ZiS-43

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Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
Chinese A-5C Pack
ussr_zis_43.png
GarageImage ZiS-43.jpg
ZiS-43
AB RB SB
4.0 2.7 2.7
Class:
Research:6 900 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:32 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The ZiS-43 is a rank II Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). This SPAAG was introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai". A 37 mm cannon placed in an anti-aircraft turret on a ZiS-42M half-track chassis, the ZIS-43 was a prototype built in November 1942 which underwent testing but never entered production.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull10 / 10 / 10
Turret15 / 10 / 0
Crew4 people
Visibility88 %

The ZiS-43's armour is nonexistent and can barely withstand 12.7 mm machine gun fire. Thus, much like the rest of SPAA in the game, it is really fragile and the armour should not be relied on. Every plane is a threat that has to be taken seriously as the turret is open and only has a small 15 mm shield which barely provides protection against 7.62 mm machine gun fire. Almost all bomb fragmentation is able to penetrate and damage crew members. Some bombs, depending on the explosive power and fragmentation radius, may not knock out crew members. However they will often damage them and leave them in a yellow-orange status.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Structural steel (Gun mount)
  • Wood (Truck bed)
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Driver's cabin 10 mm (20-82°)
7.5 mm Hatches and Doors
10 mm (14-27°) 10 mm (6°) 10 mm
Turret 15 mm (2-32°) 10 mm (4-6°) N/A N/A
Cargo bed 10 mm 10 mm 10 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, tracks are 7 mm, wheels are 2 mm thick.
  • Due to the vehicle hurried construction, it is mostly a patchwork of 10 mm steel plates welded onto the underlying chassis.
  • The turret crew have their heads visible from the front and sides. They are fully exposed in the rear and above.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB39 / 9 km/h
RB and SB35 / 9 km/h
Number of gears4 forward
1 back
Weight8.7 t
Engine power
AB172 hp
RB and SB90 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB19.8 hp/t
RB and SB10.3 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 39 9 8.7 128 172 14.71 19.77
Realistic 35 9 80 90 9.2 10.34

Similar to the M16 SPAA, being a halftrack is a mid-point between wheel speed and track traction. It is far from being the fastest halftrack in game. However, it does provide increased traction when it comes to rough terrain, is not comparable to full tracked vehicles but is better than fully wheeled vehicles seen at the battle-rating. Being a halftrack leaves it with a "semi tank turn" capacity, meaning tracks are able to help steer but will not do so completely as the steering is given from the frontal wheels.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB1 104 → 1 420 Sl icon.png
RB843 → 1 084 Sl icon.png
SB1 302 → 1 675 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications13 960 Rp icon.png
20 150 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost860 Ge icon.png
Crew training9 200 Sl icon.png
Experts32 000 Sl icon.png
Aces270 Ge icon.png
Research Aces250 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
60 / 80 / 100 % Sl icon.png
130 / 130 / 130 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
1 200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 700 Sl icon.png
150 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement ussr.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
1 200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 700 Sl icon.png
150 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
37mm_ussr_61K_HE_ammo_pack
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Research:
690 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
37mm_ussr_61K_AP_ammo_pack
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
620 Rp icon.png
Cost:
890 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
1 200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 700 Sl icon.png
150 Ge icon.png
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Research:
1 500 Rp icon.png
Cost:
2 200 Sl icon.png
185 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition260 rounds
Belt capacity5 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
0.6 → 0.5 s
Fire rate160 shots/min
Vertical guidance-5° / 85°
Main article: 61-K (37 mm)

The ZiS-43 is armed with a quick firing 37mm which is more than capable to deal with both aircraft and ground targets. Since it has a slow traverse speed, it is tricky to aim with the ZiS-43 when it comes to short distances between aircraft and SPAA. This can be countered by engaging enemy aircraft at distances. However, this is a game changer when it comes to ground fight. Turret rotation speed is the difference between life or death for various reasons: exposed crew, not being able to counterattack quickly, tank traverse is painfully slow.

37 mm 61-K 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 260 (5) 160 -5°/+85° ±180° N/A 26.5 36.6 44.4 49.1 52.2 0.65 0.58 0.53 0.50
Realistic 17.9 21.0 25.5 28.2 30.0

Ammunition

  • Default: AP-T · HEFI-T* - These rounds work well until the others are researched and offer the same performance as both other belts to the detriment of a halfed rate of fire.
  • UO-167: HEFI-T* - These are absolutely devastating in the AA role.
  • BR-167: AP-T - These are best against enemy tanks at close range and do good damage to planes.

Since every bullet is a tracer, firing makes you easily detected by enemy airplanes and tanks.

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 71 68 57 46 37 30
UO-167 3 3 3 3 3 3
BR-167 71 68 57 46 37 30
Belt details
Belt Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
UO-167 HEFI-T* 866 0.74 0 0.1 34 79° 80° 81°
BR-167 AP-T 880 0.76 N/A N/A N/A 47° 60° 65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the ZiS-43
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
52 (+51) No

The ammunition is modeled as a single big box containing clips.

Usage in battles

Despite the vehicle potent armament, it is not built for direct front-line combat. It is poorly armoured, tall, slow and unstable. If necessary, it is possible to penetrate most vehicles sides or rear but sticking to anti-aircraft duty will yield the best results. Do not stay in spawn however, most planes will attack your teammates busy fighting instead of you. Similar to previous seen SPAA, they have really good capabilities for both anti-air and anti-ground duties. However, despite being a higher calibre than the previously seen 25 mm and 14.5 mm, it lacks the ROF to engage targets as fast as the other SPAAs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 37 mm is deadly to anything it penetrates, planes or tanks
  • The gun is able to shoot targets directly in front of the vehicle, unlike some of the previous AA trucks
  • Most vehicles can be engaged at close range if needed
  • Low armour means APHE won't always fuse
  • Most light machine guns will struggle to penetrate
  • Fairly high penetration (70 mm)
  • Full turret rotation
  • Driver and commander are protected in an enclosed driving compartment, which is well protected against small calibre machine gun rounds
  • Four crew members allow you to continue with only two after taking damage
  • Half-track mount gives better cross-country movement than previous trucks

Cons:

  • Thin-skinned vehicle, HE rounds will destroy it
  • Very tall for self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle
  • Slow fire rate allows planes to fly between shots
  • Open turret configuration, open to machine gun fire
  • High recoil causes the entire chassis to wobble, making continuous fire extremely inaccurate
  • Sluggish manoeuvrability
  • Extremely vulnerable to 12.7 mm machine guns
  • Slow turret traverse
  • Needs to move forward in order to turn
  • Armour protection is not sufficient to stop aircraft fire
  • Vulnerable to artillery strikes
  • Can be hull-broken
  • Has a rather unusual tendency to wobble side-to-side when driving, making it harder to fire on the move

History

The GAU (Russian: Главное артиллерийское управление, English: Main Artillery Directorate) set forth a requirement for an anti-aircraft vehicle using a 37 mm AA gun on a ZiS-42 half-track on 14 November 1942. The requirements stated that it was to have armour protection for the engine and cabin, and also was to have an armoured shield for the gun mount. The requirements also gave a maximum weight of 6.5 tons; the vehicle was developed by the ZiS factory in Moscow and was given the designation ZiS-43.

The ZiS-43 utilized the ZiS-42M half-track chassis with a 37 mm 61-K anti-aircraft gun mounted on the flat bed at the rear. The front half of the weapon mount was protected by armoured shields, the engine compartment was uparmoured, and so was the cabin. All the added armour protection gave the vehicle a weight of 8.75 metric tons. In addition to the weapon system and increased armour, the vehicle included other minor changes in comparison to the ZiS-42 including redesigned grills for increased engine cooling. The sides, as well as the top, of the engine compartment received armoured hatches for ease of maintenance. The cabin was redesigned in order to give the driver more comfortable working conditions, as on other models the driver's position was known to be incredibly uncomfortable.

The prototype went to trials on 15 December 1942 after driving 380 kilometers to Gorohovets Artillery Proving Grounds from the factory. From the 19th to the 23rd of December, the ZiS-43 prototype was driven over five hundred kilometers. Problems arose with the cooling of the vehicle, with the engine overheating twice during trials and the cabin getting as hot as 50°C. Due to the weight of the ZiS-43, a maximum speed of 35 kph was achieved on roads and only 19.5 kph on dirt roads. The average speed was 29.3 kph on roads and the fuel consumption was as high as 110 litres per 100 kilometers on dirt roads and still a low minimum of 90 litres per 100 kilometers on more favourable terrain. During firing trials a number of other issues were revealed; the headlights would shatter upon firing due to changes in pressure and the high center of gravity caused accuracy issues due to instability.

The ZiS-43 never entered service thanks to its disappointing performance during trials, leaving production at only one prototype. For an anti-aircraft vehicle such armour was seen as an unnecessary burden, and the program was subsequently cancelled. After the cancellation of the program the armour of the ZiS-43 prototype was removed, returning it to its original state as a ZiS-42M.

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links


USSR anti-aircraft vehicles
GAZ-AAA  GAZ-AAA (4M) · GAZ-AAA (DShK)
BTR-152  BTR-152A · BTR-152D
Wheeled/Half-tracked  GAZ-MM (72-K) · ZiS-12 (94-KM) · ZiS-43
Radar SPAAG  ZSU-23-4 · ZSU-23-4M4 · ZSU-37-2
SAM  Strela-10M2 · 2S6 · Pantsir-S1
Other  ZUT-37 · ZSU-37 · BTR-ZD · ZSU-57-2
Czechoslovakia  M53/59
North Vietnam  ▂Phòng không T-34