M168 (20 mm)

Description

The 20 mm M168 is a ground version of the M61 family of 20 mm (0.787-in) calibre rotary weapons systems, In the game, it is only installed on the M163 in a Vulcan Air Defence System (VADS) mounting.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• M163
• Hovet
• Machbet

General info

Fitting as a variant of the M61 Vulcan, the M168 retains the weapon's notable high rate of fire for an anti-aircraft role. The high rate of fire of the weapon ensures that in the event of a hit, multiple rounds can potentially hit and either cripple or destroy the air asset.

Available ammunition

• Default: AP-I · HEI-T · API-T
• HEI: HEI-T · HEF-I · API-T · HEF-I
• AP-I: AP-I · API-T · HEF-I · API-T

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
AP-I	40	36	22	12	6	3
API-T	40	36	22	12	6	3
HEF-I	2	2	2	2	2	2
HEI-T	2	2	2	2	2	2

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
AP-I	1,030	0.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	56°	65°
API-T	1,030	0.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
HEF-I	1,030	0.1	0	0.1	17.12	79°	80°	81°
HEI-T	1,030	0.1	0	0.1	12	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

In the game, very few other anti-aircraft armament can match the fire rate of the M168 as the others consist of multiple single-barreled armaments on a vehicle mount rather than a rotary cannon design.

That said, one of the few weapons that is close to the M168's rate of fire and lethality is the 23 mm AZP-23 on the ZSU-23-4 SPAAG, which altogether with four cannons can reach a rather high rate of fire.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

The M168 is a land-based variant of the M61 Vulcan aircraft cannon. It came about as part of the "Interim Forward Area Air Defense" project which aimed to adapt the AIM-9D Sidewinder to serve as a surface-to-air missile resulting in the MIM-72 Chaparral. However, there was concern that, at shorter ranges, the time needed to acquire a lock-on would make it difficult for the Sidewinder to eliminate the target. The solution for short-range engagements was to take the M61 Vulcan and use it as a manually targeted anti-aircraft weapon. The result was the M168 which was mounted in two versions. The first configuration was the M163 VADS (Vulcan Air Defense System), which takes the cannon and mounts it on the M741 carrier (a variant of the venerable M113 APC) which combined the gun with rotating turret, an AN/VPS-2 range-only radar, an M61 lead calculating sight, and had the option to mount the AN/PVS night vision sights. The M168 fires at 3,000 rounds per minute, half the rate of the Vulcan for stability reasons, with the gun having the option to fire in bursts from 10 to 100 rounds or at 1,000 rounds per minute in continuous fire mode. The range of the gun is 3,100 feet. The later alternative model is the the M167 VADS, a towed variant of the M168 with the tractor unit being the Gamma Goat initially before being replaced by the Humvee. The M168 was used on the VADS in the United States before it was retired and still sees service in Israel on the Machbet. The M167 saw service in the US but also Belgium, Chile and Morocco and remains in use with Botswana, Egypt, Honduras, Japan, South Korea, Sudan, Thailand, Uruguay and Yemen.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• M61 (20 mm)
• JM61A1 (20 mm)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Britain and USA anti-aircraft guns
7.92 mm	BESA
12.7 mm	M2HB
20 mm	GAI C01 · M168 · Oerlikon Mk.II · Polsten
25 mm	GAU-12U
30 mm	HSS 831L
35 mm	GA-35
37 mm	M1A2
40 mm	Bofors L/60 · Dual Automatic Gun M2 · M266
	Foreign:
23 mm	ZU-23 (USSR)
35 mm	Oerlikon KDA (Swiss)

Israel anti-aircraft guns
20 mm	Hispano 404 (France) · M168 (USA)
23 mm	AZP-23 (USSR)
57 mm	S-68 (USSR)