History[]
The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored, self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system (SPAAG). The acronym "ZSU" stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka (Russian: Зенитная Самоходная Установка), meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled mount", the "23" signifies the bore diameter in millimeters, and the "4" signifies the number of gun barrels. It is named after the Russian Shilka River. Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the "sewing machine" due to the sound of firing guns and because of the similarity of the name "Shilka" to the Russian word "Шилка". It is also referred to by its nickname of "Zeus." It fought in several wars, which were mostly in African & Middle Eastern countries.
In Game[]
The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is an Anti-Air vehicle, despite being an AA vehicle the Shilka will mostly be engaged against tanks as helicopters will be the only form of aircraft it will encounter as Jets will only do occasional fly by's as of update 2.0. It is best to engage enemy vehicles from a medium distance as the dispersion gets worse from far distances and being to close would make the shilka faster to kill, this is because the armor level is pretty low so an enemy tank can take it out easily. It is advised to engage an enemy opponent as support or to finish off weak opposition. If the ZSU-23 finds itself in a close combat predictament; the player needs to equip available APDS ammunition, utilize the turret rotation, and put as many rounds in as possible before they fire. Try to fire around the side to rear armour region of most enemy tanks by using the speed and circle around the enemy, so it is hard for the opponent to aim properly. Keep firing when circling. If stationary it is suggested to spam fire instead of holding down the fire button as this increases the fire rate exponentially.
Pros and Cons[]
Pros[]
- Health pool is quite nice
- Fast turret rotation speed
- Equipped with APDS and HE ammunition
- 40 round clip allows for high fire rate compared to other AA at it's level
Cons[]
- Typical AA armor, gets damaged easily by high explosive
- Typical AA gun durability, gets damaged easily