M53/59 Praga

The M53/59 Praga (or officcially the Praga PLDvK vz. 53/59 - "Ještěrka" or Lizard) is Czechoslovakia's short-lived answer to domestic anti-air weaponry.

While obsolete by the time of Team Yankee, the Praga was still fielded as an effective ground support weapon. Basically, the thing is a truck with an autocannon strapped to the back of it.

In Team Yankee

The Praga is kind of questionable to bring in game. While no doubt a cheap option to bring to the table, the vehicle competes with the Shilka. Yes the Praga is cheap and outranges the Shilka while providing better fire power, but its lack of radar and rate of fire compared to the Shilka makes the Soviet offering more enticing. Maybe useful as a fire support weapon. But again, the Shilka.

The Cuban version is in a similar situation. Sporting a higher courage at the same cost, the Cuban Praga competes with ZSU-57-2. In this arena, the Praga has some fair competition. The ZSU can deal and take more damage, but the Praga can fire off more shots. But like before, the Shilka comes in. pushing out a respectable number of shots with radar.

IRL

The M53/59 Praga was Czechoslovakia's attempt at a home built SPAAG for the 1960's battlefield. Built on the Praga V3S, the M53/59 armors up the cab while providing a space for the auto cannon. At the time, the M53/59's biggest competition was the ZSU-57-2. Which as far as Czechoslovakia was concerned similar in operation to the M53/59. However, by 1964, the Shilka made its way to the battlefield. The problem the M53/59 had was its lack of dedicated radar, requiring the gunners to manually target aircraft. For helicopters and slow-moving planes, the M53/59 is decent. But with Jets entering the space, the M53/59 was just not enough. However, the M53/59 soon gained a second life as a ground weapon, something shown during the Yugoslav Wars. As of recently, there are still a few nations using the vehicle.

One thing to note about M53/59 is that the design is indicative of Warsaw Pact Autocannon usage. Cheap, effective, and easy to move, the Autocannon is often used in some something of a heavy machine gun. It's the movement part that gets interesting. While in theory these guns are meant to be deployed as static emplacements, it's also common to see the things mounted on the very vehicles meant to tow the guns as something of an ad-hoc SPAAG.

Czech Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	T-55 - T55AM2 - T-72M - T-72B
Transports:	OT-64 - BMP-1 - BMP-2
Troops:	Motostrelci
Artillery:	2S1 Carnation - Dana SpGH - RM-70
Anti-Aircraft:	ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-8 Gecko - SA9 Gaskin - SA-13 Gopher - M53/59 Praga
Tank Hunters:	Spandrel
Recon:	BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2
Aircraft:	MI-24 Hind - SU-25 Frogfoot - SU-22 Fitter

Cuban Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	T-55 - T-62 - SU-100
Transports:	BTR-60 - BMP-1
Troops:
Artillery:	2S1 Carnation - 2S3 Acacia - BM-21 Hail
Anti-Aircraft:	SA-13 Gopher - SA-9 Gaskin - SA-8 Gecko - ZSU-57-2 - M53/59 Praga
Tank Hunters:	Spandrel
Recon:	BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2
Aircraft:	MI-24 Hind - SU-25 Frogfoot - SU-22 Fitter