I-153 M-62 (China)

␗I-153 M-62

␗I-16 type 5

␗I-153 M-62

␗I-16 type 5

China

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	2.3	2.0

Class:

Fighter

Research:4 000

Purchase:2 100

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Description

The ␗I-153 M-62 is a rank I Chinese fighter with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB/SB) and 2.3 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 4 850 m444 km/h

Turn time13 s

Max altitude10 700 m

EngineShvetsov M-62

TypeRadial

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight2 t

The Chinese I-153 M-62 Chaika has a really good turn radius thanks to retractable landing gear, that increases aerodynamics. This plane's battle rating makes it a match against early BF 109's and other single wing fighters. This allows the I-52 M-62 to out-turn planes at its battle rating. The plane does not come without its downsides, for example other planes at this battle rating can go faster than this plane, which you might have a difficult time keeping up with other fighters.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,850 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	425	410	10700	13.8	14.4	11.4	11.4	274
Upgraded	466	444		13.0	13.3	20.1	15.2

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
580	450	N/A	N/A	N/A	~12	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 180	< 240	< 380	> 250

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,530 m	840 hp	1,024 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,200 m	800 hp	975 hp

Side view of a I-153.

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural580 km/h

Gear450 km/h

Being a biplane the aircraft is capable of taking a few 7-8mm rounds in combat, in some cases will be able to keep flying after some hits from larger calibres. However at its battle ratting it will  commonly encounter 12.7mm machine guns and 20mm cannons of which will not be kind to the Chaika. These weapons will easily inflict critical damage onto the aircraft with only a few clean hits, due to this its best to maintain good awareness and use the aircrafts highly competitive maneuverability to avoid being hit by enemy fire.

The Chaika does feature a large 8mm steel plate behind the pilot this will provide some protection against smaller calibres when being attacked from behind, although will not offer much protection against 12.7mm and 20mm weapons.

• 8 mm steel: behind pilot

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB170 → 212

RB378 → 472

SB451 → 564

Total cost of modifications4 420

2 680

Talisman cost300

Crew training600

Experts2 100

Aces45

Research Aces110 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

10 / 30 / 60 %

100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 220 Cost: 135 40 Radiator Research: 220 Cost: 135 40 Compressor Research: 330 Cost: 200 60 Wings repair Research: 370 Cost: 220 70 Engine Research: 370 Cost: 220 70 Engine injection Research: 720 Cost: 440 130	Airframe Research: 330 Cost: 200 60 Cover Research: 720 Cost: 440 130	shkas_belt_pack Research: 220 Cost: 135 40 DZ-40 Research: 220 Cost: 135 40 RO-82 Research: 330 Cost: 200 60 shkas_new_gun Research: 370 Cost: 220 70

Armaments

Offensive armament

Weapon 14 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun

Ammunition2 470 rounds

Fire rate1 800 shots/min

The I-153 M-62 (China) is armed with:

• 4 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, nose-mounted (700 + 750 + 520 + 500 = 2,470 total)

A Chaika fires its machine guns.

Suspended armament

List of setups (3)

Setup 12 x 50 kg FAB-50sv (forged) bomb

Setup 28 x ROS-82 rockets

Setup 38 x RBS-82 rockets

The I-153 M-62 (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 4 x 50 kg FAB-50 bombs (200 kg total)
• 8 x RS-82 rockets
• 8 x RBS-82 rockets

The weapons on the Chaika do offer a fair bit of flexibility, the four 7.62mm Machine guns hold between 500-750 rounds of ammunition per gun with a fire rate of 1800 rounds per minute, in addition all 4 guns are mounted in the nose of the aircraft and fire through the propeller. Being mounted so close the centre line of the aircraft simplifies aiming with gun targeting distance being much less critical, the guns being so close also give a rather focused impact point something of which can be devastating if shots are hitting the target. 

In addition to its guns the I-153 can used both bombs and rockets, a set of 4 FAB-50 bombs can be carried under the wings, each bomb holds 26.35kg of explosive mass which at this battle rating will be enough to critically damage or destroy ground targets with a fairly accurate drop, the aircraft will be able to carry out 2 bombing runs as the bombs drop in pairs, with the outer pair dropping first and then the inner pair. 

There are two rocket types available to the Chaika and in both cases 8 can be carrier under the wings. The first type is the RS-82, a HE rocket with 0.36kg of explosive mass and 10mm of penetration, these are trumped by the RBS-82. The RBS-82 is essentially a rocket-propelled APHE Round as it can penetrate up too 60mm of armour and has 0.48kg of explosive mass so a solid hit is almost guaranteed to reward you with a kill, with 4 paired firings the RBS-82's make the I-183 a rather effective aircraft for ground battles at its battle rating and above.

Usage in battles

The Cockpit of the I-153.

The I-153 can be used in turn fighting, bomber intercepting and ground-pounding. It is excellent in turning tightly and continuously, and it has lovely low-speed handling and low stall speeds (unlike its successor I-16), making it a great starter plane for simulator battles. However it does have its drawbacks: the rather big nose blocks the visibility a lot, offering very poor over-the-nose visibility which is a disadvantage in a turn fight, because when leading a shot the enemy will always get obstructed by the engine, making the player guess the shot. Also, its upper wings will get in the way when you look aside.

Note: it is recommended to set the convergence within 300m, with vertical convergence on, because the majority of turn fights happen at that range or closer.

Before engaging a fight, it is better to have an altitude advantage first. When approaching the fight try to figure out which is your teammate and which is the enemy, to avoid going for a second pass, as the energy retention of the I-153 is rather slow. Also, pick your target carefully. For easier aiming, you want to go for those less-manoeuvrable twin-engine aircraft like Ju 88 or Ki-45, or bombers if there are any. Given the bad forward visibility of the I-153, these are the best options as they are quite slow and sluggish, and are a bigger target to hit. However getting hits on them doesn't mean good damage, so you must be patient. When dealing with fighters, it is way harder to aim. The elevator control of the I-153 is extremely sensitive, giving it good manoeuvrability, but at the same time, bad handling. The I-153 will respond in a very fast turn upon moving your stick/mouse by a little bit, which makes tracking nimble planes quite hard. But once you get used to it, try to lure every enemy into a turn fight, as that is where the I-153 shines. Quite a bit of bullets are required to effectively damage the enemy so you must be patient. If you find an enemy at your 6, utilise your great roll rate to do defensive manoeuvres like scissors to make them overshoot. Or you can simply do tight turns, most monoplanes won't be able to cut inside your turn and they might disengage.

If you are not very experienced in simulator battles, you can also go for even bigger targets (bombers) for easier aiming. However, you want to be more careful when hunting bombers, since with the Sim control (whether it be mouse joystick or a real stick) the plane will manoeuvre much more gently, making itself a great target for the bomber's gunners. DO NOT follow behind a bomber's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind a bomber makes yourself stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with bullets. Your big radial engine will usually get damaged. Instead, before attacking, get an altitude advantage over the bomber by flying around 2 km above it. The bomber should only fill up about 1/6 of your gunsight. The best position for an attack is at the bomber's high 6 so you can adjust the lead much easier. Dive at the bomber, but not directly at it, try to predict where you two will crash by imagining yourself like a missile, that's where you should aim at (deflection shooting). To maximise the damage it is better to aim for their wings and engines, as the fuselage usually soaks up quite some bullets. Only fire when the bomber passes in front of your guns. This short window might seem inadequate to do anything, but with an accurate burst on the engine, the 4 MG can at least damage it. With an engine damaged most bombers cannot go far.

Ground pounding ability is average as there is only light bombs and rockets. The 8 rockets, with accurate aiming, can destroy 4 targets, whether them be tanks or pillboxes. The small 50kg bombs can be used on light pillboxes. Once the suspended armaments are gone, the 4 MG are good for killing soft targets like trucks, artillery and AA cars.

Enemies worth noting:

Ki-27, N1K1, He 51, Gladiator, etc;

Those commonly seen planes are equally good at turn fights and will be a hard target to down since they are very small and agile. To deal with them you need to practice leading and deflection shots, plus maneuvers like barrel rolls and scissors. They still need plenty of bullets to get damaged, so these kind of targets are the hardest to kill and requires great skills from the player.

Do 17 Z:

This early twin-engine plane always shows up as an AI-controlled recon aircraft that you have to down, which is a piece of good news as AI won't manoeuvre aggressively. However, this plane is extremely durable for the I-153's weak MGs. When it shows up as an AI, deflection shots are not recommended as the small shooting windows really does nothing. Instead, try disabling its 2 gunners first, then just sit behind it and burst on its wings and engines. When attacking the gunners try to not get your engine damaged by pulling evasive manoeuvres as soon as the bullets come close, since the Do 17 can outrun the I-153 in a level flight.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast climb rate
• Excellent manoeuvrability (Will out-turn any enemy aircraft it encounters)
• Extremely difficult to target while it is making manoeuvres
• The above point can make it hard to use boom and zoom tactics against this plane (if you see it coming)
• Great at destroying bombers with a hail of rockets and machine-gun fire
• Option to be equipped with rockets that can pierce up to 60mm of armour (Can destroy most enemy tanks in ground RB at the rank)
• Very low stall speed
• 4 x rapid firing ShKAS machine guns with large ammo reserves
• Deadly with tracer belts
• The ability to retract landing gear reduces parasitic drag, improving your energy retention
• Favourable matchmaking allows it to fight earlier monoplanes and worse biplanes
• Small target
• Excellent for learning/performing highly advanced aerobatic manoeuvres

Cons:

• Low speed compared to monoplanes
• Frail airframe, can be destroyed or crippled with a few well placed hits
• Loses a lot of performance if the engine is hit
• A single machine gun round to the engine is capable of knocking it out
• ShKAS machine guns prone to overheating
• Defensive armaments of bombers can easily wreck this aircraft's engine
• Vulnerable to boom and zoom, especially when climbing
• Not suited to head on attacks
• No self-sealing tanks

History

A I-153 with its landing gear extended.

Since August 1937, the Soviet Union unofficially supported the Chinese Kuomintang Government against their traditional enemies, the Japanese in 1939 both selling military equipment and Russian volunteer pilots (much like America had with its AVG). Initial support was with I-15 biplanes, but as the Japanese introduced the superior Nakajima Ki-27 the Soviets moved to counter the new threat.

With the Polikarpov I-15bis (second version) becoming obsolete, the Soviet military felt it was too early to abandon biplanes so they approved of an update proposed by Polikarpov. The resulting I-15, 3rd version, or I-153 Chaika (Russian Чайка, "Seagull") was, in short, an unmitigated success. Mounting a more powerful Shvetsov M-62 engine and retractable wheels (unusual for a biplane), it gained an almost 100 km/h speed advantage over its older sibling. In addition, the four slow firing PV-1 machine guns were replaced with the ShKAS machine gun which fired some 2.3 times faster, making its firepower competitive with more modern fighters of the period; however, its dominance was short lived.

Too late to see service in the Spanish Civil War, the Chaika's baptism of fire was in Northern China where it proved its mettle versus the latest Japanese design, even proving to be better than the I-16! Although well loved by crews for its sublime combat performance, Japanese forces developed effective counter tactics and eventually it could no longer meet future performance requirements, so retirement came fast. In the end, speed was clearly more important than manoeuvrability.

The Battles of Khalkhin Gol was the one major conflict where the I-153 was extensively used against the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. While the results were practically a tie with no change to borders, both sides lost many men and equipment scattered across the desolate lands of the Mongolian-Chinese border. Decades later, a New Zealand airplane collector recovered a number of I-15's and I-153's from the battleground and restored several of them to flying condition, now in museums around the world.

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 aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Vehicle Profile] Polikarpov I-153