Artillery of the USSR during the Second World War. List of USSR artillery of World War II

Soviet artillerymen made a great contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. No wonder they say that artillery is the “God of War.” For many people, the symbols of the Great Patriotic War remain the legendary guns - the "forty-five", a 45-mm gun of the 1937 model, with which the Red Army entered the war, and the most popular Soviet cannon of the war - the 76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model ZIS-3 . During the war, this weapon was produced in a huge series - more than 100 thousand units.

The legendary "forty-five"

The battlefield is shrouded in clouds of smoke, flashes of fire and the sound of explosions all around. An armada of German tanks is slowly moving towards our positions. They are opposed by only one surviving artilleryman, who personally loads and aims his forty-five at the tanks.

A similar plot can very often be found in Soviet films and books; it was supposed to show the superiority of the spirit of a simple Soviet soldier, who, with the help of practically “scrap metal,” managed to stop the high-tech German horde. In fact, the 45-mm anti-tank gun was far from a useless weapon, especially on initial stage war. When used wisely, this weapon has repeatedly demonstrated all its best qualities.

The history of the creation of this legendary gun dates back to the 30s of the last century, when the first anti-tank gun was adopted by the Red Army - a 37-mm gun of the 1930 model. This gun was a licensed version of the German 37-mm gun 3.7-cm PaK 35/36, created by Rheinmetall engineers. In the Soviet Union, this gun was produced at plant No. 8 in Podlipki, the gun received the designation 1-K.

At the same time, almost immediately the USSR started thinking about improving the weapon. Two ways were considered: either increase the power of the 37-mm gun by introducing new ammunition, or switch to new caliber- 45 mm. The second way was considered promising. Already at the end of 1931, the designers of Plant No. 8 installed a new 45 mm caliber barrel into the casing of the 37-mm anti-tank gun of the 1930 model, while slightly strengthening the gun carriage. This is how the 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1932 model was born, its factory index was 19K.

As the main ammunition for the new gun, it was decided to use a unitary shot from a 47-mm French cannon, the projectile of which, or rather not even the projectile itself, but its sealing belt, was simply ground from 47 mm to 46 mm in diameter. At the time of its creation, this anti-tank weapon was the most powerful in the world. But even despite this, the GAU demanded modernization in order to reduce the weight of the gun and increase armor penetration to 45-55 mm at ranges of 1000-1300 meters. On November 7, 1936, it was also decided to transfer 45 mm anti-tank guns from wooden wheels to metal wheels filled with sponge rubber from the GAZ-A car.

By the beginning of 1937, the 45-mm gun of the 1932 model had new wheels installed and the gun went into production. In addition, the gun received an improved sight, a new semi-automatic mechanism, a push-button release, a more reliable shield mount, suspension, better balancing of the swinging part - all these innovations made the 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1937 model (53K) meet all the requirements of the time.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it was this weapon that formed the basis of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army. As of June 22, 1941, 16,621 such guns were in service. In total, during the war years, 37,354 45-mm anti-tank guns were produced in the USSR.

The gun was intended to combat enemy armored vehicles (tanks, self-propelled guns, armored personnel carriers). For its time and at the start of the war, its armor penetration was quite adequate. At a distance of 500 meters, an armor-piercing projectile penetrated 43 mm armor. This was enough to fight German tanks of those years, most of which had more bulletproof armor.

Moreover, already during the war in 1942, the gun was modernized and its anti-tank capabilities increased. The 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1942 model, designated M-42, was created by modernizing its 1937 predecessor. The work was carried out at plant No. 172 in Motovilikha (Perm).

Basically, the modernization consisted of lengthening the gun barrel, as well as strengthening the propellant charge and a number of technical measures that were aimed at simplifying the mass production of the gun. At the same time, the thickness of the gun shield armor increased from 4.5 mm to 7 mm to better protect the crew from armor-piercing bullets. As a result of modernization, the muzzle velocity of the projectile was raised from 760 m/s to 870 m/s. When using caliber armor-piercing shells, the armor penetration of the new gun at a distance of 500 meters increased to 61 mm.

The M-42 anti-tank gun was able to fight all medium German tanks of 1942. Moreover, throughout the entire first period of the Great Patriotic War, it was the forty-fives that remained the basis of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army. During the Battle of Stalingrad, these guns accounted for 43% of all guns in service with anti-tank fighter regiments.

But with the appearance in 1943 of new German tanks, primarily the Tiger and Panther, as well as the modernized version of the Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H, which had a frontal armor thickness of 80 mm, Soviet anti-tank artillery was again faced with the need to increase firepower.

The problem was partially solved by restarting production of the 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun. But despite this and thanks to well-established production, production of the M-42 continued. This gun could fight Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H and Panther tanks by firing at the side, and such fire could be counted on due to the high mobility of the gun. As a result, it was left in production and service. A total of 10,843 such guns were manufactured from 1942 to 1945.

Model 1942 divisional gun ZIS-3

The second Soviet weapon, no less legendary than the forty-five, was the 1942 model ZIS-3 divisional gun, which today can be found on many pedestals. It is worth noting that by the time the Great Patriotic War began, the Red Army was armed with both rather outdated field guns of the 1900/02, 1902/26 and 1902/30 models, as well as fairly modern guns: 76.2-mm divisional guns of the 1936 model ( F-22) and a 76.2-mm divisional gun of the 1939 model (USV).

Moreover, work on the ZIS-3 began before the war. The design of the new gun was carried out by the famous designer Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin. He began work on the gun at the end of 1940 after his 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun successfully passed tests. Like most anti-tank guns, it was quite compact and had a lightweight and durable carriage, which was quite suitable for the development of a divisional gun.

At the same time, a technologically advanced barrel with good ballistic characteristics had already been created for the 76.2 mm F-22 and USV divisional guns. So the designers practically only had to put the existing barrel on the ZIS-2 gun carriage, equipping the barrel with a muzzle brake to reduce the load on the gun carriage. In parallel with the design process of the divisional gun, issues related to its production technology were resolved, and the production of many parts was tested using stamping, casting, and welding. Compared to the USV gun, labor costs were reduced by 3 times, and the cost of one gun fell by more than a third.

The ZIS-3 was a weapon of a modern design at that time. The gun barrel was a monoblock with a breech and a muzzle brake (absorbed approximately 30% of the recoil energy). A semi-automatic wedge shutter was used. The trigger was lever or push-button (on guns of different production series). The barrel life of guns in the first series reached up to 5,000 rounds, but for most guns it did not exceed 2,000 rounds.

Already in the battles of 1941, the ZIS-3 gun showed all its advantages over the heavy and inconvenient F-22 and USV guns for gunners. This allowed Grabin to personally present his gun to Stalin and receive from him official permission to launch the gun into mass production; moreover, the gun was already being produced and actively used in the army.

At the beginning of February 1942, formal tests of the gun took place, which lasted only 5 days. Based on the test results, the ZIS-3 gun was put into service on February 12, 1942 with official name"76-mm divisional gun model 1942." For the first time in the world, the production of the ZIS-3 gun was carried out using the in-line method with a sharp increase in productivity. On May 9, 1945, the Volga Plant reported to the party and government about the production of the 100,000th 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon, increasing their production during the war years by almost 20 times. A in total, more than 103 thousand of these guns were manufactured during the war years.

The ZIS-3 gun could use the entire range of 76 mm cannon shells available, including a variety of old Russian and imported grenades. Thus, the 53-OF-350 steel high-explosive fragmentation grenade, when the fuse was set to fragmentation action, created approximately 870 lethal fragments, the effective radius of destruction of manpower was 15 meters. When the fuse was set to high explosive at a distance of 7.5 km, the grenade could penetrate a 75 cm thick brick wall or a 2 m thick earthen embankment.

The use of the 53-BR-354P sub-caliber projectile ensured penetration of 105 mm of armor at a distance of 300 meters, and at a distance of 500 meters - 90 mm. First of all, sub-caliber shells were sent to support anti-tank destroyer units. Since the end of 1944, the troops also received the 53-BP-350A cumulative projectile, which could penetrate armor up to 75-90 mm thick at an impact angle of 45 degrees.

At the time of adoption, the 76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model fully met all the requirements facing it: firepower, mobility, unpretentiousness in everyday operation and manufacturability. The ZIS-3 gun was a typical example of a weapon of the Russian school of design: technologically uncomplicated, cheap, powerful, reliable, absolutely unpretentious and easy to operate.

During the war years, these guns were produced using the in-line method using any more or less trained workforce without loss of quality of the finished samples. He easily mastered the guns and could keep the personnel of the units in order. For the conditions in which the Soviet Union found itself in 1941-1942, the ZIS-3 gun was almost ideal solution not only from the point of view of combat use, but also from the point of view of industrial production. Throughout the war years, the ZIS-3 was successfully used both against tanks and against infantry and enemy fortifications, which is what made it so universal and widespread.

122-mm howitzer model 1938 M-30

The 122-mm howitzer of the 1938 model M-30 became the most popular Soviet howitzer of the Great Patriotic War. This weapon was mass-produced from 1939 to 1955 and was, and still is, in service with some countries. This howitzer took part in almost all significant wars and local conflicts of the 20th century.

According to a number of artillery successes, the M-30 can easily be considered one of the best examples of Soviet cannon artillery from the middle of the last century. The presence of such a howitzer in the artillery units of the Red Army made an invaluable contribution to victory in the war. In total, during the production of the M-30, 19,266 howitzers of this type were assembled.

The howitzer was developed in 1938 by the Motovilikha Plants Design Bureau (Perm), the project was led by Fedor Fedorovich Petrov. Serial production of the howitzer began in 1939 at three factories at once, including Motovilikha Plants (Perm) and at the Uralmash artillery plant (Sverdlovsk, since 1942 artillery plant No. 9 with OKB-9). The howitzer was in mass production until 1955, which most clearly characterizes the success of the project.

In general, the M-30 howitzer had a classic design: a reliable, durable two-frame carriage, a rigidly fixed shield with a liftable central sheet, and a 23-caliber barrel that did not have a muzzle brake. The M-30 howitzer was equipped with the same carriage as the 152-mm D-1 howitzer. Large-diameter wheels received solid slopes; they were filled with spongy rubber. At the same time, the M-30 modification, which was produced in Bulgaria after the war, had wheels of a different design. Each 122nd howitzer had two openers different types- for hard and soft soil.

The 122 mm M-30 howitzer was, of course, a very successful weapon. The group of its creators under the leadership of F. F. Petrov managed to very harmoniously combine simplicity and reliability in one model of artillery weapons. The howitzer was very easy to master by personnel, which was in many ways typical of howitzers of the First World War era, but at the same time it had a large number of new design solutions that made it possible to increase the fire capabilities and mobility of the howitzer. As a result, the Soviet divisional artillery received a powerful and modern howitzer, which was able to operate as part of highly mobile tank and mechanized units of the Red Army. The wide distribution of this 122-mm howitzer in various armies of the world and excellent reviews from artillerymen only confirm this.

The weapon was appreciated even by the Germans, who at the initial stage of the war managed to capture several hundred M-30 howitzers. They adopted the weapon under the designation heavy howitzer 12.2 cm s.F.H.396(r), actively using them on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Starting in 1943, for this howitzer, as well as some other samples of Soviet barrel artillery of the same caliber, the Germans even launched full-fledged mass production of shells. So in 1943 they fired 424 thousand rounds, in 1944 and 1945 - 696.7 thousand and 133 thousand rounds, respectively.

The main type of ammunition for the 122-mm M-30 howitzer in the Red Army was a fairly effective fragmentation projectile, which weighed 21.76 kg. The howitzer could fire these shells at a range of up to 11,800 meters. Theoretically, the 53-BP-460A armor-piercing cumulative projectile could be used to combat armored targets, which, at an angle of impact with armor of 90°, would penetrate armor up to 160 mm thick. Sighting range firing at a moving tank was up to 400 meters. But naturally this would be an extreme case.

The M-30 was intended primarily for firing from closed positions against openly located and entrenched enemy personnel and equipment. The howitzer was successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (dugouts, bunkers, trenches) and to make passages in wire fences when it was impossible to use mortars for these purposes.

Moreover, the barrage of M-30 howitzer batteries with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed some threat to German armored vehicles. The fragments formed when 122-mm shells exploded were able to penetrate armor up to 20 mm thick, which was quite enough to destroy the sides of enemy light tanks and armored personnel carriers. For vehicles with thicker armor, fragments of howitzer shells could damage the gun, sights, and chassis elements.

Cumulative projectiles for this howitzer appeared only in 1943. But in their absence, the artillerymen were instructed to fire at the tanks with high-explosive fragmentation shells, having previously set the fuse to high-explosive action. Very often, in the event of a direct hit on a tank (especially for light and medium tanks), it became fatal for the armored vehicle and its crew, up to the point where the turret was torn off the shoulder strap, which automatically rendered the tank incapable of combat.

Soviet anti-tank artillery played a vital role in the Great Patriotic War, accounting for about 70% of all German tanks destroyed. Anti-tank warriors fighting “to the last”, often at the cost own life repelled the attacks of the Panzerwaffe.

The structure and equipment of anti-tank units were continuously improved during combat operations. Until the fall of 1940, anti-tank guns were part of rifle, mountain rifle, motorized rifle, motorized and cavalry battalions, regiments and divisions. Anti-tank batteries, platoons and divisions were thus interspersed with organizational structure connections, being their integral part. The rifle battalion of the pre-war state rifle regiment had a platoon of 45 mm guns (two guns). The rifle regiment and motorized rifle regiment had a battery of 45 mm cannons (six guns). In the first case, the means of traction were horses, in the second - specialized Komsomolets tracked armored tractors. The rifle division and the motorized division included a separate anti-tank division of eighteen 45 mm guns. The first anti-tank division was introduced into the staff of a Soviet rifle division in 1938.
However, maneuvering with anti-tank guns was possible at that time only within a division, and not on the scale of a corps or army. The command had very limited opportunities to strengthen anti-tank defense in tank-hazardous areas.

Shortly before the war, the formation of anti-tank artillery brigades of the RGK began. According to the staff, each brigade was supposed to have forty-eight 76-mm guns, forty-eight 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, twenty-four 107-mm guns, sixteen 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. The brigade's staff strength was 5,322 people. By the beginning of the war, the formation of the brigades was not completed. Organizational difficulties and the general unfavorable course of hostilities did not allow the first anti-tank brigades to fully realize their potential. However, already in the first battles, the brigades demonstrated the wide capabilities of an independent anti-tank formation.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the anti-tank capabilities of the Soviet troops were subjected to severe tests. Firstly, most often rifle divisions had to fight while occupying a defensive front that exceeded the statutory standards. Secondly, Soviet troops had to face the German “tank wedge” tactics. It was that the tank regiment tank division The Wehrmacht struck in a very narrow area of ​​defense. At the same time, the density of attacking tanks was 50–60 vehicles per kilometer of front. Such a number of tanks on a narrow section of the front inevitably saturated the anti-tank defenses.

Large losses of anti-tank guns at the beginning of the war led to a decrease in the number of anti-tank guns in the rifle division. The July 1941 state rifle division had only eighteen 45-mm anti-tank guns instead of fifty-four in the pre-war state. According to the July staff, a platoon of 45-mm guns from an infantry battalion and a separate anti-tank division were completely excluded. The latter was restored to the staff of the rifle division in December 1941. The shortage of anti-tank guns was to some extent compensated for by the recently adopted anti-tank guns. In December 1941, an anti-tank rifle platoon was introduced into the rifle division at the regimental level. In total, the division had 89 anti-tank rifles throughout the state.

In the field of artillery organization, the general trend at the end of 1941 was to increase the number of independent anti-tank units. On January 1, 1942, in the active army and reserve of the Supreme High Command Headquarters there were: one artillery brigade (on the Leningrad Front), 57 anti-tank artillery regiments and two separate anti-tank artillery divisions. As a result of the autumn battles, five VET artillery regiments received the rank of guards. Two of them received the Guard for the battles near Volokolamsk - they supported the 316th Infantry Division of I.V. Panfilov.
1942 became a period of increasing the number and consolidation of independent anti-tank units. On April 3, 1942, the State Defense Committee issued a decree on the formation of a fighter brigade. According to the staff, the brigade had 1,795 people, twelve 45-mm guns, sixteen 76-mm guns, four 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 144 anti-tank guns. By the next decree of June 8, 1942, the twelve formed fighter brigades were united into fighter divisions, each with three brigades.

A milestone for the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army was the order of the USSR NKO No. 0528, signed by I.V. Stalin, according to which: the status of anti-tank destroyer units was increased, personnel were given a double salary, a cash bonus was established for each damaged tank, all command and personnel anti-tank artillery units were placed on special registration and were to be used only in the specified units.

The distinctive sign of anti-tank crews became sleeve badge in the form of a black diamond with a red border with crossed gun barrels. The increase in the status of anti-tank fighters was accompanied by the formation of new anti-tank fighter regiments in the summer of 1942. Thirty light (twenty 76 mm guns each) and twenty anti-tank artillery regiments (twenty 45 mm guns each) were formed.
The regiments were formed in a short time and immediately thrown into battle on threatened sectors of the front.

In September 1942, ten more anti-tank fighter regiments of twenty 45-mm guns were formed. Also in September 1942, an additional battery of four 76-mm guns was introduced into the most distinguished regiments. In November 1942, part of the anti-tank fighter regiments was united into fighter divisions. By January 1, 1943, the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army consisted of 2 fighter divisions, 15 fighter brigades, 2 heavy anti-tank fighter regiments, 168 anti-tank fighter regiments, 1 anti-tank fighter division.

The improved anti-tank defense system of the Red Army received the name “Pakfront” from the Germans. RAK is the German abbreviation for anti-tank gun - Panzerabwehrkannone. Instead of a linear arrangement of guns along the defended front, at the beginning of the war they were united in groups under a single command. This made it possible to concentrate the fire of several guns on one target. The basis of anti-tank defense were anti-tank areas. Each anti-tank area consisted of separate anti-tank strong points (PTOPs), located in fire communication with each other. “Being in fire communication with each other” means the ability of neighboring anti-tank missile launchers to fire at the same target. PTOP was saturated with all types of fire weapons. The basis of the PTOP's fire system were 45-mm guns, 76-mm regimental guns, partly cannon batteries of divisional artillery and anti-tank artillery units.

The finest hour of anti-tank artillery was the battle on the Kursk Bulge in the summer of 1943. At that time, 76-mm divisional guns were the main weapon of anti-tank units and formations. "Sorokapyatki" made up about a third of the total number of anti-tank guns on the Kursk Bulge. A long pause in hostilities at the front made it possible to improve the condition of units and formations due to the receipt of equipment from industry and the addition of personnel to anti-tank regiments.

The last stage in the evolution of the Red Army's anti-tank artillery was the consolidation of its units and the appearance of self-propelled guns in the anti-tank artillery. By the beginning of 1944, all fighter divisions and separate combined arms fighter brigades were reorganized into anti-tank fighter brigades. On January 1, 1944, the anti-tank artillery included 50 anti-tank brigades and 141 anti-tank regiments. By order of NKO No. 0032 of August 2, 1944, one SU-85 regiment (21 self-propelled guns) was introduced into fifteen anti-tank destroyer brigades. In reality, only eight brigades received self-propelled guns.

Particular attention was paid to the training of personnel of anti-tank brigades; targeted combat training of artillerymen was organized to combat new German tanks and assault guns. In anti-tank units, special instructions appeared: “Memo to an artilleryman who destroys enemy tanks” or “Memo on fighting Tiger tanks.” And in the armies, special rear training grounds were equipped, where artillerymen trained in shooting at mock-up tanks, including moving ones.

Simultaneously with the increase in the skill of the artillerymen, tactics were improved. With the quantitative saturation of troops with anti-tank weapons, the “fire bag” method began to be used more and more often. The guns were placed in “anti-tank nests” of 6-8 guns within a radius of 50-60 meters and were well camouflaged. The nests were located on the ground to achieve flanking at long distances with the possibility of concentrating fire. Missing the tanks moving in the first echelon, fire opened suddenly, on the flank, at medium and short distances.

During the offensive, anti-tank guns were quickly pulled up after the advancing units in order to support them with fire if necessary.

Anti-tank artillery in our country began in August 1930, when, as part of military-technical cooperation with Germany, a secret agreement was signed, according to which the Germans pledged to help the USSR organize the gross production of 6 artillery systems. To implement the agreement, a front company "BUTAST" (limited liability company "Bureau for Technical Work and Research") was created in Germany.

Among the other weapons proposed by the USSR was a 37 mm anti-tank gun. The development of this weapon, bypassing the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, was completed at Rheinmetall Borsig in 1928. The first samples of the gun, which received the name Tak 28 (Tankabwehrkanone, i.e. anti-tank gun - the word Panzer came into use later) entered testing in 1930, and in 1932 deliveries to the troops began. The Tak 28 gun had a 45-caliber barrel with a horizontal wedge breech, which ensured a fairly high rate of fire - up to 20 rounds/min. The carriage with sliding tubular frames provided a large horizontal aiming angle - 60°, but the chassis with wooden wheels was designed only for horse traction.

In the early 30s, this weapon penetrated the armor of any tank, and was perhaps the best in its class, far ahead of developments in other countries.

After modernization, having received wheels with pneumatic tires that could be towed by a car, an improved carriage and an improved sight, it was put into service under the designation 3.7 cm Pak 35/36 (Panzerabwehrkanone 35/36).
Remaining until 1942 the main anti-tank weapon of the Wehrmacht.

The German gun was put into production at the Moscow region plant named after. Kalinina (No. 8), where she received the factory index 1-K. The enterprise mastered the production of a new gun with great difficulty; the guns were made semi-handicraft, with parts being manually fitted. In 1931, the plant presented the customer with 255 guns, but did not deliver any due to poor build quality. In 1932, 404 guns were delivered, and in 1933, another 105.

Despite problems with the quality of the guns produced, the 1-K was a fairly advanced anti-tank gun for 1930. Its ballistics made it possible to hit all tanks of that time, at a distance of 300 m, the armor-piercing projectile normally penetrated 30 mm armor. The gun was very compact; its light weight made it easy for crews to move it around the battlefield. The gun's shortcomings, which led to its rapid removal from production, were the weak fragmentation effect of the 37-mm projectile and the lack of suspension. In addition, the guns produced were of low build quality. The adoption of this weapon was considered as a temporary measure, since the leadership of the Red Army wanted to have a more universal gun that combined the functions of an anti-tank and battalion gun, and the 1-K, due to its small caliber and weak fragmentation projectile, was poorly suited for this role.

1-K was the first specialized anti-tank gun of the Red Army and played a big role in the development of this type. Very soon it began to be replaced by a 45-mm anti-tank gun, becoming practically invisible against its background. At the end of the 30s, 1-K began to be withdrawn from the troops and transferred to storage, remaining in service only as training ones.

At the beginning of the war, all the guns in stock were thrown into battle, since in 1941 there was a shortage of artillery to equip a large number of newly formed formations and make up for huge losses.

Of course, by 1941, the armor penetration characteristics of the 37-mm 1-K anti-tank gun could no longer be considered satisfactory; it could only confidently hit light tanks and armored personnel carriers. Against medium tanks, this weapon could only be effective when fired at the side from close (less than 300 m) distances. Moreover, Soviet armor-piercing shells were significantly inferior in armor penetration to German shells of a similar caliber. On the other hand, this gun could use captured 37 mm ammunition, in which case its armor penetration increased significantly, even exceeding the similar characteristics of the 45 mm gun.

It was not possible to establish any details of the combat use of these guns; probably, almost all of them were lost in 1941.

The very great historical significance of 1-K lies in the fact that it became the founder of the series of the most numerous Soviet 45-mm anti-tank guns and Soviet anti-tank artillery in general.

During the “liberation campaign” in western Ukraine, several hundred Polish 37-mm anti-tank guns and a significant amount of ammunition for them were captured.

Initially they were sent to warehouses, and at the end of 1941 they were transferred to the troops, since due to heavy losses in the first months of the war there was a large shortage of artillery, especially anti-tank. In 1941, for this gun the GAU issued " Short description, user manual".

The 37-mm anti-tank gun, developed by Bofors, was a very successful weapon, capable of successfully fighting armored vehicles protected by bulletproof armor.

The gun had a fairly high initial projectile velocity and rate of fire, small dimensions and weight (which made it easier to camouflage the gun on the ground and roll it onto the battlefield by crew forces), and was also adapted for rapid transportation by mechanical traction. Compared to the German 37 mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun, the Polish gun had better armor penetration, which is explained by the higher muzzle velocity of the projectile.

In the second half of the 30s, there was a tendency to increase the thickness tank armor In addition, the Soviet military wanted an anti-tank weapon capable of providing fire support to infantry. To do this, it was necessary to increase the caliber.
The new 45-mm anti-tank gun was created by placing a 45-mm barrel on the carriage of a 37-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1931. The carriage was also improved - wheel suspension was introduced. The semi-automatic shutter basically repeated the 1-K scheme and allowed 15-20 shots per minute.

The 45-mm projectile had a mass of 1.43 kg and was more than 2 times heavier than the 37-mm. At a distance of 500 m, the armor-piercing projectile normally penetrated 43-mm armor. At the time of adoption, the 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1937 penetrated the armor of any existing tank at that time.
When exploded, a 45-mm fragmentation grenade produced about 100 fragments, which retained their destructive power when scattered along the front at 15 m and at a depth of 5-7 m. When fired, grapeshot bullets form a damaging sector along the front at up to 60 m and at a depth of up to 400 m .
Thus, the 45-mm anti-tank gun had good anti-personnel capabilities.

From 1937 to 1943, 37,354 guns were produced. Shortly before the start of the war, the 45-mm cannon was discontinued, since our military leadership believed that the new German tanks would have a thickness of frontal armor that would be impenetrable for these guns. Soon after the start of the war, the gun was put into production again.

45-mm guns of the 1937 model were assigned to anti-tank platoons of rifle battalions of the Red Army (2 guns) and anti-tank divisions rifle divisions(12 guns). They were also in service with separate anti-tank regiments, which included 4-5 four-gun batteries.

For its time, the “forty-five” was quite adequate in terms of armor penetration. However, insufficient penetration ability against the 50-mm frontal armor of Pz tanks Kpfw III Ausf H and Pz Kpfw IV Ausf F1 is beyond doubt. This was often due to the low quality of armor-piercing shells. Many batches of shells had technological defects. If the heat treatment regime in production was violated, the shells turned out to be too hard and, as a result, split on the tank’s armor, but in August 1941 the problem was solved - technical changes were made to the production process (localizers were introduced).

To improve armor penetration, a 45 mm sub-caliber projectile with a tungsten core was adopted, which penetrated 66 mm armor at a distance of 500 m, and 88 mm armor when fired at a dagger fire distance of 100 m.

With the advent of sub-caliber shells, the later modifications of the Pz Kpfw IV tanks became tough for the “forty-five”. The thickness of the frontal armor did not exceed 80 mm.

At first, new shells were specially registered and issued individually. For unjustified consumption of sub-caliber shells, the gun commander and gunner could be court-martialed.

In the hands of experienced and tactically skilled commanders and trained crews, the 45 mm anti-tank gun posed a serious threat to enemy armored vehicles. Its positive qualities were high mobility and ease of camouflage. However, to better destroy armored targets, a more powerful weapon was urgently required, which was the 45-mm cannon mod. 1942 M-42, developed and put into service in 1942.

The 45-mm M-42 anti-tank gun was obtained by modernizing a 45-mm gun of the 1937 model at plant No. 172 in Motovilikha. The modernization consisted of lengthening the barrel (from 46 to 68 calibers), strengthening the propellant charge (the mass of gunpowder in the cartridge case increased from 360 to 390 grams) and a number of technological measures to simplify mass production. The thickness of the shield cover armor was increased from 4.5 mm to 7 mm to better protect the crew from armor-piercing rifle bullets.

As a result of modernization, the initial velocity of the projectile increased by almost 15% - from 760 to 870 m/s. At a distance of 500 meters normal, an armor-piercing projectile penetrated -61mm, and a sub-caliber projectile penetrated -81mm of armor. According to the recollections of anti-tank veterans, the M-42 had very high shooting accuracy and relatively low recoil when fired. This made it possible to fire at a high rate of fire without correcting the aiming.

Serial production of 45 mm guns mod. 1942 was started in January 1943 and was carried out only at plant No. 172. During the busiest periods, the plant produced 700 of these guns monthly. In total, 10,843 model guns were manufactured between 1943 and 1945. 1942. Their production continued after the war. New guns, as they were produced, were used to re-equip anti-tank artillery regiments and brigades that had 45-mm anti-tank guns mod. 1937.

As it soon became clear, the armor penetration of the M-42 to combat German heavy tanks with powerful anti-shell armor Pz. Kpfw. V "Panther" and Pz. Kpfw. VI "Tiger" was not enough. More successful was firing with sub-caliber shells at the sides, stern and chassis. Nevertheless, thanks to well-established mass production, mobility, ease of camouflage and low cost, the weapon remained in service until the very end of the war.

At the end of the 30s, the issue of creating anti-tank guns capable of hitting tanks with projectile-resistant armor became acute. Calculations showed the futility of the 45-mm caliber from the point of view of a sharp increase in armor penetration. Various research organizations Calibers 55 and 60 mm were considered, but in the end it was decided to settle on caliber 57 mm. Guns of this caliber were used in the tsarist army and navy (Nordenfeld and Hotchkiss guns). A new projectile was developed for this caliber - a standard cartridge case from a 76-mm divisional gun was used as its case, with the barrel of the case being recompressed to a 57 mm caliber.

In 1940, the design team headed by Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin began designing a new anti-tank gun that met the tactical and technical requirements of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU). Main feature The new gun began to use a long barrel of 73 calibers. At a distance of 1000 m, the gun penetrated armor 90 mm thick with an armor-piercing projectile

A prototype of the gun was manufactured in October 1940 and passed factory tests. And in March 1941, the gun was put into service under the official name “57-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1941" In total, about 250 guns were delivered from June to December 1941.

57-mm cannons from experimental batches took part in combat operations. Some of them were installed on the Komsomolets light tracked tractor - this was the first Soviet anti-tank self-propelled gun, which, due to the imperfections of the chassis, was not very successful.

The new anti-tank gun easily penetrated the armor of all German tanks that existed at that time. However, due to the position of the GAU, production of the gun was stopped, and the entire production base and equipment were mothballed.

In 1943, with the advent of heavy tanks by the Germans, production of the gun was restored. The 1943 model gun had a number of differences from the 1941 model guns, aimed primarily at improving the manufacturability of the gun's production. However, the restoration of mass production was difficult - technological problems arose with the manufacture of barrels. Mass production of a gun under the name “57-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1943" ZIS-2 was organized by October - November 1943, after the commissioning of new production facilities provided with equipment supplied under Lend-Lease.

From the moment production resumed until the end of the war, more than 9,000 guns were delivered to the troops.

With the restoration of production of the ZIS-2 in 1943, the guns were supplied to anti-tank artillery regiments (iptap), 20 guns per regiment.

Since December 1944, ZIS-2s have been introduced into the staff of guards rifle divisions - into regimental anti-tank batteries and into the anti-tank fighter division (12 guns). In June 1945, regular rifle divisions were transferred to a similar staff.

The capabilities of the ZIS-2 made it possible, at typical combat distances, to confidently hit the 80-mm frontal armor of the most common German medium tanks Pz.IV and StuG III assault self-propelled guns, as well as the side armor of the Pz.VI Tiger tank; at distances less than 500 m was affected and frontal armor"Tiger".
In terms of cost and manufacturability of production, combat and service characteristics, the ZIS-2 became the best Soviet anti-tank gun during the war.

Based on materials:
http://knowledgegrid.ru/2e9354f401817ff6.html
Shirokorad A. B. Genius Soviet artillery: Triumph and tragedy of V. Grabin.
A. Ivanov. USSR artillery in the Second World War.

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After the end of the war, the USSR's anti-tank artillery armament included: 37-mm airborne guns of the 1944 model, 45-mm anti-tank guns mod. 1937 and arr. 1942, 57-mm anti-tank guns ZiS-2, divisional 76-mm ZiS-3, 100-mm field guns 1944 BS-3. Captured German 75-mm anti-tank guns Pak 40 were also used. They were purposefully collected, stored and repaired if necessary.

In mid-1944 it was officially adopted for service. 37-mm airborne gun ChK-M1.

It was specially designed to arm parachute battalions and motorcycle regiments. The gun, weighing 209 kg in firing position, could be transported by air and parachuted. It had good armor penetration for its caliber, allowing it to hit the side armor of medium and heavy tanks with a sub-caliber projectile at short range. The shells were interchangeable with the 37 mm 61-K anti-aircraft gun. The gun was transported in Willys and GAZ-64 cars (one gun per car), as well as in Dodge and GAZ-AA cars (two guns per car).

In addition, it was possible to transport the weapon on a one-horse cart or sleigh, as well as in a motorcycle sidecar. If necessary, the gun can be disassembled into three parts.

The crew of the gun consisted of four people - a commander, a gunner, a loader and a carrier. When firing, the crew takes a prone position. The technical rate of fire reached 25-30 rounds per minute.
Thanks to the original design of recoil devices, the 37-mm airborne gun model 1944 combined the powerful ballistics of an anti-aircraft gun for its caliber with small dimensions and weight. With armor penetration values ​​close to those of the 45-mm M-42, the CheK-M1 is three times lighter and significantly smaller in size (much lower line of fire), which greatly facilitated the movement of the gun by crew forces and its camouflage. At the same time, the M-42 also has a number of advantages - the presence of a full-fledged wheel drive, allowing the gun to be towed by a car, the absence of a muzzle brake that unmasks when firing, a more effective fragmentation projectile and a better armor-piercing effect of armor-piercing projectiles.
The 37mm ChK-M1 gun was about 5 years late and was adopted and put into production when the war came to an end. Apparently she did not take part in the hostilities. A total of 472 guns were produced.

By the time the hostilities ended, 45-mm anti-tank guns were hopelessly outdated, even if they were included in the ammunition load 45 mm M-42 guns a sub-caliber projectile with normal armor penetration at a distance of 500 meters - 81 mm homogeneous armor could not correct the situation. Modern heavy and medium tanks were hit only when fired at the side, from extremely short distances. Active use of these tools until the very last days war can be explained by high maneuverability, ease of transportation and camouflage, huge accumulated reserves of ammunition of this caliber, as well as the inability of Soviet industry to provide troops in the required quantity with anti-tank guns with higher characteristics.
One way or another, in the active army the “forty-fives” were extremely popular; only they could move with crew forces in the battle formations of the advancing infantry, supporting them with fire.

At the end of the 40s, “forty-fives” began to be actively removed from parts and transferred for storage. However, for quite a long period of time they continued to remain at airborne weapons and used as training tools.
A significant number of 45 mm M-42s were transferred to the then allies.

American soldiers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment study an M-42 captured in Korea

"Sorokapyatka" was actively used in the Korean War. In Albania, these guns were in service until the early 90s.

Mass production 57 mm anti-tank gunZiS-2 became possible in 1943, after the necessary metalworking machines were received from the USA. The restoration of serial production was difficult - technological problems with the manufacture of barrels again arose, in addition, the plant was heavily loaded with the production program of 76-mm divisional and tank guns, which had a number of common components with the ZIS-2; under these conditions, increasing the production of ZIS-2 using existing equipment could only be achieved by reducing the production volume of these weapons, which was unacceptable. As a result, the first batch of ZIS-2 for state and military tests was released in May 1943, and in the production of these guns, the reserve stock mothballed at the plant since 1941 was widely used. Mass production of the ZIS-2 was organized by October - November 1943, after the commissioning of new production facilities provided with equipment supplied under Lend-Lease.

The capabilities of the ZIS-2 made it possible, at typical combat distances, to confidently hit the 80-mm frontal armor of the most common German medium tanks Pz.IV and StuG III assault self-propelled guns, as well as the side armor of the Pz.VI Tiger tank; at distances less than 500 m, the frontal armor of the Tiger was also damaged.
In terms of cost and manufacturability of production, combat and service characteristics, the ZIS-2 became the best Soviet anti-tank gun during the war.
From the moment production resumed until the end of the war, more than 9,000 guns entered the troops, but this turned out to be not enough to fully equip anti-tank destroyer units.

Production of the ZiS-2 continued until 1949 inclusive, in post-war period About 3,500 guns were fired. From 1950 to 1951, only ZIS-2 barrels were produced. Since 1957, the previously produced ZIS-2s have been upgraded into the ZIS-2N variant with the ability to fight at night through the use of special night sights
In the 1950s, new sub-caliber projectiles with increased armor penetration were developed for the gun.

In the post-war period, the ZIS-2 was in service with the Soviet Army at least until the 1970s; the last case of combat use was recorded in 1968, during the conflict with the PRC on Damansky Island.
ZIS-2 were supplied to a number of countries and took part in several armed conflicts, the first of which was Korean War.
There is information about the successful use of the ZIS-2 by Egypt in 1956 in battles with the Israelis. Guns of this type were in service with the Chinese army and were produced under license under the designation Type 55. As of 2007, ZIS-2 was still in service with the armies of Algeria, Guinea, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In the second half of the war, the anti-tank destroyer units were armed with captured German 75 mm anti-tank guns Rak 40. During the offensive operations of 1943-1944 it was captured a large number of guns and ammunition for them. Our military appreciated the high performance of these anti-tank guns. At a distance of 500 meters, the sub-caliber projectile normally penetrated 154 mm armor.

In 1944, firing tables and operating instructions were issued for the Pak 40 in the USSR.
After the war, the guns were transferred to storage, where they remained at least until the mid-60s. Subsequently, some of them were “utilized”, and some were transferred to the allies.

A photograph of the RaK-40 guns was taken at a parade in Hanoi in 1960.

In fear of an invasion from the South, several anti-tank artillery divisions were formed within the North Vietnamese army, armed with German 75-mm PaK-40 anti-tank guns from World War II. Such guns in large quantities were captured in 1945 by the Red Army, and now the Soviet Union provided them to the Vietnamese people for protection against possible aggression from the South.

Soviet divisional 76-mm guns were intended to solve a wide range of tasks, primarily fire support for infantry units, suppression of firing points, and destruction of light field shelters. However, during the war, divisional artillery guns had to fire at enemy tanks, perhaps even more often than specialized anti-tank guns.

Since 1944, due to a decrease in the production rate of 45 mm guns and a shortage of 57 mm ZIS-2 guns, despite insufficient armor penetration for that time divisional 76-mm ZiS-3 became the main anti-tank gun of the Red Army.
In many ways, this was a necessary measure. The armor-piercing ability of an armor-piercing projectile, which penetrated 75 mm armor at a distance of 300 meters, was not enough to combat medium German Pz.IV tanks.
As of 1943, reservation heavy tank The PzKpfW VI "Tiger" was invulnerable to the ZIS-3 in the frontal projection and weakly vulnerable at distances closer than 300 m in the side projection. The new German was also weakly vulnerable in the frontal projection for the ZIS-3 tank PzKpfW V "Panther", as well as the modernized PzKpfW IV Ausf H and PzKpfW III Ausf M or N; however, all these vehicles were confidently hit on the side by the ZIS-3.
The introduction of a sub-caliber projectile since 1943 improved the anti-tank capabilities of the ZIS-3, allowing it to confidently hit vertical 80 mm armor at distances closer than 500 m, but 100 mm vertical armor remained too strong for it.
The relative weakness of the ZIS-3's anti-tank capabilities was recognized by the Soviet military leadership, but until the end of the war it was not possible to replace the ZIS-3 in anti-tank fighter units. The situation could be corrected by introducing a cumulative projectile into the ammunition load. But such a projectile was adopted by the ZiS-3 only in the post-war period.

Shortly after the end of the war and the production of over 103,000 guns, production of the ZiS-3 was discontinued. The gun remained in service for a long time, but by the end of the 40s, it was almost completely withdrawn from anti-tank artillery. This did not prevent the ZiS-3 from spreading very widely throughout the world and taking part in many local conflicts, including in the territory of the former USSR.

In the modern Russian army, the remaining serviceable ZIS-3s are often used as salute guns or in theatrical performances based on the battles of the Great Patriotic War. In particular, these guns are in service with the Separate Fireworks Division at the Moscow commandant’s office, which conducts fireworks on the holidays of February 23 and May 9.

In 1946, the design created under the leadership of chief designer F.F. Petrov was put into service. 85-mm anti-tank gun D-44. This weapon would have been in great demand during the war, but its development was delayed for a number of reasons.
Externally, the D-44 strongly resembled the German 75-mm anti-tank Pak 40.

From 1946 to 1954, 10,918 guns were manufactured at Plant No. 9 (Uralmash).
The D-44s were in service with a separate anti-tank artillery division of a motorized rifle or tank regiment (two anti-tank artillery batteries consisting of two fire platoons), 6 pieces per battery (12 in the division).

The ammunition used is unitary cartridges with high-explosive fragmentation grenades, coil-shaped sub-caliber projectiles, cumulative and smoke projectiles. The range of a direct shot of the BTS BR-367 at a target 2 m high is 1100 m. At a distance of 500 m, this projectile penetrates an armor plate 135 mm thick at an angle of 90°. The initial speed of the BR-365P BPS is 1050 m/s, armor penetration is 110 mm from a distance of 1000 m.

In 1957, night sights were installed on some of the guns, and a self-propelled modification was also developed. SD-44, which could move on the battlefield without a tractor.

The barrel and carriage of the SD-44 were taken from the D-44 with minor changes. Thus, an M-72 engine from the Irbit Motorcycle Plant with a power of 14 hp, covered with a casing, was installed on one of the cannon frames. (4000 rpm) providing self-propulsion speeds of up to 25 km/h. Power transmission from the engine was provided through the driveshaft, differential and axle shafts to both wheels of the gun. The gearbox included in the transmission provided six forward gears and two reverse gears. The frame also has a seat for one of the crew numbers, which performs the functions of a driver. He has at his disposal a steering mechanism that controls an additional, third, gun wheel, mounted on the end of one of the frames. A headlight is installed to illuminate the road at night.

Subsequently, it was decided to use the 85-mm D-44 as a divisional one to replace the ZiS-3, and to entrust the fight against tanks to more powerful artillery systems and ATGMs.

In this capacity, the weapon was used in many conflicts, including in the CIS. An extreme case of combat use was noted in the North Caucasus, during the “counter-terrorist operation”.

The D-44 is still formally in service in the Russian Federation; a number of these guns are in the internal troops and in storage.

On the basis of D-44, under the leadership of chief designer F. F. Petrov, a anti-tank 85-mm gun D-48. The main feature of the D-48 anti-tank gun was its exceptionally long barrel. To ensure the maximum initial velocity of the projectile, the barrel length was increased to 74 calibers (6 m, 29 cm).
New unitary shots were created especially for this gun. An armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1,000 m penetrated armor 150-185 mm thick at an angle of 60°. A sub-caliber projectile at a distance of 1000 m penetrates homogeneous armor 180–220 mm thick at an angle of 60°. The maximum firing range of high-explosive fragmentation projectiles weighing 9.66 kg. - 19 km.
From 1955 to 1957, 819 copies of the D-48 and D-48N were produced (with an APN2-77 or APN3-77 night sight).

The guns entered service with individual anti-tank artillery divisions of a tank or motorized rifle regiment. As an anti-tank weapon, the D-48 gun quickly became outdated. In the early 60s of the 20th century, tanks with more powerful armor protection appeared in NATO countries. A negative feature of the D-48 was its “exclusive” ammunition, unsuitable for other 85-mm guns. For firing from the D-48, the use of shots from the D-44, KS-1, 85-mm tank and self-propelled guns is also prohibited; this significantly narrowed the scope of use of the gun.

In the spring of 1943, V.G. Grabin, in his memorandum addressed to Stalin, proposed, along with the resumption of production of the 57-mm ZIS-2, to begin designing a 100-mm cannon with a unitary shot, which was used in naval guns.

A year later, in the spring of 1944 100-mm field gun model 1944 BS-3 was put into production. Due to the presence of a wedge bolt with a vertically moving wedge with semi-automatic operation, the location of the vertical and horizontal aiming mechanisms on one side of the gun, as well as the use of unitary shots, the gun’s rate of fire is 8-10 rounds per minute. The cannon fired unitary cartridges with armor-piercing tracer shells and high-explosive fragmentation grenades. An armor-piercing tracer projectile with an initial speed of 895 m/s at a distance of 500 m at an impact angle of 90° penetrated armor 160 mm thick. The direct shot range was 1080 m.
However, the role of this weapon in the fight against enemy tanks is greatly exaggerated. By the time of its appearance, the Germans practically did not use tanks on a massive scale.

During the war, BS-3 was produced in small quantities and could not play a big role. At the final stage of the war, 98 BS-3s were assigned as a means of strengthening five tank armies. The gun was in service with light artillery brigades of 3 regiments.

As of January 1, 1945, the RGK artillery had 87 BS-3 guns. At the beginning of 1945, in the 9th Guards Army, one cannon artillery regiment of 20 BS-3s was formed in three rifle corps.

Mainly, thanks to its long firing range - 20,650 m and a fairly effective high-explosive fragmentation grenade weighing 15.6 kg, the gun was used as a hull gun to combat enemy artillery and suppress long-range targets.

BS-3 had a number of disadvantages that made it difficult to use as an anti-tank weapon. When firing, the gun jumped strongly, which made the gunner’s work unsafe and confused the sighting mounts, which, in turn, led to a decrease in the practical rate of aimed fire - a very important quality for a field anti-tank gun.

The presence of a powerful muzzle brake with a low height of the line of fire and flat trajectories characteristic of firing at armored targets led to the formation of a significant smoke and dust cloud, which unmasked the position and blinded the crew. The mobility of a gun with a mass of more than 3500 kg left much to be desired; transportation by crews to the battlefield was practically impossible.

After the war, the gun was in production until 1951 inclusive; a total of 3,816 BS-3 field guns were produced. In the 60s, the guns underwent modernization, this primarily concerned sights and ammunition. Until the early 60s, the BS-3 could penetrate the armor of any Western tank. But with the advent of: M-48A2, Chieftain, M-60 - the situation has changed. New sub-caliber and cumulative projectiles were urgently developed. The next modernization took place in the mid-80s, when the 9M117 Bastion anti-tank guided projectile was added to the BS-3 ammunition load.

This weapon was also supplied to other countries and took part in many local conflicts in Asia, Africa and the Middle East; in some of them it is still in service. In Russia, until recently, BS-3 guns were used as a coastal defense weapon in service with the 18th Machine Gun and Artillery Division stationed on the Kuril Islands, and quite a significant number of them are in storage.

Until the late 60s and early 70s of the last century, anti-tank guns were the main means of fighting tanks. However, with the advent of ATGMs with a semi-automatic guidance system, which only requires keeping the target in the sight's field of view, the situation has largely changed. The military leadership of many countries considered metal-intensive, bulky and expensive anti-tank guns an anachronism. But not in the USSR. In our country, the development and production of anti-tank guns continued in significant quantities. And at a qualitatively new level.

In 1961 it entered service 100 mm smoothbore anti-tank gun T-12, developed at the design bureau of the Yurga Machine-Building Plant No. 75 under the leadership of V.Ya. Afanasyev and L.V. Korneeva.

The decision to make a smoothbore gun at first glance may seem quite strange; the time of such guns ended almost a hundred years ago. But the creators of the T-12 did not think so.

In a smooth channel, you can make the gas pressure much higher than in a rifled channel, and accordingly increase the initial speed of the projectile.
In a rifled barrel, the rotation of the projectile reduces the armor-piercing effect of the jet of gases and metal during the explosion of the cumulative projectile.
For a smoothbore gun, the survivability of the barrel is significantly increased - you don’t have to worry about the so-called “washing out” of the rifling fields.

The gun channel consists of a chamber and a cylindrical smooth-walled guide part. The chamber is formed by two long and one short (between them) cones. The transition from the chamber to the cylindrical section is a conical slope. The shutter is a vertical wedge with a semi-automatic spring. Loading is unitary. The carriage for the T-12 was taken from the 85-mm D-48 anti-tank rifled gun.

In the 60s, a more convenient carriage was designed for the T-12 cannon. The new system received an index MT-12 (2A29), and in some sources it is called “Rapier”. The MT-12 went into mass production in 1970. As part of anti-tank artillery divisions motorized rifle divisions The USSR Armed Forces included two anti-tank artillery batteries, consisting of six 100-mm T-12 anti-tank guns (MT-12).

The T-12 and MT-12 guns have the same combat unit- a long thin barrel 60 calibers long with a muzzle brake - “salt shaker”. The sliding beds are equipped with an additional retractable wheel installed at the openers. The main difference of the modernized MT-12 model is that it is equipped with a torsion bar suspension, which is locked when firing to ensure stability.

When rolling the gun manually, a roller is placed under the trunk part of the frame, which is secured with a stopper on the left frame. Transportation of T-12 and MT-12 guns is carried out by a standard MT-L or MT-LB tractor. For movement on snow, the LO-7 ski mount was used, which made it possible to fire from skis at elevation angles of up to +16° with a rotation angle of up to 54°, and at an elevation angle of 20° with a rotation angle of up to 40°.

A smooth barrel is much more convenient for firing guided projectiles, although this was most likely not yet thought about in 1961. To combat armored targets, an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile is used with a swept warhead, which has high kinetic energy and is capable of penetrating 215 mm thick armor at a distance of 1000 meters. The ammunition load includes several types of sub-caliber, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells.

ZUBM-10 shot with an armor-piercing sabot projectile

ZUBK8 shot with a cumulative projectile

When a special guidance device is installed on the gun, shots with the Kastet anti-tank missile can be used. The missile is controlled semi-automatically by a laser beam, the firing range is from 100 to 4000 m. The missile penetrates armor behind dynamic protection (“reactive armor”) up to 660 mm thick.

9M117 missile and ZUBK10-1 shot

For direct fire, the T-12 cannon is equipped with a day sight and night sights. With a panoramic sight it can be used as a field weapon from closed positions. There is a modification of the MT-12R cannon with a mounted 1A31 “Ruta” guidance radar.

MT-12R with 1A31 "Ruta" radar

The gun was widely used by the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries and was supplied to Algeria, Iraq and Yugoslavia. They took part in hostilities in Afghanistan, in the Iran-Iraq War, and in armed conflicts in the territories of the former USSR and Yugoslavia. During these armed conflicts, 100 mm anti-tank guns are mainly used not against tanks, but as ordinary divisional or corps guns.

The MT-12 anti-tank guns continue to be in service in Russia.
According to the press center of the Ministry of Defense, on August 26, 2013, with the help of an accurate shot with a UBK-8 cumulative projectile from the MT-12 "Rapier" cannon of the Yekaterinburg separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District, a fire was extinguished at well No. P23 ​​U1 near Novy Urengoy.

The fire began on August 19 and quickly turned into an uncontrollable combustion of natural gas escaping through faulty fittings. The artillery crew was transferred to Novy Urengoy by a military transport aircraft taking off from Orenburg. At the Shagol airfield, equipment and ammunition were loaded, after which the artillerymen under the command of a control officer missile forces and artillery of the Central Military District, Colonel Gennady Mandrichenko, were delivered to the scene. The gun was set for direct fire from the minimum permissible distance of 70 m. The target diameter was 20 cm. The target was successfully hit.

In 1967, Soviet experts came to the conclusion that the T-12 gun “does not provide reliable destruction of the Chieftain tanks and the promising MVT-70. Therefore, in January 1968, OKB-9 (now part of Spetstekhnika JSC) was ordered to develop a new, more powerful anti-tank gun with the ballistics of the 125-mm D-81 smoothbore tank gun. The task was difficult to complete, since the D-81, having excellent ballistics, gave strong recoil, which was still tolerable for a tank weighing 40 tons. But during field tests, the D-81 fired a 203-mm B-4 howitzer from a tracked carriage. It is clear that such an anti-tank gun weighing 17 tons and a maximum speed of 10 km/h was out of the question. Therefore, the recoil in the 125 mm gun was increased from 340 mm (limited by the dimensions of the tank) to 970 mm and a powerful muzzle brake was introduced. This made it possible to install a 125-mm cannon on a three-frame carriage from the serial 122-mm D-30 howitzer, which allowed all-round firing.

The new 125-mm gun was designed by OKB-9 in two versions: the towed D-13 and the self-propelled SD-13 (“D” is the index of artillery systems designed by V.F. Petrov). The development of SD-13 was 125-mm smoothbore anti-tank gun "Sprut-B" (2A-45M). The ballistic data and ammunition of the D-81 tank gun and the 2A-45M anti-tank gun were the same.

The 2A-45M gun had a mechanized system for transferring it from the combat position to the traveling position and back, consisting of a hydraulic jack and hydraulic cylinders. With the help of a jack, the carriage was raised to a certain height necessary for spreading or bringing the frames together, and then lowered to the ground. Hydraulic cylinders lift the gun to maximum ground clearance, as well as raise and lower the wheels.

"Sprut-B" is towed by a "Ural-4320" vehicle or an MT-LB tractor. In addition, for self-propulsion on the battlefield, the gun has a special power unit based on the MeMZ-967A engine with hydraulic drive. The engine is located on the right side of the gun under the casing. On the left side of the frame, the driver's seats and the gun control system for self-propulsion are installed. Maximum speed at the same time, on dry dirt roads - 10 km/h, and transportable ammunition - 6 rounds; Fuel range is up to 50 km.

The ammunition load of the 125-mm Sprut-B cannon includes separate-case-loading rounds with cumulative, sub-caliber and high-explosive fragmentation shells, as well as anti-tank missiles. The 125-mm VBK10 round with the BK-14M ​​cumulative projectile can hit tanks of the M60, M48, and Leopard-1A5 types. VBM-17 shot with a sub-caliber projectile - tanks of the M1 Abrams, Leopard-2, Merkava MK2 type. The VOF-36 round with the OF26 high-explosive fragmentation projectile is designed to destroy manpower, engineering structures and other targets.

With special guidance equipment, the 9S53 Sprut can fire ZUB K-14 rounds with 9M119 anti-tank missiles, which are controlled semi-automatically by a laser beam, the firing range is from 100 to 4000 m. The mass of the shot is about 24 kg, the missiles are 17.2 kg, it penetrates armor behind dynamic protection with a thickness of 700–770 mm.

Currently, towed anti-tank guns (100- and 125-mm smoothbore) are in service with countries - former republics of the USSR, as well as a number of developing countries. The armies of leading Western countries have long abandoned special anti-tank guns, both towed and self-propelled. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that towed anti-tank guns have a future. The ballistics and ammunition of the 125-mm Sprut-B cannon, unified with the guns of modern main tanks, are capable of hitting any production tank in the world. An important advantage of anti-tank guns over ATGMs is a wider selection of means of destroying tanks and the ability to hit them at point-blank range. In addition, Sprut-B can also be used as a non-anti-tank weapon. Its OF-26 high-explosive fragmentation projectile is close in ballistic data and explosive mass to the OF-471 projectile of the 122-mm A-19 hull gun, which became famous in the Great Patriotic War.

Based on materials:
http://gods-of-war.pp.ua
http://russkaya-sila.rf/guide/army/ar/d44.shtml
Shirokorad A. B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. - Minsk: Harvest, 2000.
Shunkov V.N. Weapons of the Red Army. - Minsk: Harvest, 1999.

If you believe the statistics, in all the battles of the Great Patriotic War, including the famous Prokhorovka, our tankers suffered the heaviest losses not from German panzers - the most dangerous enemy was not the famous “Tigers”, “Panthers” and “Ferdinands”, not the legendary “Stukas”, not sappers and faustniks, not the formidable Akht-Akht anti-aircraft guns, but Panzerabwehrkanonen - German anti-tank artillery. And if at the beginning of the war the Nazis themselves dubbed their 37-mm anti-tank gun Pak 35/36 a “door knocker” (virtually useless against the latest KVs and T-34s, it nevertheless burned BT and T-26 like matches), then neither 50 -mm Pak 38, neither the 75-mm Pak 40, nor the 88-mm Pak 43, nor the super-powerful 128-mm Pak 80 deserved disparaging nicknames, having become real “tank killers”. Unsurpassed armor penetration, the best optics in the world, a low, unobtrusive silhouette, superbly trained crews, competent commanders, excellent communications and artillery reconnaissance - for several years the German anti-tank forces had no equal, and our anti-tank tanks surpassed the Germans only at the very end of the war.

In this book you will find comprehensive information about all anti-tank artillery systems that were in service with the Wehrmacht, including captured ones - about their advantages and disadvantages, organization and combat use, defeats and victories, as well as top-secret reports about their tests at Soviet training grounds. The publication is illustrated with exclusive drawings and photographs.

Sections of this page:

GERMAN-MADE ANTI-TANK GUNS

28/20 mm heavy anti-tank rifle s.Pz.B.41 (schwere Panzerbuchse 41)

Although according to the Wehrmacht classification this weapon belongs to the class of heavy anti-tank rifles, in terms of caliber and design it is more likely to be an artillery system. Therefore, the author considered it necessary to talk about the Wehrmacht anti-tank artillery and this sample.

The development of an automatic anti-tank gun with a conical bore design by Gerlich began at the Mauser company at the end of 1939. Initially the gun had the index MK8202. At the breech, the gun barrel had a caliber of 28 mm, and at the muzzle - 20 mm. To fire from it, specially designed projectiles were used, consisting of a tungsten carbide core, a steel pan and a ballistic tip. The pallet had two annular protrusions, which, when the projectile moved in the barrel, were compressed, cutting into the rifling.

Thus, the most complete use of the pressure of the powder gases on the bottom of the projectile was ensured, and accordingly, a high initial speed was achieved. However, during the design and testing, the MK8202 automatic cannon was transformed into a single-shot heavy anti-tank rifle s.Pz.B.41, which, after testing in June - July 1940, was adopted by the Wehrmacht.

The anti-tank rifle had a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt (opened manually), which provided a fairly high rate of fire - 12–15 rounds per minute. To reduce recoil energy, the barrel was equipped with a muzzle brake. The s.Pz.B.41 was mounted on a light artillery-type wheeled carriage with sliding frames. To protect the crew of two people, a double shield (3 and 3 mm) was used. A design feature of the heavy anti-tank rifle was the absence of lifting and turning mechanisms. Targeting in the vertical plane was carried out by swinging the barrel on the trunnions, and in the horizontal plane by turning the rotating part manually (using two handles) on the lower machine.

A little later, they developed a lightweight version of the carriage for a heavy anti-tank rifle, which was supplied to the parachute units of the Luftwaffe. It consisted of one frame with runners on which small wheels could be installed for moving around the area. This gun, designated s.Pz.B.41 leFL 41, had a mass of 139 kg (on a conventional carriage 223 kg).

s. The Pz.B.41 had a very high initial velocity of the PzGr41 armor-piercing projectile weighing 131 g - 1402 m/s. Thanks to this, armor penetration (at an angle of 30 degrees) was: at 100 m - 52 mm, at 300 m - 46 mm, at 500 m - 40 mm and at 1000 m - 25 mm, which was one of the best indicators for this caliber. In 1941, the ammunition load of s. Pz.B.41 included a fragmentation projectile weighing 85 g, but its effectiveness was very low.

The disadvantages of the s.Pz.B.41 included the high cost of production - 4,500 Reichsmarks and severe wear of the barrel. At first, its survivability was only 250 rounds, then this figure was increased to 500. In addition, tungsten, which was in short supply, was used to produce shells for the s.Pz.B.41.

By the beginning of 1941, the tungsten reserves at Germany's disposal amounted to 483 tons. Of these, 97 tons were spent on the production of 7.92 mm cartridges with a tungsten core, 2 tons for various other needs, and the remaining 384 tons were spent on the production of sub-caliber projectiles. In total, more than 68,4600 of these shells were manufactured for tank, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. Due to the depletion of tungsten reserves, production of these shells was stopped in November 1943.

For the same reason, in September 1943, after production of 2,797 s.Pz.B.41, its production was stopped.

s. The Pz.B.41 mainly entered service with the Wehrmacht infantry divisions, airfield and parachute divisions of the Luftwaffe, in which they were used until the end of the war. As of March 1, 1945, units had 775 s.Pz.B.41s, another 78 were in warehouses.

37 mm anti-tank gun Pak 35/36 (3.7 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 35/36)

The development of this anti-tank weapon began at the Rheinmetall-Borsig company back in 1924, and the design was carried out in circumvention of the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, according to which Germany was prohibited from having anti-tank artillery. However, at the end of 1928, the first samples of a new gun, designated 3.7-cm Tak 28 L/45 (Tankabwehrkanone - anti-tank gun, the word Panzer began to be used in Germany later. - Note author), began to enter the troops.

The 37-mm Tak 28 L/45 anti-tank gun, weighing 435 kg, had a lightweight carriage with tubular frames, on which a monoblock barrel with a semi-automatic horizontal wedge bolt was mounted, providing a fairly high rate of fire - up to 20 rounds per minute. The horizontal firing angle with the frames extended was 60 degrees, but if absolutely necessary, it was possible to fire with the frames moved. The cannon had wooden wheels with spokes and was transported by a team of horses. To protect the crew, a shield made of 5 mm armor plate was used, and its upper part was hinged.

Without a doubt, by the end of the 1920s, the 37-mm Tak 29 gun was one of the best anti-tank artillery systems. Therefore, its export version was developed - Tak 29, which was purchased by many countries - Turkey, Holland, Spain, Italy, Japan, etc. Some of them also acquired a license to produce guns (suffice it to recall our famous forty-five - 45-mm anti-tank gun 19K, the main anti-tank weapon of the Red Army in the 1930s - early 1940s, tracing its ancestry to the 37-mm Tak 29, purchased in 1930 year).

In 1934, the gun was modernized - it received wheels with pneumatic tires, allowing the gun to be towed by cars, an improved sight and a slightly modified carriage design. Under the designation 3.7-cm Pak 35/36 (Panzerabwehrkanone 35/36) it entered service with the Reichswehr, and since March 1935, the Wehrmacht as the main anti-tank weapon. Its price was 5,730 Reichsmarks in 1939 prices. As new 37-mm Pak 35/36 guns, manufactured before 1934, L/45 29 with wooden wheels were withdrawn from the troops.

In 1936–1939, the Pak 35/36 underwent baptism by fire during civil war in Spain - these guns were used by both the Condor Legion and the Spanish nationalists. The results of combat use turned out to be very good - the Pak 35/36 could successfully fight Soviet tanks T-26 and BT-5, which were in service with the Republicans, at a distance of 700–800 m (it was a collision with a 37-mm anti-tank gun in Spain that forced Soviet tank builders to begin work on creating tanks with ballistic armor).

During the French campaign, it turned out that 37 mm anti-tank guns were ineffective against British and French tanks that had armor up to 70 mm. Therefore, the Wehrmacht command decided to accelerate the deployment of more powerful anti-tank artillery systems. The end of the career of the Pak 35/36 was the campaign against the USSR, during which they were completely powerless against the KV and T-34 tanks. For example, one of the reports from June 1941 said that the crew of a 37-mm cannon scored 23 hits on the T-34 tank without any result. Therefore, it is not surprising that soon the Pak 35/36 was called the “army beater” by the troops. In January 1942, production of these guns was discontinued. In total, since the start of production in 1928, 16,539 Pak 35/36 were produced (counting Tak L/45 29), of which 5,339 guns were produced in 1939–1942.

In addition to the usual version of the Pak 35/36, a slightly lighter version was developed, intended for arming the parachute units of the Luftwaffe. It received the designation 3.7-cm Pak auf leihter Feldafette (3.7-cm Pak leFLat). This weapon was intended for air transportation on the external sling of a Ju 52 transport aircraft. Externally, the 3.7-cm Pak leFLat was practically no different from the Pak 35/36; very few of them were manufactured.

Initially, two types of unitary cartridges with armor-piercing (PzGr 39) or fragmentation (SprGr) projectiles were used for firing from the Pak 35/36. The first, weighing 0.68 kg, was an ordinary solid alloy with a bottom fuse and a tracer. To combat manpower, a fragmentation projectile weighing 0.625 kg with an instantaneous head fuse was used.

In 1940, after a clash with the British and French tanks, which had thick armor, a PzGr 40 sub-caliber projectile with a tungsten carbide core was introduced into the Pak 35/36 ammunition load. True, due to its small mass - 0.368 g - it was effective at distances up to 400 m.

At the end of 1941, specifically to combat Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, they developed the Stielgranate 41 cumulative over-caliber grenade. Outwardly, it was similar to a mortar mine with a cumulative warhead 740 mm long and weighing 8.51 kg, inserted into the gun barrel from the outside. The Stielgranate 41 was launched by firing a blank cartridge and stabilized in flight by four small wings at the rear. Naturally, the firing range of such a mine left much to be desired: although according to the instructions it was 300 m, in reality it was possible to hit the target only at a distance of up to 100 m, and even then with great difficulty. Therefore, despite the fact that Stielgranate 41 penetrated 90 mm armor, its effectiveness in combat conditions was very low.

The 37-mm anti-tank gun Pak 35/36 was the main anti-tank weapon of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was in service with all units - infantry, cavalry, tanks. Subsequently, these guns were mainly used as part of infantry divisions, as well as tank destroyer divisions. In 1941, the replacement of the Pak 35/36 with the more powerful 50 mm Pak 38 anti-tank guns, and later with the 75 mm Pak 40, began. Nevertheless, the 37 mm anti-tank guns remained in service with Wehrmacht units until the end of the war. As of March 1, 1945, the troops still had 216 Pak 35/36 guns, and another 670 guns were in warehouses and arsenals.

Pak 35/36 were installed on German armored personnel carriers Sd.Kfz.250/10 and Sd. Kfz.251/10, as well as in small quantities for Krupp trucks, one-ton half-track tractors Sd.Kfz. 10, captured French Renault UE wedges, Soviet Komsomolets semi-armored tractors and British Universal armored personnel carriers.

42-mm anti-tank gun Pak 41 (42-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 41)

The development of a lightweight anti-tank gun with a conical bore, designated 4.2-cm Pak 41, began in the fall of 1941 by Mauser. The new gun, like the s.Pz.B.41, had a barrel of variable caliber from 42 to 28 mm (in fact, the real caliber of the Pak 41 was 40.3 and 29 mm, but in all literature 42 and 28 mm are used. - Author's note). Thanks to the tapering bore, the most complete use of the pressure of the powder gases on the bottom of the projectile was ensured, and accordingly, a high initial velocity was achieved. To reduce wear on the Pak 41 barrel, special steel with a high content of tungsten, molybdenum and vanadium was used in its manufacture. The gun had a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt, providing a rate of fire of 10–12 rounds per minute. The barrel was placed on the carriage of a 37 mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun. With the frames extended, the horizontal firing angle was 41 degrees.

The gun's ammunition included special unitary rounds with high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercing shells. The design of the latter was the same as that of the heavy anti-tank rifle s.Pz.B.41 of 28/20 mm caliber. The projectiles had a special design of the leading part, which allowed its diameter to decrease as the projectile moved in the conical bore of the barrel.

Tests of the 4.2-cm Pak 41 showed excellent results - at a distance of 1000 m, its shells weighing 336 g confidently penetrated 40-mm armor plate. Production of the new gun was transferred from Mauser to Billerer & Kunz in the city of Aschersleben, where 37 of them were made by the end of 1941. Production of the Pak 41 ceased in June 1941, after 313 guns had been produced. The price of one sample was 7,800 Reichsmarks. Operation of the 4.2-cm Pak 41 showed low survivability of its barrel, despite the use of special alloys in its design - only 500 shots (about 10 times less than the 37-mm Pak 35/36). In addition, the manufacture of the barrels themselves was a very complex and expensive procedure, and the release of armor-piercing shells required tungsten, a metal that was in great short supply for the Third Reich.

The 4.2-cm Pak 41 anti-tank guns entered service with tank destroyer divisions of Wehrmacht infantry divisions and Luftwaffe airfield divisions. These guns remained in service until mid-1944, and were used on the Soviet-German front and in North Africa. As of March 1, 1945, nine Pak 41s were at the front and another 17 in storage.

50-mm anti-tank gun Pak 38 (5-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 38)

In 1935, Rheinmetall-Borzig began developing a more powerful 50 mm anti-tank gun than the Pak 35/36. The first samples of the new artillery system, designated Pak 37, were manufactured and submitted for testing in 1936. With a mass of 585 kg, the gun had a barrel length of 2,280 mm and an initial armor-piercing projectile speed of 685 m/s. However, the military was not satisfied with the test results, in particular the armor penetration and unstable design of the carriage. Therefore, Rheinmetall-Borzig redesigned the carriage design, lengthened the barrel to 3,000 m and developed more powerful ammunition. As a result, the mass of the gun increased to 990 kg, the speed of the armor-piercing projectile increased to 835 m/s, and at a distance of 500 m it penetrated armor 60 mm thick. After eliminating a number of minor defects and passing tests, the 50-mm anti-tank gun, designated Pak 38, was adopted by the Wehrmacht.

Like the Pak 35/36, the new gun had a carriage with sliding frames, providing a horizontal firing angle of 65 degrees. Solid wheels with molded rubber tires and spring springs made it possible to transport the Pak 38 at speeds of up to 40 km/h. Moreover, when the gun was brought into firing position and the frames were raised, the wheel suspension was automatically turned off, and when they were brought together, it was turned on. The gun had a monoblock barrel and a semi-automatic horizontal wedge bolt, providing a rate of fire of up to 14 rounds per minute.

Pak 38 had two shields - upper and lower. The first consisted of two 4-mm armor plates of complex shape, installed with a gap of 20–25 mm and provided protection for the crew from the front and slightly from the sides. The second, 4 mm thick, was suspended on hinges under the wheel axle and protected the crew from damage from fragments from below. In addition, the gun received a new trigger mechanism, an improved sight and a muzzle brake to reduce barrel rollback. Despite the fact that to facilitate the design, a number of carriage parts were made of aluminum (for example, tubular frames), the weight of the Pak 38 more than doubled compared to the Pak 35/36 and amounted to 1000 kg. Therefore, to make it easier for the crew to roll the gun manually, the Pak 38 was equipped with a lightweight single-wheeled front end, to which folded frames could be attached. The result was a three-wheeled structure that a seven-man crew could move around the battlefield. Moreover, to facilitate maneuvering, the front wheel could rotate.

Serial production of the Pak 38 began at Rheinmetall-Borzig factories in 1939, but only two guns were produced by the end of the year. The new anti-tank guns did not see combat in France - the first 17 Pak 38s entered service only in July 1940. However, the past campaign served as an impetus to accelerate the release of the Pak 38, since during the battles the Wehrmacht was faced with thick-armored tanks, against which the Pak 35/36 were practically powerless. As a result, by July 1, 1941, 1047 guns were manufactured, of which the troops had about 800.

By order of the main command ground forces dated November 19, 1940, the 1-ton Sd.Kfz half-track tractor was designated as the vehicle for towing the Pak 38. 10. However, due to their shortage, already on January 16, 1941, a new order appeared, according to which 1.5-ton trucks were to be used to transport 50-mm anti-tank guns. However, during the war, captured French Renault UE supply tankettes, Krupp trucks and much more were also used to tow the Pak 38.

For firing from the Pak 38, three types of unitary shots were used: fragmentation, armor-piercing tracer and sub-caliber. The Sprenggranate fragmentation projectile weighing 1.81 kg was loaded with a cast TNT charge (0.175 kg). In addition, to improve the visibility of the explosion, a small smoke bomb was placed in the explosive charge.

Armor-piercing tracer rounds had two types of projectiles: PzGr 39 and PzGr 40. The first, weighing 2.05 kg, was equipped with a hard steel head welded to the projectile body, a leading iron belt and had a bursting charge of 0.16 kg. At a range of 500 m, the PzGr 39 could penetrate 65 mm armor when firing along the normal line.

The PzGr 40 sub-caliber projectile consisted of an armor-piercing tungsten core in a coil-shaped steel shell. To improve aerodynamic properties, a plastic ballistic tip was attached to the top of the projectile. At a range of 500 m, the PzGr 40 could penetrate 75 mm thick armor when firing along the normal line.

In 1943, the Stielgranate 42 over-caliber cumulative anti-tank grenade (similar to that for the Pak 35/36) weighing 13.5 kg (of which 2.3 kg of explosives) was developed for the Pak 38. The grenade was inserted into the barrel from the outside and fired using a blank charge. However, although the armor penetration of Stielgranate 42 was 180 mm, it was effective at a distance of up to 150 meters. A total of 12,500 Stielgranate 42 for Pak 38 guns were manufactured before March 1, 1945.

The 50-mm Pak 38 anti-tank guns could fight Soviet T-34s at medium ranges, and at close ranges they could also fight KVs. True, this had to be paid for with heavy losses: only in the period from December 1, 1941 to February 2, 1942, the Wehrmacht lost 269 Pak 38 in battles. Moreover, this was only irretrievable, not counting those disabled and evacuated (some of them were also not subject to restoration).

50-mm Pak 38 anti-tank guns were produced until the autumn of 1943, a total of 9,568 of them were produced. For the most part, they entered service with tank destroyer divisions in infantry, panzergrenadier, tank and a number of other divisions. Since the second half of 1944, this weapon was mainly used in training units and second-line troops.

Unlike other German anti-tank guns, the Pak 38 was practically not used for various self-propelled guns. This gun was installed only on the chassis of the semi-armored 1-ton Sd.Kfz. 10 (several of these self-propelled guns were used by the SS troops), on several Sd.Kfz. 250 (one such vehicle is in the military museum in Belgrade), two VK901 based on the Marder II and one example of the Minitionsschlepper (VK302).

75-mm anti-tank gun Pak 40 (7.5-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40)

The development of a new 75-mm anti-tank gun, designated Pak 40, began at Rheinmetall-Borzig back in 1938. Already the following year, tests were carried out on the first prototypes, which were initially a 75-mm Pak 38 cannon enlarged to a caliber. However, it soon became clear that many of the technical solutions used for the 50-mm gun were not suitable for the 75-mm caliber. For example, this concerned the tubular parts of the carriage, which in the Pak 38 were made of aluminum. When testing Pak 40 prototypes, the aluminum parts quickly failed. This, as well as a number of other problems that emerged during the tests, forced the Rheinmetall-Borzig company to improve the design of the Pak 40. But due to the fact that the Wehrmacht did not yet feel the need for a more powerful gun than the Pak 38, the design of the Pak 40 proceeded quite slowly.

The impetus for accelerating work on the 75-mm anti-tank gun was the campaign against the USSR. Faced with T-34 and especially KV tanks, the Wehrmacht anti-tank units were unable to fight them. Therefore, the Rheinmetall-Borzig company was ordered to urgently complete work on the 75-mm Pak 40 gun.

In December 1941, prototypes of the new anti-tank gun were tested, in January 1942 it was put into production, and in February the first 15 production Pak 40s entered service with the troops.

The gun had a monoblock barrel with a muzzle brake, absorbing a significant part of the recoil energy, and a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt, providing a rate of fire of up to 14 rounds per minute. The carriage with sliding frames provided a horizontal firing angle of up to 58 degrees. For transportation, the gun had sprung wheels with solid rubber tires, which made it possible to tow it at speeds of up to 40 km/h with mechanical traction and 15–20 km/h with horses. The gun was equipped with pneumatic travel brakes, which were controlled from the cab of a tractor or car. In addition, it was possible to brake manually using two levers located on both sides of the carriage.

To protect the crew, the gun had a shield covering consisting of upper and lower shields. The upper one, mounted on the upper machine, consisted of two armor plates 4 mm thick, installed at a distance of 25 mm from each other. The lower one was attached to the lower machine, and one half of it could be hinged.

The cost of the gun was 12,000 Reichsmarks.

The ammunition of the Pak 40 gun included unitary rounds with a SprGr fragmentation grenade weighing 5.74 kg, an armor-piercing tracer PzGr 39 (a hard alloy blank weighing 6.8 kg with 17 g of tracer composition), a sub-caliber PzGr 40 (weighing 4.1 kg with tungsten carbide core) and cumulative HL.Gr (weighing 4.6 kg) projectiles.

The gun could successfully fight all types of tanks of the Red Army and its allies at long and medium distances. For example, PzGr 39 penetrated 80-mm armor at a distance of 1000 m, and PzGt40-87-mm. The cumulative HL.Gr was used to fight tanks at distances of up to 600 m, while it was guaranteed to penetrate 90 mm armor.

The Pak 40 was the successful and most popular anti-tank weapon of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Its production increased steadily: in 1942 the average monthly production was 176 guns, in 1943 - 728 and in 1944 - 977. The peak of Pak 40 production was in October 1944, when they managed to produce 1050 guns. Subsequently, due to the massive Allied bombing of German industrial enterprises, output began to decline. But, despite this, from January to April 1945, the Wehrmacht received another 721 75-mm anti-tank guns. A total of 23,303 Pak 40 guns were produced between 1942 and 1945. There were several variants of the Pak 40, differing in the design of the wheels (solid and spoked) and muzzle brakes.

75-mm anti-tank guns entered service with tank destroyer divisions of infantry, panzergrenadier, tank and a number of other divisions, as well as, to a lesser extent, in individual tank destroyer divisions. Constantly at the forefront, these guns suffered huge losses in battles. For example, over the last 4 months of 1944, the Wehrmacht lost 2490 Pak 40s, of which in September - 669, in October - 1020, in November - 494 and in December - 307. And in total, according to the main command of the ground forces, by March 1, 1945 there were 17,596 of these guns were lost, 5,228 Pak 40 were at the front (of which 4,695 were on a wheeled carriage) and another 84 were in warehouses and training units.

The 75 mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun was used in large quantities to arm various self-propelled guns on tank chassis, armored personnel carriers and armored cars. In 1942–1945, it was installed on self-propelled guns Marder II (on the chassis of the Pz.ll tank, 576 units) and Marder II (on the chassis of the Pz. 38(t) tank, 1756 units), armored personnel carriers Sd.Kfz. 251/22 (302 pieces), armored vehicles Sd.Kfz. 234/4 (89 pieces), RSO tracked tractors with an armored cab (60 pieces), based on captured French armored vehicles (Lorraine tractor, N-39 and FCM 36 tanks, armored personnel carrier on the Somua MCG half-track chassis, 220 pieces in total). Thus, during the entire period of mass production of the Pak 40, at least 3,003 units were installed on various chassis, not counting those subsequently used for repairs (this amounts to about 13% of all artillery systems produced).

At the end of 1942, the Heller Brothers company in Nurtingen developed and manufactured the 75-mm Pak 42 anti-tank gun, which was a modernized version of the Pak 40 with a barrel length of 71 calibers (the regular Pak 40 has a barrel length of 46 calibers ). According to German data, after testing, 253 of these guns were manufactured on a field carriage, after which their production was stopped. Subsequently, Pz.IV (A) Pz.IV (V) tank destroyers began to be armed with Pak 42 cannons (with the muzzle brake removed). As for the Pak 42 on a field carriage, photographs of them, data on their entry into the army or on combat use have not yet been found. The only image known to date of the Pak 42 is of it mounted on a 3-ton half-track tractor chassis.

75/55 mm anti-tank gun Pak 41 (7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 41)

The development of this gun began by Krupp in parallel with the design of the 75-mm Pak 40 at Rheinmetall-Borzig. However, unlike the latter, the Krupp gun, designated Pak 41, had a variable-caliber barrel like the 42-mm Pak 41. The first prototypes were manufactured at the end of 1941.

The gun had a fairly original design. The barrel was installed in a spherical support of a two-layer shield (two 7-mm armor plates). Frames and a sprung axle with wheels were attached to the shield. Thus, the main supporting structure of the Pak 41 was a double shield.

The gun barrel had a variable caliber from 75 mm at the breech to 55 mm at the muzzle, but it did not taper along its entire length, but consisted of three sections. The first, starting at the breech with a length of 2,950 mm, had a 75-mm caliber, then there was a 950 mm conical section, tapering from 75 to 55 mm, and finally the last, 420 mm long, had a 55-mm caliber. Thanks to this design, the middle conical section, which was subject to the greatest wear during shooting, could be easily replaced even in the field. To reduce recoil energy, the barrel had a slotted muzzle brake.

The 75-mm anti-tank gun with a conical bore Pak 41 was adopted by the Wehrmacht in the spring of 1942, and in April - May the Krupp company manufactured 150 of these guns, after which their production was discontinued. The Pak 41 was quite expensive - the cost of one gun was more than 15,000 Reichsmarks.

The Pak 41 ammunition included unitary rounds with armor-piercing shells PzGr 41 NK weighing 2.56 kg (pierced armor 136 mm thick at 1000 m) and PzGr 41 (W) weighing 2.5 kg (145 mm at 1000 m), as well as fragmentation SprGr.

Ammunition for the Pak 41 had the same design as for the 28/20 mm Pz.B.41 and 42 mm Pak 41 with conical bores. However, initially they arrived at the front in insufficient quantities, since tungsten, which was in short supply, was used for the manufacture of armor-piercing PzGr.

75-mm Pak 41 anti-tank guns entered service with tank destroyer battalions of several infantry divisions. Thanks to the high initial velocity of the projectile, they could successfully fight almost all types of Soviet, British and American tanks. However, due to rapid wear of the barrel and a shortage of tungsten, they began to be gradually withdrawn from the troops from mid-1943. However, as of March 1, 1945, the Wehrmacht still had 11 Pak 41s, although only three of them were at the front.

75-mm anti-tank gun Pak 97/38 (7.5-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 97/38)

Faced with Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, the Germans hastily began developing means of combating them. One of the measures was to use the barrels of a 75-mm French field gun of the 1897 model for this purpose - several thousand of these guns were captured by the Wehrmacht during campaigns in Poland and France (the Poles purchased these guns from the French in quite large quantities in the 1920s). In addition, a large amount of ammunition for these artillery systems fell into the hands of the Germans: in France alone there were more than 5.5 million of them!

The guns entered service with the Wehrmacht as field guns under the designation: for the Polish - 7.5 cm F. K.97 (p), and for the French - 7.5 cm F. K.231 (f). The difference was that the Polish cannons had wooden wheels with spokes - the guns were produced with them in France during the First World War, and the Polish army used horse-drawn teams to transport them. The guns in service with the French army were modernized in the 1930s, receiving metal wheels with rubber tires. This made it possible to tow them using tractors at speeds of up to 40 km/h. F.K.97(p) and F.K.231(f) entered service in limited quantities with several second-rate divisions, and were also used in coastal defense in France and Norway. For example, as of March 1, 1944, the Wehrmacht had 683 F. K.231 (f) (of which in France - 300, in Italy - two, on the Soviet-German front - 340 and in Norway - 41) and 26 Polish F. K.97 (r), who were on the Soviet-German front.

The use of guns of the 1897 model to fight tanks was difficult, first of all, due to the design of the single-beam carriage, which allowed a horizontal firing angle of only 6 degrees. Therefore, the Germans placed the barrel of a 75 mm French gun, equipped with a muzzle brake, on a 50 mm Pak 38 carriage and received a new anti-tank gun, which was designated 7.5 cm Pak 97/38. True, its price was quite high - 9,000 Reichsmarks. Despite the fact that the gun had a piston bolt, its rate of fire was up to 12 rounds per minute. For firing, German-developed shots with the PzGr armor-piercing projectile and the HL.Gr 38/97 cumulative projectile were used. Only French fragmentation weapons were used, designated SprGr 230/1 (f) and SprGr 233/1 (f) by the Wehrmacht.

Production of the Pak 97/38 began in early 1942 and ceased in July 1943. Moreover, the last 160 guns were manufactured on a Pak 40 gun carriage; they received the designation Pak 97/40. Compared to the Pak 97/38, the new artillery system has become heavier (1425 versus 1270 kg), but the ballistic data remains the same. In just one and a half years of serial production, 3712 Pak 97/38 and Pak 97/40 were produced. They entered service with tank destroyer divisions in infantry divisions and several others. As of March 1, 1945, Wehrmacht units still had 122 Pak 97/38 and F.K.231 (f) guns, and of this number only 14 were at the front.

Pak 97/38 were installed on the chassis of the Soviet captured T-26 tank - several such installations were manufactured in 1943.

75-mm anti-tank gun Pak 50 (7.5-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 50)

Due to the large mass of the 75-mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, which made it difficult for crews to move it across the battlefield, an attempt was made in April 1944 to create a lightweight version of it. To do this, the barrel was shortened by 1205 mm, equipped with a more powerful three-chamber muzzle brake and installed on a Pak 38 carriage. To fire from the new gun, designated Pak 50, shells from the Pak 40 were used, but the dimensions of the cartridge case and the mass of the powder charge were reduced. The test results showed that the weight of the Pak 50 compared to the Pak 40 did not decrease as much as expected - the fact is that when installing a 75-mm barrel on the Pak 38 carriage, all its aluminum parts had to be replaced with steel. In addition, tests showed that the armor penetration of the new gun was significantly reduced.

However, the Pak 50 went into mass production in May 1944, and by August 358 had been produced, after which production ceased.

Pak 50s entered service with infantry and panzergrenadier divisions and were used in combat from September 1944.

7.62-mm anti-tank gun Pak 36 (r) (7.62-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 36 (r))

Faced with T-34 and KV tanks, the German 37-mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank guns turned out to be practically powerless; the 50-mm Pak 38 was not enough among the troops, and they were not always effective. Therefore, along with the deployment of mass production of the more powerful 75-mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, which required time, the search for a temporary anti-tank measure began hastily.

A solution was found in the use of captured Soviet 76.2-mm divisional guns of the 1936 model (F-22), of which Wehrmacht units captured quite a lot in the first months of the war.

The development of the F-22 began in 1934 at the design bureau of V.G. Grabine as part of the creation of a so-called universal artillery system, which could be used as a howitzer, anti-tank and divisional one. The first prototypes were tested in June 1935, after which a meeting was held in the presence of the leaders of the Red Army and the USSR government.

As a result, it was decided to stop work on the universal cannon and create a divisional one on its basis. After a number of modifications, on May 11, 1936, the new artillery system was adopted by the Red Army as a 76.2 mm divisional gun of the 1936 model.

The gun, which received the factory designation F-22, was mounted on a carriage with two riveted box-section frames that moved apart in the firing position (this was a novelty for guns of this class), which ensured a horizontal firing angle of 60 degrees. The use of a semi-automatic wedge bolt made it possible to increase the rate of fire to 15 rounds per minute. Due to the fact that the F-22 was initially designed as a universal one, it had a fairly large elevation angle - 75 degrees, which made it possible to conduct barrage fire on aircraft. The disadvantages of the gun include its rather large mass (1620–1700 kg) and overall dimensions, as well as the location of the lifting and turning mechanism drives on opposite sides of the breech (lifting flywheel on the right, turning on the left). The latter made it very difficult to fire at moving targets, such as tanks. Production of the F-22 was carried out in 1937–1939; a total of 2,956 such guns were manufactured.

According to German data, they received a little more than 1000 F-22s as trophies during the summer-autumn campaign of 1941, more than 150 in the battles near Moscow and more than 100 during Operation Blau in July 1942 (we are talking about serviceable models) . The 76.2-mm F-22 guns entered service with the Wehrmacht under the designation F.K.296 (r) and were used as a field gun (F.K. (Feldkanone) - field gun), which had an armor-piercing projectile and could quite successfully fight Soviet tanks.

In addition, part of the F-22 was converted into anti-tank guns, designated Panzerabverkanone 36 (russland) or Pak 36 (r) - “anti-tank gun model 1936 (Russian).” At the same time, the Germans developed new, more powerful ammunition for this weapon, for which they had to bore out the chamber (the new ammunition had a sleeve length of 716 mm versus the original Soviet one of 385 mm). Since a large elevation angle was not required for the anti-tank gun, the sector of the lifting mechanism was limited to an angle of 18 degrees, which made it possible to move the gun guidance flywheel vertically from the right side to left side. In addition, the Pak 36 (r) received a shield cut to height and a two-chamber muzzle brake to reduce recoil energy.

As a result of modernization, the Wehrmacht had at its disposal a fairly powerful anti-tank gun, which could successfully fight Soviet T-34 and KV tanks at distances of up to 1000 m. Production of the Pak 36 (r) anti-tank gun began in 1942, and delivery to the army took place until the spring of 1943 -th (and for self-propelled artillery - until January 1944), the Wehrmacht received a total of 560 such artillery systems on a field machine and 894 for installation on self-propelled guns. But a clarification is in order here. The fact is that the number of manufactured guns in the towed version most likely included the 76.2 mm Pak 39 (r) anti-tank guns (see the next chapter), since the Germans in their documents often did not make a difference between the Pak 36 (r) and Pak 39(r). According to some reports, there could be up to 300 of the latter.

The ammunition of the Pak 36 (r) gun included unitary shots developed by the Germans with a PzGr 39 armor-piercing projectile weighing 2.5 kg, a PzGr 40 sub-caliber projectile weighing 2.1 kg (with a tungsten core) and a SprGr 39 fragmentation projectile weighing 6.25 kg.

Pak 36(r) were mounted on the chassis of the Pz.II Ausf.D and Pz.38(t) tanks and were used as tank destroyers. On a field carriage, these guns were mainly used by infantry divisions. The Pak 36(r) was used in combat in North Africa and on the Soviet-German front. As of March 1, 1945, the Wehrmacht still had 165 Pak 36 (u) and Pak 39 (r), some of which were in warehouses.

7.62-mm anti-tank gun Pak 39 (r) (7.62-cm Panzerabwehrkanone 39 (r))

It was generally accepted that only the F-22 was converted by the Germans into an anti-tank weapon, since it had a durable breech. However, the pre-war F-22USV 76.2 mm divisional guns also underwent similar modifications, since their breech and barrel design were almost no different from the F-22. In addition, this gun was lighter than the F-22 by 220–250 kg and had a barrel 710 mm shorter.

Development of a new 76.2 mm divisional gun for the Red Army began in 1938, as the F-22 being produced was too complex, expensive and heavy. The new gun, which received the factory designation F-22USV (F-22 improved), was designed in the design bureau under the leadership of V. Grabin in as soon as possible- already seven months after the start of work, a prototype was ready. This was achieved by using more than 50% of parts from the F-22 in the new artillery system. Like the base model, the F-22USV received a semi-automatic wedge bolt, providing a rate of fire of up to 15 rounds per minute, and a carriage with riveted frames, allowing horizontal fire up to 60 degrees. The design of the recoil brake, shield, upper and lower machines, lifting and turning mechanisms (although, like on the F-22, their drives were located on opposite sides of the barrel), the suspension system, and tires from the ZIS-5 were used. After testing in the fall of 1939, the new gun was adopted by the Red Army as the 76.2-mm divisional gun of the 1939 model (USV). In 1939–1940, 1150 F-22USVs were produced, in 1941–2661, and in 1942 - 6046. Moreover, in 1941–1942, 6890 units were produced by plant No. 221 “Barricades” in Stalingrad under the index USV-BR, and they differed in a number of ways parts from F-22USV guns manufactured at plant No. 92.

During the first year of the war, the Germans received quite a lot of 76.2 mm F-22USV and USV-BR as trophies. They entered service with the Wehrmacht as field guns under the designation F. K.296 (r). However, tests have shown that these guns can be successfully used as anti-tank guns, significantly increasing their armor penetration.

The Germans bored out the charging chamber of the F-22USV to use a shot developed for the Pak 36 (r), installed a two-chamber muzzle brake on the barrel, and moved the vertical aiming flywheel to the left side. In this form, the gun, designated Panzerabverkanone 39 (russland) or Pak 39 (r) - “anti-tank gun of the 1939 model (Russian)” began to enter service with the anti-tank units of the Wehrmacht. Moreover, only guns produced in 1940–1941 were redesigned - German tests of the USV-BR, 76-mm ZIS-3, as well as the F-22USV manufactured after the summer of 1941 showed that their breech was no longer as strong as those of pre-war guns, and therefore it was not possible to convert them into Pak 39 (r).

Unfortunately, it was not possible to find the exact number of Pak 39 (r) manufactured - the Germans often did not separate them from the Pak 36 (r). According to some sources, up to 300 of these guns were produced. There is also no data on the ballistics and armor penetration of the Pak 39(r).

88-mm anti-tank gun Pak 43 (8.8-cm Panzerabwebrkanone 43)

The design of a new 88-mm anti-tank gun began by Rheinmetall-Borzig in the fall of 1942, and ballistics from the Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun of the same caliber were used as the base. Due to the company's workload with other orders, at the end of 1942 the development and production of the 88-mm anti-tank gun, designated Pak 43, was transferred to the Weserhutte company.

The Pak 43 had a barrel almost seven meters long with a powerful muzzle brake and a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt. As a legacy from the anti-aircraft gun, the gun received a cruciform carriage, which was equipped with two two-wheel drives for transportation. Although this design made the gun heavier, it ensured all-round fire along the horizon, which was important when fighting tanks.

The horizontal installation of the gun was carried out at levels using special jacks located at the ends of the longitudinal beam of the carriage. To protect the crew from bullets and shell fragments, a shield of 5 mm armor was used, installed at a large angle to the vertical. The mass of the gun was more than 4.5 tons, so it was planned to use only 8-ton Sd.Kfz half-track tractors to tow it. 7.

The Pak 43 ammunition included unitary rounds with armor-piercing (PzGr 39/43 weighing 10.2 kg), sub-caliber tungsten carbide core (PzGr 40/43 weighing 7.3 kg), cumulative (HLGr) and fragmentation (SprGr) projectiles. The gun had very good characteristics - it could easily hit all types of Soviet, American and British tanks at distances of about 2500 m.

Due to the heavy loads encountered when firing, the Pak 43 had a relatively short barrel life, ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 rounds.

In addition, the use of early-release shells, which had a narrower leading band than those produced later, led to accelerated wear of the barrel up to 800-1200 shots.

For a number of reasons, the Weserhutte company was able to master the production of Pak 43 only in December 1943, when the first six production samples were manufactured. These guns were produced until the end of the war and entered service with individual tank destroyer divisions. A total of 2,098 Pak 43s were manufactured before April 1, 1945. In addition to the field carriage, a small number of Pak 43 barrels (about 100) were installed on Nashorn tank destroyers (based on the Pz.IV) in 1944–1945.

Without a doubt, the Pak 43 was the most powerful anti-tank gun of the Second World War, not inferior even to the Soviet 100 mm BS-3 (not counting the 128 mm Pak 80, of which several dozen were produced). However, for high efficiency in the fight against tanks, one had to pay for the large mass of the gun and its almost zero mobility on the battlefield - it took more than one minute to install the Pak 43 on the move (or remove it from it). And on the battlefield this often led to losses in material and personnel.

88-mm anti-tank gun Pak 43/41 (8.8-cm Panzerabwebrkanone 43/41)

Due to the delay in the production of the 88-mm Pak 43 anti-tank gun on a cruciform carriage, the Wehrmacht command ordered the Rheinmetall-Borsig company to urgently take measures to provide the army with these guns, which were required for the upcoming 1943 summer campaign on the Soviet-German front.

To speed up the work, the company used a carriage from its experimental 105 mm K 41 gun with wheels from a 150 mm FH18 heavy howitzer, putting a Pak 43 barrel on it. The result was a new anti-tank gun, designated Pak 43/41.

Thanks to the presence of sliding frames, the gun had a horizontal firing angle of 56 degrees.

To protect the crew from bullets and shell fragments, the Pak 43/41 was equipped with a shield mounted on the upper machine. The mass of the gun was, although less than that of the Pak 43 - 4380 kg, but still not so much that it could be moved on the battlefield by crew forces. The ballistics and ammunition used by the Pak 43/41 were the same as the Pak 43.

Production of new guns began in February 1943, when 23 Pak 43/41s were assembled. However, a few days later they were transferred to arm the Hornisse tank destroyers (later renamed Nashorn). Due to the fact that 88-mm anti-tank guns were being adopted by Hornisse, it was only in April 1943 that the first Pak 43/41s on a field carriage entered service with the troops. Production of these guns continued until the spring of 1944, with a total of 1,403 Pak 43/41s produced.

Like the Pak 43, these guns entered service with individual tank destroyer divisions. As of March 1, 1945, there were 1,049 88 mm anti-tank guns (Pak 43 and Pak 43/41) at the front, and another 135 were in warehouses and spare parts. Due to its large overall dimensions, the Pak 43/41 gun received the army nickname “Scheunentor” (barn gate).

128 mm anti-tank guns Pak 44 and Pak 80 (12.8 cm Panzerabwebrkanone 44 and 80)

The design of a 128-mm anti-tank gun began in 1943, and the Flak 40 anti-aircraft gun with good ballistic data was used as the base one. The first prototypes were manufactured by Krupp and Rheinmetall-Borzig, but after testing serial production adopted the Krupp gun, which in December 1943 began to be produced under the designation Pak 44 and by March 1944 18 such guns were manufactured.

The gun was mounted on a specially designed cruciform carriage, which provided 360-degree horizontal fire. Thanks to the presence of a semi-automatic bolt, the gun, despite the use of separately loaded shots, had a rate of fire of up to five rounds per minute. For transportation, the Pak 44 was equipped with four wheels with rubber tires, allowing it to be transported at speeds of up to 35 km/h. Due to the large mass of the artillery system - more than 10 tons - it could only be towed by 12 or 18 ton half-track tractors.

The Pak 44 ammunition included separate loading rounds with an armor-piercing projectile weighing 28.3 kg and a fragmentation projectile weighing 28 kg. The armor penetration of the Pak 44 was 200 mm at a distance of 1.5 kilometers. It could hit any Soviet, American or British tank at distances beyond their reach. In addition, due to the large mass of the projectile, when it hits a tank, even without penetrating the armor, in 90% of cases it still fails.

In February 1944, production of 128-mm Pak 80 anti-tank guns began. They differed from the Pak 44 mainly in the absence of a muzzle brake, and these guns were used in heavy Jagdtiger tank destroyers and Mans tanks. In the spring of 1944, the Krupp company produced two samples, designated K 81/1 and K 81/2, respectively. The first was a Pak 80 barrel mounted on the carriage of a captured French 155-mm Canon de 155-mm Grand Puissance Filloux gun. With a mass of 12197 kg, it had a horizontal fire of 60 degrees. It used the same ammunition as the Pak 80.

The 128 mm K 81/2 was a Pak 80 barrel equipped with a muzzle brake and mounted on the carriage of a captured Soviet 152 mm ML-20 howitzer gun. Compared to the K 81/1, this artillery system was lighter - 8302 kg and had a horizontal firing angle of 58 degrees.

On October 25, 1944, the main decision was made at Hitler's headquarters to install 52 Pak 80 barrels on French and Soviet carriages and use them as anti-tank guns. On November 8, the staff of a separate 128-mm battery (12.8-cm Kanonen-Batterie) was approved, which included six K 81/1 and K 81/2. By November 22, four such batteries were formed - 1092, 1097, 1124 and 1125, which included only ten 128-mm guns (7 K 81/2 and 3 K 81/1). Subsequently, the number of guns in the batteries increased, but never reached the standard number.

In total, from April 1944 to January 1945, the Krupp company in Breslau manufactured 132 Pak 80 guns, of which 80 were used for installation on the Jagdtiger, Maus and for training purposes (training self-propelled gun crews). The remaining 52 were mounted on field carriages and, under the designations K 81/1 and K 81/2, were used as anti-tank guns in separate artillery batteries on the western front.