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ASU-57: Air Delivery

ASU-57 was the first series-produced SPG in the USSR that was developed specially to be delivered by air for airborne landing troops. The ASU-57 – aviadesantnaya samokhodnaya ustanovka, or air-landing self-propelled gun – will be a new addition to the Soviet light tank line and will be situated before the PT-76 on the tree.

The ASU-57 is one of the most unusual vehicles that has been added to War Thunder. It is a small-calibre, but still very dangerous SPG, whose main advantages are its small size, mobility and rate of fire. Light bullet-proof armour, a crew of three, an unusual configuration and built to be as light as possible – every aspect of this vehicle was designed to ease its landing by parachute. Curiously, the ASU’s power train was an M-20E automobile engine used in the Pobeda (Victory) civilian car, but it was armed with a semi-automatic Ch-51M cannon, practically identical in its ballistic characteristics to the ZiS-2.

The vehicle came into service in 1951, until it was replaced by the more powerful ASU-85. Outwardly, the ASU-57 differs from Soviet SPGs from the end of the war in its small size and open cabin. It carries just 30 rounds for its cannon, but its reloading speed and ballistics are simply astounding. Remember the incredible 57mm ZiS-2 cannon on the early Soviet ZiS-30 SPG? The ASU-57 plays like a post-war version of the ZiS-30 – advanced and time-tested, with good mobility, maneuverability, a low profile and an absence of the lingering destabilization when stopping that annoyed players so much, a particular problem of the aforementioned anti-tank SPG.

What will the strategy of the ASU-57 be? To quickly take a convenient position from which to fire 57mm rounds at the opponent and then instantly hide from enemy fire. To take an enemy position and set up an ambush. With its excellent rate of fire, to support attacking allies. And most of all – to avoid going head-to-head against the enemy: the ASU-57’s armour, to put it mildly, is non-existent. In everything else, the vehicle promises to be very interesting.

Expect the ASU-57 in one of the upcoming patches to 1.59 "Flaming Arrows". Good luck on the battlefield and see you there!