ZSU-23-4 (Italy)

This page is about the SPAA ZSU-23-4 (Italy). For the other versions, see ZSU-23-4 (Family).

◔ZSU-23-4

◔ZSU-57-2

SIDAM 25

◔ZSU-23-4

◔ZSU-57-2

SIDAM 25

Italy

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.0	8.0	8.0

Class:

SPAA

Research:135 000

Purchase:380 000

Show in game

Description

The ◔ZSU-23-4 is a rank VI Hungarian SPAA with a battle rating of 8.0 (AB/RB/SB) in the Italian research tree. It was introduced in Update "Sons of Attila" as part of the Hungarian subtree of the Italian tech tree. This is a "suppressing fire" style of SPAA, providing insane fire rate at the cost of accuracy, penetrating power and mobility.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull9 / 9 / 9

Turret8 / 8 / 8

Crew4 people

Visibility341 %

The armour of ZSU-23-4 is better characterized as "paper". There are a lot of openings for even 7.62 mm MG to penetrate. Even other 20 mm SPAA HE belts can penetrate it at places and damage the crew inside.

Still, the SPAA is fully enclosed and armour sometimes manage to miraculously block overpressure damage at weird angles, so it's not always an instant death for the entirety of the crew upon being hit, but it will fail to do literally anything else.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	9.4 mm (57°)	9.4 mm	9.4 mm (46°) Upper 9.4 mm (22°) Lower	9.4 mm
Turret	8.9 mm (23°)	8.9 mm (8-10°)	8.9 mm (1°)	8.9 mm
Cupola	8.9 mm	8.9 mm	8.9 mm	8.9 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 9.4 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB55 / 8 km/h

RB and SB51 / 7 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight20.7 t

Engine power

AB534 hp

RB and SB280 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB25.8 hp/t

RB and SB13.5 hp/t

The SPAA is rather slow even when fully upgraded. It can only really go 30-40 km/h, very rarely reaching the advertised 50 km/h when driving forward for a long time. It can go -8 in reverse, which isn't fast enough considering its armour. Overall, operating it in the heat of battle requires a lot of quick thinking, and it is unlikely to outmanoeuvre medium tanks unless it is a 1 on 1 duel at short range.

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	8	20.7	398	534	19.23	25.8
Realistic	51	7		248	280	11.98	13.53

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB5 146 → 6 622

RB4 402 → 5 665

SB5 536 → 7 124

Total cost of modifications112 000

192 400

Talisman cost2 300

Crew training110 000

Experts380 000

Aces1 400

Research Aces830 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

150 / 190 / 230 %

208 / 208 / 208 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 190 Suspension Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 170 Brake System Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 170 Filters Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 310 Transmission Research: 13 000 Cost: 21 000 410 Engine Research: 13 000 Cost: 21 000 410	Improved Parts Research: 1 800 Cost: 9 600 190 Improved FPE Research: 1 600 Cost: 8 600 170 Crew Replenishment Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 310	Horizontal Drive Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 190 23mm_ussr_HEIT_ammo_pack Research: 6 000 Cost: 9 600 190 Adjustment of Fire Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 170 23mm_ussr_APIT_ammo_pack Research: 5 400 Cost: 8 600 170 Elevation Mechanism Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 310 Artillery Support Research: 13 000 Cost: 21 000 410

Armaments

Main armament

4 x 23 mm AZP-23 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity500 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

1.3 → 1.0 s

Fire rate850 shots/min

Vertical guidance-4° / 85°

This ZSU is armed with four 23 mm autocannons, all being fed by one giant belt (technically, 4 separate belts). AP shells for these have rather low penetration values and can only threaten very lightly armoured tanks (and maybe European and Soviet medium tank sides at close range), but cannons have very high fire rate and thus can saturate air with so many shells that even decently agile vehicles have to actually evade the lead wall to avoid being shredded.

Due to how the game is coded, any "potential" penetration (yellow crosshair in aim assist) will happen if the same point is hit over 100 times, so even such "weakspots" are worth researching. For example, sometimes, weakspots like the typical USSR MBT fuel tanks will spontaneously explode when fired at from the side, even when penetration should not be possible due to an extreme angle. Another great weak spot is enemy tank engine deck - much like with BTR before, it is possible to push an obscene amount of AP through the engine compartment in hopes that it has a small random hole somewhere that will allow the shell to explode into the crew compartment.

While the cannons aren't very powerful, if penetration is possible at all, they will get through eventually.

Even the belt with minimal amount of HE in it can deal catastrophic damage to aircraft simply through sheer amount of critical hits, so taking API belt is generally the best idea. That being said, the cannons are extremely inaccurate, with dispersion being a gigantic circle around where the SPAA aims, rather than a proper square. Radar aim is required to achieve even a semblance of accurate aircraft interception.

Although the overwhelming fire suggests that the SPAA can easily intercept ATGM and bombs, it is very much not recommended to rely on it when fighting ground based ATGM tanks, as more often than not the shells just bounce off the ATGM and any attack from below 1 km range will bypass the lead wall anyway.

Due to low shell velocity, SPAA can fire on other SPAA and light tanks over hills. At about 800 m range half of guns will fail to get over and enemy light tanks can respond with HEAT or HESH, at about 1200 m range the shells will start losing their punch, but all of the guns will have a chance to hit a target and they will be less likely to fire back. For the same reason, it is sometimes necessary to fire ahead of the radar aiming circle, as sometimes shells just fail to fight gravity and barely miss the aircraft.

Guns overheat after firing 400 shells (about 100 per gun), so despite having an absurd amount of ready ammunition without having to reload, it is still necessary to give them some rest. Every encounter needs to be planned ahead of time.

23 mm AZP-23 (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	2,000 (500)	850	-4°/+85°	±180°	Two-plane	61.6	85.3	103.6	114.6	121.9	5.20	4.60	4.24	4.00
Realistic						41.6	49.0	59.5	65.8	70.0

Ammunition

• Default: API-T · HEF-I
• HEFI-T: HEF-I · HEFI-T · HEF-I · API-T
• APIT: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEFI-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
HEF-I	6	6	4	3	2	2
API-T	51	48	36	26	18	13
HEFI-T	6	6	4	3	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%
HEF-I	980	0.18	0.1	0.1	28.49	79°	80°	81°
API-T	970	0.19	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
HEFI-T	970	0.19	0.1	0.1	20.02	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the ZSU-23-4 (Italy)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
4	0 (+4)	0 (+4)	0 (+4)	0 (+4)	No

Radars

The ZSU-23-4 is equipped with a 1RL33 search and tracking radar, mounted on top of the turret, at the rear. The radar system lacks track while scan, but can track targets in a full 360° area around the turret (instead of just to the front of the turret). The radar has very slow scan speed.

By default the radar will scan a 60° arc, this can be changed to a 360° scan if desired, using the "change radar search mode" key.

This radar is quite weak and aim solution will practically always wobble around the target unless it dives directly onto the SPAA, so paying attention to lock-on square position is necessary to not miss the volley entirely. Juxtapose the aim back towards the target to hit anyway.

1RL33 - Target Detection Radar
Maximum Detection Range	Minimum Detection Range	Max Azimuth Scan Angle	Max Elevation Scan Angle	Minimum relative speed
20,000 m	100 m	±30° (optionally 360°)	-9°/+87°	15 m/s (54 km/h)
1RL33 - Target Tracking Radar
Maximum Tracking Range	Minimum Tracking Range	Azimuth Tracking Angle	Elevation Tracking Angle	Minimum relative speed
16,000 m	100 m	360°	-9°/+87°	15 m/s (54 km/h)

Usage in battles

The ZSU-23-4 should be played entirely as an AA vehicle if possible. Do not go tank hunting in this vehicle unless you have perfect intel, as you do not have the armour, speed or even penetration to win direct fights. Lurk around allies and focus on keeping the skies clear - something that this vehicle does very well. A high rate of fire and very fast turret traverse means that you should be able to target and destroy even the fastest jets.

You have a high ammo count with this vehicle, meaning that you can afford to find a good spot away from the main fight in order to pick off enemy planes and helicopters. Unless you need to reload your ammo, avoid spawn points. They are usually the hub of most of the fighting and going to them will put you in the firing line.

While it is fully enclosed, the ZSU-23-4 has armour which makes the M18 Hellcat look like a heavy tank. Even 7.62 mm machine guns stand a fair chance of penetrating this vehicle. This makes ZSU a primary target for aircraft, which at this BR are usually armed with cannons or high penetration machine guns, which will easily take you out. To avoid that, keep moving around while firing, as the radar lock should keep your aim true.

Top rank helicopters and high BR jets like the FJ-4B VMF 232 are the greatest threat to your existence. They are both capable of sitting comfortably outside your firing range, while firing lethal ATGMs at you. Hide and slowly creep up onto them until they are either dealt with by an allied plane or they come close enough to be dealt with by your 23 mm cannons. If you can clearly see that enemy ATGM is approaching you, attempt to shoot it down. You can even alternate between ATGM and the helicopter that is guiding it, as generally firing more than a 100 shells in a single burst at any given aircraft is a waste of ammunition.

If you know that there are light tanks in your vicinity, or something like a Leopard 1 is driving nearby, you can plot to remove them. Ambush tactics and artillery style shenanigans are most of the time your only option due to the lack of armour and speed. Even if you know how to obliterate T-54, it's not like they will just give up and let you dismantle them, so know your place and wait for the proper moment.

While ZSU-23-4 can't really fight enemy tanks directly, it can certainly mess up their plans by thinking out of the box.

For light tanks and SPAA, simply make sure that you can get a gun on them before they fire (focus on the turret first) and push them. For medium tanks, try to position yourself in such a way, that they drive past you while being completely flat towards your cannons (maybe they are busy trying to rush your allies somewhere else). Try to not get spotted while waiting. Due to the stupidly high fire rate, ZSU should be able to melt them before they can react, but if they manage to answer by spinning their hull towards you (as opposed to just stopping), there isn't much that can be done other than attempting to ruin their cannon and cut your losses by moving away.

If a light or artillery tank is camping on a hill and is bullying your teammates (or even you), you can actually help by damaging it with indirect fire, preferrably with the AP belt. Obviously, it is difficult to pull it off without help of an allied light tank, but at least in AB you can find such targets by paying attention to the minimap or using binoculars when not firing at the aircraft. Take aim at ranges between 800-1300 m and unload until they explode or you feel like they had learned their lesson. This will become increasingly less useful as the BR increases, but should work until at least 9.3. Be aware that some light tanks are armed with shells slow enough to actually fire back at the ZSU, even if this situation is going to shock them for a few seconds.

If you are hiding behind a corner, and you are pretty sure that the approaching tank will easily obliterate you, try to break their further track to make them flip over and neutralize the gun as they frantically try to stabilize themselves, then break the second track and either run or wreck the tank by firing at any available weak spot.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate of fire; allows for area saturation
• Relatively high top speed
• High ammo count
• Fast turret traverse
• Can penetrate lightly armoured vehicles (like other SPAAs) even with indirect fire
• Radar-assisted fire control; a lead indicator is shown in Realistic.

Cons:

• Thin armour; aircraft cannons will cause severe damage
• Low power to weight ratio; very slow; struggles with slopes and off-road
• Low penetration for 23 mm cannons; means troubles penetrating certain MBTs from the side
• Radar has very low scan speed
• Low shell speed compared to other SPAA sometimes makes intercepting aircraft harder than it should be

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 ZSU-23-4 (Italy) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• ZSU-23-4 (Family)

Vehicles of similar configuration or role

• ZSU-37-2
• M163
• SIDAM 25
• AMX-30 DCA

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

Italy anti-aircraft vehicles
R3 Capraia	R3 T20 FA-HS
SIDAM 25	SIDAM 25 · SIDAM 25 (Mistral)
Wheeled	AS 42 · CM52
Tracked	M42 Contraereo · Leopard 40/70 · OTOMATIC
Hungary	◔ZSU-57-2 · ◔ZSU-23-4