Difference between revisions of "M42 (Japan)"

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The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the entire Japanese Ground Forces tree in [[Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai"]]. It's fast, it's got two Bofors guns, it's... mediocre at best, awful at worst, it's the American M42 Duster with a JGSDF sticker slapped on it. This tank has literally one feature that makes it any good: it's fast. Like, ''really fast.'' That, and the Bofors guns actually do a decent amount of damage to aircraft when they hit. Emphasis on "when".
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The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the entire Japanese Ground Forces tree in [[Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai"]].  
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The {{PAGENAME}} is identical in characteristics as the American [[M42]]. Its two 40 mm Bofors gun and exposed crew make the M42 quite a mediocre anti-aircraft vehicle, with a relatively slow-firing gun that makes it hard to quickly get a hit, and low protection that any aircraft can strafe the M42 to pieces. However, this SPAA is quite fast and can relocate and get to a different position quite quickly.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
Armour: no. Just no. This tank, being built off the chassis of the M41 Walker Bulldog, has virtually no armour, and can be penetrated by literally anything in the game, except for those few tanks armed with machine guns, of course. In this tank, speed is your armour. A stationary Duster is a dead Duster, unless you're firing on an aircraft, in which you should stop behind some cover.
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<!--''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat?''-->
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Armour may as well be non-existent on the M42. Built off the chassis of the [[M41A1_(Japan)|M41 Walker Bulldog]], the SPAA can be penetrated by anything in the game, except for those few tanks armed with only machine guns, of course. In this tank, speed is your armour. A stationary Duster is a scrapped Duster unless you're firing on an aircraft, in which you should stop behind some cover.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===
This tank can go about 72 Km/H forward and 20 Km/H backwards. Either way, it's fast. Being built with neutral steering and lighter than the M41. It should take no difficulty to get out of a situation in a pinch.
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<!--''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''-->
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This tank can go about 72 kph forward and 20 kph backwards. Either way, it's fast. Being built with neutral steering and lighter than the M41. It should take no difficulty to get out of a situation in a pinch.
  
 
== Armaments ==
 
== Armaments ==
 
=== Main armament ===
 
=== Main armament ===
The M42 Duster is armed with two [[Bofors (40 mm)]] anti-aircraft guns. They have a decent rate of fire and you will seldom have to stop and wait for a reload - more likely, you'll have to wait for the gun barrel to cool down. Against aircraft, these guns are deadly. A shot or two will be more than enough to shoot down an enemy. They are also quite deadly against lightly armoured vehicles, such as enemy SPAAs or light tanks such as the Spähpanzer Ru 251 or M41 Walker Bulldog, and you can pen the side of Panthers, too. However, they require direct hits. Against the Soviet Heavy or British Medium tanks you are likely to encounter, however - and the Americans - these guns will do nothing for you. You will rarely get an opportunity to use the Bofors on another tank, as they simply lack the penetration to do so - 68mm doesn't get you very far at Rank IV. It's part of what makes the Rank IV Japanese experience so painful. If you can get the guns to hit, you should have no trouble knocking aircraft out of the sky.
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<!--''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''-->
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{{main|Bofors (40 mm)}}
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The M42 Duster is armed with two [[Bofors (40 mm)]] anti-aircraft guns. They have a decent rate of fire and you will seldom have to stop and wait for a reload - more likely, you'll have to wait for the gun barrel to cool down. Against aircraft, these guns are deadly. A shot or two will be more than enough to shoot down an enemy. They are also quite deadly against lightly armoured vehicles, such as enemy SPAAs or light tanks such as the [[Ru 251|Spähpanzer Ru 251]] or [[M41A1_(Japan)|M41 Walker Bulldog]], and you can pen the side of [[Panther A|Panthers]], too. However, they require direct hits. Against the Soviet heavy or British medium tanks you are likely to encounter, however these guns will do nothing for you. You will rarely get an opportunity to use the Bofors on another tank, as they simply lack the penetration to do so - 68mm doesn't get you very far at Rank IV. It's part of what makes the Rank IV Japanese experience so painful. If you can get the guns to hit, you should have no trouble knocking aircraft out of the sky.
  
 
== Usage in battles ==
 
== Usage in battles ==
This tank has no armour but a lot of speed and guns that do nothing against anything with actual armour. Refrain from attacking enemies that can take a hit from you, unless you like getting "Hit +10SL +5RP". You can roam around the battlefield with your insane speed and act as a scout. Ironically, shooting enemies you know will bounce you has a reason to it, because it makes them show up on the minimap for all players to see, although it will also expose you. However, you could stay with your teammates and shoot down planes that will be harassing them - they will see you, with your open top and exposed crew, and think of you as an easy target. They know the danger of the Bofors guns but for some pilots that is a gamble they are willing to take. A good way to lure planes toward you is the act like you don't see them - shoot off at some distant (ground) target, at which the plane will notice you are "distracted" and dive to attack you, where you can show them the error of their ways in the form of the 40mm Bofors cannon.
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<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
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This tank has no armour, but a lot of speed and guns that do nothing against anything with actual armour. Refrain from attacking enemies that can take a hit from you, unless you like getting "Hit +10SL +5RP". You can roam around the battlefield with your insane speed and act as a scout. Ironically, shooting enemies you know will bounce, you have a reason for it because it makes them show up on the mini-map for all players to see, although it will also expose you. However, you could stay with your teammates and shoot down planes that will be harassing them - they will see you, with your open-top and exposed crew, and think of you as an easy target. They know the danger of the Bofors guns but for some pilots that is a gamble, they are willing to take. A good way to lure planes toward you is the act like you don't see them - shoot off at some distant (ground) target, at which the plane will notice you are "distracted" and dive to attack you, where you can show them the error of their ways in the form of the 40mm Bofors cannon.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
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'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
  
* Powerful 40mm Bofors guns are dangerous - both to aircraft and lightly-armored vehicles.
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* Powerful 40mm Bofors guns are dangerous - both to aircraft and lightly-armoured vehicles
* Good top speed due to using the M41 Walker Bulldog chassis.
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* Good top speed due to using the M41 Walker Bulldog chassis
* Very quick reload speed.
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* Very quick reload speed
  
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
  
* Light armor makes it vulnerable.
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* Light armour makes it vulnerable
* Susceptible to the Hull Break mechanic.
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* Susceptible to the Hull Break mechanic
* Ammo racks everywhere; can be detonated by even strafing airplanes.
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* Ammo racks everywhere; can be detonated by even strafing aeroplanes
* Prolonged firing can eat through the ammo fairly quick.
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* Prolonged firing can eat through the ammo fairly quick
* Exposed crew vulnerable to planes.
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* Exposed crew vulnerable to planes
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==

Revision as of 15:46, 25 October 2019

Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
jp_m42_duster.png
▅M42
AB RB SB
5.0 4.3 4.7
Class:
Research:26 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:76 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game
This page is about the SPAA M42 (Japan). For the version in the USA tree, see M42. For the Italian SPAA with a similar name, see M42 (Italy).

Description

GarageImage M42 (Japan).jpg


The Twin 40 mm Self-Propelled Gun M42 Duster is a rank III Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB), 4.3 (RB), and 4.7 (SB). It was introduced along with the entire Japanese Ground Forces tree in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai".

The M42 (Japan) is identical in characteristics as the American M42. Its two 40 mm Bofors gun and exposed crew make the M42 quite a mediocre anti-aircraft vehicle, with a relatively slow-firing gun that makes it hard to quickly get a hit, and low protection that any aircraft can strafe the M42 to pieces. However, this SPAA is quite fast and can relocate and get to a different position quite quickly.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour may as well be non-existent on the M42. Built off the chassis of the M41 Walker Bulldog, the SPAA can be penetrated by anything in the game, except for those few tanks armed with only machine guns, of course. In this tank, speed is your armour. A stationary Duster is a scrapped Duster unless you're firing on an aircraft, in which you should stop behind some cover.

Mobility

This tank can go about 72 kph forward and 20 kph backwards. Either way, it's fast. Being built with neutral steering and lighter than the M41. It should take no difficulty to get out of a situation in a pinch.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Bofors (40 mm)

The M42 Duster is armed with two Bofors (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns. They have a decent rate of fire and you will seldom have to stop and wait for a reload - more likely, you'll have to wait for the gun barrel to cool down. Against aircraft, these guns are deadly. A shot or two will be more than enough to shoot down an enemy. They are also quite deadly against lightly armoured vehicles, such as enemy SPAAs or light tanks such as the Spähpanzer Ru 251 or M41 Walker Bulldog, and you can pen the side of Panthers, too. However, they require direct hits. Against the Soviet heavy or British medium tanks you are likely to encounter, however these guns will do nothing for you. You will rarely get an opportunity to use the Bofors on another tank, as they simply lack the penetration to do so - 68mm doesn't get you very far at Rank IV. It's part of what makes the Rank IV Japanese experience so painful. If you can get the guns to hit, you should have no trouble knocking aircraft out of the sky.

Usage in battles

This tank has no armour, but a lot of speed and guns that do nothing against anything with actual armour. Refrain from attacking enemies that can take a hit from you, unless you like getting "Hit +10SL +5RP". You can roam around the battlefield with your insane speed and act as a scout. Ironically, shooting enemies you know will bounce, you have a reason for it because it makes them show up on the mini-map for all players to see, although it will also expose you. However, you could stay with your teammates and shoot down planes that will be harassing them - they will see you, with your open-top and exposed crew, and think of you as an easy target. They know the danger of the Bofors guns but for some pilots that is a gamble, they are willing to take. A good way to lure planes toward you is the act like you don't see them - shoot off at some distant (ground) target, at which the plane will notice you are "distracted" and dive to attack you, where you can show them the error of their ways in the form of the 40mm Bofors cannon.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Powerful 40mm Bofors guns are dangerous - both to aircraft and lightly-armoured vehicles
  • Good top speed due to using the M41 Walker Bulldog chassis
  • Very quick reload speed

Cons:

  • Light armour makes it vulnerable
  • Susceptible to the Hull Break mechanic
  • Ammo racks everywhere; can be detonated by even strafing aeroplanes
  • Prolonged firing can eat through the ammo fairly quick
  • Exposed crew vulnerable to planes

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an 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>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as 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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


Japan anti-aircraft vehicles
Ke-Ni Derivatives  Ta-Se · So-Ki
Wheeled  Type 94
Tracked  SUB-I-II
Radar SPAAG  Type 87
Missile SPAA  Type 93 · Type 81 (C)
USA  ▅M16 MGMC · ▅M19A1 · ▅M42