Available to PACT forces, the BTR-70 Zhalo is the only tank destroyer prototype in Wargame: European Escalation.
History[]
The 2S14 Zhalo-S ("Stinger-S") is an experimental light, highly mobile, Soviet self-propelled gun from the 1980s, while as early as the 1970s, the Soviets started working on a new generation of anti-tank guns, including some very light 85mm models of the Zhalo program.
The Zhalo was designed to keep pace with Soviet APCs such as the BTR-60 and BTR-70 and protect them from enemy tanks. To do so, Soviet engineers attached a 85mm anti-tank gun on the chassis of a BTR-70. The first prototype was ready in 1975 and was sent to the Kubinka proving grounds for extensive testing. Despite its unusually low caliber, the gun was very capable of defeating older vehicles, but it lacked the penetration of 125mm guns and was therefore useless against modern MBTs, a fact that ultimately doomed the project.
These vehicles were planned to be used in the battalion level anti-tank units. The anti-tank gun in towed and motorized form never saw active service since the anti-tank gun was ineffective against newer tanks and did not have the capability for guided rounds. The surviving prototype is currently located in the Kubinka Tank Museum.
The weapon was that of a small caliber MBT capable to engage NATO vehicles at the time, but the chassis of the BTR-70 could hardly endure any incoming damage. The Zhalo's gun, the 2A62, is an evolution of the anti-tank gun D-44 of WW2.
Overview and tactics[]
- Cheap and fast, the Zhalo is a good vehicle to outflank your enemy, though it lacks AP and armour for direct confrontation against heavy weaponry, the Zhalo doesn't have carrying capabilities.
- The Zhalo has a remarkable speed of 70km/h and an operation range of 500km, allowing it to assault distant enemy positions and stay operative without resupplying for a decent amount of time.
- Costing only 30 pts, the Zhalo can be massed and used as meatshields for an assault, as they have good accuracy and a modest stabilizer they can score some killing points when closing on enemy positions, this may also force the enemy to focus fire on them while more expensive units such as higher tier tanks bring extra firepower from afar.
- The Zhalo has normal optics, making it a good addition to any short-sighted force with no available scouts, however it lacks AA capabilities as it doesn't even have a machine gun, Zhalos will always need support when facing helicopters.
- The Zhalo is an excellent fire support vehicle, while only having a HE output of 3 its ROF easily makes up for this with an output of 20, far higher than any other cannon armed vehicle.
Weapons[]
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Main Gun | No Weapon | No Weapon |
| Name | 2A62 | ||
| Caliber | [KE] [AoE] 85mm |
||
| Ammo | x 20 | ||
| Range | Ground = 1925 m Helicopters = N/A m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
||
| Accuracy | 50% | ||
| Stabilizer | 20% | ||
| AP Power | 9 | ||
| HE Power | 3 | ||
| Suppression | 98 | ||
| Rate of fire | 20 r/min |
Gallery[]
