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Ground Vehicles
Wirbelwind
III
Rank
AB
4.7
RB
3.7
SB
3.7
Battle rating
Germany
Game nation
SPAA
Main role
26,000
RP
Research
76,000
SL
Purchase
General information

The Flakpanzer IV "Wirbelwind" (Sd.Kfz. Index: Sd.Kfz. 161/4) is the first variant of the Flakpanzer IV self-propelled anti-aircraft gun family. The German military forces were less interested in developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the early years of World War II, but as the Allies gained air superiority, the need for more mobile and better-armed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns grew. SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend came up with the Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind concept in the early summer of 1944. He presented the idea to SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, commanding officer of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, and Adolf Hitler approved it. The Panzer IV medium tank chassis was used to mount an open-top, nine-sided turret housing a quadruple mount of 20 mm Flugzeugabwehrkanone 38 autocannon (Flakvierling 38). A closed-top design would have been preferable, but due to the heavy smoke generated by the main armament, this was not possible. The turret's shape earned it the nickname Keksdose ("biscuit tin"). Ostbau Werke in Sagan, Silesia, was primarily responsible for its construction.

Introduced in Update 1.43, the Flakpanzer IV "Wirbelwind" is one of the best self-propelled anti-air vehicles in its class. Given its high fire rate, this machine effectively spews out a stream of fragmentation rounds, and any plane unfortunate enough to be hit by the waves of shells will burst into flames if not being completely destroyed. However, crews inside the turret are only marginally protected by thin armour, so it is critical to keep an eye out for enemy aircraft strafing. Lastly, armour-piercing ammunition belts are also available to destroy lightly armoured targets.



Survivability and armour
Armour front / side / back
Hull 80 / 30 / 20 mm
Turret 16 / 16 / 16 mm
Visibility 104 %
Crew 5 persons
Mobility
Max speed
Forward 3942 km/h
Backward 78 km/h
Power-to-weight ratio 1210.62117 hp/t
Engine power 300265525426 hp
Weight 25 t
Optics
Gunner
Commander
Driver
Optics zoom
1.9x–3.5x
Armaments
4 x 20 mm FlaK38 cannon
Ammunition 3,200 rounds
Belt capacity 20 rounds
Reload basic crew → aces
5.2 → 4 s
Fire rate 480 shots/min
Vertical guidance -10 / 90°
Turret Rotation Speed basic crew → aces
Horizontal 4235.773.152.86051104.575.5 °/s
Vertical 1411.242.727.320166139 °/s

BeltBelt fillingArmor penetration (mm) at a distance:
10 m100 m500 m1000 m1500 m2000 m
API-T/HEFI-T/HEFI-T/HEFI-T3734231496
HEFI-T543333
API-T3734231496
HVAP-T/API-T48453120138
Economy
Repair cost Basic → Reference
AB 1,475 → 1,898 SL
RB 1,118 → 1,439 SL
SB 1,689 → 2,174 SL
Crew training 22,000 SL
Experts 76,000 SL
Aces 400 GE
Research Aces 320,000 RP
Reward multiplier AB / RB / SB
90 / 100 / 150 % SL
142 % RP
Total cost of modifications 24,600 RP
44,600 SL
Talisman cost 1,100 GE

Research order:

Mobility
Protection
Firepower
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