2A42 (30 mm)

Description

The 30 mm 2A42 Shipunov is an 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 vehicles

• 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

Helicopters

• 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 vehicles

• L21A1 (30 mm) - A British autocannon with a higher penetration and APDS but at a very slow rate of fire
• MK 30-2/ABM - A German autocannon with access to APFSDS, but at a slow rate of fire
• Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (30 mm) - An American autocannon of the same found on the VCC-80/30. Offers more penetration with APFSDS but with a slower rate of fire
• 2A72 (30 mm) - A derivative of the 2A42 with a more simplified assembly and longer barrel. Has a higher muzzle velocity but a slower rate of fire

Helicopters

• M230E-1 (30 mm) - An American autocannon found on the Apache series of helicopters, with HE-DP and a slightly higher rate of fire
• GSh-30-2K (30 mm) - A Soviet autocannon fixed on the Mi-24P, with a much higher rate of fire but no access to APDS

Usage in battles

The 30 mm 2A42 is a potent weapon against any MBTs and light vehicles, and even the toughest of enemies when flying in a helicopter with the cannon. The best tactic with the 2A42 is to flank the enemies s you will have the best chance of penetrating enemy side or rear armour with APDS. Coupled with the high rate of fire of the cannon, you can eliminate most targets quickly. The gun is also good for dealing with air targets, mainly helicopters as the high rate of fire can destroy helicopters and their critical components in mere seconds. Jet aircraft can be dealt with too but their high speed may make them difficult to take down, unless they're on an easy trajectory to shoot at. The 2A42 does have a low rate of fire mode but with the large amount of ammo, there is little reason to use the low rate of fire mode.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate of fire
• High ammo count
• Decent armour 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;
• 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)