T-60 SZU. high suvivibility low rank SPAA

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caid’s suggestion #133

I would like to suggest a Russian SPAA that would be well protected yet not overpowered for the low ranks, the T-60 SZU

The SZU was a Self-propelled Anti-aircraft based on the T-60 light tank chassis. improved development of the T-60-Z

The development started (indirectly) back in 1940 as Russia was requiring an SPAA to provide the tank regiment the anti-aircraft support. As the main AA weapons were towed, those semi-static Air-defense showed poor versatility due to the lack of mobility. A Soviet engineer was at the head of a primary project, his name was I.V. Savin. He was working not exactly on the T-60 But on a project of SPAA based on the T-50 light tank (which is superior but expensive). Only his work was delayed as the T-50 production was moved to Siberia in the city of Omsk. Due the the official cancellation of the production of the T-50 in January 1942, the SPAA variant of the T-50 was not abandoned but converted to the T-60 chassis. As the T-60 production was reestablished at factory plant No 37, in Sverdlovsk. The work was carried on quickly with two parallel projects of SPAA. Both with the same modification on the turret. One is based on the T-60 the other on the T-70.

A rather similar yet different project was also carried out not in parallel but in competition. This one is on the T-70 chassis and is named the T-90 SPAA.

As the T-90 was ready by September 1942, the T-60-Z was rushed to be sent to the test ground on the 5th of December 1942. As fate did favor the T-60, the vehicles arrived with a major Engine failure that was caused by poor maintenance (this is Russia after all). As it happened, that was leaving a bad impression on the T-60-Z. since the T-60-Z was not in working order, the turret was tested on his sister’s development, the T-70-Z. The second problem came from the weapons itself. The twin 12.7mm DShK machine gun was badly lubricated. On the T-70-Z The right one was not working at all, and the left one was working badly. The test was done on the 6th and 8th of July with only 65 rounds fired. As the test wasn’t successful, the report went with the recommendation for the T-90 to be put into production. Something that didn’t satisfy I.V. Savin as he pointed out that the T-90 also suffered many gun failures and those failures came from the gun itself more than the T-60-Z and T-70-Z design. However, some reserve was made about the capacity of the Savin’s Design to engage ground targets.

As for his advantage, Savin pointed out the complexity of the T-90 turret that required a completely new production and also a rather costly one. The T-60-Z, and T-70-Z design was rather simple and required no specialized tools. The T-60 and T-70 already built could be converted during maintenance giving them an important advantage for producing a massive number of SPAA over a short time right in the front line. since the turret was only a modified T-60 turret, it was possible to do it from the existing tank. The authority didn’t take their final decision and Savin was already testing a more polished design of the T-60 turret on his initiative, on the 12th to 16 July 1943, the SZU was tested proposing a new turret almost completely designed from scratch. the new tank was tested only a few days after the T-70-Z and the T-90 and showed quite improved performance. the tank went into 200 km mobility test but also did a lot of firing tests. the test was successful but showed a few improvement was needed. the new turret had a new foldable roof for improved protection which made the turret have a lack of headroom and make the crew uncomfortable. the empty-rounds ejection was causing weapons jam so the arraignment had to be reviewed. the fire was pretty good, however. the accuracy was good in both air and ground targets as it was tested on both, using a kite as an air target. the accuracy however sharply reduced when the vehicle is in movement. the elevation, even if it was improved, was still judged insufficient and so despite the good result, the SZU did not have much hope for production. Yet the surprise came out, the SZU and the T-90 were accepted for production as AA variants of both T-60 and T-70 tanks. yet no production came into effect for serial cause. the difficulty of the DShk production was delaying the SPAA production and it was not on the top priority. At the same time, the American M17 was acquired by the lend-lease program which had more firepower and more reliable weapons. the ZSU-37 was also in development and there were large amounts of trucks using the 4M AA gun as well as serial other anti-aircraft armament. at the same time, the Germans were slowly losing their air superiority. The German Stuka seems to disappearing. As the situation had changed, the SZU never went into production and all SPAA designed using the 12.7mm went into a dead end.

Firepower
the armament is light against ground targets. been armed with two 12.7mm DShK heavy machine guns, this tank will still be capable of defending itself against lightly armored targets. in the BR where I expect it to fall, It would seldom find medium tanks that could be penetrated even from the side. the rounds offer 30mm of penetration at combat distance. but it’s not against the tanks this vehicle was designed for. it’s against the aircraft, the 12.7mm have a high fire rate of 600 rounds per minute each. the ammunition includes High explosive incendiary and armor-piercing incendiary which are rather effective against aircraft. the gun has -4.3° to +70° which does not make it very comfortable against ground targets in some circumstances but allows a pretty easy engagement of air targets. the 12.7mm are fed by a 30-round magazine instant of 50 because of the space limitation. this will improve the reload rate to 5-6 sec for both armaments in-game (to balance it with similar armament) the rotation speed is 10° by flywheel turn. I do not know what it means for the game but I suppose 30-40°/sec which is not bad for an armored SPAA. the ammo load is 480 (16 magazines) which allows 8 reloads of each gun. it’s not the best ammo load but it still allows a decent fight.


Mobility
the mobility is not bad but not great either. the tank is light and powered by a weak engine. the GAZ-201 offering 70 hp is rather weak but this tank is very light. with 6.42 tons it still can have enough strength to have decent mobility. the top speed reaches 45 km/h which is not bad. the transmission offers 4 forward and 1 reverse gear which is basic. the tank will neither suffer from poor mobility nor shine in this matter.


Protection
The protection is one of the best features of this tank. not that it’s so heavily armored. it is just fully and properly armored. against another tank, this tank will have decent survivability as it can easily ricochet the other’s hits at the low rank. the front of the chassis is armored with 35mm and a heavy slope. the turret has 25mm on all sides which is not bad too. but it’s when it comes to fighting the aircraft it will distinguish itself. this tank has a pretty great protection against the aircraft’s offensive armament. the front of the chassis is so sloped it offers a huge protection even against planes. the turret and the driver hatch have a thick 20mm of armor. the tank has only weakness in the area where is the mechanical parts. which makes the aircraft only capable of temporarily disabling this tank with its machine gun and auto-cannon in most situations. the tank will still be vulnerable to a direct hit from a rocket or a bomb like any other tank, but as a low-rank anti-aircraft, this tank is very protected. The only flaw comes from he crew being limited to 2 men. This is rather unforgiving in battle. any hit that penetrates his armor has a fat chance of destroying the tank.

Sources

Spoiler

1 Like
2

This and the T-90 are both really cool, and I’d be happy with either one (or both). A pair of DShK heavy machine guns would be super powerful against both air and ground targets! +1

3

for the ground, it would depend on the BR. I would say, that once you get around 2.7, most tanks are just immune to it. i think putting this thing at a BR where it would often encounter such targets would be fair. it’s after just an SPAA. i would set it at 2.3 or 2.0 to align it with the Staghound AA whos is 2.0 and has slightly weaker armament against air targets and less penetration.

1 Like
4

+1 at br 1.3 or 1.7

5

2.0 seems fair. There’s nothing between 1.0 and 2.3 for USSR SPAA, so anything between would work.

1 Like
6

As far as i know, the vehicle failed also, because it used the standart turret traverse which was horribly slow.
(Or is that a different one?)

7

Would be a neat sidegrade or more aggressive rat AA

8

+1, that looks rather survivable, true.
Might be iffy to balance but I suppose something could be figured out

9

the T-60-z indeed failed for a different reason. one of which was the lack of maintenance on the tank and gun which led to failure in the trial

the T-60 SZU was the improved version which was accepted to production along with the T-90

10

+1 This would be a nice alternative for all the milktruck cas magnets