ZSD63/PG87
Contents
Description
The ZSD63/PG87, Dual-Barrel AA is a rank III Chinese SPAA
with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB) and 5.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".
General info
Survivability and armour
Despite its armored box look, one would be hard pressed to call it armored. Almost entirely 8mm thick save for a for the upper front glacis which is 12mm, then compound with near vertical sides the word "armor" would seem to be a joke. Insult to injury is an high mounted open top turret with the crews head exposed on top like pumpkins. If one gets the impression the armor on this tracked box is non existent then I am doing a good job describing this units vulnerability to even rifle caliber machine guns. While you might survive a few glancing shots or pen though the empty rear part plus have 3 spare crew, the best survival tactic is avoid being seen and have cover in front of you to duck behind after unloading a few bursts.
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 12 mm | 8 mm | 8 mm |
| Turret | 8 mm | 8 mm | 8 mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Mobility is excellent across all terrain with a good speed. With 19 hp/ton and it easily accelerates to 60 km/h forward
(although disappointing 8 km/h reverse) and the suspension easily handles all kinds of terrain. There are few ground units up to Rank V that can exceed this ones performance offering you ample avoidance or flanking advantages, which is very important for this thin-skinned unit.
| 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 | 10 | 14 | _,___ | 496 | __.__ | 35.43 |
| Realistic | 61 | 9 | _,___ | 260 | __.__ | 18.57 | |
Armaments
Main armament
The ZSD63/PG87 is arguably the most lethal cannon system at this rank in-game. Firing a staggering 10 rounds per second (600 rpm) at extremely high velocity and with precision which offers almost laser-like point-and-hit ability on a quick turning turret, and you have two of the PG87 (25 mm) to boot! Aircraft are instant confetti under its FI-T rounds. Although AP-T penetration at 100 m is at best 60 mm (500 m is 47 mm), its high fire rate and high velocity allow multiple hits at weak points until a kill shot is made. Lightly armoured units and nearly all ATG are easy targets, medium units should not be too difficult to eliminate either, and even heavy tanks can be disabled by these 25 mm cannons when aimed at vulnerable locations. It's one weakness is an extremely long reload time (30+ seconds), so be highly conservative with your fire control. YES, this monster will be just as effective to Rank 7 as in Rank 2.
Default is a 50/50 mix of AP-T and FI-T. This is marginally acceptable for Anti-air operations, but for anti-tank a pure AP-T load is far better. Recommend start game with AP-T only and switch to 50/50 midway. Adjust load-outs depending on Ranks and who to play with.
.| 25 mm PG87 (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 | 480 (40) | 600 | -10°/+90° | ±180° | N/A | 47.6 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | 67.93 | 32.5 | _.__ | _.__ | 25 |
| Realistic | 32.1 | __.__ | __.__ | __.__ | 45.9 | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: AP-T · FI-T
- Type 87 AP: AP-T
- Type 87 HE: FI-T
| Penetration statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belts | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| Default | 63 | 60 | 47 | 35 | 26 | 19 |
| Type 87 AP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Type 87 HE | 63 | 60 | 47 | 35 | 26 | 19 |
| Belt 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% | |||||||
| Type 87 AP | AP-T | 1050 | 0.25 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| Type 87 HE | FI-T | 1050 | 0.25 | N/A | 0.1 | 19 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Usage in battles
The ZSD63 is an excellent anti-aircraft vehicle. The two 25 mm PG87 cannons can quickly destroy aerial targets. However, if you are not careful, you can quickly run out of ammunition. The ZSD63 proves less successful in the fight against ground targets. Due to its very weak armour, it can be easily destroyed by machine gun fire. It is best to only use it against aerial targets, but if you want to fight ground targets you should ambush or attack from the side.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | Horizontal Drive | Type 87 HE | |
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | Adjustment of Fire | Type 87 AP |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | Elevation Mechanism | ||
| IV | Transmission | Engine | Artillery Support | ||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent firepower against both planes and tanks. Cannons have very high firerate and good traverse. The HE can critically damage lots of aircraft with a few hits, if not destroying it straight away. The AP, with its 63mm penetration, can frontally go through Chi-Nu, M24, Pz.IV F2 and StuG III F, or penetrate the sides of M4 Sherman and Cromwell, which are all very common at 3.7
- Great -10 degrees gun depression allows sneaky shots in hilly terrains
- Excellent terrain handling and maneuverability. Small size allow threading narrow passages.
- High top speed allows it to get to positions in time. It is faster than some medium tanks like the early M4
- Thin armor can lead to some shells over-penetrating without detonation (eg. 122mm)
- Huge gap behind the driving compartment and below the turret can absorb plenty of shells.
- Great gunsight magnification allows easy snipes from long range.
Cons:
- Very poor survivability due to its light armor and open-topped turret. Even the weakest rifle ammunition (7mm) is a real threat.
- Extremely long reload time of 32 seconds makes it vulnerable and defenseless when reloading. It also cannot change belt types quickly due to the reload.
- High profile makes it easier to get spotted and shot at.
- Requires expert fire control since the firerate can empty the magazine quickly and the reload is very long.
- AP is still not enough to penetrate heavy tanks even point blank.
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
| China anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Radar SPAAG | PGZ09 |
| Gun and Missile SPAAG | PGZ04A |
| Missile SPAA | Antelope |
| Other | ZSD63/PG87 · ZSL92 · WZ305 |
| Germany | ␗Sd.Kfz.222 |
| North Vietnam | Phòng không T-34 |
| USA | CCKW 353 (M45) · ␗M42 |
| USSR | Tor-M1 |
