M42 (Japan)

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A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
jp_m42_duster.png
▅M42
AB RB SB
5.0 4.0 4.0
Class:
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This page is about the SPAA M42 (Japan). For other usages, see M42 (Disambiguation). For other vehicles of the family, see M42 (Family).

Description

GarageImage M42 (Japan).jpg


The Twin 40 mm Self-Propelled Gun M42 Duster is a rank III Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB) and 4.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced along with the entire Japanese Ground Forces tree in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai".

The M42 (Japan) is identical in characteristics as the American M42. Its two 40 mm Bofors gun and exposed crew make the M42 quite a mediocre anti-aircraft vehicle, with a relatively slow-firing gun that makes it hard to quickly get a hit, and low protection that any aircraft can strafe the M42 to pieces. However, this SPAA is quite fast and can relocate and get to a different position quite quickly.

The U.S. military awarded General Motors Corporation's tank division with a contract to design and build the M42 Duster, as an armoured light air-defence gun platform. Though initially developed to provide defence from air attacks, by the time the Duster was ready to be fielded in mass, the military switched gears determining that the Duster was not a useful tool against the jet aircraft which were beginning to fill the sky.

While Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft (SPAA) vehicles were initially created to counter aircraft, other uses developed in which they saw action against armoured vehicles. Compared to other contemporary SPAA vehicles (ZSU-37WirbelwindMultiple Gun Motor Carriage M13, etc...) though, the M42 is typically regarded as the least effective when used against vehicles with armour protection. The penetration value of the armour-piercing rounds is considered too low to penetrate armour plating, even when not angled. The Duster, however, can be devastating against vehicles with very little to no armour, especially at 120 rounds per minute for each gun.

Being considered a light tank, the M42 does not have the armour capability to stand up directly to many of the other vehicles which it will face on the battlefield, especially against tanks which may fire high-explosive shells. The Duster will fare better against machinegun fire and potentially against some of the lighter autocannon fire which it may encounter, though not for long. Due to the M42's lightweight nature, it is best to stage where there is cover to help shield the Duster. It is also essential to only expose the vehicle when necessary to get a shot. If discovered, it is best to have a contingency location to which to fall back and regroup.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour may as well be non-existent on the M42. Built off the chassis of the M41 Walker Bulldog, the SPAA can be penetrated by anything in the game, except for those few tanks armed with only machine guns, of course. In this tank, speed is your armour. A stationary Duster is a scrapped Duster unless you're firing on an aircraft, in which you should stop behind some cover.

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 79 21 22.5 710 954 31.56 42.4
Realistic 73 19 442 500 19.64 22.22

This tank can go about 72 km/h forwards and -20 km/h backwards. Either way, it's fast. Being built with neutral steering and lighter than the M41A1. It should take no difficulty to get out of a situation in a pinch.

Armaments

Main article: Bofors (40 mm)
The M42 Duster is armed with two Bofors (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns. They have a decent rate of fire and you will seldom have to stop and wait for a reload - more likely, you'll have to wait for the gun barrel to cool down. Against aircraft, these guns are deadly. A shot or two will be more than enough to shoot down an enemy. They are also quite deadly against lightly armoured vehicles, such as enemy SPAAs or light tanks such as the Spähpanzer Ru 251 or M41 Walker Bulldog, and you can pen the side of Panthers, too. However, they require direct hits. Against the Soviet heavy or British medium tanks you are likely to encounter, however these guns will do nothing for you. You will rarely get an opportunity to use the Bofors on another tank, as they simply lack the penetration to do so - 68mm doesn't get you very far at Rank IV. It's part of what makes the Rank IV Japanese experience so painful. If you can get the guns to hit, you should have no trouble knocking aircraft out of the sky.
40 mm Bofors (x2)
Capacity (Belt capacity each) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
480 (8) 120 -3°/+85° ±180°
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 23.8 32.9 40.0 44.2 47.0
Realistic 23.8 28.0 34.0 37.6 40.0
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
0.65 0.58 0.53 0.50

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Mk.II HEFI-T* 3 3 3 3 3 3
M81A1 AP-T 76 74 62 45 33 24
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
Mk.II HEFI-T* 874 0.86 0.2 0.1 63 +0° 79° 80° 81°
M81A1 AP-T 874 0.88 N/A N/A N/A -1° 47° 60° 65°

Belt types

Belts Shell composition Combat usage
Default AP-T / HEFI-T* These work fine, a hit on an aircraft means instant disassembly for it and still is able to hurt ground vehicles, especially if it is side into the side of a enemy tank. These seem like a good I don't know what i will run into belt.
Mk.II HEFI-T* These mean bad news for aircraft, what should be used for AA work.
M81A1 AP-T These are the worst belts against airplanes. however, they are able to hurt ground vehicles especially if it is side into the side of a enemy tank. If you plan on penetrating tanks, load this and flank, since side shots are almost a necessity.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M42 Duster.
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Recommendations Visual
discrepancy
60 50 (+10) 38 (+22) 14 (+46) (+58) Keep Full Yes

Usage in battles

This tank has no armour, but a lot of speed and guns that do nothing against anything with actual armour. Refrain from attacking enemies that can take a hit from you, unless you like getting "Hit +10SL +5RP". You can roam around the battlefield with your insane speed and act as a scout. Ironically, shooting enemies you know will bounce, you have a reason for it because it makes them show up on the mini-map for all players to see, although it will also expose you. However, you could stay with your teammates and shoot down planes that will be harassing them - they will see you, with your open-top and exposed crew, and think of you as an easy target. They know the danger of the Bofors guns but for some pilots that is a gamble, they are willing to take. A good way to lure planes toward you is the act like you don't see them - shoot off at some distant (ground) target, at which the plane will notice you are "distracted" and dive to attack you, where you can show them the error of their ways in the form of the 40mm Bofors cannon.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Mk.II Horizontal Drive
II Suspension Brake System FPE M81A1 Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support NVD

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 40 mm cannons are devastating to planes
  • AP rounds able to penetrate roughly 60 mm can be used against some tanks' side armour it could face, like the M4, T-34-85 or Panther A/D (mixed battle)
  • Unsynchronized firing helps improve overall fire rate to double that list
  • Outside from default belts, the other belt options are made of a single type of shell that can be relied on
  • Relatively fast vehicle with good mobility due to the M41A1 light tank basis
  • Fast turret traverse rate helps track aircraft

Cons:

  • Despite 40 mm cannons and the unsynchronized firing, the overall fire rate is still lower than its contemporaries
  • 40 mm AP rounds are not the best AP rounds to use overall due to relatively low penetration. Cannot penetrate all-round protected heavy tanks like the IS-2 or Tiger H/E (mixed battle)
  • Open turret allows aerial attacks and machine guns to decimate the exposed crew
  • Very thin armour hull, can be penetrated by .50 cal found on the M4.
  • Is hull-breakable
  • Careless driving can damage the vehicle
  • Ammo can be used up rather quickly due to the dual-gun firing, prolonged combat can find the ammo stowage run empty
  • Easily ammo-racked due to racks scattered all around the turret, aerial autocannons could set it off if hit

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an 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>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as 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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • encyclopedia page on tank;
  • other literature.


Japan anti-aircraft vehicles
Ke-Ni Derivatives  Ta-Se · So-Ki
Wheeled  Type 94
Tracked  SUB-I-II
Radar SPAAG  Type 87
Missile SPAA  Type 93 · Type 81 (C)
USA  ▅M16 MGMC · ▅M19A1 · ▅M42