BTR-ZD
Contents
Description
The BTR-ZD is a rank IV Soviet SPAA with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB) and 6.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Danger Zone".
Based on the BTR-D chassis derived from VDV's BMD-1, BTR-ZD offered a devastating twin 23 mm autocannon with good accuracy and rate of fire, as well as being mobile; while having the bare minimal survivability for the crew.
General info
Survivability and armour
Its BTR-D APC chassis was derived from BMD-1, a VDV's airborne IFV, designed to be para-dropped by transporter aircrafts; so one of its requirements was being light, the extensive use of ABT-101 aluminum alloy ensured its structural integrity while provided the bare minimal protection for the crew.
With the max thickness of the armour being 32mm on the front and two crew members completely exposed almost anything can take you out. The speed of the vehicle acts as a substitute to the low armour. İf the vehicle is shot from the side by an AP round it likely wont do much damage and wont hit the ammo but an HE round will almost certainly take out at least 2 crew members. The spacing of the crew members is disadvantageous as they are all close together and 1 good shot might be able to take them all out.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 23 mm Top (63°)
15 mm UFP (73°) 32 mm LFP (48°) |
23 mm Top 20 mm Bottom |
20 mm Bottom | 12 mm |
| Cupola | 12 mm (89°) Cylindrical | |||
Notes:
Mobility
Thanks to the lightweight of the vehicle, its 5D-20 V6 engine can output up to 241 hp and pushes BTR-ZD at 61 km/h, comparable to his Chinese counterpart ZSD63; thanks to its lightweight, it also has high power-weight ratio. While having sufficient forward speed, it could only go 6 km/h at reverse, so beware of being over-extended.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 67 | 7 | 9 | 341 | 458 | 37.89 | 50.89 |
| Realistic | 62 | 7 | 212 | 240 | 23.56 | 26.67 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The ZU-23 is perhaps one of the most famous AA autocannon in service, due to the lack of anti-air capabilities of VDV troops at early stage of being air-dropped, BTR-ZD strapped a ZU-23-2 onto the top of the chassis; having high rate of fire and sufficient penetration to tear down most targets it might see on their sides. While keep in note that it it takes a relatively long time to reload its guns, not being trigger-happy is the
| 23 mm ZU-23 (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 | 500 (50) | 800 | -10°/+90° | ±180° | N/A | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: API-T · HEF-I
- HEI-T: HEF-I · HEFI-T · HEF-I · API-T
- API-T: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEFI-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 | 51 | 48 | 36 | 26 | 18 | 13 |
| HEI-T | 51 | 48 | 36 | 26 | 18 | 13 |
| API-T | 51 | 48 | 36 | 26 | 18 | 13 |
| 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% | |||||||
| 23 mm HEF-I | HEF-I | 980 | 0.18 | 0 | 0.1 | 28.49 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 23 mm API-T | API-T | 970 | 0.19 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| 23 mm HEFI-T | HEFI-T | 970 | 0.19 | 0 | 0.1 | 20.02 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 8 (+2) | 6 (+4) | 4 (+6) | 2 (+8) | 0 (+10) | Yes |
Machine guns
An unusual feature of BTR-ZD is having a pair of hull machine guns (not modelled in X-ray view) ; although being practically useless any against armored targets, it could still gun down exposed crews in rare cases.
| 7.62 mm PKT (x2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Hull | 1000 (___) | 700 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
Due to being made out of ABT-101 aluminum alloy and the thickest area of the armour being 32mm at the front of the vehicle a head on engagement with a ground vehicle is not recommended, especially against vehicles with high-caliber machine guns or autocannons. If used against ground targets, takes good use of its high mobility and flank the enemies to avoid seeing the hanger screen right away. Most HE rounds will decimate the vehicle right away, even if it somehow survived the hit, the exposed crew will not have a good day either. When facing heavier targets (such as Churchills), chances are the autocannons onboard with relatively low penetration is practically useless against any WWII heavy tanks, so either disable their tracks or just avoid them at all. When encountering vehicles with strong frontal armour but weak side armour (such as the Hetzer) try to flank and take them out by shooting at their sides.
When engaging air targets, try to take out the target before it shoots back, because if it does the gunner and loader are will almost certainly be unconscious and will leave you vulnerable to follow up attacks. Since the vehicle is amphibious, a strategy can be used in maps with rivers and bridges (in maps like European Province) is to peek out under the bridge to fire, then hide in the bridge holes for reload or make good use of the aquatic bodies to sneak up on the enemies and deliver a surprise attack. As any SPAA, it is also suggested to stay close to cover to avoid gun strafing, bombs and rockets. Lastly it is advised to stay near trees so that you can quickly go behind them and make it harder to spot you while you are reloading or using your mobility to quickly change positions.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very good fire rate
- All ammo types have enough bullet penetration for most light and medium tanks
- Night vision capabilities
- Amphibious
- Fast for a SPAA
- Has 2 forward facing 7.62 mm machine guns
Cons:
- Exposed gunner and loader
- Big target for enemy planes to strafe at
- Can be pierced by 12.7 mm machine guns
- Guns overheat fast if not fired in bursts
History
BTR-ZD (Бронетранспортёр- Зенитная Десанта; lit Anti-aircraft APC for airborne troops) was based on the BTR-D APC, which was again based on BMD-1 IFV for the VDV (Soviet/Russian Airborne Troops). After the introduction of BMD-1 in VDV service in 1969, the vehicle was deemed too small for practical transport capabilities; where the Volgograd Tractor Factory (BMD-1's manufacturer) built a new APC for the VDV based on BMD-1, with a longer hull while removing its original turret system. The new BTR-D entered the service in 1974.
This variant, dubbed "Скрежет" (a metal file) installed a ZU-23-2 autocannon onto its chassis and it was projected that the crew would also carry a squadron with MANPADS, serving as a field anti-aircraft position for the airborne troops.
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
- http://www.military-today.com/artillery/btr_zd.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTR-D#cite_note-fas.org-2
- https://weaponsystems.net/system/64-BTR-ZD%20%22Skrezhet%22
| 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 |
