ZiS-43

Description

The ZiS-43 is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun prototype developed by the Soviets during World War II to improve anti-air capability against enemy aircraft. In 1942, a 37 mm 61K autocannon was mounted and tested on a half-track. Thin armour plates were installed throughout the vehicle to provide minor protection for the crews. It never progressed beyond the prototype stage.

Introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai", the ZiS-43 is a mediocre vehicle that takes a lot of practice to master. Despite its potent main armament, it is poorly armoured, tall, slow, and unstable. While the 37 mm 61K autocannon can penetrate most enemy ground targets from the side, it is too slow to perform any effective flanking manoeuvres. Due to the slow rate of fire requiring precision hits and accurate target leading, engaging enemy aircraft requires a steep learning curve as well.

General info

Survivability and armour

The ZiS-43's armour is nonexistent and can barely withstand 12.7 mm machine gun fire. Thus, much like the rest of SPAA in the game, it is really fragile and the armour should not be relied on. Every plane is a threat that has to be taken seriously as the turret is open and only has a small 15 mm shield which barely provides protection against 7.62 mm machine gun fire. Almost all bomb fragmentation is able to penetrate and damage crew members. Some bombs, depending on the explosive power and fragmentation radius, may not knock out crew members. However they will often damage them and leave them in a yellow-orange status.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Structural steel (Gun mount)
• Wood (Truck bed)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, tracks are 7 mm, wheels are 2 mm thick.
• Due to the vehicle hurried construction, it is mostly a patchwork of 10 mm steel plates welded onto the underlying chassis.
• The turret crew have their heads visible from the front and sides. They are fully exposed in the rear and above.

Mobility

Similar to the M16 SPAA, being a halftrack is a mid-point between wheel speed and track traction. It is far from being the fastest halftrack in game. However, it does provide increased traction when it comes to rough terrain, is not comparable to full tracked vehicles but is better than fully wheeled vehicles seen at the battle rating. Being a halftrack leaves it with a "semi tank turn" capacity, meaning tracks are able to help steer but will not do so completely as the steering is given from the frontal wheels.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

The ZiS-43 is armed with a quick firing 37 mm which is more than capable to deal with both aircraft and ground targets, but just like other low rate of fire SPAA it requires the player to shoot accurately in order to do well. Since it has a slow traverse speed, it is tricky to aim with the ZiS-43 when it comes to short distances between aircraft and SPAA. This can be countered by engaging enemy aircraft at distances. However, this is a game changer when it comes to ground fight. Turret rotation speed is the difference between life or death for various reasons: exposed crew, not being able to counterattack quickly, tank traverse is painfully slow. At least unlike previous SPAAs, the driver's cabin no longer gets in the way of the gun allowing you to shoot ground targets right in front of the vehicle.

Ammunition

• Default: AP-T · HEFI-T* - These rounds work well until the others are researched and offer the same performance as both other belts to the detriment of a halfed rate of fire.
• UO-167: HEFI-T* - These are absolutely devastating in the AA role. A couple of direct hits will take down smaller planes and while large bombers can soak up more shots, they are not fast enough to survive their bombing run while you're shooting at them with this belt.
• BR-167: AP-T - These are best against enemy tanks at close range. It has enough penetration to go through all medium tanks from the sides when up close and some more vulnerable ones can even be penetrated from the front (such as Pz.IV F2 ). It does not have any explosive filler, but rate of fire is enough that you can simply spray multiple shots around the target's sides.

Since every bullet is a tracer, firing makes you easily detected by enemy airplanes and tanks.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the ZiS-43

Note:

• The ammunition is modeled as a single big box containing clips.

Usage in battles

Despite the vehicle potent armament, it is not built for direct front-line combat. It is poorly armoured, tall, slow and unstable. If necessary, it is possible to penetrate most vehicles sides or rear but sticking to anti-aircraft duty will yield the best results. Do not stay in spawn however, most planes will attack your teammates busy fighting instead of you. Similar to previous seen SPAA, they have really good capabilities for both anti-air and anti-ground duties. However, despite being a higher calibre than the previously seen 25 mm and 14.5 mm, it lacks the rate of fire to engage targets as fast as the other SPAAs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 37 mm is deadly to anything it penetrates, planes or tanks
• The gun is able to shoot targets directly in front of the vehicle, unlike some of the previous AA trucks
• Most vehicles can be engaged at close range if needed
• Low armour means APHE won't always fuse
• Most light machine guns will struggle to penetrate
• Fairly high penetration (70 mm)
• Full turret rotation
• Driver and commander are protected in an enclosed driving compartment, which is well protected against small calibre machine gun rounds
• Four crew members allow you to continue with only two after taking damage
• Half-track mount gives better cross-country movement than previous trucks

Cons:

• Very tall for self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle
• Slow rate of fire allows planes to fly between shots
• High recoil causes the entire chassis to wobble, making continuous fire extremely inaccurate
• Sluggish manoeuvrability
• Thin-skinned vehicle, HE rounds will destroy it
• Open turret configuration, open to machine gun fire
• Extremely vulnerable to 12.7 mm machine guns
• Armour protection is not sufficient to stop aircraft fire
• Vulnerable to artillery strikes
• Can be destroyed by overpressure
• Slow turret traverse
• Needs to move forward in order to turn
• Has a rather unusual tendency to wobble side-to-side when driving, making it harder to fire on the move

History

The GAU (Russian: Главное артиллерийское управление, English: Main Artillery Directorate) set forth a requirement for an anti-aircraft vehicle using a 37 mm AA gun on a ZiS-42 half-track on 14 November 1942. The requirements stated that it was to have armour protection for the engine and cabin, and also was to have an armoured shield for the gun mount. The requirements also gave a maximum weight of 6.5 tons; the vehicle was developed by the ZiS factory in Moscow and was given the designation ZiS-43.

The ZiS-43 utilized the ZiS-42M half-track chassis with a 37 mm 61-K anti-aircraft gun mounted on the flat bed at the rear. The front half of the weapon mount was protected by armoured shields, the engine compartment was uparmoured, and so was the cabin. All the added armour protection gave the vehicle a weight of 8.75 metric tons. In addition to the weapon system and increased armour, the vehicle included other minor changes in comparison to the ZiS-42 including redesigned grills for increased engine cooling. The sides, as well as the top, of the engine compartment received armoured hatches for ease of maintenance. The cabin was redesigned in order to give the driver more comfortable working conditions, as on other models the driver's position was known to be incredibly uncomfortable.

The prototype went to trials on 15 December 1942 after driving 380 km to Gorohovets Artillery Proving Grounds from the factory. From the 19th to the 23rd of December, the ZiS-43 prototype was driven over five hundred km. Problems arose with the cooling of the vehicle, with the engine overheating twice during trials and the cabin getting as hot as 50°C. Due to the weight of the ZiS-43, a maximum speed of 35 km/h was achieved on roads and only 19.5 km/h on dirt roads. The average speed was 29.3 km/h on roads and the fuel consumption was as high as 110 litres per 100 km on dirt roads and still a low minimum of 90 litres per 100 km on more favourable terrain. During firing trials a number of other issues were revealed; the headlights would shatter upon firing due to changes in pressure and the high center of gravity caused accuracy issues due to instability.

The ZiS-43 never entered service thanks to its disappointing performance during trials, leaving production at only one prototype. For an anti-aircraft vehicle such armour was seen as an unnecessary burden, and the program was subsequently cancelled. After the cancellation of the program the armour of the ZiS-43 prototype was removed, returning it to its original state as a ZiS-42M.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the ZiS-43 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Sd.Kfz. 6/2
• CCKW 353 AA
• Lvtdgb m/40

External links

• [Devblog] ZiS-43: When You Need a Bigger Bang
• https://warspot.net/124-halftrack-experiments - Halftrack Experiments on warspot.net