2A42 (30 mm)

Description

The Shipunov 2A42 is a 30mm autocannon developed by the Soviet Union to replace the 2A28 Grom found on the BMP-1. It is also found on various helicopters as well.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

Ground vehicles

• BMP-2
• BMP-2M

Helicopters

• Ka-29 (Modification)
• Ka-50
• Ka-52
• Mi-28A
• Mi-28N
• Mi-28NM

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

Ground version

• Default: AP-T · HEF-I*
• 30 mm HE: HEF-I* · AP-T · HEF-I* · HEF-T*
• 30 mm APT: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF-T*
• 30 mm APDS: APDS · APDS · APDS · APDS · HEF-T*

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	65	63	54	44	36	30
30 mm HE	65	63	54	44	36	30
30 mm APT	65	63	54	44	36	30
30 mm APDS	82	81	79	75	72	69

Air version

• Default: AP-T · HEF-I* · HEF-I* · AP-T · AP-T
• Ground targets: APDS · APDS · APDS · AP-T · APDS
• Air targets: HEF-T* · HEF-I* · HEF-I* · HEF-I* · HEF-I*

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	65	63	54	44	36	30
Ground targets	82	81	79	75	72	69
Air targets	3	3	3	3	3	3

Comparison with analogues

Ground Vehicle

• L21A1 (30mm): A British autocannon of the same caliber. Has a higher penetration with APDS but at a very slow fire rate.
• MK 30-2/ABM (30mm): A German autocannon of the same caliber. Has access to APFSDS, but at a slow fire rate
• M242 (25mm): An American 25mm autocannon. Has similar penetration with the 2A42 but at a slow fire rate with the M3/M3A3 Bradley. ADATS offers a similar fire rate. Access to M919 APFSDS that is only found on the M3A3 Bradley.
• Oerlikon KBA B02 (25mm): An autocannon found on the Dardo and Type 87 RCV with a similar fire rate and slightly more penetration with PMB 09 APFSDS

• Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (30mm): An American autocannon of the same found on the VCC-80/30. Offers more penetration with APFSDS but with a slower fire rate.
• 2A72 (30mm): A derivative of the 2A42 with a more simplified assembly and longer barrel. Has a higher muzzle velocity but a slower fire rate

Helicopters

M230E-1 (30mm): An American autocannon of the same caliber. found on the Apache series of helicopters. Has HE-DP with a slightly higher fire rate

GSh-30-2K (30mm): A Russian autocannon of the same caliber, fixed on the Mi-24P. Much higher fire rate but no access to APDS.

Usage in battles

The 2A42 is a potent weapon against any MBTs and light vehicles that you will come across, and even the toughest of enemies when flying in a helicopter with the cannon. The best tactic to use with the 2A42 is to flank the enemies on their side or rear as you will have the best chance of penetrating enemy side armor with APDS, and with the high fire rate of the cannon, you can eliminate most of your targets within a few seconds. The gun is also good for dealing with air targets too, mainly helicopters as the high fire rate can destroy helicopters and its critical components within a few seconds. Jet aircraft can be dealt with too but their high speed may make it difficult to take them down, unless they're on an easy path to shoot at. The 2A42 does have a low fire rate mode but with the good amount of ammo there is, there is little reason to use the low fire rate mode.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High Fire rate
• High Ammo Count
• Decent armor penetration
• Slow overheating

Cons:

• No access to APFSDS belts

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon 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 weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-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 />.

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 article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

Sweden aircraft cannons
20 mm	Akan m/41A · Akan m/45 · Akan m/47B · Akan m/47C · Akan m/49 · Oerlikon FF
27 mm	Akan m/85
30 mm	Akan m/55 · Akan m/75
57 mm	Akan m/47
	Foreign:
20 mm	MG FF (Germany) · MG 151 (Germany)
23 mm	GSh-23L (USSR)
30 mm	2A42 (USSR) · M230E-1 (USA) · MK 108 (Germany)