ZSU-23-4M2
Contents
Description
The ZSU-23-4M2 "Shilka-M2", sometimes referred as an "Afghan Shilka", was a modification of the infamous ZSU-23-4 Shilka family specifically for the Afghanistan battlefield for the Soviet Army during the Soviet-Afghan War. By 1978, Soviet forces in Afghanistan faced a major problem from the insurgents - their terrain advantages thanks to the very complicated plateau and hilly terrain of battlefield. Due to the lack of elevation angle from Soviet vehicles, the insurgents caused havoc to the Soviets, especially the mechanized troops; the only solution for these well-covered insurgents was ZU-23-2 or its SPAA cousin, Shilka; considering that insurgents have next-to-none air threats against Soviet forces, a certain number of Shilkas were converted in Soviet Union and delivered to the Soviet troops in Afghanistan with removed electronics for extra ammunition against insurgents, as well as extra NVD for night operations.
Introduced in Update "Dance of Dragons" as a new SPAA for Soviet/Russian tech tree. It is a modification of the ZSU-23-4, aimed at improving its effectiveness against infantry. It had its 1RL33 radar removed, and in its place it has double the ammunition load. This makes it capable of using its insane fire rate more effectively, but removed its anti-air targeting system. Additionally, a night sight was added. Although it might sound tedious in-game, but considering for its battle rating with late-WWII or Korean War propellers/jets, it can do surprising well on intercepting these targets with more than enough ammunition to tear them into pieces, while the 23 mm autocannon could still harass enemy targets or sometimes shatter them.
General info
Survivability and armour
Like any Shilka, the overall protection is next to none. As a SPAA, in most cases the vehicle would not likely need to advance to the most heated frontline, thus the overall protection is nowhere sufficient to stop any bullets above .50 cal, let alone cannon or autocannon shells. Protection is not improved on the ZSU-23-4M2, thus it retains little protection like other Shilkas with armour plates less thick than 10 mm RHA.
The M2 variant also still retains mostly identical interior design of other Shilka with a crew of four inside, the ASU-85 based chassis and turret systems, except for the extra ammo storage. In many cases, any penetrating shots on the Shilka will lead to critical damage to the turret system if not to a sudden detonation due to the huge ammo storage with around 4,000 x 23 mm shells onboard.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | 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
The ZSU-23-4M2 has an average speed comparable to other vehicles, but it struggles with hills due to its weak power-to-weight ratio.
| 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
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The ZSU-23-4M2 is armed with the AZP-23 quad-mount autocannons, known as the sewing machine due to its iconic firing sound. Although the sound from the firing can sometimes deter enemy aircraft, players who understand the rather curved trajectory of the 23 mm autocannon will have an easy time taking down the Shilka. Sudden attack with the autocannons is always the best idea to use the vehicle. Leave the shells for aircraft instead as the penetration of 23 mm shells are rather disappointing, sometimes barely able to penetrate NATO tanks from their sides.
| 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 | 4,000 (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
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 0 (+8) | 0 (+8) | 0 (+8) | No |
Usage in battles
The Mudrock Grinder
Before players have access to the more air-defense-capable variant of Shilka, players will have to remember a thumb of rule - the ZSU-23-4M2 (hereafter, 4M2) is not the greatest anti-tank vehicle, any variant of them. Although the 23 mm autocannon has rather disappointing penetration against well-armor targets, they are extremely lethal to any aircrafts within 2 km radius, as well as light vehicles; this will also be a good idea to take the 4M2 variant as the lead-in vehicle to Shilka or any Soviet SPAA before Strela-10M2 or 2S6 as it requires luring to be most efficient against any targets that have to utilize its elevation angle.
As infantry is not part of targets in-game, 4M2 will have to face armored targets from time to time; for its battle rating, this translates to "doomsday tanks" with rather thick side protection even against high-caliber cannon i.e T29/30/34 series and Tiger II series, sometimes even the Maus or M103. The penetration of 23 mm autocannon is nowhere close to the protection of any of these vehicles, thus taking the 4M2 as a flanking fire support vehicle isn't too viable; while the gun can shatter lighter targets, but in most cases it will take players some time to gun down MTs, especially those with oval hull or sufficient protection, this also means enemy players can come up and gun down 4M2 with relatively ease to save their teammate. MG34 or MG3 might not be a threat for the vehicle, but any vehicle with .50 caliber machine gun and above will have easy time damaging M2 with relatively ease even at UFP; considering that there are 4000 rounds of 23 mm shells onboard (the magazines and spares behind the turret), any explosive shells with direct hits on the vehicle is more than enough to set a major firework show for the enemy team. While taking out MT/HT tracks are always a viable option for kill assists or stalling their advance, it is better to hunt down light vehicles instead as they are nowhere sufficient to save themselves from the fearsome RoF from a quad 23 mm autocannon, any LT/IFV/APCs or fellow SPAAs would be a good prey for 4M2. For its previously intended role - SPAA, due to the lack of radar system that was traded for the extra ammo belts onboard, players can take 4M2 as a "Wirbelwind on steroids" with very similar characteristics - quad-mount gun and loads of ammunition; but most of all, be sure to lure enemy aircrafts into 2 km radius, while the muzzle velocity of AZP-23 cannon needs some time to get used to due to its curved trajectory, the sheer firing sound that earned its nickname "sewing machine" and the caliber themselves are more than enough to keep the sky clear from CAS assaults, sometimes even the buzzing sound of gun fire can deter enemy assaults.
As a field-modification, ZSU-23-4M2 changes its role from SPAA into a fire-support vehicle. While this holds back some of its capabilities where players have rely on their experience to lead-in onto enemy targets, this will also be the trainer for any future Shilkas - once being used to the playstyle even without the radar, 4M2 could still be a fearsome existence to beginning with; by gunning down scouts, stalling enemy columns and gunning any "flying bugs", it can still prove its worthy at this tier.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High rate of fire, allows for area saturation
- Relatively high top speed
- Very high ammo count
- Fast turret traverse speed
- Can penetrate lightly armoured vehicles
Cons:
- Thin armour, aircraft cannons will cause severe damage
- Low power-to-weight ratio, struggles with slopes and off-road
- Low penetration for 23 mm cannon, has trouble penetrating tanks from the side
History
The ZSU-23-4M2 was a field modification performed during the Afghanistan war. It was made to utilize its powerful cannons against infantry targets.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- Related development
- Vehicles with similar weapon systems
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| USSR anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| GAZ-AAA | GAZ-AAA (4M) · GAZ-AAA (DShK) |
| BTR-152 | BTR-152A · BTR-152D |
| Wheeled/Half-tracked | GAZ-MM (72-K) · ZiS-12 (94-KM) · ZiS-43 |
| Radar SPAAG | ZSU-23-4 · ZSU-37-2 |
| SAM | ZSU-23-4M4 · Strela-10M2 · 2S6 · Pantsir-S1 |
| Other | ZSU-23-4M2 · ZUT-37 · ZSU-37 · BTR-ZD · ZSU-57-2 |
| Czechoslovakia | M53/59 |
| North Vietnam | ▂Phòng không T-34 |
