PLAY
Aviation
Hs 129 B-3
II
Rank
AB
2.0
RB
2.0
SB
3.0
Battle rating
Germany
Game nation
Strike aircraft
Main role
7,900
RP
Research
10,000
SL
Purchase
General information

As the battle on the Eastern Front progressed, the Wehrmacht found itself struggling to deal with the increasingly tougher armored opposition from the Soviet, particularily the KV heavy tank series. This resulted into an idea of mounting a large anti-tank cannon on an aircraft in order to destroy them by firing at its weaker roof armor. One such extreme case is the Henschel Hs 129 B-3 a modified version of the Hs 129 series of attackers. Given the relative robustness of the Hs 129's airframe, a decision was made to mount a huge 75 mm BK 7.5 anti-tank cannon, a modified version of the famous PaK 40 gun, under its fuselage. After 25 aircraft was built on August 1944 and deployed a month later, the B-3 were proven to be effective in its intended role, even against the new IS heavy tank series. Due to the low production run, however, the He 129 B-3 have little effect for the overall war effort.

Introduced in Update 1.37, the Hs 129 B-3 is an unusual variant of the Hs 129 family. Affectionately nicknamed the "duck" by the community, the B-3 was designed solely as a "can opener" attack aircraft and therefore forwent almost all of its anti-air firepower in favor of a huge 75 mm BK cannon. Being based on an anti-tank gun, the BK has exceptional penetration even with the stock belt, and is capable of penetrating every tank in the game via shots on the roof. However, since the BK cannon has only 12 rounds available, care must be taken to make each shot count. Since the plane itself is quite slow and sluggish, it won't take long for the enemy fighters to reach and intercept you. This, combined with the plane's poor anti-air capabilities, making it the literal "sitting duck" in air-to-air combat.


Camouflages:

Flight performance
Max speed
at 3,550 m 439404460419 km/h
Rate of Climb 8.35.911.25.9 m/s
Turn time 27.931.326.329.6 s
Max altitude 7,500 m
Takeoff Run 330 m

Combat
flaps
Take-off
flaps
Landing
flaps
Air
brake
General characteristics
Crew 1 person
Gross weight 5.1 t
Engine 2 x Gnome Rhone Baumuster 14M
Length 9.8 m
Wingspan 14.2 m

Limits:
Max Speed Limit (IAS) 630 km/h
Mach Number Limit 0.69 M
Flap Speed Limit (IAS) 190 km/h
Gear Speed Limit (IAS) 295 km/h
Offensive armament
75 mm BK 7.5 cannon
Ammunition 13 rounds
Fire rate 40 shots/min

BeltBelt fillingArmor penetration (mm) at a distance:
10 m100 m500 m1000 m1500 m2000 m
APHE1371351231109887
HEI-T131211101010
HVAP-T16315914312611096
2 × 7.92 mm MG 17 machine gun
Ammunition 2,000 rounds
Fire rate 1,200 shots/min

BeltBelt fillingArmor penetration (mm) at a distance:
10 m100 m500 m1000 m1500 m2000 m
AP-T/AP-I/AI986300
AP-T/AP/AI/AP-I13127320
AP-T986300
AI/AP/AP/AP/AI13127320
Economy
Repair cost Basic → Reference
AB 291 → 423 SL
RB 387 → 563 SL
SB 895 → 1,301 SL
Crew training 3,000 SL
Experts 10,000 SL
Aces 125 GE
Research Aces 160,000 RP
Reward multiplier AB / RB / SB
30 / 60 / 100 % SL
112 % RP
Total cost of modifications 6,910 RP
6,750 SL
Talisman cost 530 GE

Research order:

Flight performance
Survivability
Weaponry
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Settings
Characteristics:
Modification:
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