Luchs A2: War Paws

The Spähpanzer 2 Luchs is a German wheeled reconnaissance vehicle developed in the late 1960s, set to replace the aging American and French light tanks serving the same role at the time.

Luchs A2: A Light Tank for Germany at Rank V

At a glance:

  • Good mobility.
  • Light protection overall.
  • Powerful autocannon with great gun depression.
  • Thermal imager.
  • Amphibious.
Vehicle History

In the 1960s, the Bundeswehr sought to develop a new wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, intended to replace the dated American M41 Walker Bulldog and French SP1A. The German Ministry of Defence outlined the need for a reconnaissance vehicle that featured exceptional mobility, a long cruising range, day and night scouting capability as well being logistically and economically efficient to produce and maintain. By 1968, two leading designs were put forward for evaluation. One from a conglomerate of companies including Thyssen-Henschel, MAN and Krupp among others, while the second design was presented by Daimler-Benz. Rigorous testing of these designs took place throughout the early 1970s, leading to improvements to both designs along the way.

Ultimately the Daimler-Benz design ended up winning, it was picked by the Bundeswehr for production in 1973 under the name “Spähpanzer 2 Luchs”. The first production models rolled off the assembly line in 1975, with the last of the 408 Luchs models ordered being completed in 1977. The Luchs served with the Bundeswehr well into the early 2000s, receiving several upgrades and modernizations throughout its server life. By 2009 however, it was recognized that the Luchs had fallen into obsolescence, and the 68 vehicles that remained were finally retired.

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Meet the Luchs A2!

The Luchs will soon be joining rank V of the German ground forces tree in the Firebirds major update, adding a versatile light support vehicle for the cold war lineups. Ready to take a look at what this beast can do? Then join us for the details below!

Being a unique wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, the Luchs will complement the German lineup of post-war machines nicely. Being even lighter and far more agile than the Marder IFV, the Luchs is poised to become the new vehicle of choice for those who prefer the flanks. Weighing in at just under 20 tons, the Luchs can get to 90 km/h on roads and can cruise around 50 km/h off-road with ease. In addition, the Luchs is also completely amphibious and can reach speeds of 10 km/h on water, which expands its tactical options further.

On the other hand however, the Luchs is only able to boast mobility of this degree by limiting its armor protection. The Luchs is able to withstand shrapnel and small-arms fire but anything else will spell trouble, even heavy machine guns can pose a threat from the sides. Luckily though, the great mobility of the Luchs can keep it out of danger for the most part, it can quickly hit the flanks and reach strong positions before the enemy even notices!

Once engaged in combat, the Luchs can rely on its Rh 202 20 mm autocannon to shred through lightly armored vehicles or low flying aircraft thanks to its high elevation. Due to only having autocannon armament however, the Luchs will struggle to get through MBTs and stronger targets from the front. To deal with tougher opponents, the Luchs will need to get up close and personal! The autocannon is stronger at close range, but this puts the Luchs in a more vulnerable position, so you’ll have to pick your moment to strike! Sticking with friendly tanks will be important here, as the autocannon can easily tear off tracks and damage barrels, which will make combating them much easier for your teammates.

Get ready to give the Luchs A2 a warm welcome as it arrives in the higher ranks of the German ground forces tree in the Firebirds major update! In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to the news and keep up to date on all the latest developments regarding the next major update, until then, happy hunting!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

Kick-start your German vehicles research with this starter pack:

German Beginner's Pack

The Kit Includes:
  • Sd.Kfz. 140/1 (Rank I, Germany)
  • Ju 87 R-2 (Rank I, Germany)
  • Premium Account for 7 days
  • 120000 Silver Lions

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You can greatly speed up the research of the Luchs with this pack:

Turm III Pack

The Kit Includes:
  • Turm III (Rank V, Germany)
  • Premium account for 15 days
  • 2000 Golden Eagles

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8 Likes

Hey @Stona_WT !

i think you forgot to put the devblog online…

If Luchs could kill ;-)

5 Likes

We’re getting one Luchs yes, but what about second Luchs?

26 Likes

Forum first ❤️

5 Likes

Stabiliser?
Apds?

1 Like

Hello Stona! Could you take a look at this report?
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/oibBPScnINOD
The new Gripen MFD is inverted, I’d love if it was fixed on release as I’d like to start using it in simulator :)

Sadly I don’t see this being very good . There’s no 7.3 lineup, and even if it was it’s worse than the Wiesel in almost every way, except that it has better gun depression and elevation, and the turret can go 360 degrees. Should at least change it to an SPAA spawn.

2 Likes

No stabiliser because it didn’t have one, or LRF. It does get APDS though.

1 Like

Gotta activate CC for it:

@Stona_WT
At 9:40min the video states how incredible quiet the Luchs is, has this been implemented or do we get standard engine noise?

12 Likes

The important thing about this vehicle, are they going to fix the penetration of the APCR and APDS? Both bullets are already missing around 10mm of penetration.

1 Like

Good addition, I wonder how can it be effective in a BR that you majority face heavy tanks and well armored MBTs.

Water boi!!! I love muh water-able light tanks! 😄

2 Likes

It will have the same pen (60mm or something) as the Wiesel, same 20mm cannon. While Wiesel is faster (tracked), much smaller (!), better thermals.

So what is it good for? Huge unarmored bus with no pen. Similar pen as 1.0 reserve vehicle Pz.II. There will be alot vehicles which simply can’t be penned, even from the side or rear.

(While the Fox sports 110mm pen).

6 Likes

So budget, amphibious type 87 rcv p, can we please get apds as first tier mods? i don’t want to suffer through that again.

4 Likes

A few things:

  • why in the SPAA line?;
  • Why at the same BR as BTR-80, 30mm has more pen then the 20mm;
  • On test server it goes submarine, while moving forward at any speed;

this thing has only speed and mobility going for it:

  • Less Armour then Marder A1;
  • Less Ammo the Marder A1;
  • No ATGM, like BTR;
  • Size of a barn;
  • awesome mobility, even in reverse.
1 Like

Why not? The 20mm makes it effective in targeting air and light ground targets.
So it’s basically a Wirbelwind on wheels.

What’s the BR?

Huh? 7.3 is arguably the best German lineup. Germany at its peak.
Just buy the M47 as a carry vehicle and then back it up with the Ru 251, Wiesel A4 or Luchs A2. Your SPAA is either the Flakpanzer 341 if you have that, or Kugelblitz. For planes you have Ar 234C + Ho 229 + Me 262.

I personally use M47 + Ru 251 + Flkpz 341 + Ar 234C + Ho 229 + Me 262 myself for getting score done for events / finishing daily tasks and get a ton of SL doing it in the process.

Sure 7.3 used to be whole another beast with the Leopard I + Marder A1, but it´s still great. Just have to spend a little bit of money. Fortunately current sales can help you with that.

WTF this thing is huge. From the devblog it looks like a toy. Not sure how it´s gonna play out for it. It´s not as compact as the XM800 or Wiesel A4, so ambushing will be limited. The armor seems like it´s not gonna be much either. So what sells it over the Wiesel?

2 Likes