Waffentrager

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Revision as of 18:54, 14 September 2020 by SmokingFrog (talk | contribs) (Per Dr. Mark Felton,PhD, the new information is correct. Waffenträgers did exist and were fielded in the last German attack late in April 1945. Please check your source because the old edit was incorrect.)

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Rank VII | Premium | Golden Eagles
Challenger DS Pack
Waffenträger
germ_waffentrager_krupp_steyr.png
Waffenträger
AB RB SB
5.7 5.7 5.7
Research:20 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:135 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
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Description

GarageImage Waffentrager.jpg


The Waffenträger Krupp-Steyr mit Pak 43 is a rank III German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.71 "New E.R.A.".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 10 mm (76°), 20 mm (46°) Front glacis
5 mm (46°) Engine grille
20 mm (44°) Lower glacis
10 mm (46°) Crew ports
10 mm (25°) Top
10 mm Bottom
10 mm (26°) Top
10 mm (15°) Bottom
5 mm
Turret 20 mm (41°) Turret front
20 mm (5-46°) Gun mantlet
10 mm (22-24°) 10 mm (24°) N/A

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 30 mm thick.
  • Belly armour is 5 mm thick.
  • A 10 mm structural steel plate covers the engine from the crew.

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 38 8 16.3 199 267 12.21 16.38
Realistic 35 7 124 140 7.61 8.59

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: PaK43 (88 mm)
88 mm PaK43 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 30 -8°/+45° ±180° N/A 11.33 15.68 19.04 21.06 22.40 11.05 9.78 9.01 8.50
Realistic 8.33 9.80 11.90 13.16 14.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
PzGr 39/43 APCBC 237 234 222 207 194 181
PzGr 40/43 APCR 279 273 252 227 205 185
Hl.Gr 39 HEAT 110 110 110 110 110 110
Sprgr.43 HE 14 14 14 14 14 14
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
PzGr 39/43 APCBC 1,000 10.16 1.2 14.0 108.8 48° 63° 71°
PzGr 40/43 APCR 1,130 7.3 N/A N/A N/A 66° 70° 72°
Hl.Gr 39 HEAT 600 7.64 0.0 0.3 1,100 62° 69° 73°
Sprgr.43 HE 820 9.4 0.1 0.5 1,000 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Waffentrager
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
Recommendations Visual
discrepancy
30 26 (+4) 21 (+9) 16 (+14) 11 (+19) (+29) Right side empty: 21 (+9) No

Usage in battles

Despite its fully-traversable turret, the Waffenträger is a classic tank destroyer. It has a fantastically powerful gun, which can defeat any heavy tank at this tier, even at long ranges. The shells have great penetration, great explosive filler, and very good velocity. The vehicle even has a better-than-average reload speed. (Note: keep in mind that the Waffenträger is not equipped with any machine guns.)

However, this vehicle also has poor mobility. It's just slow (both forwards and in reverse), especially when stock, and acceleration is poor as well. The tank struggles on slopes, and is completely unsuited for close-up brawling. Another downside to this vehicle is its poor armour setup. Although the armour protection can defend against machine gun fire, any cannon shell will penetrate with ease. The vehicle may also be hullbroken by significantly large shells. And finally, the open-top turret compartment is vulnerable to aircraft and artillery fire. Therefore, it may be necessary to work with SPAA teammates and to find cover under trees or behind buildings.

Given the vehicle's advantages and disadvantages, a good way to play this vehicle is often in a sniping play-style. Staying hidden, keeping distance, and only exposing the vehicle in order to shoot capitalizes on the strength of the vehicle's gun while minimizing the effects of its weak armour. Additionally, it is very easy to hide this vehicle behind cover in a hull-down position, since it has a low profile and good gun depression.

Alternatively, it may also be beneficial to employ a more ambush-based playstyle with this vehicle. But since this requires more close-up engagements, be careful to avoid lengthy brawls, where the Waffenträger's poor armour and mobility will hinder it greatly. Positioning is still very important. Finally, it may be sometimes possible to engage the enemy while orienting the vehicle sideways or backwards. This protects the engine and transmission from enemy fire, and prevents the protruding frontal optics ports from interfering with gun traverse and depression.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire Hl.Gr 39
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine PzGr 40/43

After the Parts modification, the most useful upgrades are the Horizontal Drive, Adjustment of Fire, and Mobility modules.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 88 mm PaK 43 gun power can destroy any vehicle it meets
  • Full rotating turret with the powerful gun
  • Decent -8° gun depression for hull-down positions
  • Low profile construction makes the vehicle easily conceal
  • Suspension and tracks cover a good portion of the lower side hull for protection
  • All AP and APHE shells over-pierce the tank without dealing much damage due to the very thin armour

Cons:

  • Open-top turret crew vulnerable to shrapnel, machine guns, air strikes, artillery, and such
  • Gun recoil can jump the vehicle dramatically, throwing off the aim and bouncing the vehicle position
  • Very thin overall armour of between 10-20 mm
  • 5 mm roof armour means an aerial attack is deadly
  • 5 mm belly armour makes any HE shots able to penetrate through the bottom
  • Front-mounted engine and transmission means both can be knocked out with a front shot, immobilizing the vehicle
  • Poor acceleration

History

Development

In as early as 1942, the German Wehrmacht was looking for a way to make large anti-tank guns easier to deploy and transport, but also should be able to fire the gun and fight on the front lines. Four major German companies (Krupp, Rheinmetall, Borsig, and Ardelt) took part in a tender of the Waffenamt (German Army Weapons Agency) in 1943 for the project. Then, in April 1944, the four companies presented their prototypes. With Krupp and Steyr working together on a design, and Rheinmetall and Borsig on their own. Both designs envisaged placing the 8.8 cm PaK 43 L / 71 in a lightly armoured, upwardly open, rotatable tower mounted on a hull of a Raupenschlepper Ost (a tracked artillery mover) to keep costs down and reduce complexity. However, the decision was made for the prototype of the last company, Ardelt, therefore making the Krupp-Steyr design unwanted by the Waffenamt.

Combat usage

A few Waffenträgers were fielded in the attack on Potsdam in April 1945.

Media

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


Germany tank destroyers
Pz. I Derivatives  Panzerjäger I
Pz. II Derivatives  15cm sIG 33 B Sfl
Pz. 38(t) Derivatives  Marder III · Marder III H · Jagdpanzer 38(t)
Pz. III Derivatives  StuG III A · StuG III F · StuG III G · StuH 42 G
Pz. IV Derivatives  Jagdpanzer IV · Panzer IV/70(A) · Panzer IV/70(V) · Dicker Max · Nashorn · Brummbär · VFW
Pz. V Derivatives  Jagdpanther G1 · Bfw. Jagdpanther G1
Pz. VI Derivatives  Sturer Emil · Elefant · Ferdinand · 38 cm Sturmmörser · Jagdtiger
Wheeled/Half-track  8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl. · Sd.Kfz.251/9 · Sd.Kfz.251/10 · Sd.Kfz.251/22 · Sd.Kfz.234/3 · Sd.Kfz.234/4 · 15 cm Pz.W.42
ATGM Carrier  RakJPz 2 · RakJPz 2 (HOT) · Wiesel 1A2
Other  Waffenträger · M109G · JPz 4-5 · Raketenautomat · VT1-2