- Yes
- No
Whilst there is no official name, or much data, surrounding this vehicle I do believe it can have a place in War Thunder as a low ranked SPAA for the United Kingdom tree. The vehicle combines the 3-Ton Bedford OYD Truck with a single 20mm/70 Oerlikon Mk II Cannon. Whilst early Royal Navy Air Defence vehicles were often nicknamed “Land Ships”, such vehicles only had access to Bren LMG’s and rifles whereas this vehicle will be much more effective in War Thunder with access to a 20mm Cannon.
The Bedford OY was a military truck, built by Bedford, used by the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The truck was first introduced in 1939 and was produced for a further 6 years until the end of the War in 1945, with approximately 72’000 units being produced. Almost all of the Bedford OY series of vehicle were equipped with the same 3.5L I6 Petrol engine, producing a whopping 72bhp at 3000rpm. This propelled the Bedford lorries to around 40mph (65kmh). Notably, the vehicle in this post is the Bedford OYD which was the military designation for the Bedford OY and had very minor differences to the OY.
From the information available to me, I assume this vehicle is a further development to a niche set of vehicles utilised by the Royal Navy known as “Land Ships”. The below images are from the British Pathe, and shows numerous RN personnel embarked in a Bedford OYD trucks, each fitted with 2 Bren Gun AA mountings. These images have dates referring to 29/07/1940.
The British 20mm Oerlikon Cannon was first produced in Ruislip, London, at the end of 1940 with the first Cannons being delivered to the Royal Navy around March/April of 1941. Which would imply that this conversion occurred anytime after early 1941, and indeed was a continuation to the RN’s of “Land Ships”. From the picture, we can see it’s a single mount with a single drum mount and most likely a Mk II system. The Mk II was a fixed height pedestal mounted system, as shown from the image, and weighed roughly 520kg. With the addition of a gun shield adding a further 120kg increasing the total weight of the mounting and cannon to 740kg. The system had a full 360 degrees of movement, elevation angles of -5/+85 degrees, and was manually driven with no electrical aid. The same weapon mounting system can be found on HMS Spey in game.
As seen on the images, the registration plate for the vehicle is as such: L214074. Which, interestingly, seems to have survived the war, been restored back to an original Bedford truck without the gun system, and sold as of 2022.
Vehicle Specification:
- Hull Armour: nil
- Turret Armour: nil
- Crew: 4 (1 Driver, 1 Gunner, 1 Loader, and 1 Commander)
- Total Combat Weight: 7338kg
- Length: 6.22m
- Width: 2.18m
- Height: 2.23m
- Engine: Six-cylinder inline Bedford OHV 210 cu in (3.5 L) Petrol 72 hp (54 kW) at 3,000rpm
- Power/Weight Ratio: 9.81hp/ton
- Top Speed: 40mph (65kmh)
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