AMX-13 DCA 40
Contents
Description
The AMX-13 DCA 40 (Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux, char de 13 t, défense contre avions, canon de 40 mm: Issy-les-Moulineaux construction bureau, 13 ton tank, anti-air defense, 40 mm gun) is a Rank III French self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB) and 5.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It is a clear improvement to its predecessor in all domains, combining two good things to make them even better: the AMX-13's chassis and an improved Bofors cannon (The 40 mm Mle 51 T1 cannon is a French version of the usual 40mm Bofors AA gun).
An AMX-13 chassis, a classic of French post-war technology has been modified to fit SPAA role. This specific chassis has some variants over the usual ones : an enlarged turret ring and with it some extra storage boxes, both extend sideways over the tracks. This tank is quite recognizable for its large box-shaped turret over its chassis.
This tank has 20 mm of armour, all around, barely angled but for the UFP, this won't protect it from antitank rounds nor from autocannon fire but it can certainly deflect poorly-aimed HMG bursts, but not for too long. If taking too long bursts (or if the enemy gets too close), some bullets may find their way through the two large holes in the turret front, near the gun area (there is also two smaller holes in the turret's back). In sum, this tank's armour is not to be trusted with, but it will save you from stray bullets and medium to long range MG/HMG fire.
French ground forces commanders should be used to the AMX-13 chassis as it is also the basis for the only rank III French light tank. With its turret being a little bit heavier and its engine 31 hp less powerful, this tank is slower than the usual AMX-13. It can still carry its user wherever it wants, as long as the situation does not require fast escape maneuvers: with only -6 km/h backwards, it is hard to retreat fast enough.
This is this vehicle's main appeal: its gun. Being twice as fast-firing as its predecessor makes it easier to get planes down, but you will still have to aim, thought: this gun has pinpoint accuracy and almost no felt recoil. As for engaging tanks, with only 76 mm max penetration, you will start to struggle firing at most enemies since their frontal armour is strong enough to block most incoming 40 mm rounds. The real fun with this autocannon lies in shredding light tanks and SPAAs with 4-rounds bursts.
General info
Survivability and armour
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 20 mm (67°) | 20 mm (0-15°) | 15 mm (0-58°) | 10 mm |
| Turret | 20 mm (25°) | 20 mm (15°) | 20 mm (1°) | N/A |
Notes:
Turret:
- Turret frontal armour is split in two by gun.
- Round hole below gun hole in front of the turret.
- Two small holes in the turret's back armour
- Turret ring is 10 mm thick.
- Gun breech is 300 mm thick.
- Turret basket is 5 mm thick.
- Gun barrel is 20 mm thick.
Hull:
- Hull has extra 4 mm boxes in some places.
- 40 mm @ 0-33° LFP.
- Extra 10 mm from tracks and wheel on the upper front plate.
- Tracks are 15 mm thick.
Mobility
| Mobility characteristic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tons) | Add-on Armor weight (tons) |
Max speed (km/h) |
| 15.5 | N/A | 65 (AB) |
| 60 (RB/SB) | ||
| Engine power (horsepower) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 302 | ___ |
| Realistic/Simulator | 239 | 270 |
| Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 19.48 | __.__ |
| Realistic/Simulator | 15.42 | 17.42 |
Armaments
| 40 mm Mle51 T1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity (Belt capacity) | Fire rate (shots/minute) |
Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Stabilizer | |
| 404 (4) | 240 | -5°/+85° | ±180° | N/A | |
| Turret rotation speed (°/s) | |||||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. |
| Arcade | 19.5 | 26.9 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Realistic | 19.5 | 22.9 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ |
| Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||
| Stock | Prior + Full crew | Prior + Expert qualif. | Prior + Ace qualif. | ||
| 0.5 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | ||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Belt | Penetration in mm @ 90° | |||||
| 10m | 100m | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | ||
| Default | AP-T, HE-T (4x) | 76 | 74 | 62 | 45 | 33 | 24 |
| 40mm HE-T | 3 x AP-T, HE-T | 76 | 74 | 62 | 45 | 33 | 24 |
| 40mm AP-T | 3 x HE-T, AP-T | 76 | 74 | 62 | 45 | 33 | 24 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Belt | 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% | ||||||||
| Default | AP-T, HE-T (4x) | 1025, 1005 | 0,86 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 40mm HE-T | 3 x AP-T, HE-T | 1025, 1005 | 0.86 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0° | 62° | 69° | 73° | |
| 40mm AP-T | 3 x HE-T, AP-T | AP-T, HEFI-T | 1025, 1005 | 0.88 | N/A | N/A | -1° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
7th rack empty |
8th rack empty |
9th rack empty |
Recommendations | Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 92 (+9) | 84 (+17) | 76 (+25) | 56 (+45) | 40 (+61) | 20 (+81) | 12 (+89) | 8 (+93) | 0 (+101) | Turret empty: () | no |
Usage in the battles
This SPAA is quite versatile as it can take down both tanks and planes with mitigated efficiency. It has an auto-cannon that does not fires fast enough to engage planes efficiently nor does it penetrates enough to shred tanks. As it is, this SPAA is good for front line use: providing cover for incoming ground attackers to its allies while also securing flanks from fast-movers.
Good at engaging both tanks and planes, its versatile belts allows this vehicle to switch roles in a split second.
SPAA use:
Pre-aim your gun in the predicted direction of your target: the DCA-40 has a bit of a slow turret traverse for an SPAA. It is easier to aim at targets coming towards you: stay with your team and fire when the plane is ~500 m away: an hitting round will shred it in no time. Any other SPAA tactics apply normally to this vehicle.
Front-line use:
Do not engage tanks frontally: prefer lateral engagements, surprise your foes. If it happens that the enemy team is composed of medium/light tanks, there is a great chance that you can get some kills from them, be sure to have an escape route as any tank noticing you counters those flanking maneuvers. Heavy tanks at this BR are usually very hard to get trough, even from the side, engage only at risk. A more conservative way to play is to stay a few meters behind the front-line and spot flanking tanks while also watching the skies.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good top speed.
- Fast reload.
- Fires twice as fast as its predecessor (240 rpm).
- Shells have a higher velocity compared to the standard Bofors 40mm, making it easier to find hits.
- Fast elevation speed.
- +85° elevation angle.
- Wide tracks for such a light chassis.
- UFP sloped at 67° may bounce some shots.
- 5 mm thick turret basket act as leg protection for the crew (from HMG fire).
- Often one-shots planes.
- Each belt has both HE-T and AP-T ammo inside (great for multipurpose roles).
- Decent reverse speed.
- Gun is hard to overheat.
Cons:
- Turret is literally an ammo rack.
- Bad gun depression.
- Loader is exposed to MG fire.
- No coaxial armament.
- Struggles to reach its top speed.
- Vulnerable to HMG fire.
- Fairly low fire rate, making it is hard to hit planes.
- Most enemies that it faces are no longer vulnerable to side shots.
- Slow Turret rotation.
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 "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources 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.
Read also
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| France anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Wheeled/Half-tracked | P.7.T AA · CCKW 353 AA · TPK 6.41 |
| AMX-13 Derivatives | VTT DCA · AMX-13 DCA 40 |
| Radar SPAAG | AMX-30 S DCA |
| Missile SPAA | SANTAL · Roland 1 · ▄ItO 90M |
| Other | AMX-10P |
