He 162 A-1

This page is about the gift German jet fighter He 162 A-1. For the regular version, see He 162 A-2.

He 162 A-1

He 162 A-1

Germany

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.3	6.0	6.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

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Description

The He 162 A-1 is a gift rank V German jet fighter with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB), 6.0 (RB), and 6.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows" but was made available in Update 1.73 "Vive la France" as a reward during War Thunder's 5th Anniversary tournaments and later for War Thunder's 6th Birthday tournaments.

The He 162 A-1 is a unique jet design in the game, most notable for its top-mounted jet engine, a consequence of its development as an easily produced jet fighter for the Luftwaffe's Emergency Fighter Program. The program also called for the materials used in the design to be of wood rather than metal.

Still, the He 162 A-1 profile is tiny and stream-lined for a jet fighter. The wing span is relatively short, leading to the small target profile the He 162 presents. On the edges of the wings have drooping tips that were meant to stabilize the aircraft. A standard tricycle landing gear is used in the design.

The coloration in the design takes a two-tone colour scheme with brown and green on the top, with white camouflage for the underbelly. A good portion of the aircraft is green, but the brown scheme covers the engine, right wing, and right tailplane.

Two 30 mm Mk 108 cannons are mounted on the He 162 A-1, presenting great anti-bomber power in an intercepting role but with minimum ammunition. The recoil force is also substantial, causing the nose to dip and slowing down the aircraft when firing (full ammo dump can slow down the vehicle by 90 km/h). These reasons are also why the 20 mm MG 151/20 was considered in the fighter variant.

When taking off in this plane, make sure its a shallow angle take off as any climb angle while taking off at 5 degrees or more will damage the tail and snap the control cable.

The He 162 A-1 is perhaps best played in a Boom-and-Zoom style game play, taking the altitude advantage and diving down on targets on a predictable path to lay waste with the 30 mm Mk 108 cannons. Though the He 162 A-1 has an adequate climb rate for this job, the He 162 A-1 suffers with a rather poor top speed, poor turn rates, a tendency to bleed off speed quickly in turns, and terrible acceleration, especially when compared to other jets.

To make the most out of the air speed, it is recommended to ascend and when the speed drops, dive a few hundred meters to regain speed and then use that to continue climbing upwards.

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 6 000 m840 km/h

Turn time30 s

Max altitude12 000 m

EngineBMW 003

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight3 t

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	801	776	12000	31.4	32.3	19.1	18.1	750
Upgraded	875	840		28.8	30.0	28.2	23.4

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	X	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1040	350	677	648	500	~12	~7

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 500	< 500	< 580	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
BMW 003		1	1,990 kg		212 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		8m fuel	20m fuel	26m fuel
673 kg	Axial-flow turbojet		2,132 kg	2,342 kg	2,465 kg	2,495 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (108%)
Condition	100%	108%	8m fuel	20m fuel	26m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	801 kgf	910 kgf	0.43	0.39	0.37	0.36
Optimal	801 kgf (0 km/h)	910 kgf (0 km/h)	0.43	0.39	0.37	0.36

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural1 040 km/h

Gear350 km/h

• 15 mm of steel behind the pilot's seat.
• No armour glazing

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 897 → 4 937

RB8 602 → 10 898

SB14 011 → 17 751

Total cost of modifications80 100

130 000

Talisman cost2 000

Crew training78 000

Experts270 000

Aces1 500

Research Aces670 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

130 / 250 / 600 %

190 / 190 / 190 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 16 000 Cost: 26 000 490 Compressor Research: 9 000 Cost: 15 000 280 Wings repair Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 310 Engine Research: 8 700 Cost: 14 000 270	Airframe Research: 9 000 Cost: 15 000 280 Cover Research: 8 700 Cost: 14 000 270	mk108_belt_pack Research: 10 000 Cost: 16 000 310 mk108_new_gun Research: 8 700 Cost: 14 000 270

Focus on upgrading the plane's performance. The better the performance, the better plane will perform. The gun/belts upgrade should be saved for last as the default belts are adequate for air to air combat.

Armaments

Offensive armament

Weapon 12 x 30 mm MK 108 cannon

Ammunition100 rounds

Fire rate600 shots/min

The He 162 A-1 is armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm MK 108 cannons, chin-mounted (50 rpg = 100 total)

The two 30 mm cannons are cheek mounted at the front of the aircraft. Both are armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that both guns will fire with each other until empty.

Usage in battles

Bomber-hunting
The He 162 A-1 with its 30 mm cannons should be played in a bomber-hunting role as intended in its historical onset. This also plays into the power and flaws of the 30 mm as a bomber's larger profile and lesser mobility can allow for more 30 mm shells to hit with a pass.

Of course, this requires to get an altitude advantage, and there are several bombers that will straight-up climb up to altitudes faster than the He 162, like the B-29 Superfortress. However, if able to get the jump on them via side-climbing or they are flying low, they will be prime targets.

Climb up to an altitude above the bomber, then proceed a descent in a Boom-and-Zoom style from the top. Once within range, optimally around 600 metres, fire a burst into the bomber's path. A good burst should instantly decimate the bomber. If the first pass did not destroy the bomber, it is recommended to use the diving speed to climb up and regain the altitude advantage. Try not to climb too steep an angle else more speed would be bled off than needed. Repeat the process on any large flying aircraft for tallies.

Fighters
The 30 mm are also very effective against fighters as one or two hits would tear the fighters apart with their impacts. However, the 30 mm suffers from low velocity and inaccuracy so distance would have to be close in to make hits. As such, it is not recommended to fire at targets past 600 metres, even if the indicator appears in arcade mode as the 30 mm accuracy would dip drastically enough that the aim indicator wouldn't help.

Manoeuvring with the He 162 A-1 is complicated as a jet fighter and as such a Boom-and-Zoom strategy like for bombers should be taken up as the main method of attack for the He 162. Attack unsuspecting fighters or those flying predictably when diving. Once in sights, the 30 mm should be fired in quick bursts, less than a second, as the low ammunition capacity leaves little to be wasted.

Going head-on with fighters is a viable tactic however due to the nose-mounted 30 mm firing straight forwards. The inaccuracy of the 30 mm can help and hinder at the same time. It helps in that it can act as a "shotgun" when spraying a burst when closing in, allowing the enemy to fly into a wide volley of fire and disintegrate. It hinders in that accuracy is lower, so a simple burst of rounds can't be relied on to hit the target, fire a longer volley then usual to saturate the front so either the enemy flies into it or is forced to turn away.

When conducting manoeuvres with the He 162 A-1, one manoeuvre to take caution with is the Immelmann turn. The He 162 bleeds speed quickly when climbing at a steep angle and the boosting upwards for the movement would remove most of the energy in the He 162, and if not sufficiently fast enough can even leave the He 162 stalling in mid-air, open to any enemy fighters to take advantage and snipe it down. It is recommended to not perform this manoeuvre unless going more than 400 km/h.

Specific enemies worth noting

Any plane with an altitude and energy advantage over the He 162 A-1 while it is climbing or stalling in the air is a dangerous plane. Especially watch out for other jets that have better climbing ability and speed than the He 162 A-1.

While bombers are not inherently dangerous, do not linger behind some of more heavily armed ones like the B-29 Superfortress as they will cut up the He 162. When attacking, always try to go in Boom & Zoom style to minimize exposure to the enemy gunners.

Counter-tactics

Forcing the He 162 into a steep climb is a good way to deal with a He 162 on the tail due to its tendency to bleed off a lot of energy and speed when going straight up. Either way, an energy advantage can be obtained against the He 162 to get on its tail, which due to its poor acceleration would be unable to quickly boost away from its predicament. Beware that the He 162 in this situation may try to bleed off more speed and roll to force an overshoot, which it could then recover with a reversal by peppering the plane with devastating 30 mm shells.

Another opportunity to attack the He 162 A-1 is when it is out of ammunition. The 30 mm Mk 108 load is rather small, only 50 rounds per gun. A He 162 A-1 in prolonged combat will most likely be running low or out of ammunition, the latter can be found if they are attempting to break off any engagement and trying to zoom away from the battlefield. Though they could still perform evasive manoeuvre, the lack of ammunition will prevent them from taking any offensive action against an incoming plane ready to riddle them with shell holes.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 30 mm Mk 108 Minengeschoß will do a lot of damage to any plane it hits (either crippling or destroying the plane it hits).
• No worries about different ammunition belt except for special purpose. All carry HEI-T/I shell load, with specialized rounds in HEI-T/HEI-T/HEI-T/I composition with different tracers for night and stealth.
• Small target, tiny profile and short wingspan.
• Does not have war emergency power, however, the throttle can push past 100% (up to 108%)
• Accelerates quickly in a dive.
• Excellent roll rate in AB, okay in RB.
• Cockpit has good forward visibility.

Cons:

• Limited ammunition capacity for the 30 mm Mk 108 cannons.
• 30 mm loses accuracy past 600 metres.
• Poor top speed for a jet.
• No air brakes.
• Shallow climb angle when taking off.
• Climbing upwards past an angle will bleed speed quickly, especially when going straight up.
• Poor turn rate.
• Terrible acceleration.
• Poor rear view visibility due to jet engine mount.
• Top mounted engine easily damaged from enemy shots coming from above or from overshooting the fuselage body.
• Long take off distance (not easy to take off in maps with short runways)
• Ammunition belts not suited for ground attack as there is no AP rounds in the ammunition belts.
• Engine and oil will quickly overheat at 620 C° when using 108% throttle at low altitude in RB, with oil continuing to overheat past 2 km.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft 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 He 162 A-1 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 aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance