Spotting rounds for WWII aircraft MGs were scary powerful. Shouldn't they be modeled?

[Aleksander55]

  

I'm sorry if this has been discussed repeatedly before.

 

I'm sure many here have watched the 'InRangeTV' video where they test german and russian spotting rounds for aircraft machine guns.

 

 

Their interest was in the use of this ammo by snipers from both sides. The effects of even such a small explosive bullet speak for themselves.

 

Of course in aircraft use, due to the delay in the fuse, it could happen that at certain angles and thinner and emptier sections of an airframe, it could traverse and explode outside the aircraft. However if traversing wider sections or colliding with denser structures inside the wing or fuselage, the damage would be considerable. Obviously not the same as a 20mm or 12,7mm HE round, but much higher than the anemic AP currently modeled. Enough to heavily damage internal structures, control cables, vital parts, or significant aerodinamic damage.

 

Following the wikipedia page for the Shkas I've found this doc that details a typical ammo belt using this round:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShKAS_machine_gun

http://www.kalashnikov.ru/upload/medialibrary/300/32_37.pdf

 

Quote

At the crash sites of
downed aircraft, as a rule, belts of
the following configuration are
found: - T 46 - B 32 - PZ - B 32 - T
46

With 'PZ' being the spotting round.

 

I'm not sure if this means that there's a PZ round every other 2 or 3 rounds.

 

I don't know if there are any limitations in ammo belt configurations with the current engine for complex mix ammo belts like this, but since mixed AP/HE belts are possible for the 20mm and HMG cannons, I guess a simplified mixed ammo belt for german and russian mgs could be adopted. In the russian case for example it could be something like 2/3 APs - 1 PZ.

 

In the comment section of the video some said that the british called these 'observation rounds'. If britain had similar ammo to these micro monstrosities then the 303 belts in the SpitMKV and Hurricanes should also be updated and their damage upgraded.

 

I've already seen players flying US aircraft complain about the lack of API in the .50 Hmgs. So I'm not holding out hope that this could be implemented any time soon. Still, it's something I'd like to see some day.