Ostwind II
Contents
Description
The Flakpanzer IV Ostwind II is a rank IV German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB) and 5.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision", replacing the Flakpanzer 341 in the German tech tree..
General info
Survivability and armour
The frontal hull armour (80mm) is quite well protected against small caliber weapons and .50 caliber BMGs, the sides (30mm) and rear (20mm) then again not.
The turret is open at the top and has a rectangular recess in the right, frontal turret armour, because of the optics.
In addition the steel of the turret (25mm) is very weakly armoured, as well as the hull roof (10-12mm).
Since the vehicle has a crew of 5, it usually survives a first attack from enemy aircrafts (because of the driver and the machine gunner(/radio operator) in the hull), as well as a shot into the turret.
Mobility
The vehicle has a not great average speed, which means that the 39 km/h will be rare on the battlefield, and turning on the spot does not work well either (no neutral steering).
The reverse gear (-7km/h) is also insufficient.
| Mobility characteristic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tons) | Add-on armour weight (tons) |
Max speed (km/h) |
| 25.0 | N/A | 42 (AB) |
| 39 (RB/SB) | ||
| Engine power (horsepower) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 426 | ??? |
| Realistic/Simulator | 265 | 300 |
| Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 17.04 | ??.?? |
| Realistic/Simulator | 10.6 | 12.0 |
Armaments
Main armament
| 37 mm FlaK 44 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | ||
| 1,000 | -10°/+87° | ±180° | N/A | ||
| Turret rotation speed (°/s) | |||||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded | Prior + Full crew |
Prior + Expert qualif. |
Prior + Ace qualif. |
| Arcade | 30.8 | ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? |
| Realistic | 20.8 | ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? | 35.00 |
| Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||
| Stock | Prior + Full crew |
Prior + Expert qualif. |
Prior + Ace qualif. | ||
| ??.?? | ??.?? | ??.?? | 0.2 | ||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 90° (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M.Gr.18 | FI-T | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| PzGr | APHE | 46 | 43 | 31 | 21 | 14 | 9 |
| Sprgr. 18 | FI-T | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Normalisation at 30° from horizontal |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| M.Gr.18 | FI-T | 914 | 0.55 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 108 | ?.?° | ??° | ??° | ??° |
| PzGr | APHE | 770 | 0.69 | 1.2 | 9.0 | 22.1 | -1.0° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| Sprgr. 18 | FI-T | 820 | 0.62 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 49.3 | ?.?° | ??° | ??° | ??° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 75 (+50) | 55 (+70) | 25 (+100) | 5 (+120) | 0 (+125) | ?? |
Optics
| Ostwind II Optics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default magnification | Maximum magnification | |
| Main Gun optics | X2.1 | X3.7 |
| Comparable optics | ??? | |
Machine guns
| 7.92 mm MG 34 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| mount | |||
| Capacity (Belt capacity) |
Fire rate (shots/minute) |
Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
| 1,800 (150) | 900 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
RB: You should use the Ostwind II towards the end of a battle or only when there are many enemy planes in the air.
At the front line you have nothing to look for, because there you are easy prey for enemy tanks.
If your own team is about to lose or it gets very exciting towards the end, and there aren't many enemies left alive, you can place yourself in an allied capture-point to defend it from enemy light tanks and also to be more central in the battlefield to make it difficult for enemy planes to fly over.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | Sprgr. 18 | Horizontal Drive | |
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | PzGr | Adjustment of Fire |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | M.Gr.18 | Elevation Mechanism | |
| IV | Transmission | Engine | Artillery Support | ||
Pros and cons
It's an average SPAAG that definitely has nothing to look for on the front line.
Its great advantage is that it has a double cannon and is therefore even more dangerous for enemy aircrafts.
The Ostwind II has sufficient penetrating power to destroy M18 GMCs or other light armoured vehicles, but should rather concentrate on enemy aircraft, since the turret is open from above and weakly armoured so enemy aircrafts and .50 cal. (BMG) are dangerous.
Pros:
- 2x 3,7cm FlaK 44
- don't need to reload until it has no more ammunition
- enough penetration to destroy enemy light amoured vehicles
Cons:
- Built on Panzer IV chassis and sits on br. 5.7 with it
- Pretty slow average speed
- Inadequate penetration for many enemy vehicles
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
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- Ostwind - Predecessor with a single 37 mm FlaK 43 autocannon.
- Flakpanzer 341 - Gift vehicle that the Ostwind II substituted in the main tech tree.
External links
| 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 |
