Light AA Mk I

Light AA Mk I

Staghound AA

Light AA Mk I

Staghound AA

Britain

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

SPAA

Research:4 000

Purchase:2 100

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Description

The Tank, Light AA Mk I is a rank I British self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X".

This tank makes for a good entry-level anti-aircraft vehicle; good speed, manoeuvrability and a devastating short to medium range AA weapon. This vehicle should be used in the rear echelon of an assault, watching the skies for incoming bogies. However, the real ace is that the guns trade accuracy for sheer volume of fire, filling the skies with a hailstorm of bullets that can discourage bandits from lining up on an attack run. However, anything beyond effective range won't be struck down effectively.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull14 / 14 / 14

Turret14 / 14 / 14

Crew2 people

Visibility108 %

• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	14 mm Front plate 14 mm (0-73°) Upper glacis 14 mm (22-69°) Lower glacis	14 mm	14 mm (0-52°) Upper 4 mm (53-75°) Lower	4 mm
Turret	14 mm (0-64°) Turret front	14 mm	14 mm	N/A

The Light AA Mk I has very little armour. Most of the hull has 14 mm of armour, which is sufficient only against rifle-calibre rounds. However, the gunner is exposed to machine gun fire, and being that there are only 2 crew members, if he dies, the entire vehicle is destroyed. This means even enemy machine guns can kill you if they hit your gunner. You may be able to somewhat protect the gunner by aiming upwards with the machine guns, but this is not reliable. In any case, the Light AA Mk I is vulnerable to any vehicle in the game.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB55 / 7 km/h

RB and SB51 / 7 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight4.9 t

Engine power

AB168 hp

RB and SB88 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB34.3 hp/t

RB and SB18.0 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	55	7	4.9	125	168	25.51	34.29
Realistic	51	7		78	88	15.92	17.96

The Light AA Mk I is decently quick and manoeuvrable, and its small size allows it to fit into areas many other vehicles cannot. It can easily get around the map, and can quickly take cover from aircraft or other tanks when necessary. However, it is too light to drive through many obstacles easily, such as walls and small trees, and its suspension is too bouncy to allow it to fire with much accuracy while moving.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB200 → 257

RB181 → 232

SB264 → 339

Total cost of modifications4 440

2 690

Talisman cost300

Crew training600

Experts2 100

Aces45

Research Aces110 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

20 / 20 / 20 %

100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 220 Cost: 135 50 Suspension Research: 200 Cost: 120 45 Brake System Research: 200 Cost: 120 45 Filters Research: 280 Cost: 170 65 Transmission Research: 480 Cost: 290 115 Engine Research: 480 Cost: 290 115	Improved Parts Research: 220 Cost: 135 50 Improved FPE Research: 200 Cost: 120 45 Crew Replenishment Research: 280 Cost: 170 65	Horizontal Drive Research: 220 Cost: 135 50 7_92mm_BESA_universal_ammo_pack Research: 220 Cost: 135 50 Adjustment of Fire Research: 200 Cost: 120 45 7_92mm_BESA_API_ammo_pack Research: 200 Cost: 120 45 Elevation Mechanism Research: 280 Cost: 170 65 7_92mm_BESA_AP_ammo_pack Research: 280 Cost: 170 65 Artillery Support Research: 480 Cost: 290 115

Armaments

Main armament

4 x 7.92 mm BESA machine gun

Ammunition3 600 rounds

Belt capacity225 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

7.92 mm BESA (x4)						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	3,600 (225)	600	-10°/+65°	±180°	N/A	52.8	73.1	88.8	98.2	104.5	7.80	6.90	6.36	6.00
Realistic						35.7	42.0	51.0	56.4	60.0

The four BESA machine guns the Light AA Mk I is armed with can be devastating to open-topped vehicles thanks to their high rate of fire, but they are completely ineffective against anything with armour. They are also less effective and less accurate over distance against planes than the cannons or heavy machine guns most other anti-aircraft vehicles are armed with, although a well-placed burst will still tear apart the biplanes you are likely to face. Each belt is large enough to enable sustained fire, allowing you to compensate for your poor accuracy through sheer volume of bullets.

Ammunition

• Default: Ball · T · IT - The worst option, due to the highest quantity of poorly damaging ball and tracer rounds.
• Universal: AP · T · IT · Ball - Better than default, but still has regular tracers and ball rounds which hurt damage output.
• API-T: IT · IT · AP · T - Contains a lot of incendiary tracer rounds, which have a higher chance of starting fires in aircraft. Once a fire is started, it is likely to destroy the plane, making this belt very effective.
• AP-T: AP · AP · IT · T - AP rounds are still ineffective against armour, despite the name, but deal more damage to aircraft components. With good aim, this belt can tear wings off and destroy engines.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
T	5	4	2	1	0	0
Ball	5	4	2	1	0	0
IT	3	3	3	3	3	3
AP	13	12	7	3	2	0

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
T	847	0.01	-	-	-	47°	56°	65°
Ball	847	0.01	-	-	-	47°	56°	65°
IT	771	0.01	0	3	0	47°	56°	65°
AP	783	0.01	-	-	-	47°	56°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Light AA Mk I

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
16	4 (+12)	4 (+12)	4 (+12)	4 (+12)	Yes

Notes:

• The ammunition is divided into 16 belts of 225 bullets.
• However, ammunition is modeled as 50 boxes, grouped in 4 racks (rack 1: 12 boxes, rack 2: 13, rack 3: 13 and rack 4: 12)
• Racks 1, 2 & 3 will disappear only if you have 4 belts left.
• If you pack 16, 12 or 8 belts the 4 racks will be displayed as full.
• Racks will successively disappear if you pack 16 belts and shoot them until depletion.
• Pack the maximum amount of ammo to go into battle as you are a SPAA.

Optics

Light AA Mk I Optics
Which ones	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	x2.1	x3.7
Comparable optics	M13 MGMC

Usage in battles

The Light AA Mk I is a very vulnerable vehicle, so commanders should be careful not to expose themselves to enemy fire. Take care to find a position where you will not be seen by enemy ground vehicles, and watch the sky. Due to the low velocity of the machine guns, the Light AA Mk I should not open fire until the enemy plane is very close, probably within 1 km. If you begin to fire while the enemy plane is out of range, they will likely change course and stay away from your position. Also be wary if there is more than one enemy plane up, as you can easily be strafed to death by machine gun fire. Once you have a good shot on the enemy plane, the 4 machine guns are capable of dealing more damage than one might expect. You can down most aircraft quite quickly, although twin-engine fighters and bombers will take longer to destroy.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 4 BESA machine guns have a high ammo load and a good rate of fire
• 4 machine guns means that you have a high hit probability
• Can be used against low tier SPAA and open-top tank destroyers, however, it is best suited to strictly SPAA duties
• Small and mobile

Cons:

• Cannot defend itself from ground attacks, as none of its belts can penetrate tanks
• Damage output is nowhere near comparable to SPAA armed with 20 mm autocannons at this tier
• The gunner is exposed to machine gun fire from above and the front
• The armour will not protect you from 12.7 mm rounds and above
• Vulnerable to artillery

History

The machine-gun armed Mark VI light tank formed the bulk of British tank strength in 1939. They were intended for colonial duties and reconnaissance but would see front-line combat as late as the British defeats in Java in early 1942. In 1940 they were in use in the light tank squadrons of armoured regiments and the main body of the divisional cavalry regiments. They carried a .50 calibre or 15 mm machine gun as the main armament. They were also used in the early war as command vehicles for armoured units.

As they were withdrawn from service, some Mark VI's were converted to anti-aircraft vehicles, raising the superstructure and replacing the turret. In practice the commander also being the gunner was ineffective. British armoured regiments and tank battalions were supposed to have 4-8 of these vehicles each in mid-1942. By mid-1943 they were taken out of service, replaced for this purpose by the significantly more versatile 20 mm-armed Crusader AA Mk II tank.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Light AA Mk I from live.warthunder.com.

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;
• other literature.

Vickers-Armstrongs Limited
Ships
Tribal-class	HMS Eskimo · HMCS Haida
Invincible-class	HMS Invincible*
Kongō-class	IJN Kongo**
Tanks
Light Tanks	VFM5*** · Vickers Mk.11***
Light Tank Mk VI	Light AA Mk I
Light Tank Mk VII	Tetrarch I
Light Tank Mk VIII	Alecto I
Tank, Infantry, Valentine	Valentine I · Valentine IX · Valentine XI · Archer
Vickers MBT	Vickers Mk.1 · Vickers Mk.3 · Vickers Mk.7***
Heavy Tanks	Independent****
Export	▂МК-IX "Valentine" · Vickers Mk.E****
See also	Vickers-Armstrongs Aircraft Limited
	*Previously Armstrong Whitworth
	**Built for Japan
	***Vickers Defence Systems
	****Previously Vickers Limited

Britain anti-aircraft vehicles
Crusader AA	Crusader AA Mk I · Crusader AA Mk II
Wheeled	Staghound AA · AEC AA
Radar SPAAG	Chieftain Marksman
Missile SPAA	Stormer AD · Stormer HVM
Other	Light AA Mk I · Falcon
Canada	Skink · ADATS (M113)
South Africa	Ystervark · Bosvark · ZA-35