremely closer quarters engagement by simply driving up and make physical contact with the vehicle. The limited vertical traverse of the 88mm gun will mean the attacking vehicle cannot be damaged or destroyed in this situation.
There are multiple ways to destroy this vehicle. Users must take note that the design of the targeted vehicle has separated compartments for driving, gunnery and ammunition storage. Each one must be targeted best in accordance to different situations presented. Attacking forces unfamiliar with the vehicle may be confused as to which compartment to target first; the exposed ammunition storage, disable the gunnery or disable its movements; valuable time expended on this decision usually results in destruction of the unwitting user's vehicle. This does not become a problem if attacking vehicles are equipped with High-explosive shells, as even a glancing hit will completely disable or destroy it without the need to selectively target individual compartments. If not equipped with High-explosive shells and the user is unfamiliar with the target vehicle, they may opt do disable the gunnery controls first and buying more valuable time to target the remaining compartments. Alternatively, due to the vehicle being constructed of light armour, can be easily perforated with .50 cal or higher calibre shells to ensure quick destruction if the first shell misses or fails to deal critical damage. Artillery Strike can also easily and quickly disable or destroy the vehicle. Due to the exposed crew and light armour, a brief strafe from a fighter can also quickly disable or destroy it in a single pass. Most AP rounds, however, especially 75 and 88 mm rounds, if they hit the ammo rack from the front or rear, will not finish the Flak 37 off. The best chance to destroy a Flakbus with an Ammo rack detonation is to shoot the storage box that is mounted on the rear of the hull, from the side.
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 | 44 | 11 | 24.3 | 327 | 439 | 13.46 | 18.07 |
| Realistic | 40 | 10 | 203 | 230 | 8.35 | 9.47 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
| 88 mm Flak.37 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 40 | -3°/+85° | ±180° | N/A | 9.69 | 13.41 | 16.28 | 18.00 | 19.15 | 6.50 | 5.75 | 5.30 | 5.00 |
| Realistic | 6.55 | 7.70 | 9.35 | 10.34 | 11.00 | ||||||||
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. | APCBC | 153 | 151 | 140 | 128 | 116 | 106 |
| Sprgr. L/4.5 | HE-TF* | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 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. | APCBC | 810 | 9.5 | 1.2 | 14 | 285.6 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| Sprgr. L/4.5 | HE-TF* | 820 | 9 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 698 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 21 (+19) | 1 (+39) | No |
The ammo rack at the back of the halftrack can be reduced from two possible racks to one by reducing your total ammo count from 40 shells to 21, with the 21st shell will be loaded in the gun breech. This can reduce the possibility of an ammo rack explosion.
Usage in battles
Despite the presence of a whopping 88 mm gun on the back of this half-track, the complete lack of any armour, as well as the overpressure mechanic, give this vehicle a short lifespan on the front lines. Thus, the best course is to keep the half-track as far away from the battle as possible.
The gun has a slow gun traverse and a terrible depression when angled towards the front, so firing against targets at close range on level ground will leave the vulnerable and unable to return fire against targets of low-profile chassis. The gun however can be depressed further at a lower degree when pointed to the sides and rear of the vehicle as it provides more physical clearance. As such when engaging targets on level ground at close to medium ranges, it is recommended to turn the entire vehicle clockwise or counterclockwise for 45 degrees and the gun turret 45 degrees in opposition to the angle of the chassis for clearance. This should be accomplished only in areas with enough manoeuvring room to ingress and egress to guarantee clearance, or else the half-rack will find itself stuck (in some cases literally) between a rock and a hard place. Find cover behind rocks or other obstacles, inch out of cover only enough to show the gun, then race back into cover after firing to avoid being shot and losing valuable crew members.
In the ways of modification purchases, try to obtain the spare parts and FPE first. From there, research Horizontal Drive, Adjustment of Fire, and Elevation Mechanism to increase your total combat effectiveness. The stock halftrack's turn rate is rather poor and needs improvement if you want to be able to quickly react to a changing battlefield. One thing that cannot be stressed enough is the fact that this vehicle is the definition of a Glass Cannon. Most of the time, your TD will be destroyed by either an ammo rack explosion or most commonly a tank burn-down. Since the Flak.37 does not have armour, HEAT and HE shells can destroy you with one well placed shot.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Has a high potency of destroying tanks it encounters in just one shot
- Short reload time
- Six crew members
- Gun elevation maxed at 85°, some may use it to fight larger aircraft
- Paper-thin armour makes AP shell more likely to pass through
- More than adequate ammo for prolonged combat
Cons:
- Very little armour, a heavy machine gun or strafing aircraft, and ramming planes will knock out of this vehicle easily
- Crew exposed to overpressure, any nearby explosion can be lethal
- Boxes near the rear are ammo racks, smart players will just take out your gunner and shoot there
- Heavy half-track and gun gives low and sluggish speed
- With a gun depression of -3 degrees and the gun being high off the ground, you will have a near impossible chance of hitting short tanks that are really close to you on level ground
History
The half-track
The Sd.Kfz. 9 (nicknamed the Famo) was Germany's heaviest half-track seeing service in World War II. The first model was made in 1936 and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1938. Its primary purposes was as an artillery tractor and a tank recovery vehicle. The vehicle was able to tow about 28 tonnes, which was more than capable of towing the 24 cm Kanone 3 siege gun and the Panzer IV, but required two to four to tow the heavier Panther, Tiger I, and Tiger II. It was produced between 1938 to 1944 with 2,500 units produced.
The gun
The 8.8 cm FlaK is a German anti-aircraft artillery and one of their mainstay anti-air and anti-tank weapons in World War II. The 8.8 cm calibre was developed in 1917 during the times of World War I from available naval calibre to effectively combat Allied aircraft. The first of the FlaK series, the FlaK 18, was mounted on a easily deployable and traversable gun platform, has a semi-automatic loading system, and had a wide variety of ammunition available from high-explosives and armour-piercing. The guns first saw service in the Spanish Civil War and it proved as one of the most effective anti-aircraft guns of the period. Improvements to the Flak led to the FlaK 36 and FlaK 37 with new features such as a two-piece barrel and ability to fire without deploying the gun platform. Though the set-up time for the platform was quick at two and a half minutes, the weight of the gun required a half-track such as the Sd.Kfz 7 to quickly move it to a new position. The gun proved effective on ground targets as well, much of an impact that it was adapted as a tank armament on the Tiger I heavy tank. The FlaK series ended up being produced in the thousands from 1933 to 1945, with up to 21,000 units produced in that time period.
8.8 cm Flak.37 sfl
In 1940, fifteen examples of Sd.Kfz.9 were adapted to be mounted with the 8.8 cm FlaK 18 guns. These were officially known as 8.8 cm Flak 18 (Sfl.) auf Zugkraftwagen 18t. Its primary purpose was to serve in an anti-tank role, with the half-track needed to provide much-needed mobility to the gun. Aside from these 15 units produced, not much is known of its combat performance on the battlefield, but its existence inspired some American tank destroyer designs in 1943 to mount an anti-aircraft gun on a mobile vehicle, but these proved unsuccessful.
Media
- Skins
- 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
- [Devblog] 8.8cm Flak 37 (Sf.) auf s. Zgkw. 18t - A Heavyweight Flak
- [Wikipedia] Sd.Kfz._9 - Variants
| 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 |
