The SPAA that "Never" Misses - Strela-10M2 - War Thunder

[@CptCappelletti]

The best advice for ANY spaa is to never sit in your spawn, that is literally the first place competent CAS pilots will look for targets

[@kakaprutt666]

Adding that it's a loud place preventing you to hear CAS

[@notsoracistraspberry4168]

I always say this. Even low tier SPAA. Hell if you sit in your spawn in low tier you aren't going to save your team from CAS anyways all you are doing is waiting to duel planes

[@marocho129]

I'd argue that it's actually where the incompetent CAS pilots look for targets (because it's easy to identify). Still a bad idea to stay there though.

[@RESPECTxORANGES]

Easier said than done. At least on certain maps

[@skilz2kil528]

@@marocho129 I mean as a cas main myself sure you will be looking everywhere else too but you still gotta check the spawn first as thats still the #1 place AA will sit cause most AA players are incompetent themselves never leaving but are in general still just as much of a threat as the better ones hiding in a forest a kilometre away.

[@Quandaleofdingle]

Try not to move too much as an SPAA if a plane is flying in your direction, just like the T rex in Jurassic park, most CAS players vision is based on movement

[@MrAcuta73]

While true, after you fire, do move. Keeps other planes or enemy tanks from zeroing your position. Tracers and missile trails point right to you.

[@user-fe7bo5mm1o]

true lol I just look for movement

[@toasterhothead3312]

I don’t like how accurate that is…because it is completely true. As a SU-25 CAS player we r 100% looking for moving targets and missile streams to look for targets

[@zawadlttv]

as im mostly using p51s currently as cas or not doing cas but actually intercepting cas from ground or air, im also looking for actual tanks, but standing tanks are hard to find

[@ARCtrooper_bliz02]

Im guilty of doing this excellent tip i always just hawk eye and dont move my camera and capt every movement

[@ameeba90]

AA Tips: 1. Never sit in your spawn. 2. Try to find a high elevation spot. 3. Always try to have tall cover near you to hide from FnF missiles/bombs. 4. Bushes and trees are your friends against ground vehicles but you should shoot some of them to have clear view of enemy air and heli spawns. 5. Use inclines to wedge your spaa upwards to gain elevation for your guns against mig 27s 6. Change spots regulary!

[@molstad182]

with the ItO, positioning is hard because the thing is about as tall as MBTs are long, and currently you cant fold down the radar on any spaa so its stuck like that which is really unfortunate, best option is to sit in or near spawn because otherwise enemies will see a big spinning "shoot an HE shell at me" box wherever you go

[@nik4091]

7. always look up especially when you spawn spaa mid game 8.And for gun spaa and top tier missile spaa learn how to aim and use irst

[@Kyoshi.]

Tips for AA that have cannons, try to be where a CAS player would strike, if your team pushes hard on one point push with them while staying a bit back. You'll see all the planes go above you and you'll just need to click to down enemies, little to no lead needed.

[@MPdude237]

As a low tier German player I agree. Stay close to your Allies but not side-by-side and somewhere the enemy doesn’t can’t shoot you. Stay somewhere hidden but allows you aerial view from likely attack directions. When they approach and get close is when you shoot. Like you described, you need very little lead to hit shots at this close distance.

[@basedsketch4133]

I'll sit in sometimes tank corpses or I'll play using hills for cover even really low ones anything that will catch a missile and not have it become a explosive suppository in my ass end of armor

[@The_RussianBias]

If anyone wants to start playing AA, just know that you will never see as many planes as you see when you play regular tanks, the moment you get in AA everyone goes away

[@CunnyRadishElf]

Fr 😂

[@OtterMusician]

I mean, it never really misses, it just changes its mind and annihilates the nearby flare.

[@zauce1627]

Its good right ?(still grinding )

[@Randlee1]

@@zauce1627ofc it’s still good, only experienced players really know how to dodge it, it’s also relatively hard to see so it’s still definitely worth grinding

[@zauce1627]

alright man,tnx for the info@@Randlee1

[@johnagbay6937]

@@zauce1627 with the 2s6 nerf, i can say that the strela can shoot planes better than the 2s6's missiles

[@zauce1627]

ohoo nice ,i'm currently grinding it , tnx tho@@johnagbay6937

[@Boris_The_Turtle]

As someone who often faces off against the Strela, if you have guided weapons, it’s basically a free kill. It’s frontal lock on range is so poor that you can get relatively close to it without being harmed. I play the A-6E a ton, and I noticed that unlike stingers, the strela can’t touch you at altitude. They will just stare at you in pure horror as they watch you throw a Paveway at them.

[@Sondemon-ss3ru]

true as long as you dont decend lol, the moment you dive to give bomb oh hell yeah

[@theidiotictroublemaker2281]

Now u have to deal with the zsu23 m4m

[@Boris_The_Turtle]

@@theidiotictroublemaker2281 it’s easier to deal with, the missile pulls 10Gs only

[@theidiotictroublemaker2281]

@@Boris_The_Turtle until u start hearing the brrrt when the missile made u bleed the speed

[@Boris_The_Turtle]

@@theidiotictroublemaker2281 the guns don’t really do anything past 2.5km

[@unoriginalplays120]

Will you check out the cheiftain mk10? Been 2 years since the previous video. With the br changes its now in a pretty good spot as it stayed at 9.0

[@Mudrock_dz]

5:46 as spaa when you see an enemy in the sky, just turn off your radar so that it does not receive a notification Also, use Reader only to calculate the distance then change to irst

[@superbrain3848]

the strela has Optical tracking, the Dish is a IFF antena. For AA strats, some of the more potent AAs can quite comfortable intercept Smart Weapons, like AGM-65, this can save your beacon.

[@last_dutch_hero258]

So, im not a SPAA main, but i do almost ALWAYS have some sort of SPAA in my lineup and am fairly expierinced. There are a few things to keep in mind when playing SPAA. 1. NEVER sit in 1 spot for too long, and DEFNITLY not in the spawn. Most CAS players will go straight for the spawncamp instead of trying to get objective controll. Even if you are not in spawn, CAS players might think ur a treath to their team and hunt you down. It’s why i quite love zippy SPAA. 2. Try to use belts with only 1 type of shell if possible. Whilst it might seem handy to have multiple types of shells in your belt, it makes shooting at planes much harder due to mass and velocity difrence, meaning you often “skip” shells when firing at enemy planes and heli’s, and more often then not you hit with a AP shell and do nothing. 3. Spread out. Whilst you might want to stick togheter cuz more firepower, it makes you a huge target for CAS. Yes you can nuke that 1 plane but they can nuke all of you all at once… 4. Don’t hesitate to uptier SPAA if you are not certain what else to bring. SPAA have verry low spawn costs, and often 1 extra spawn alone can win or lose a match (FU 1 death leavers i hate you!) 5. Improvise. Even if you don’t bring SPAA, improvised SPAA is better then no SPAA. For example, i use a keybind to select my roof-mounted MG on mu shermans to shoot at CAS directed to me. It gives a seperate sight so it’s easier to aim the MG. Just make sure you only do it when the CAS player isn’t paying attention or is going straight for you, otherwise you just give away your position to the enemy team… (All of this is mainly Ground Realistic)

[@zawadlttv]

yep thats why my britain loadout consists of: random 3.7 spitfire. centurion mk 2. random low tier aa

[@zawadlttv]

oh and backups on the centurion

[@97thGalaxy]

Tips for playing spaa: 1. stay well hidden, but still with an open area around you so you can find the enemy. 2.Dont stay in spawn, go to the edge/well hidden spot, but avoid places where enemy light tanks would flank. 3. Dont shoot too early with cannons, wait until about 2km otherwise the enemy can easily see you and manouver away, even if you have radar. 4. The strela specificly can intercept helicopter missiles (4:30), which is why you can sometimes lock onto them from really far away. 5. Dont lock onto the enemy with radar too early in top tier, they will know about it and manouver away, use IRST when guiding missiles as much as possible. 6. Watch if the players you kill respawn, and if they do its a good idea to change spots, to avoid getting revengekilled.

[@DerEvie]

My advice for SPAA is try to stick near a cap that you know will stay yours (for ammo) and try to stay out of the open, you never want to sit in spawn and you never want to push up with your team (unless you're a gepard, those things are scary)

[@spudmanwp]

ECM = "Electronic Counter Measures" ECCM = "Electronic Counter Counter Measures" ECM = a jammer and ECCM is the ability to negate the target's ECM. Flares are not ECM and the ability to ignore flares is not ECCM but is called "flare rejection".

[@gugi233]

Best advices: a) absolutely NEVER stay in spawn. b) do the completely opposite of what you are doing and routes you are taking when you are playing a tank. c) get as close as possible to enemy heli spawn and you have a clear line of sight for incoming enemy planes + HARD COVER, meaning hide behind hills , houses and AVOID ALL FLANKING ROUTES you would usually take when using light tanks.

[@Shooter10m]

I played a lot of SPAA competitively for a few clans over the years, Primarily IML, BoFfs Elit3 to name a few. Most of the clans I played in were top 10, IML and BoFfs were top 5 consistently. One thing I can tell new SPAA players is to NEVER sit in spawn and just watch your radar. You wanna sit towards a part of the map that has a good portion of your team around you and not in any open fields. People are much more likely to fly over you if they don't spot you first and trust me, they will if they know ahead of time that there is enemy SPAA up. Top tier SPAA are able to be spotted from 13+km away when being looked at through a maverick or any decent CAS aircraft. Utilize buildings to throw off laser designators and TV guided ordinance. If you know a GBU is out for your position break the laser and find hard cover where possible. Utilize hard cover / foliage / defilades in terrain in order to hide majority of your outline to others looking for you. Bushes do help but only against vehicles not rocking thermals (So basically 7.7 and lower for majority of the ground vehicles). If your SPAA has access to a decent radar some of them come with IRST which is infinitely easier to use than trying to hard lock someone with a radar and forcing them to evade or waive off. IRST for those that don't know is Infrared Search and Track. It gives no signal to the enemies RWR allowing you to get your missiles off without them knowing they are in the air majority of the time, especially if they are just off a bombing run and not looking backwards. Hope this helps someone with any issues they are having staying alive long enough to fight back.

[@funniestalexv]

I once had a stinger locked on a SU-25K. yeah the SU-25K dodged the stinger but the stinger relocked onto and killed a Mi24 further away

[@Dreamybulllxx]

finally a strela vid,thank you Justin!

[@bpop2148]

My SPAA tips : 1. Good positioning and map knowledge: Your position on the map is one of the most important things playing as an AA. Don't sit in the spawn area instead locate a place where tanks will have a hard time getting to you aswell as good vision of enemy air spawns (heli and planes). 2. Have patience: Just because you have a target that you can lock with your IR-missile or that is in range doesn't mean you should fire. Sometimes it could be better to wait until the target is distracted on someone else or is maneuvering in a way that makes the likelyhood of your missile/cannon rounds more likely to hit. 3. Turn off radar ones you have a target: If you have a radar it could be a good idea to turn it off ones you have located your target so that you don't constantly ping your location. There are many more things to look into when playing SPAA but these are 3 tips that from my experience not a lot of players do and it makes it very easy for a CAS player like me to kill them. If you have other tips that could be useful leave a comment below, we should all learn from eachother because that's what this community is about!

[@maverickjhett]

As someone with over 1500 battles in the Type 93, when it comes to manpad style SPAA, what Justin said is a solid start. Be where people will not be looking for you, get into corners of maps or far off edges if possible. Another thing to remember is that you are an ambush vehicle, sometimes you might get the easy front lock kill but if you get spotted, you're probably dead. If possible, it's incredibly helpful to let aircraft get 1-2 passes in so they feel safe before launching from an angle they wouldn't expect. Also try to launch when you have a favorable attack angle, something like when an enemy is climbing or looping up and over for another pass and losing a lot of energy to give your missile, with usually has only 10-12G pull, the best chance of hitting the target.

[@Jayhawker32]

Video is no longer up to date as the misisles have slightly changed, however, even at the time of release the Strela did have IRCCM/ECCM. Utilizing the same technique as the R-73

[@molstad182]

one piece of advice I havent seen yet , which goes for pretty much all spaa, dont start shooting immediately when you can/when you get a lock, wait for the right time, like for example when the plane makes its attack run, it will almost definitely not be paying attention to its surroundings meaning it will basically fly straight and become a free kill

[@Kraus-]

The most effective strategy I've seen for this (and any other IR SAMs) is to get behind cover so helicopters can't hit you, then fire at jets as they pull up out of a dive. They'll be huffing hopium with no radar lock on the approach and slow down with their afterburner pointing right at you. A good map for SPAA is one where you can swing around the edge of the map in cover and get relatively near the enemy spawn because the edge of the map doesn't provide tactical value to light tanks. For example on Sweden from the south spawn you can go up past the A point and hang out next to the water where no enemies will ever approach. From there you can slap incoming aircrafts that will never look in your direction.

[@TheDominiqueG]

I've seen some comments about hiding and positioning, but the most important thing you said yourself (against higher tier targets like Helo's with Fire and forget missiles, or A10s, and stuff). 1: Make sure you have hard cover. Especially in a 1-1 against stuff with Mavericks, that WILL save your life. 2: With some of the weaker missiles (Ozelot, for example), timing your shot is super important. Try to catch targets when they are slow, or in a turn. :) (When they are turning, they might also not be looking for potential missile launches. Especially important in Sim.) 3: Sometimes firing a missile to just force enemy CAS to turn off, giving you time to hide or focus on another target, is also a solid option. There have been times where I was dealing with 3 or 4 CAS aircraft in a single SPAA and they couldn't get close. Remember, forcing them (CAS), to waste missiles on you just makes sure they cannot use those on friendlies. Apart from that, learn what missiles behave like, and the fire rate/muzzle velocity of gun SPAA is super important too. There are so many things you can take into account, but those are definitely the most important things. My opinion on the Strela is simple, it's too unreliable against skilled players. You cannot get a lock at a far enough range to deal with any really good CAS player. :) For RB it's fine against not very experienced pilots, but in SQB it is just not reliable enough.

[@mrflugenheim1507]

here's some advice from a person who has played SPAA for over 30 days 1. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your SPAA. Some have powerful cannons while others rely on high rates of fire. be familiar with the vehicles armor, mobility, and ammunition types 2. Learn the maps knowing the terrain and cover and potential ambush spots will help you position yourself better and predict where enemy aircraft might appear 3. SPAA vehicles are most efficient when used in locations that provide good visibility of the sky and are close to points of interest like objectives or chokepoints. Elevated positions can increase your line of sight and range 4. Use HE rounds against aircraft and lightly armored ground targets, and AP rounds against more heavily armored targets like tanks 5. Anticipate the movement of aircraft and lead your shots accordingly. Aircraft are fastmoving targets, so practice your aim and adjust your lead 6. never fire long continuous bursts instead use controlled bursts to conserve ammunition and maintain accuracy. This is especially important when using vehicles with high rates of fire like the Shilka or Gepard etc 7. Invest crew points to skills that enhance your SPAA's performance such as targeting skill , repair speed, and agility. this will make you feel more in control of the firing. these we're my tips i hope they helped **(these tips are more for gunned SPAA not really the ones with missiles)**

[@97thGalaxy]

Just to clarify, at 4:30 you locked onto his missile and shot it down, you wouldnt be able to lock onto the heli until about 1km

[@kliment4196]

it was actually a pretty egregious bug with the German alouette specifically where it can take a ton of missiles, I have a clip of one taking 4 direct missile hits; I think I will upload the video because I wouldn't believe me it didn't happen to me

[@PsyTramper]

Your slap/"nope" edits make me giggle way too hard hahaha I just unlocked the Strela, watched your video and now I`m happy af :D

[@Lettuce_cat]

the best advice i can give for spaa is that if you are still in early game spaa without radar to help you aim, you can you do something to hit your shots, you can aim slightly far infront of them and start shooting and aim your camera to stay infront of their plane and see if you hit your shots and you might even get a lucky kill with it

[@mayto420]

spaa advice 1. always find something to hide behind when youre in a standoff with helis 2. set quick binds for changing between radar and irst 3. always remember to check radar settings to set the mode for the largest area and highest angle of search 4. know your missiles characteristics, dont launch if you know your missile cannot pull hard enough 5. mavericks and other tv weapons arent good at tracking moving targets beyond 6km so moving around is a good strategy to avoid spacebombers 6. if there are multiple types of sams on a team such as pantsir and tor, try to coordinate targets with them according to the strengths of each sam, aka use the pantsir for low altitude targets and helicopters and the tor for distant jets as each is better at one of those things

[@scorpionevo880]

Some of the best advice I can give for SPAA is, especially for cannon and machine gun AA, besides getting out of your spawn, is roll with your team. Don’t stay up close with them but form a sort of back line. You can protect them from light armored flankers like Pumas and EBRs, they can protect you from the harder targets, and they form the big targets for aircraft so you won’t get focused. Do it right and your team will love you. Just remember that you’re a light SPAA, not a heavy tank

[@WoooshProductions]

as an avid spaa player here are some common mistakes for spaa: 1.) the number one mistake is chilling at the spawn. its very easy for cas to just guess where spaa are the moment they spawn and send an agm their way. 2.) next mistake is for gun spaa only: many people i see start shooting at planes when they are several kilometers away and it just completely gives away their position. 3.) its a lot better to wait for them to line up a case run and get fixated on a target and then bean them out of the sky. now for some tips: 4.) if you find it hard to lead guns try switching to arcade and testing the drop and lead of the guns. 5.) another thing thats really helped me is that when planes are flying close you need to lead a lot less than you think and when they are far away you gotta lead a lot more than you think. 6.) now for HEVT slingers nothing is funnier than shooting your 50 cal just under them to lure them in so they think they cant hit you and then lob a 155mm M107 (PF) into their cockpit. and of course be sure to move around after each kill. the enemy is always communicating and if you shoot down one plane chances are the next one will be a bit wiser.

[@jlopezleoz0124]

1. As a rule of thumb be in between the frontline and your spawn, and always with some cover to hide if necesary (buildings can be good, but can limit your firing arcs, so a rock to hide your vehicle but still shoot is usually better 3:26). 2. In top tier, dont rely solelly on your radar. Id advise you to turn it on and off depending on the situation to try to confuse the enemy and still be concealed. Would also recomend tweaking the radar settings such as the area it covers. This one will come in handy specially if ARM missiles are introduced.

[@767ParkourkidPekka]

The best advice that I have as an spaa player is honestly depending on which one you are in. If you are in a spaa that has missles that you cannot use on the ground, stay on the outskirts but never at spawn and wait for someone. If you are a spaa with guns you can really do the outskirts or go in and kill other tanks if it has the pen to do it. In a spaa with both, it just depends on which one it is. Overall if you don't want to be risky, just stay away from points and your own spawn hiding somewhere, but if you like to torture people, run around being a nucience.❤

[@RRAAZZAA]

Here’s my advice for playing AA, so what you wanna do is completely ignore aircraft (especially if you have an auto cannon) and go head first into the enemy an attack tanks, they’ll never expect it, especially an Ozelot charging at you head on firing a 7.62 at you :) (trust me it works, definitely 😉)

[@oOScrabbOo]

Ozelot has no 7.62

[@RRAAZZAA]

@@oOScrabbOo shiiiiiiiiiiiit

[@frankieM_]

If your a Type-93 Enjoyer, the best way to play your SAM is to act like you got Aim-9Es but all aspect and on an incredibly fast platform. Almost every pilot that is flying towards the battlefield will expect your team's AA to be in your spawn, or somewhere nearby so they look at those areas primarily. Since you have such a fast vehicle, your able to reach a lot of good spots on most maps really early in the match, my personal favorite strategy is to rush my Type-93 to a covered spot near the enemy spawn and hide just outside the minimap where you are in one of the least noticeable spots in the match. Because your in such an unexpected spot, a lot of pilots won't actually see your missile flying towards them as its either in their far peripheral vision or out of their sight entirely if they're zoomed in or in a targeting camera. However the downside is these spots require you to spawn your Type-93 as a first spawn and you cant make any mistakes getting to that spot or you will be spotted and killed.

[@Mercnotforhire]

Best advice for SPAA players, from an avid SPAA main; - Move out of your spawn. It's the first place CAS is going to be looking - Don't stay in the open, especially as you get to higher tiers, keep close to cover, preferably cover you can hide under - Don't fire too early. A competent CAS pilot is going to be able to move and look in two entirely different directions, firing too early lets them know where you're at and they will prioritize you - Situational awareness is key. Learn where air spawns are, both for helis and fixed wing aircraft. Learn where people like to enter & exit the battle area, and keep an eye there - Listen to your crew. Right now, crew voices will often let you know if they have something within their LOS, even if you yourself don't see an enemy - The edges of your screen will show you where enemies are, specifically look for tiny, red arrows. Use these to scan around and figure out a general azimuth for an incoming enemy. This system uses crew skills, but, at least in my testing, seems to calculate whether to show the arrow or not based on your actual screen space. - Don't neglect to do CAP, or, essentially, counter-CAS. Many people refuse to use interceptors in ground RB since they can't groundpound, but, early spawn aircraft are massive deciders of how the rest of the match is likely to go, as a numerical advantage early in a match very often snowballs the longer the match goes on. - Take an active part in the match. You can be extremely deadly as long as you play your cards right, and many matches have been lost because most of a remaining team is in SPAA and refuse to participate further than their own spawns. - Know your enemies. As SPAA, you are inherently on the defensive, you are at the disadvantage in many situations. Learn what you can engage, what you can't, how you can bait enemies and survive, forcing them to rearm or close and risk death. An enemy repairing or reloading is an enemy you have (temporarily) removed from play. !!! Top tier SPAA players !!! Go to your settings, and look for the setting for spawning in to the battle with your radar on; this alone, will save you from giving away your existence, and drastically prolong your average lifespan in top tier RB. Many CAS options at these BRs have RWR systems, and you spawning in with radar live and searching is a dead giveaway of both your position, what you are in, and that you need to be targeted first and foremost by CAS. To add to this, once we get missiles such as the AGM-45 Shrike, TC-2A, Kh-31, and other anti-radiation missiles, spawning in with a hot radar is a very, very short trip back to the hangar.

[@danielkf2272]

don't hold down the trigger when you have a lock like 5 km away while using a balistic based spaa (eg zsu 23 4) save your ammo for closer for example 3km for a comfirm kill while using less ammo and more effective

[@jannick8632]

As for your example (zsu 23 4) 1-2 km is the better engagement distance

[@thcfck6870]

A simple tip as a near-SPAA-main, positioning is even more important than your vehicle's performance.

[@TheorientalAsianman]

If you want to play pure SPAA, (1) --- I would leave spawn immediately and if a secluded area where there is just enough of a depression to hide your vehicle from ground fire but still have clear enough for you to engage low flying area target. (2) --- It is also good to remember where the enemy air spawn (the general direction that is) is at so you can start "tracking" (not with radar lock, just your eyes) them from the start . (3) --- I usually use my radar to search for targets and would turn it off when I am ready to engage them. (4) --- If you don't want them to know about your presences at all, I would just use your thermals to scan the horizon to look for targets. (5) --- If you are not confident about your tracking ability, I would use IRST. Using radar lock is kind of a death sentence if you are playing against competent air players because once they realize that there is a SPAA trying to target them, they will hunt you down to the end of the earth. (6) --- Shoot and scoot if you can. Now with AA missiles having massive contrails, your location will be given away once you fire. If there is more than one CAS plane up, they will for sure hit you if you did not move.

[@philipped.r.6385]

There has been excellent tips for SPAA, so I won't repeat those, but here are my few tips. 1. First of all, unless you are playing a missile armed system and even if you are using a radar directed gun system, do not fire at enemy planes from a long distance unless you want to goad them to attacking you directly. Your shells at range are easy to see and dodge and they will probably be too inaccurate to hit anyway. Wait for your target to come closer and only fire when you are fairly certain that you can hit and kill them. Otherwise, you are only broadcasting your position to everyone and more experienced CAS player will try to strafe or bomb you to oblivion. 2. As for getting your lead right when firing, keep in mind that the faster are your shells, the less lead you need. In addition, the faster your target goes, the more lead you need and it can be surprising long for very fast targets. I had difficulty transitioning from shooting down propeller aircrafts to jets because I would instinctively fire with insufficient lead. This can really sneak on you. Of course, the angle with which the target is coming will massively influence the lead. 3. Do not hesitate at firing at aircrafts that going away from you if you missed them during their approach. I've got quite a nice amount of kills firing in the back of aircrafts fleeing from me because they assumed that you won't hit them and didn't do much evasive manoeuvers or weren't looking back as a result. You'd be surprised to the amount of players who make that mistake. 4. Keep close to the frontline at about 100 or 200 meters from your allies. Most CAS will try to hit your friends on the frontline and won't really check if there are SPAA protecting them. It's probably the moment where they are most vulnerable and it's your job to keep your allies safe from the sky. 5. In the same line of ideas, unless they are coming directly for you, try to fire at planes that are distracted or fighting a plane of your own. They will often become laser focused on their current targets and won't see it if your sneeky shells come at them from the sides or rear. Forget about the kill stealing BS coming from Air Battle players. You're a SPAA and not some aristocratic knight of the skies. You're here to keep the skies clean from mosquitos and horse flies. A damaged aircraft can still drop bombs on your friends. Kill them mercilessly and if your pilot friends aren't fast enough to kill enemy planes, too bad for them. You're an honorless bastard, so start acting like it! ;)

[@alexvolute7454]

It really is a shame that gaijin made the strela so bad, it should have a contrast seeker that should be able to lock anything at up to 5km, and should be immune to flares.

[@Wolf-Nyan]

I’m more pissed it doesn’t get its RWR devices since those we’re supposed to be it’s way of finding aircraft instead of a search radar. While no radar isn’t much of an issue if you pay attention, with how finicky WT rendering is (first clip the plane turned invisible after all), it’s nice to have something that doesn’t rely on seeing the fuzzy grey pixel before it sees you. Especially in those matches where the sun is low and obscures everything on the enemy’s side.

[@Det_core]

Immune to flares? Really?

[@alexvolute7454]

@@Det_core yes, flares dont do anything to a contrast seeker, although if its launched in bad conditions and has reverted to its IR seeker, it would technically be vulnerable to flares albeit with very high resistance (so like a stinger)

[@Det_core]

@@alexvolute7454 so what's the counter to that then?

[@idontevenknow5021]

​@@Det_coreextensive maneuvers

[@domen906]

this SPAA is a true nightmare to me. A lot of the times I see the missile but it just follows me even tho it does nearly imposible manouvers while I try to evade

[@Random-Griefs]

as an spaa main. 1. tip never stay near spawn! 2. if u have guns ore ant tank capablitys go on a wide flank but dont push to far if not stay near a cap to reload

[@MagicznyKij0]

I adore this vehicle, and in beginning of video at like 4:40 Your rockets locked aim on his rockets and i think its You who intercepted missiles from him :D

[@lordlouis_]

Somebody has finally make a recent AND decent video on this spaa 🎉

[@misty7394]

What I can say on SPAA Is never sit in your Spawn find a nice place to hide but it will be a good idea to move after you get 1 or 2 kill in that one spot and don't be to quick to shoot at a plane wait for it to get close enough. Or in a place you can't miss so like when a plane is in a Climb or slow if you are using Radar and have IRST mode use it so they can't see you locking them and you can trun off your radar when using IRST so they have no idea you are there for helicopters if they are sitting behind a hill and Only popping up to shoot you can Prefire them and with helicopter if you at shooting a Laser-guided missile aim next to them so they don't get a Laser Warning.

[@Rohitt5121]

Best advice I can give is I notice a lot of people using the early radar spaa shots way to early instead of letting the plane come close.

[@thybonheng1485]

Ozalot 9.7 it can only lock heli at 3km and it really easy to dot and Germany already have a spaa at 9.7 Thank you gaijin

[@Kwisss]

That goes for all IR seeking SPAA unfortunately. I know helicopters reduce their IR signature due to their rotors pushing wind into the exhaust but still you shouldn't have to be less then 3 KM.

[@casualspawnpeeking3680]

If you think that's bad the us gets the lav-ad it sits at 10.0 with no radar set and ten g aa missiles you do have the mini gun but it's useless at the tier 💀

[@thybonheng1485]

@@casualspawnpeeking3680 well at least it have a guns well the ozalot it the plane or heli come closer than a 1km you will get fk up I just hope gaijin give it a MG machine gun

[@icy3-1]

I will always know this thing from Wargame Red Dragon. Makes me wonder how effective it will be when SEAD theoretically gets added into War Thunder :3

[@gattonero2915]

This is the same vehicle featured in Owen Wilson's "Behind Enemy Line". Stackhouse and Burnett had trouble trying to outrun this missile in that movie LMAO

[@rikkishade921]

Does anyone else notice, on the side of the AA we have an Indian Name Ranapratap and on back we h standard indian army numbers 👀👀

[@wadefinnigan9207]

Depends on what SPAA you are using, if it’s something like a Flarakrad or a Pantsir sit back and set your radar to the max distance it can go, if it’s a gun AA like a Gepard or a Shilka, (I’m gonna include Ozelot and Type 93 for this) what I do is normally push up just behind the team because CAS is gonna go for your team around the objectives normally

[@RRAAZZAA]

I wouldn’t say set the radar to max range, maybe about middle, but if it’s on max it’s very hard to get and idea of how close the target actually is

[@wadefinnigan9207]

@@RRAAZZAA how is it hard to get where the target actually is? If you have your radar set to 35km in the Pantsir and the target is in the middle of the circle he is at about 17km

[@RRAAZZAA]

@@wadefinnigan9207 with Pantsir, when it’s set to 50km (max range), a target on the radar that looks like it’s directly on top of you is actually something like 10km away, also, you don’t actually have to set the radar to anything to see the green arrow indicating an enemy aircraft at the top of your screen

[@wadefinnigan9207]

@@RRAAZZAA ok so 50km it’s the exact same thing you just do the calculation for a ruff estimate and boom you know where he is, it’s not hardb

[@RRAAZZAA]

@@wadefinnigan9207 yeah, but it’s over complicating it for no reason, but whatever floats your boat I guess

[@thegenericguy8309]

The 9M37M is actually supposed to be significantly better than it is in game. It's modelled as a basic IR missile with medium all aspect capability and no flare resistance but IRL it not only has IRCCM, but it also doesn't rely on the IR seeker for primary tracking. The head actually has two seekers, the primary one being essentially a TV contrast seeker, and the IR seeker being mainly to expand functionality at night and in worse weather. The 9M37M in game instead has to work off having only the worse half of its seeker modelled, and suffers accordingly. As long as there's optical contrast it should lock all aspects regardless of range

[@PokeBrawl]

This thing is the bane of my existence with my A37. Not only does it shrug off my flare countermeasure pod, it also has ridiculous range and speed, i just can't shake it off or outrun it

[@ibreathenapalm1112]

My advise, pop corn, coke, an earphone on one ear to listen to a podcast or something. At the end of the day, we're not doing it for ourselves, we're doing it to clear the cancer of the skies and protect our team. Plus, there's a bit of satisfaction seeing a planes just shooting aimlessly after getting their wing blown off.

[@juleshales8881]

This particular Gopher Strela is of Indian Army Air defense regiment deployed in the great Thar desert . Notice the desert camo

[@MonGoliAnDeath9]

I got some advice that I haven’t seen and some that I have. Know your spaa and what I mean is learn the spread of the guns and what ammo types you carry. If you have missiles, know if they’re flare resistance values and ranges (duh). Never sit in your spawn because as a cas player I will look there first. I try to personally hide in crevasses , near buildings you know actual cover not concealment. There are some spaa that can easily destroy tanks but double verify that your rounds are capable. Being spaa can be frustrating because sometimes your rounds or missiles don’t land where they should or aircraft don’t spawn. Just remember you aren’t a detriment to your team but you are a deterrent for the enemy. Keep slapping and blappin.

[@theblacksplit]

the streala does actually have an irccm. it’s a mix of the r73/magic 2’s fov and the 9m/aam3’s shut off. they just don’t show it on the stat card that it’s got one

[@ZostyPlays]

Don’t sit on the spawn, turn your radar on sporadically. Toggle between IRST and Radar track mode. I use the tracking radar to find the range of the jet and vector and switch to IRST when they’re in a comfortable firing range so as to not ring their RWR. If a jet is coming to you, don’t move. If you can foresee jets are coming to you at your non-firing angle, use buildings/trees or dark areas as cover, even better if you know the bearing.

[@vortex7247]

Heres some advice: -dont stay in the spawn - dont be in the open, always in cover if possible -stick to ir missiles for a while, saclos spaa are really hard to aim if the cas player knows that youre targeting him - turn off radar after spotting someone, they will recive a warning if you lock them (except for Ozelot, it uses a IR radar so planes cant detect that) -stingers are practically useless against Su 25 and helis (at distances >2,5km)

[@jakeogroton]

AA advice: point explodey bit towards enemies

[@afkcamper8583]

This spaag is great af, i got 4 f16 in total with it And didn't get killed by a single plane only by helis and drones

[@Sondemon-ss3ru]

I kicked lot of F14 and F16 and mirage as well when they trying to GBU everybody. me as a strela just find a good cover wait for them in range when they dive give them a missle it will catch them on the climb path because now you have 11kms

[@tigerhobo2473]

if you're playing top tier aa always have a battle buddy and always stay near a capture point due to the fact that most aa at top tier only have one set of missiles and your gonna need the reload

[@wolfmelon5056]

If I got any SPAA advice, it would be knowing where will enemy aircraft would spawn, tips how to know where they spawn is before spawn your SPAA, click at your aircraft (drone, nuclear, helicopter or any CAS capable vehicle) this would show you the spawn of the enemies aircraft and then you can looking directly and noticing any jet trails or ping on radar. Also if yours SPAA that doesn't have radar like this video above avoid being in open space batter if you stay behind building or anything tall, this to avoid drones, always sit behind cover and came out if they really in range of your missile, this probably works with other SPAA. Idk if this also helps, watch Hunter channel, he sometimes play SPAA and got really good advice on modern one, also see his video when he playing CAS, cause when he have hard time to play, that SPAA have something that we could learn from. Also learn if possible, learn to kill with your aircraft, if ground doesn't work, mybe air would.

[@Camo319]

I liked the highlight part. Hope you add it to the rest of your Videos!

[@jamesrobinson3624]

Idk if anyone already said it but at the 440 mark you are shooting at a low tier heli and you missiles are actually locking on to his tows and killing them not the other way around. His heat is so small that most of the time they need to be with in 1.5 KM or so to get locks. Most other times your just locking onto the missiles they are firing at you.

[@sharkk127]

Heres a bit of advice, when using an spaa that has guns at 8.0 to 9.3, wait until an aircraft is within 1 mile or about 2 km before shooting at it, that gives the aircraft very little time to react almost always guaranteeing a kill

[@dasreddmaestro8287]

Never suppress the airfield if you want kills. Go for the surprise kill during their strafe run, either while they're firing or as they're pulling away. That's how I got most of my 200 or something ZSU-57-2 AA kills. An SPAA notoriously known for being an awful AA

[@raizencore]

Only times I have missed with the Strela is either by my mistake or CAS players knowing how to dodge missiles but seriously, I didn't play this thing for a while due to how bad it was, now it's so good, don't sleep on this thing, people don't say it's op without good reason.

[@evo3s75]

Mine often just get flared off or go stupid

[@Airlessarc]

@@evo3s75 Tip for countering flares - The missile has a narrow FOV, so when you see a plane you know has flares fire the missile from a weird off angle and it simply will not see the flares

[@subjectc7505]

Funny thing is, this is how the Strela actually works so it's no "bias".

[@Minimeister317]

As someone who is currently at BR 6.7 with Russia (first nation), I am still using the M53/59, however it is getting extremely hard hitting planes as it's almost nothing but jets now.

[@ket451]

A fun tip I've brought over from being a pilot is to not use the scope unless they're going head on with you. It allows you to adjust for lead infinitely better, even if you have like a 1× zoom setting.

[@Marco-cg7fb]

The best spaa in the game, is the z19 with the ty90 missiles, those things got eccm and incredible range

[@ThatOne392]

Z-9W is way more annoying since it can fight 8.7 planes and thats the only reason why i hate *some* chinese players

[@blacksky121_]

Its a universal rule of wt that when you are in a SPAA you wont see any aircraft but when you are in a tank you get CAS'd to hell

[@____END____]

If you can, don't lock the plane and turn off your radar so that planes don't know you're there until you can fire and kill them. This is especially useful with IR-guided missiles that never require radar locks or radar. I would also suggest only firing at planes when you know that you can hit them or when you're behind them so that if you do miss, they won't be able to shoot and kill you when they see your guns or SAM smoke trail. Also, you must always be very aware and look at places you would never think a plane would be. Lastly, don't get discouraged; SPAA is hard to play if you are not used to playing them. You will not always get easy air kills, so don't think that way; always think that you did the best you could do in that moment.

[@demontempest2017]

Dont wait in the spawn. If you have a Rocket AA try Head ons or when they fly away, When you have a Gun AA wait for the enemy so you can defently hit him and dont spray when they are far away

[@MadManchou]

Don't sit in spawn ; be close to the action if you have guns, find a hidy hole if you have missiles Don't shoot at max range (especially Radar SPAA) ; try not to shoot until an aircraft is on an attack run If you have the choice between radar and laser rangefinding, use the latter Don't keep pressing the trigger unless you're trying to guide your shots on a very close target For SAMs : shut off your radar when firing missiles, especially at helicopters Use the zoomed-in 3rd person cam to look around Your primary mission is to shoot aircraft, so don't go galavanting playing pocket TD

[@Hugofoxli]

Im a Type 93 enjoyer. I seek out places that are high and shaded and if not possible, then some hardcover like behind a building. Im glad they fixed the Type 91 missiles by now so they actually Can hit now. 10G feel like 18G and the 20G Strela feel like 20-25G missile. Also, Japan needs more SPAA‘s. There are two more systems available for Japan.

[@PilotTed]

Im a ground main, and my best advice to all players that use SPAA (should be all but sadly, not enough do) is to GET OUT OF SPAWN!!! Seriously, you help you team much more by staying somewhat near them so you can engage the enemy air before they reach your friendlies to kill. Letting CAS get a kill or two before you kill them only hurts your team and guarantees that they have a respawn after they die. More advice, in no particular order - Stay in the shadows like Justin says, and try to find cover or concealment (actual cover is better if available) that protects you from the eyes and weapons of the enemy, while still being able to engage enemy air. - Don't engage enemy air if they are too far to engage, wait for them to get in range where you can effectively fire at them, otherwise they will know where you are and purposely avoid your area to stay away. Just wait for the right time to engage, but do not wait too long or they will kill your friendlies. -When you begin to engage enemy CAS, and there are more than one, the others will notices you, and they may go after you while you focus on the other, which is why you need to stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings. Enemy Cas will probably come in very low, or directly above. - Using our scope almost never helps when playing spaa, just 3rd person aim so you don't get tunnel vision. In most cases, the scope FOV is too small to even lead your guns enough. In many SPAA, your scope will be impossible to see through when firing due to the flash and smoke. The only time you should use your scope, is if it is required for radar or IR locking your target. - Learn your SPAA before you take it out in battle so you know its quirks and features, and get an idea on leading your target. Best way to do this is with friends in a custom battle, or if that is not doable for what ever reason, in the test drive. I recommend downloading a custom test drive map specifically for SPAA. - German 37s need about 3/4"-1" (1.9cm-2.5cm) of lead for most prop planes, while 40mm Bofors need 1"-1.5" (2.5cm-3.8cm) of lead in my experience. For cannons in the 20mm range (20-23mm), it really depends, but most 20mms need 2"-3" (5cm-7.6cm) of lead. That covers most of them. I can't really remember the lead for .50 cals and 14.5s though. Those leads are mostly for side on, or angled. If they are flying away, increase your lead and elevation. You also need to guess their direction because rarely, will the enemy air just fly straight when being shot at, it's not perfect, but its the best you can do with guns. - If your guns have very little armor pen, a low fire rate, and not a lot of ammo, try to take belts with mostly HE, not half HE half AP. If your guns have plenty of ammo and a fast fire rate, go ahead and bring 2 ammo belts, one that is mostly HE, and one that's mostly AP (When taking 2, the HE belt should be 60-80% of your total ammo). If you have a option that's mostly HE, but has a ap round ever 3 or more HE rounds, you can take that, but if your guns have a low fire rate, it won't be great for AT purposes - Unless your SPAA is only good at AT, do not care about enemy tanks unless they can harm you. If they can, load your AP belt if you have one and aim for the barrel first. If you only see their tracks, take em out. If you have the option, flank and kill them, but don't do this if your at a disadvantage. If you have friendlies near by, don't bother, just focus on the air after you disable him and let your friendlies know his location and what modules you disabled. Taking out their barrel and letting your team know assure them that enemy won't be able to engage them. - When you start to engage the enemy CAS, enemy tanks will also notice you and pretty much your exact location. If you can, move to a new area after killing the guy your engaging, or if you miss him completely. This will make it harder for enemy CAS and enemy tanks to kill you as you will have moved to a new location. Don't engage enemy CAS if an enemy tank is near you, unless you absolutely have to in order to save a friendly. - You can shoot bombs, missile, and rockets... Not saying you should, but you can. It ain't easy and your unlikely to hit any ordinance smaller than the German 2500kg bomb, but its an option to save yourself or teammate, and may kill the enemy that dropped/fired it. - Shooting on the move with an unstabilized gun is not recommended, and TBH, I recommend against it. However, if you do fire on the move, lead less if its in the direction the plane is moving (not much less, just a little), and lead more if moving away. - Lastly, have fun, and happy hunting. If you aren't drinking the tears of enemy cas, you ain't doing it right. BTW it might include my tears, because I too love flying cas. - Helis and attack drones can EAT MA STEAMING PILE OF SHI...

[@PilotTed]

I hope people see this, its all shit I learned playing this game since early 2014.

[@salieri_sg9413]

Oh, and now: Advice on how to beat SAMs 1. Terrain. 2. Low passes. 3. Standoff.

[@EB-Ghost6]

The missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't. By subtracting where it is from where it isn't, Or where it isn't from where it is (whichever is Greater), it obtains a difference, or deviation. The guidance subsystem uses deviations to generate corrective Commands to drive the missile from a position where it is to a Position where it isn't, And arriving at a position where it wasn't, it now is. Consequently, the position where it is, Is now the position that it wasn't, And it follows that the position that It was, is now the position that it isn't. In the event that the position that it is in is not the position that It wasn't, the system has acquired a variation, The variation being the difference between Where the missile is, and where it wasn't. If variation is considered to be a Significant factor, it too may be corrected by the GEA. However, the missile must also know where it was. The missile guidance computer scenario works as follows. Because a variation has modified some of the information The missile has obtained, it is not sure just where it is. However, it is sure where it isn't, Within reason, and it knows where it was. It now subtracts where it should be from where it wasn't, Or vice-versa, and by differentiating this from the algebraic sum of Where it shouldn't be, and where it was, It is able to obtain the deviation And its variation, which is called error.

[@zerrierslizer1]

best advice i can give as a pretty competent SPAA player is to stay away from your spawn. spawn in, then move somwhere away from it. do your best to get them as they either come in for an attack run or on the outbound. ESPECIALLY outbound with Missiles!! keep yourself near some sort of structure that you can hide behind quickly or enter to get away from Rockets, bombs and good pilots with guns. NEVER prefire on large planes with any SPAA that have only guns. if it is big, you can betcha it will stay high and away from your line of fire. keep yourself as hard a target to hit or get as possible. and the most important thing, KEEP YOUR ALLIES COVERED! tell them you will support them and offer them to fly over so you can at least try to help them. if you are on the ground and no other planes are up, go for tracks/wheels and the gun/guns on vehicles. keep them pinned and let the big boys with the actual cannons do the killing, tho you can kill if your either lucky or up against literally no armor.

[@Risson91]

I really love how it might be the best IR missile spaa but it get the same br as the Vab mistral (with crappy missiles) compared to what that things shot and lower br than the ozelot

[@momopirou3107]

what? VAB SANTAL looks far better. greater locking range, radar for easy target acquisition, missiles with IRCCM. sure they are only 12G, but I get alot of kills with it. I dont have the Sterlla so I cant directly compare, but from what I see in the video, I dont feel any worse playing the SANTAL.

[@linussyren9221]

my tip for SPAA would be Don´t stay in spawn, dont bunch up. Attack from odd angles and locations that are hard to strafe. If you use a IR SAM you gotta wait for the right moment to fire... unles you play the Strella.

[@dylansedgwick2932]

Tip for spaa players is to not open when the plane is still several miles out, especially if you cannon spaa with no lead indicator.

[@ehh9104]

1.Learn about your missle This is really important for the early heatseeker missles. you need to keep in mind which heli you can lock at what range becase they have different heat emission and that changes the lock range. There are good videos for each SPAA on Yt and you can learn about when you SHOULD launch when when not to launch. 2. Do not sit on spawn its gonna get you killed. If you are an ozelot or something smaller hiding in the forest and poking out for launching is the way to go. They cant shoot or bomb what they cant see. SO use the foliage. If you cant try finding a higher and wider building. Hard cover is good if you know how to use it. 3. Be patient and listen. Some players will go around the map and attack from your spawn but you are going to hear them coming.Get a good position and be ready.

[@Lucas-dy4or]

Flying a G91 against this thing is basically instant death. I get so frustrated because there's literally nothing I can do against it

[@MaraAmaraaaa]

the Gs the i'd pull to defend from this thing would turn maverick organs inside out. insane.

[@lofficieldufishe9823]

insane this thing is the SAME br as the TOYOTA smh my head

[@iiKiboshii-c3z]

I find it crazy that Gaijin buffed all the Russian SPAA based on shit like a school textbook and a advertisment sales brochure and are adamant that those are 'primary sources' fucking lol. Yet ODIN, the US Military's data repository, a detailed breakdown of the tank in question for a Congressional report from the US Army and the designer's/builder's themselves, and an operational gunner guide on how fast a turret can turn isn't even good enough to be a secondary source for the US. This goes for most nations, outside of a certian special one. But a secondary report on the wrong ammo, with bad math, and using the wrong names, was good enough to instantly nerf US ammo. Gaijin has been made aware that it is wrong, yet have yet to revert the nerf, wonder how long that will last. And this isn't even talking about all the issues with stingers. Documentation, test reports, test video, operational video, Congress hearings, first hand reports, design schematics, and so much more saying that it pulls 18-20gs. Gaijin's response? The igla couldn't do it, so there isn't any way that the stinger can. Fucking jesus. Also ignoring the fact that the models in game have a combo IR/UV seeker, which is like the contrast seeker on the strella, but much more reliable. Or the datalink of the FIM-92k, let's just ignore that too.

[@Owlberightback]

I was playing the 8.7 Swedish helicopter and 2-3 times used the RB 52 to catch the anti air missile from the strela lol

[@ali-haider5788]

They missed the strela 10 warming missile sound Its realy unique

[@rayotoxi1509]

6:41 WTF ARE DOES CLOUDS FUCKING TORNADOS OR WHAT

[@zSwax]

I like to play the mig 23 on 9.7 and i just take some rockets instead of bombs, so i at least can dodge frontal msls. As long they are not radar guided for sure.

[@o_dysseus]

4:35, if a helicopter fires its ATGM, the air-to-surface missile tracks the ATGM instead. Thats if its heat seeking.

[@auqanova]

in my experience with the strela, he wasnt intercepting your missiles, you were intercepting his. you cant actually lock the heli from its range, your seeker only ever saw the atgm burner

[@GabrielULTRAWEED]

"Think of this like the R-60" Me: Getting hitted by it anyways even tho I spammed my entire flare + chaff ammunition, this thing needs to be in 10.0 at minimum.

[@TheIcyWizard705]

it never misses because it can't lock onto anything but the hottest of jet exhausts

[@katyushaoverpressure888]

If you do see a plane, don't fire right away, wait until they're closer, it'll be easier to kill them if they aren't paying attention and right above you, or committed to a bombing run (for cannon spaa) For missile spaa specifically the Pantsir, don't use the autolead ever it is not worth it and the missile pulls just as hard as it does with the lead if you use it well enough, as for short range missile spaa (compared to the Pantsir) who suffered the nerf, treat them like AIM-9B's don't just throw them (you can if you want) wait until they're closer and not paying attention, as someone who plays SPAA every minute of every day, this is solid advice, don't follow your heart all the time, you wanna stop revenge cas? Do it while they are in the process.

[@commodorce6431]

“It doesn’t even work like that for SPAAs* The Falcon: “ am I a joke to you Also the Falcon: “proceeds to delete your from existence”

[@cajunred6804]

Literally the reason I can only fly the A-1h around that br. The flares might not always work. But I feel like they help