Kugelblitz

Kugelblitz

Zerstörer 45

Wiesel 1A4

Kugelblitz

Zerstörer 45

Wiesel 1A4

Germany

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.3	7.0	7.0

Class:

SPAA

Research:71 000

Purchase:210 000

Show in game

Description

The Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz is a rank IV German Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft (SPAA) with a battle rating of 7.3 (AB) and 7.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.43.

General info

Survivability and armour

All values in rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	80 mm	30 mm	20 mm	10 mm
Turret	30mm turret housing 20mm turret ball	30mm turret housing 20mm turret ball	30mm turret housing 20mm turret ball	20 mm

The X-Ray view of the Kugelblitz in the hangar, the 5 crewmembers locations inside the vehicle are visible, giving a visual understanding of the vehicles survivability.

The Kugelblitz has high armour values compared to most SPAA, but the armour will not protect it against the main calibre guns of 6.7 tanks. The survivability is quite good, the crew is well spaced and numerous, and the ammunition is unlikeley to detonate. The Kugelblitz has excellent protection against strafing runs from enemy aircraft, although some aircraft cannons may penetrate the 10mm hull armor and cause an engine fire.

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	43	8	25	426	572	17.04	22.88
Realistic	39	8		265	300	10.6	12

Armaments

Main armament

30 mm MK103/38 (x2)						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	1,200 (100)	450	-7°/+80°	±180°	N/A	22.02	30.47	__.__	__.__	43.53	13.0	_.__	_.__	10.0
Realistic						14.88	17.05	__.__	__.__	25.0

Ammunition

• Default: AP-I · HEI-T
• M.Gr.: HEI-T · HEI-T · HEI-T · AP-I
• Pz.Gr.: AP-I · AP-I · AP-I · HEI-T
• Pz.Gr. H: HVAP-T · HEI-T · HEI-T

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	58	55	47	38	30	24
M.Gr.	58	55	47	38	30	24
Pz.Gr.	58	55	47	38	30	24
Pz.Gr. H	95	93	85	60	45	30

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
6	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Usage in battles

The Kugelblitz can perform well in a number of roles. It excels as an SPAA, thanks to the potent 30 mm cannons with decent rate of fire that will annihilate just about any aircraft on contact. It can also be used to support teammates on the ground, particularly in protecting against flanking light tanks with the high-penetration HVAP belt and reasonable turret traverse.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	M.Gr.	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Pz.Gr.	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment		Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Pz.Gr. H	Artillery Support

The Kugelblitz has a comparatively low gun traverse speed when not upgraded, so the Horizontal Drive and Elevation Mechanism modules are quite important. Another very useful modification is the M.Gr. ammo belt, which almost completely composed of high-explosive shells and helps to increase damage dealt to enemy aircraft. The two Pz.Gr. modules allow the vehicle to better engage enemy ground forces. These belts contain more high-penetration rounds than high-explosive ones, and increase the vehicle's effectiveness against armoured targets. Still, they will not be able to penetrate most tanks frontally at this tier, and are better suited for engaging lightly-armoured vehicles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate of fire for a 30 mm cannon
• Fast turret rotation speed
• Very good at taking out other SPAA or lightly armoured vehicles
• Average movement speed
• Access to many unlockable ammo belts
• HVAP ammo belt can pen 95 mm, improving efficacy against other tanks

Cons:

• Although having thick armour for a SPAA, its still not enough to stop any kind of tank shell at its rank
• Long reload time
• HVAP belt still contains some HE rounds, reducing effectiveness

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).

In-game description

A continuation of the line of German AA vehicles based on the Pz.IV tank. It was the first AA vehicle to have a fully enclosed turret. Only two were ever built, and they may not have been used in combat. Both of the AA vehicles that were released ended up in the anti-air artillery training battalion stationed at the Ordurf training ground in Thuringia.

Media

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

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] Flakpanzerkampfwagen IV "Kugelblitz"

Germany anti-aircraft vehicles
Wheeled	Sd.Kfz.222
Half-track	Sd.Kfz.251/21 · Sd.Kfz. 6/2
Flakpanzer IV	Wirbelwind · Ostwind · Ostwind II · Kugelblitz · Zerstörer 45
Other Flakpanzers	Flakpanzer I · Flakpanzer 38 · Flakpanzer 341
Wiesel AWC	Wiesel 1A4 · Ozelot
Radar SPAAG	Gepard · Gepard 1A2
Missile SPAA	FlaRakPz 1 · FlaRakRad