M53/59
Contents
Description
The M53/59, known as Praga PLDvK vz. 53/59-"Ještěrka" (Praga twin-cannon AA Model 53/59 "Lizard") in Czech, is an ex-Czechoslovak SPAA built from the chassis of a Praga V3S truck with a pair of 30 mm ZK453 autocannon onboard; although this truck was designed and manufactured by the dawn of supersonic jets, these 30 mm cannons did provide devastating firepower against light targets where it would be hopeless against autocannons. The truck didn't see action in Czechoslovakia (and their successor states) but combat records in both South Europe and Africa still reflect its combat capability at support fire operations.
One of the newcomers of the Update "Sky Guardians" and part of the Soviet tech tree, it not only doubled its firepower over its Soviet counterparts, but also having high rate of fire against any possible aerial targets or armoured targets which happened to showed their sides. It has more than enough penetration at its tier to tear down them with ease; but players would still have to conserve ammo as 100 shells per load (50 per magazine) with a rather long reload time could possibly give death sentence to the truck if the enemy has means to take you down with ease (i.e. HMG, other autocannons or HE shells). Sneak up and flank on unaware enemies or find a spot and conceal yourself, then unleash bullet storm upon them when they show their sides.
General info
Survivability and armour
The M53/59 is based on a Praga V3S 6x6 truck with a revised cabin to crew 4 out of the 5 of them (with only a gunner outside); surprisingly, although only covered by 10 mm of steel at front, it could deflect .50 HMG from some distance or at flat terrains thanks to its angular design with slopes; the engine block could also absorb some damages but prolonged hits will certainly bust the engine. Other that the front of the truck, the protection all-round is only rated for rifle-calibre bullets and sometimes if the enemies are close enough, they can take the crew down with ease, especially MG34 on German tanks with rather high rate of fire; another problem is the rather cramped crew compartment, anything larger than 14.5 mm machine guns/autocannons will certainly gun down the crews with ease even at distance; let alone shells with explosive filler which could detonate the racks of ammo right at the centre of mass or overpressure the crew altogether. So taking cover from time to time and flank the enemies can maximize its survivability.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | ___ mm | ___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom |
___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Turret | ___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
Mobility
The truck utilized the same Tatra T912-2 L6 diesel engine as the Praga V3S truck, although the revised cabin also added weight to the chassis, the truck could still travel at up to 60 km/h and reverse at a sufficient speed in case players need to make a swift escape from enemies.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 66 | 11 | 10.3 | _,___ | 210 | __.__ | 20.39 |
| Realistic | 60 | 10 | _,___ | 110 | __.__ | 10.68 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
Based on an existing WWII design and built by the Zbrojovka Vsetín and certified in 1953[1], the only weapon on the M53/59 is the 30 mm ZK453 autocannon with 50 shells per magazine; the rate of fire, penetration are certainly satisficing to take down aerial targets and ground targets even at distance thanks to its relative straight ballistics. But this is also not a gun for players who are trigger-happy: having only 400 rounds in total and relatively long reload time, it is best to save the shells for close targets which can utilize its HVAP shells well and fire at burst unless in emergency.
| 30 mm ZK453 (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 | 400 (50) | 400 | -10°/+85° | ±180° | - | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: HVAP-T · FI-T
- 30-JFSv-53: FI-T
- 30-JPZSv-53/59: HVAP-T
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| HVAP-T | 91 | 88 | 74 | 60 | 49 | 40 | |
| FI-T | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HVAP-T | 1,000 | 0.43 | - | - | - | 66° | 70° | 72° | ||||
| FI-T | 1,000 | 0.45 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 63.14 | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Usage in battles
The name of M53/59 fits its nature and playstyle- a Lizard (Ještěrka in Czech). Lizard is omnivore and it takes quite many types of food/prey, namely insects which include both flying and crawling ones; this also reflected on the designation of the truck as a SPAA. Instead of using the tongue, M53/59 has a spade onboard- its 30 mm autocannon. Although it is the only SPAA at its BR (others are at least 0.7 BR lower/higher) and it faces late WWII vehicles, in most cases they will not have a side armour over 90 mm; it is a bad news when there are SPAAs flanking the sides, the rate of fire and muzzle velocity of the 30 mm autocannon makes it stand out among its counterparts. 50 rounds per gun and 8 magazines, totaled at 400 rounds onboard might not sound too much in first glance, but firing them in burst and only hitting those who are exactly parallel with M53/59 can certainly maximize its efficiency to take down tanks and light targets; do note that some tanks have their ammo stored at the bottom of the hull with even less protection, it is always welcomed to land shots on the lower side hull and gunning down targets. Another good news to M53/59 is its ballistic performance: before the introduction of 23 mm autocannon or radar-guided guns, previous Soviet/Warsaw Pact autocannons were less flexible than their autocannon counterparts at different nations; while they can ensure a knock-out, the rate of fire could sometimes lead to miserable end to those vehicles. M53/59 not only has the firepower to take down even the largest planes in a few burst, it also flies at a whopping 1,000 m/s velocity, making it even easier to take down planes at longer ranges.
But these come at costs: like aforementioned, each cycle has 100 rounds at your disposal at 50 rounds per gun; this is a familiar number of ammo from the tech-tree predecessor BTR-ZD and M53/59 has even less overall ammo count, so players must not be trigger-happy for the gun unless in dire when enemies are diving upon you or at least disabling enemy vehicles for kill assists if they have turned the turret on you. Another common flaw for SPAAs are their light protection and this is no exception for M53/59; the angular shape cab and reinforced engine cover could deflect .50 cal from a distance, but anything larger than that can easily tear down the cab and possibly the crews inside, leaving the vehicle considered to be knock-out.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High penetration for an SPAA, only comes short on Bofors 40 mm L/70
- High velocity cannon, extending its anti-aircraft/vehicle range
- Sufficiently fast turret traverse speed
- 5 crew members
Cons:
- Sluggish mobility for an SPAA
- Overall large profile due to the huge autocannon onboard
- Very limited protection against machine gun fire
- Relative slow reload to other SPAAs
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
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
| 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 |
