VTT DCA: French Meat Chopper!

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Meet an anti-aircraft platform that features four 12.7 mm machine guns on a light APC chassis which is going to be a very welcomed addition to the lower ranks of the French ground tree!

VTT DCA: An SPAA for France at Rank II
Features:

• Light tracked chassis.
  
• High rate of fire.
  
• Good mobility.
  
• Light protection.

Vehicle History
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Based on the AMX-13 light tank, the VTT armored personnel carrier was developed and launched into mass production in 1957. As this chassis was widely produced it became quite a suitable platform for numerous experimental variants, a notable example being the AMX-13 VTT / DCA (Véhicule de Transport de Troupe/Défense Contre Avions). It was armed with an American M45 .50 caliber quadmount, the same found on the iconic M16 Half-track. Unlike the M16 however, the VTT DCA was only a single prototype and didn’t reach mass production.
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Meet the VTT DCA!
Today we’re continuing our coverage on the spring update and will be talking about the rapid firing VTT DCA. This little beast will soon be available in the lower ranks of the French tech tree, and will make for a highly effective anti-air vehicle for beginner players. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer!

If you’re an experienced tanker, you’ll find the armament of the VTT DCA quite familiar. This is because it features the American M45 Quadmount that can be found on several vehicles throughout the game, some of which include the M16 Half-track in the American and Japanese tree, to more obscure vehicles such as the CCKW 353 for China and the CM52 for Italy. However, this addition to France is comparatively stronger, since it’s based on an APC chassis which can also fire directly forwards — something the CCKW and CM52 struggle with.

Interesting: The American M16 with the M45 Quadmount received the daunting nickname of “Meat Chopper” during World War II (hence the name of this blog)!

Since the VTT DCA is going to be at Rank II, its high caliber machine guns are not only going to be useful against aircraft, but also against lightly armored ground vehicles if you bring some AP belts into your battle. Thanks to its mobility, this vehicle can also be used effectively in the support role, where its machine guns can make very quick work of enemy tracks. The sheer volume of fire can quite easily obstruct an enemy’s field of view if fire is concentrated on the optic sights!

Despite having more armor than most anti-air vehicles around this rank, this armor can’t be fully relied on since it only offers protection against shrapnel and light machine guns. What’s rather interesting though is that the VTT DCA has a rather unusual crew layout: the driver and gunner are in standard positions in the front of the hull and manning the turret respectively, but the commander and loader are positioned at the back of the hull. Because of this, the VTT DCA has a decent chance of being able to survive a shot or two without being taken out, which is something most contemporary SPAA vehicles can’t boast about.

In your matches by Ilya, Community Manager: “It just so happens that I’ve only recently started progressing through the French tree, so I’m especially looking forward to the VTT DCA in game. A strong point of this machine is that it doesn’t have a cabin getting in the way of how much it can depress the guns, something a lot of early SPAA struggle with, and this definitely helps a lot when going after ground vehicles. I would advise you only use the armor-piercing incendiary belts as these are effective against both aircraft and ground vehicles, giving you a lot of versatility and saving you time from having to switch belts.”

That’s today’s blog wrapped! All in all, the VTT DCA will soon be arriving in the next major update and is sure to be a neat addition to France’s Rank II ground forces. We’ve got a lot of other interesting vehicles left to show you, so stay tuned to the news where we’ll see you in the next blog with all the details.