Type 87 RCV (P)
This page is about the Japanese light tank Type 87 RCV (P). For the other version, see Type 87 RCV. For other uses, see Type 87 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Type 87 RCV (P) is the prototype stage of the Type 87 RCV and differs primarily in the turret. While the prototype boasts only a 20 mm autocannon, it does come with an expensive stabilizer which wasn't retained in the main production version.
It was introduced in Update "La Royale". Offering the same great mobility as its main production model, its firepower is dampened due to its smaller calibre and is lesser damage and penetration as a result. The safest way to utilize the Type 87 RCV (P) is by playing in its intended role: as a reconnaissance combat vehicle. Scout out targets from vantage points, and use the 20 mm purely for self-defence and against softer targets that are doing the same recon role.
General info
Survivability and armour
Most of the survivability will result from the lack of armour, most of the vehicle is covered by 10 mm armour with some frontal plates at 20 mm protection. It will be easy to be penalized by machine gun fire if spotted but, if the bullets/shells hit in empty spots from the side, the shells will go clean through without any damage to crew or components.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret)
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 10 mm (67°) Upper glacis 20 mm (31-67°) Lower glacis |
10 mm (21-11°) Top 10 mm (0°) Bottom |
10 mm (7°) | 10 mm |
Turret | 20 mm | 10 mm | 10 mm | 10 mm |
Cupola | 10 mm |
Notes:
- Wheels are 10 mm thick
- Has some external modules like fuel cans, mud flaps & optics all at 4 mm thick
- Radiators are 10 mm thick
Mobility
As a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, it is able to get to positions rather fast especially when keeping on roads, allowing for easy flanking and getting on vantage points to scout out the enemy team.
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
Arcade | 112 | 13 | 15 | 473 | 582 | 31.53 | 38.8 |
Realistic | 101 | 12 | 270 | 305 | 18 | 20.33 |
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
With the armament the Type 87 RCV (P) gets, it's most suitable as a support vehicle that can deal with lightly armoured vehicles and low-flying aircraft. Even the improved APDS belt will lack in damage output due to its small calibre and relatively little penetration at 66 mm.
20 mm Rh202 | 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 (100) | 800 | -10°/+45° | ±180° | Two-plane | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ |
Ammunition
- Default: HVAP-T · HEFI-T
- DM51A1: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HVAP-T
- DM43: HVAP-T · HVAP-T · HVAP-T · HEFI-T
- DM63: APDS · APDS · APDS · HEFI-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 | 57 | 52 | 37 | 24 | 15 | 10 | |
HEFI-T | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
APDS | 66 | 61 | 45 | 31 | 21 | 14 |
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 | 1,100 | 0.11 | - | - | - | 66° | 70° | 72° | ||||
HEFI-T | 1,100 | 0.13 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 11.05 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
APDS | 1,150 | 0.13 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 4 (+0) | 3 (+1) | 2 (+2) | 1 (+3) | Yes |
Machine guns
Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.
7.62 mm Type 74 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
4,000 (250) | 701 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The Type 87 RCV (Prototype) is a specialized vehicle that is designed for reconnaissance and light combat support. RCV stands for Recon Combat Vehicle, which indicates its main function of scouting the enemy positions and engaging targets that are vulnerable to its 20 mm auto-cannon. The auto-cannon can fire at a high rate and is effective against infantry, low-flying aircraft and lightly armoured vehicles such as trucks, APCs and IFVs. However, the auto-cannon has limited penetration and damage against heavily armoured vehicles such as tanks and SPGs. The auto-cannon can only disable the tracks or barrels of these vehicles, but it would require a lot of ammunition and time to do so. Therefore, it is not advisable to use the Type 87 RCV against armoured targets, but rather to report them to the team and let them handle the threat. The Type 87 RCV should be used on wide flanks, where it can exploit its mobility to find advantageous positions and spot out enemy vehicles. It can also destroy or suppress enemy snipers such as ATGM carriers and soft SPGs that are hiding in the rear. The Type 87 RCV should avoid direct confrontation with the enemy, but rather focus on providing intelligence and fire support for the team.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- From the side on:
- Crew spaced out enough to not die in a single shot
- Because of light armour, it is able to take shells without much damage from spalling
- Decent rate of fire
- Great mobility
- Able to reach 100 km/h on roads with ease
- Fast enough to reach 50 km/h off-road
- High-speed gun stabilizer
Cons:
- Relatively high profile for a recon vehicle
- High chance of getting knocked out by a single shot frontally
- Belts leave much to desire
- Stock HVAP only penetrates 57 mm
- Better APDS only penetrates 66 mm
- Very lightly armoured
- Only 2 reverse gears allowing it to reach -20 km/h
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
- Skins
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;
- other literature.
Komatsu Ltd. (株式会社小松製作所) | |
---|---|
SPRG | Type 60 SPRG (C) |
APC | Type 60 ATM |
MLRS | Type 75 MLRS |
RCV | Type 87 RCV (P) · Type 87 RCV |
Japan light tanks | |
---|---|
Type 89 | I-Go Ko |
Type 95 | Ha-Go · Ha-Go Commander |
Type 98 | Ke-Ni |
Other | Ka-Mi |
IFV | Type 89 |
RCV | Type 87 RCV (P) · Type 87 RCV · RCV (P) |
MCV | Type 16 (P) · Type 16 (FPS) · Type 16 |
USA | ▅M24 · ▅M41A1 |