Type 87 RCV

Description

The Type 87 RCV (87式偵察警戒車) is a 6x6 armoured vehicle designed by Komatsu for the JGSDF and introduced in 1987. It was developed to provide better firepower and protection than jeeps and motorcycles for reconnaissance missions after improvements in Japanese road infrastructure made operating heavy wheeled vehicles in the islands more feasible.

The Type 87 RCV was introduced in Update "Direct Hit". It has high mobility and a rapid-firing 25 mm Oerlikon autocannon with a full belt of APFSDS ammunition. The cannon can penetrate most targets from the side or rear, and some from the front, but it has low post-penetration damage. The vehicle lacks a stabiliser and has a bouncy suspension, which affects its accuracy. The commander should be aware of these limitations before engaging in combat.

General info

Survivability and armour

Most of the survivability will result from the lack of armour, most of the vehicle is covered by 10 mm armour with some frontal plates at 20 mm protection. It will be easy to be penalized by machine gun fire if spotted but, if the bullets/shells hit in empty spots from the side, the shells will go clean through without any damage to crew or components.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret)

Notes:

• Wheels are 10 mm thick
• Has some external modules like fuel cans, mud flaps & optics all at 4 mm thick
• Radiators are 5 mm thick

Mobility

As a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, it is able to get to positions rather fast especially when keeping on roads, allowing for easy flanking and getting on vantage points to scout out the enemy team.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

With the armament the Type 87 RCV gets, it's most suitable as a support vehicle that can deal with lightly armoured vehicles and low flying aircraft. Once the APFSDS belt has been unlocked it can deal with most MBTs it faces by shooting out critical components one by one as this subcalibre 25 mm has barely any spalling effect.

Ammunition

• Default: APDS · HEI-T* · HEI-T* - The standard belt that can fulfill both roles (anti-air and lightly armoured vehicles) but weaker against ground targets.
• M792: HEI-T* · HEI-T* · HEI-T* - This belt is adapted for targeting aircraft with its high-explosive shells.
• M791: APDS · APDS · APDS - This belt is adapted for targeting lightly armoured vehicles with its armour-piercing rounds.
• PMB 090: APFSDS - This belt is adapted for targeting medium armoured vehicles with its armour-piercing fin-stabilized rounds.

Ammo racks

Machine guns

Usage in battles

As a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle with only a 25 mm autocannon to use, it's best played in its intended role, spotting the enemy team, using its fast manoeuvrability to flank, and shooting down low flying aircraft. It is best compared to the R3 T20 FA-HS with the benefits that a light tank gets: scouting and reducing SP for aircraft spawns.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• From the side on:
  • Crew spaced out enough to not die in a single shot
  • Because of light armour, it is able to take shells without much damage from spalling
• Powerful PBM 09 APFSDS round
  • High penetration, enough to penetrate many vehicles up to 500 - 1,000 m
  • High muzzle velocity, requiring little lead and little shell drop for engaging targets at range
  • Decent rate of fire
• Great mobility
  • Able to reach 100 km/h on roads with ease
  • Fast enough to reach 50 km/h off-road

Cons:

• Relatively high profile for a recon vehicle
• High chance of getting knocked out by a single shot frontally
• Default belt leaves much to desire
• Very lightly armoured
• Only 2 reverse gears allowing it to reach -20 km/h

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Type 87 RCV from live.warthunder.com.

Market

Camo "Type 87 'Kasuga Base Commemorative'"

Videos

See also

Related Development

• Type 87 RCV (P)

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Freccia IFV

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.