- Yes
- No
I would like to suggest the late war ammo development, beeing the 7,5 cm Gr.38 HL/C mit KLW (Hohlladung Ausf.C mit Klappleitwerk / HEAT-FS) for the 7,5 cm PaK 40, KwK 40 and KwK/PaK 42.
This could be an interesting, partly gimmic and good improvement for some vehicles with one of the 4 guns with ballancing in mind, to give further options. Certainly not all vehicles need it, while the standart Gr.38 HL/C is still missing from the Pak/KwK 40, the Gr.38 HL/C mit KLW. would be an further improvement. Some examples that would benefit from it greatly would be the Sd.Kfz.234/4 and Panther F.
History:
Overall the German army started development of HEAT warheads well befor the war, the pricipal already found use in construction and demolishing work and such ammo has multiple advantages over Kintetic full caliber, as well as subcaliber ammo, which was already seen early on.
Among others these advantages are:
- Cheap to produce (Its a normal steel shell, usually with normal steel liner and high grade or mix high grade and TNT filler (and less than normal HE rounds) it doesnt need special alloys nor special hardening, making it cheaper and easyer to produce even by unskilled labourers (which later on in war became more of a problem.)
- Range indipendent (Cince its a chemical penetratior generated on impact it is velocity and range independant, it will always peform the same way, against angled armor duo to drop sometimes even better.)
- Great performance even from short guns (as its as mentioned above indendant from velocity, it can have great penetration even from low velocity guns.)
However there are 2 disadvantages, that only were fixed later on in development, one of which was fixed with this ammo:
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Fuzes: Bottom Fuzes werent good enove, as such either a combo (15 cm Stielgranate 42) or simply a nose fuze with a pipe down the middle (Gr.38 and 39 series) was used, however such created a hole in the liner, reducing the effectivnesss somewhat.
-
Centrifugal force / shell rotation: The rounds were stabilized by rotation, however the centrifugal force of the 15-20k rotations somewhat disrupted the creation of the penetrator, reducing the penetration, this was fixed by using a rotating shell collar, keeping the liner from rotating, or generally using HEAT-FS, which the Gr.38 HL/C mit KLW. is (this is also visible in the increased performance, while beeing the same warhead).
First developed and put into limited production with the Pak 40 and intended for also KwK/StuK 40 and KwK/Pak 42, the Gr.38 HL/C mit KLW offered increased velocity (as the increased rotation with higher charge was omitted) and increased penetration, while also slightly improving the ballistics duo to greater weight, offering a good 140mm/30°/all ranges with 520m/s from all guns. Later to be further increased.
Guns and examples in game as well as possible vehicles to come (general list, not where the ammo should be added, generally while a good improvement, it would not be gamebreaking, as the guns are already fairly powerfull, pretty much only allowing for more tactics and better ammo loadout, the Pzgr.39 will always be better in after armor effect.
7,5 cm KwK 40 L/43/48: Pz IV Ausf.F2 - J
7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43/48: StuG III Ausf.F and G, Jpz 38(t), Jpz.IV
Here i suggest giving it to the Ausf.J, currently its simply worse than the H, having less add on armor, less turret traverse speed, while having no advantage, this HEAT-FS round could give it a nice advantage, worth taking out for. The rest is debatable.
7,5 cm Pak 40 L/46: Marder III Ausf.H, Sd.Kfz.234/4
7,5 cm KwK 42/44 L/70: Panther D - F
The Panther F is the end of development, mainly giving it, and also the G (which curretly is simply a downgrade to the A, duo to the chinn) would give them a better advantage over the Ausf.A. Generally the L/70 gun does not have a HEAT shell, this could offer a range independant ammo.
7,5 cm Pak 42 L/70: Panzer IV/70 (V) and (A)
The (A) (Alkett) is far weaker and at 4.3, it really doesnt need it, the (V) (Vomag) could take an advantage compared to the Panther D, of having greater firepower options while having no turret, fitting more its TD role.
More Vehicles could be added with the ammo:
The Baukomando Becker series, based on old French chassis, such as Lorrain Schlepper, these are slow and low on armor.
Accurate Panther II for an usable 6.3-6.7 tank with more armor than the Panther F.
More info on the 7,5 cm Gr.38 HL/C mit KLW:
Its basically a normal Gr.38 HL/C, with a extended bottom were spring loaded fins are located.
Caliber: 7,5 cm
Weight: 7,3 kg (Normal is 4,8-5 kg)
Penetration (0°/30°/60°): 162/140/81mm (Normal is 115/100/57mm)
Velcoity: 520m/s (Normal is 450m/s) (And later to be further increased, 700m/s expected for L/70.)
Filler: 515g H.10 (875,5g TnTa) (Same)
