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| 6s | The Cold War era was a breakthrough time for anti-aircraft warfare. |
|---|---|
| 10s | AA weapon systems started utilizing radars and other sophisticated gadgets |
| 14s | to become even more effective at hunting down aircraft. |
| 18s | In War Thunder, SPAA vehicles of the era are mainly found |
| 22s | at mid to high ranks of the Ground Forces tech tree; |
| 25s | their main responsibility is to keep the sky clean of |
| 27s | subsonic and early supersonic aircraft. |
| 30s | Today we’re going to talk about the most interesting of the bunch. |
| 36s | The first vehicle on our list is the Swedish Vagn Eldledning AutomatKanon 40. |
| 43s | Engineers at Bofors took the Strv 103 chassis and fitted it with a turret |
| 48s | with two 40-mm L/70 cannons and a Marconi Series 400 radar. |
| 54s | The latter is definitely not the most impressive part of the vehicle though. |
| 57s | It has a rather poor range of only 12 km, |
| 61s | and it can’t detect other targets if you’re already tracking one. |
| 64s | At the same time, the vehicle has other things going for it, |
| 67s | namely good mobility and decent armament. |
| 70s | If you land a good hit, your high explosive shells simply delete enemy aircraft, |
| 75s | and your AP rounds are capable of piercing side armor of Western and even Soviet MBTs. |
| 84s | The American M247 Sergeant York, based on the M48 Patton tank, |
| 89s | has roughly the same armament |
| 91s | but features much more robust tools for detecting and tracking targets. |
| 96s | This SPAA vehicle, developed by Ford Aerospace, |
| 100s | has a 45 km detecting and a 15 km tracking range. |
| 105s | Thanks to the fact that it’s effectively equipped with two radars, |
| 108s | one for detecting and one for searching, |
| 111s | the M247 can do both at the same time, |
| 114s | making this SPAA the true bane of Rank 6 planes and helicopters. |
| 124s | Many Western SPAA systems are armed with the Swiss 35-mm Oerlikon autocannons. |
| 131s | Two most notable examples are the German Gepard and the Finnish ItPsV 90. |
| 136s | The German SPAAG is based on the Leopard 1 |
| 139s | and has everything a SPAA system might ever need on the battlefield. |
| 143s | Its radar system tracks aircraft at medium range, |
| 146s | its highly mobile chassis allows the player to be very proactive in combat, |
| 150s | and its ammo belts are highly versatile. |
| 156s | The Finnish variant is basically a Marksman turret system |
| 160s | fitted with two Oerlikon cannons and mounted on the chassis of a Leopard 2. |
| 164s | As a result, the vehicle features composite armor and a 1,500 hp engine. |
| 169s | On the other hand, the ItPsV 90 is equipped with the S-400 radar |
| 174s | with all of its flaws that you’re already aware of. |
| 182s | The Soviet Yenisey is one of the earliest SPAA vehicles |
| 186s | that featured a radar fire control system. |
| 189s | Despite its pretty narrow scanning area and slow scanning speed, |
| 193s | Yenisey’s radar is a pretty good deal at its BR. |
| 196s | As it shares a hull with the SU-100P, the Yenisey is also pretty mobile. |
| 202s | Furthermore, your belts are quite versatile and fairly effective against any opponents. |
| 207s | The failings of the Yenisei, like its mediocre stabilizer, |
| 210s | are very apparent at first glance, |
| 212s | but overall, it’s still a very effective vehicle with a lot of firepower. |
| 219s | Sistema italiano difesa aerea mobile, simply known as “SIDAM 25”, |
| 225s | is an Italian SPAAG based on the American M113 APC. |
| 230s | Four Oerlikon KBA cannons have enough destructive power |
| 234s | to easily swat any aircraft you see from the sky, |
| 238s | but there is a high price to pay for this kind of strength. |
| 241s | First, the SIDAM is not equipped with a radar. |
| 244s | Instead, it’s fitted with a humble optronic tracking system. |
| 248s | Second, your quartet of guns eats through ammo extremely fast. |
| 255s | The French AMX 30 DCA is armed with a couple of non-stabilized |
| 260s | 30-mm Hispano-Suiza automatic cannons. |
| 264s | Just as with the SIDAM, the sheer firepower of this armament |
| 267s | makes up for most flaws of the vehicle. |
| 270s | Not to mention that the AMX 30 chassis |
| 272s | provides it with an excellent level of mobility |
| 274s | on par with the German Gepard. |
| 279s | Finally, we simply have to mention the Chinese WZ305, |
| 283s | a variant of the Soviet ZSU-57-2. |
| 287s | It’s a highly mobile vehicle with a massive open-top turret |
| 290s | and two powerful 57-mm guns: |
| 293s | a combination that’s very familiar to any experienced SPAA player. |
| 298s | It’s important to note, though, that the Chinese variant has one distinct advantage: |
| 303s | it has access to the DKY-1 airburst HE shell. |
| 307s | In the hands of a good shot, this round can decimate any target in the air. |
| 312s | On the other hand, with this vehicle, your gun traverse speed is on the slower side |
| 316s | and you get no radar — but that’s about it, no other complaints! |
| 322s | Obviously, there are a lot of other Cold War SPAA vehicles with interesting traits. |
| 327s | After all, it was the second half of the 20th century |
| 330s | when a lot of legendary AA systems were first introduced, |
| 333s | many of which are still in service to this very day. |
| 336s | What are your favorite SPAAGs of the Cold War era? |
| 340s | Share your opinions in the comments below! |