AMX-13 DCA 40
Contents
| This page is about the self-propelled anti-air vehicle AMX-13 DCA 40. For other uses, see AMX-13 (Family). |
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.
General info
Survivability and armour
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.
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 20 mm (66°) Upper Glacis 40 mm (cylindrical) Transmission housing 20 mm (51°) Lower Glacis |
20 mm Sides 20 mm (13-15°) Turret base |
15 mm upper plate 15 mm (58°) Lower glacis |
20 mm (24°) Front glacis 10 mm Centre and rear 5mm Vents |
| Turret | 20 mm (24-54°) Gun shield | 20 mm (14-15°) | 20 mm (conical) Top 20 mm (cylindrical) Bottom |
N/A |
Notes:
Turret:
- Turret frontal armour is split in two for gun clearance.
- Round hole below gun hole in front of the turret.
- Two small holes in the turret's back armour
- Turret ring is 30 mm thick.
- Gun breech is 150 mm thick.
- Turret basket is 5 mm thick.
Hull:
- Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
- Storage boxes are 4 mm thick.
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 | 66 | 8 | 14.5 | 302 | 515 | 20.83 | 35.52 |
| Realistic | 61 | 7 | 239 | 270 | 16.48 | 18.62 | |
French ground forces players should be used to the AMX-13 chassis as it is the basis for most French light tanks. 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 difficult to quickly get out of an unwanted situation.
Armaments
Main armament
| 40 mm Mle51 T1 | 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 | 404 (4) | 240 | -5°/+85° | ±180° | N/A | 26.4 | 36.6 | 44.4 | 49.1 | 52.2 | 0.50 | 0.50 | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Realistic | 17.9 | 21.0 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 30.0 | |||||||||
The gun is this vehicle's main appeal. Being twice as fast-firing as its predecessor makes it easier to get planes down, but you will still have to aim. As for engaging tanks, with up to 94 mm max penetration, you will start to struggle firing at most enemies since their frontal armour is strong enough to block incoming 40 mm rounds, though with some precision, medium tanks and even heavy tanks can fall victim to your gun. Lightly armoured tanks and SPAAs will be easier tarets for your 4-rounds bursts.
Ammunition
- Default: AP-T · HEFI-T* - The standard belt can fulfill both roles (anti-air and lightly armoured vehicles) but with a lower rate of fire.
- 40mm HE-T: HEFI-T* · HEFI-T* · HEFI-T* · AP-T - This belt is adapted for targeting aircraft with its high-explosive shells.
- 40mm AP-T: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEFI-T* - This belt is adapted for targeting lightly armoured vehicles with its armour-piercing rounds.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belt | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| Default | 94 | 90 | 77 | 62 | 51 | 41 | |
| 40mm HE-T | 94 | 90 | 77 | 62 | 51 | 41 | |
| 40mm AP-T | 94 | 90 | 77 | 62 | 51 | 41 | |
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 |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 93 (+8) | 85 (+16) | 77 (+24) | 61 (+40) | 41 (+60) | 25 (+76) | 17 (+84) | 9 (+92) | 1 (+100) | No |
Notes:
- Ammunition is organized in clips of 4 rounds.
- Racks are subdivided in sets of 4 clips.
- Clips disappear when all clips in the set have been shot or loaded.
Usage in 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. In the right hands, in a downtier, this SPAA is an absolute monster, easily capable of ace matches against tanks.
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 knock some of them out, but 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.
Even though your gun has SPAA - Level Penetration, It can go through pretty much any tank side that it faces. Even the Tiger II. And it's from this that the DCA 40 gets it's charm tactic:
- Take out the gun
- Take out the track
- Take out the machine gun
- Take out the tank
Knowing this, you can win battles against Panthers, Tigers (I and II), and many tanks you might find in an uptier at medium range, even when taking this tank into a higher tier than it could face.
Taking out the gun is fairly easy, your center mounted bofors just needs to be aimed at the gun, and can take it out with 2 or 3 shots.
Once you've taken out the gun, go for the track or transmission. doing this will render any tank immobile for at least 20 seconds, which is more than enough.
93mm of penetration can go through almost any tank's side armour and rear armour in the game. With the exception of the Maus, of course, your gun can Shred enemy tanks from the side. Knowing this
It's worth mentioning that in a downtier against axis powers, you can penetrate every vehicle you see from the front except for some German casemates. In an uptier, if you must engage a heavily armored tank from the front, several well placed shots to the cannon barrel will knock it out, and enable you to flank at your leisure and feast on their side armor. 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.
Modules
| Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Tracks | Parts | 40 mm HE-T | Horizontal Drive | |
| II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | 40 mm AP-T | Adjustment of Fire |
| III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | Elevation Mechanism | ||
| IV | Transmission | Engine | Artillery Support | ||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good top speed, and decent agility
- Fast reload (unnoticeable 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
- Shells have amazing penetration
- Fast elevation speed
- +85° elevation angle
- 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
- If only loading approximately 50% ammo, shots to the right side of the turret will knock out one crew member and do no other damage
- Tons of ammo
Cons:
- Turret is literally an ammo rack
- Bad gun depression
- Loader is exposed to MG fire
- Struggles to reach its top speed
- Vulnerable to HMG fire
- Most enemies that it faces are no longer vulnerable to side shots
- Slow turret rotation
- Turret prone to ammo-racking from strafing planes
History
Design
The need for a SPAAG emerged in the 1950s for the French Army when the only AA vehicles left over from WW2 (M16 half-tracks mainly) became underpowered and thus obsolete. Several projects were launched using Bofors guns. Among them was the AMX-13 DCA canon de 40 mm using the hull of the AMX-13 on which was installed a specially designed SAMM S 980 turret housing the 40 mm Bofors L/70 gun. The turret offered good protection for the crew, 360° traverse and a 90° elevation angle. The Mle51 T1 gun fired 240 rounds per minute at 993 m/s.
Development
The development of the SAMM S 980 turret was stopped in 1957 and the Bofors gun production stopped in 1958. The experience gathered from similar single-gun SPAAG projects put the stress on numerous shortcomings when compared to twin-gun designs.
Combat usage
The AMX-13 DCA 40 never saw service or combat action in the French Army.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
| 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 |
