Soviet post-war artillery. Fighter-anti-tank artillery of the Red Army

After the end of the war, in the USSR, anti-tank artillery was armed with: 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 model 1944 BS-3. German captured 75-mm Pak 40 anti-tank guns were also used. They were purposefully assembled, stored and repaired if necessary.

In the middle of 1944, the 37-mm airborne gun ChK-M1 was officially adopted.

It was specially designed to equip parachute battalions and motorcycle regiments. The gun weighing 209 kg in combat position allowed air transportation and parachuting. It had good armor penetration for its caliber, which made it possible to hit the side armor of medium and heavy tanks with a sub-caliber projectile at a short distance. The shells were interchangeable with the 37 mm 61-K anti-aircraft gun. The guns were transported in Willis and GAZ-64 vehicles (one gun per vehicle), as well as in Dodge and GAZ-AA vehicles (two guns per vehicle).

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

The calculation of the gun consisted of four people - the commander, gunner, loader and carrier. When shooting, the calculation takes a prone position. The technical rate of fire reached 25-30 rounds per minute.
Thanks to the original design of the recoil devices, the 37-mm airborne gun model 1944 combined powerful anti-aircraft gun ballistics for its caliber with small dimensions and weight. With armor penetration values ​​close to those of the 45 mm M-42, the ChK-M1 is three times lighter and much 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, which allows 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 shells.
The 37 mm ChK-M1 gun was about 5 years late, 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.

45-mm anti-tank guns were hopelessly outdated by the end of hostilities, even the presence of a 45-mm M-42 sabot projectile in the ammunition load with normal armor penetration at a distance of 500 meters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 struck only when firing into the side, from extremely short distances. The active use of these tools up to the very last days wars can be explained by high maneuverability, ease of transportation and camouflage, huge accumulated stocks of ammunition of this caliber, as well as the inability of Soviet industry to provide the troops in the required quantity with higher-performance anti-tank guns.
One way or another, in the active army, the "forty-five" were very popular, only they could move by calculation forces in the combat formations of the advancing infantry, supporting it with fire.

In the late 40s, "forty-five" began to be actively withdrawn from parts and transferred to storage. However, for quite a long period of time they continued to remain on armament of the Airborne Forces and be 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 the M-42 captured in Korea

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

Mass production of the 57-mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun became possible in 1943, after the necessary metalworking machines were received from the USA. The restoration of mass production was difficult - again there were technological problems with the manufacture of barrels, in addition, the plant was heavily loaded with a program for the production of 76-mm divisional and tank guns, which had a number of common nodes with the ZIS-2; under these conditions, the increase in the production of ZIS-2 on the existing equipment could be carried out only by reducing the volume of production of these guns, 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 backlog that had been mothballed at the plant since 1941 was widely used. The 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 was amazed and frontal armor"Tiger".
In terms of the cost and manufacturability of production, combat and service performance, the ZIS-2 became the best Soviet anti-tank gun of the war.
Since the resumption of production, until the end of the war, more than 9,000 guns were delivered to the troops, but this was not enough to fully equip anti-tank units.

Production of the ZiS-2 continued through 1949, postwar period about 3500 guns were fired. From 1950 to 1951, only ZIS-2 barrels were produced. Since 1957, the previously released ZIS-2 was upgraded to the ZIS-2N variant with the ability to conduct combat at night through the use of special night sights
In the 1950s, new sub-caliber shells with increased armor penetration were developed for the gun.

In the post-war period, the ZIS-2 was in service with the Soviet army until at least the 1970s, the last case of combat use was recorded in 1968, during a conflict with the PRC on Damansky Island.
ZIS-2 was 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 Type 55 index. As of 2007, the ZIS-2 was still in service with the armies of Algeria, Guinea, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In the second half of the war, captured German 75-mm anti-tank guns Pak 40 were in service with the anti-tank units. During the offensive operations of 1943-1944, it was captured a large number of guns and their ammunition. Our military appreciated the high performance of these anti-tank guns. At a distance of 500 meters, normal sabot projectile pierced - 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 were 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 battalions were formed as part of the army of North Vietnam, armed with German 75 mm RaK-40 anti-tank guns from the Second World War. Such guns are large quantities were captured in 1945 by the Red Army, and now Soviet Union provided them to the Vietnamese people for protection against possible aggression from the South.

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

Since 1944, due to a slowdown in the production of 45-mm guns and a shortage of 57-mm ZIS-2 guns, despite insufficient armor penetration for that time, the divisional 76-mm ZiS-3 became the main anti-tank gun of the Red Army.

In many ways, this was a forced measure. The armor penetration of an armor-piercing projectile, which pierced 75-mm armor at a distance of 300 meters along the normal, was not enough to deal with medium German tanks Pz.IV.

As of 1943 booking heavy tank 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. Weakly vulnerable in the frontal projection for the ZIS-3 were also new german tank PzKpfW V "Panther", as well as modernized PzKpfW IV Ausf H and PzKpfW III Ausf M or N; however, all these vehicles were confidently hit from the ZIS-3 to the side.

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 unbearable for it.
The relative weakness of the anti-tank capabilities of the ZIS-3 was recognized by the Soviet military leadership, but it was not possible to replace the ZIS-3 in anti-tank units until the end of the war. 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, the 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 around the world and taking part in many local conflicts, including on the territory of the former USSR.

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

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

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

As ammunition, unitary cartridges with high-explosive fragmentation grenades, coil-shaped sub-caliber shells, cumulative and smoke shells are used. The range of a direct shot of the BTS BR-367 at a target with a height of 2 m is 1100 m. At a range of 500 m, this projectile pierces an armor plate 135 mm thick at an angle of 90 °. The initial speed of the BPS BR-365P 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 of the SD-44 was also developed, 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. So, on one of the frames of the gun, an M-72 engine of the Irbit motorcycle plant with a power of 14 hp was installed, covered with a casing. (4000 rpm) providing a self-propelled speed of up to 25 km / h. Power transmission from the engine was provided through the cardan shaft, differential and axle shafts to both wheels of the gun. The gearbox included in the transmission provided six forward gears and two reverse gears. A seat is also fixed on the bed for one of the numbers of the calculation, which acts as a driver. He has at his disposal a steering mechanism that controls an additional, third, wheel of the gun, mounted at the end of one of the beds. 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 assign 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."

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 the D-44, under the leadership of the chief designer F.F. Petrov, an anti-tank 85-mm gun D-48 was created. The main feature of the D-48 anti-tank gun was its exceptionally long barrel. To ensure the maximum muzzle velocity of the projectile, the barrel length was increased to 74 calibers (6 m, 29 cm).
Especially for this gun, new unitary shots were created. An armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1,000 m pierced 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 D-48 and D-48N were produced (with night sight APN2-77 or APN3-77).

The guns entered service with individual anti-tank artillery battalions of a tank or motorized rifle regiment. As an anti-tank gun, the D-48 gun quickly became obsolete. In the early 60s of the XX century, tanks with more powerful armor protection appeared in NATO countries. The negative feature of the D-48 was the "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 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, the BS-3 100-mm field gun of the 1944 model was put into production. Due to the presence of a wedge gate with a vertically moving wedge with semi-automatic, the location of 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 was fired with unitary cartridges with armor-piercing tracer rounds and high-explosive fragmentation grenades. An armor-piercing tracer with an initial velocity of 895 m/s at a range of 500 m at a meeting angle of 90° pierced armor 160 mm thick. The range of a direct shot was 1080 m.

However, the role of this gun in the fight against enemy tanks is greatly exaggerated. By the time it appeared, the Germans practically did not use tanks massively.

During the war, the 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 given as a means of reinforcing five tank armies. The gun was in service with the light artillery brigades of the 3rd regiment.

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

Basically, due to the long firing range - 20650 m and a fairly effective high-explosive fragmentation grenade weighing 15.6 kg, the gun was used as a hull gun to fight enemy artillery and suppress distant targets.

The BS-3 had a number of shortcomings that made it difficult to use it as an anti-tank weapon. When firing, the gun jumped heavily, which made the gunner's work unsafe and knocked down the aiming mounts, which, in turn, led to a decrease in the practical pace aimed shooting- qualities for a field anti-tank gun are very important.

The presence of a powerful muzzle brake with a low 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 calculation. The mobility of a gun with a mass of more than 3500 kg left much to be desired, transportation by crew forces on the battlefield was almost impossible.

After the war, the gun was in production until 1951 inclusive, a total of 3816 BS-3 field guns were produced. In the 60s, the guns underwent modernization, this concerned primarily 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 entered the BS-3 ammunition load.

This weapon was also supplied to other countries, 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, the BS-3 guns were used as coastal defense weapons in service with the 18th machine gun and artillery division stationed on the Kuril Islands, and a fairly significant number of them are also 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 field of view of the sight, the situation has changed in many ways. 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 numbers. And at a qualitatively new level.

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

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

In a smooth channel, it is possible to make the gas pressure much higher than in a rifled one, and accordingly increase the initial velocity 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 a cumulative projectile.
A smooth-bore gun significantly increases the survivability of the barrel - you can not be afraid of 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 vertical wedge with spring semi-automatic. Charging 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 gun. The new system received the index MT-12 (2A29), and in some sources it is called the "Rapier". IN mass production MT-12 went in 1970. As part of the anti-tank artillery battalions motorized rifle divisions The USSR Armed Forces included two anti-tank artillery batteries, consisting of six 100-mm anti-tank guns T-12 (MT-12).

Guns T-12 and MT-12 have the same warhead- a long thin barrel with a length of 60 calibers with a muzzle brake - "salt shaker". Sliding beds are equipped with an additional retractable wheel installed at the coulters. The main difference of the modernized MT-12 model is that it is equipped with a torsion bar suspension, which is blocked during firing to ensure stability.

When rolling the gun manually under the trunk part of the frame, a roller is substituted, which is fastened with a stopper on the left frame. Transportation of T-12 and MT-12 guns is carried out by a regular tractor MT-L or MT-LB. For driving on snow, the LO-7 ski mount was used, which made it possible to fire from skis at elevation angles 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 in 1961 this was most likely not thought about yet. To combat armored targets, an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile with a swept warhead with high kinetic energy is used, capable of penetrating armor 215 mm thick at a distance of 1000 meters. The ammunition load includes several types of sub-caliber, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells.

Shot ZUBM-10 with armor-piercing projectile

Shot ZUBK8 with a cumulative projectile

When a special guidance device is installed on the gun, it is possible to use shots from anti-tank missile"Brass knuckles". The missile is controlled by a semi-automatic 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.

Rocket 9M117 and shot ZUBK10-1

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

MT-12R with radar 1A31 "Ruta"

The gun was massively in service with the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, was supplied to Algeria, Iraq and Yugoslavia. They took part in military operations in Afghanistan, in the Iran-Iraq war, 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 conventional divisional or corps guns.

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 started on August 19 and quickly turned into an uncontrollable fire breaking through the faulty rebar. natural gas. The artillery crew was transferred to Novy Urengoy by a military transport aircraft that took off from Orenburg. Equipment and ammunition were loaded at the Shagol airfield, after which the gunners under the command of the officer of the Missile Forces and Artillery Department of the Central Military District, Colonel Gennady Mandrichenko, were taken to the scene. The gun was set for direct fire from a minimum allowable 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 JSC Spetstechnika) was instructed 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 accomplish, since the D-81, having excellent ballistics, gave the strongest return, which was still tolerable for a tank weighing 40 tons. But at field tests, the D-81 fired from a tracked carriage of a 203-mm B-4 howitzer. It is clear that such an anti-tank gun of 17 tons in weight and a maximum speed of 10 km / h was out of the question. Therefore, in the 125-mm gun, the recoil 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-bed carriage from a serial 122-mm D-30 howitzer, which allowed circular fire.

The new 125-mm cannon 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 the SD-13 was the 125-mm smooth-bore 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 a combat position to a marching one and vice versa, consisting of a hydraulic jack and hydraulic cylinders. With the help of a jack, the carriage was raised to a certain height, necessary for breeding or reducing the beds, and then lowered to the ground. Hydraulic cylinders lift the gun to its maximum 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-movement on the battlefield, the gun has a special power unit, made on the basis of the MeMZ-967A engine with a 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 are installed on self-propelled. Max Speed while on dry dirt roads - 10 km / h, and transportable ammunition - 6 shots; cruising range for fuel - up to 50 km.

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

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

At present, towed anti-tank guns (100- and 125-mm smoothbore) are in service with the countries - the former republics of the USSR, as well as a number of developing countries. The armies of the 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 cannons of modern main tanks, are capable of hitting any serial tanks in the world. An important advantage of anti-tank guns over ATGMs is a wider choice of means of destroying tanks and the possibility of hitting them point-blank. In addition, the 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 in terms of explosive mass to the OF-471 projectile of the 122-mm A-19 corps gun, which became famous in the Great Patriotic war.

“Artillery is the god of war,” I. V. Stalin once said, speaking of one of the most significant branches of the military. With these words, he tried to emphasize the great importance that this weapon had during the Second World War. And this expression is true, since the merits of artillery can hardly be overestimated. Its power allowed the Soviet troops to mercilessly smash enemies and bring the much-desired Great Victory closer.

Further in this article, the artillery of the Second World War, which was then in service with Nazi Germany and the USSR, will be considered, starting with light anti-tank guns and ending with super-heavy monster guns.

Anti-tank guns

As the history of the Second World War has shown, light guns by and large turned out to be practically useless against armored vehicles. The fact is that they were usually developed in the interwar years and could only withstand the weak protection of the first armored vehicles. But before World War II, technology began to rapidly modernize. The armor of tanks became much thicker, so many types of guns turned out to be hopelessly outdated.

mortars

Perhaps the most accessible and effective infantry support weapon was mortars. They perfectly combined such properties as range and firepower, so their use was able to turn the tide of the entire enemy offensive.

German troops most often used the 80mm Granatwerfer-34. This weapon earned a grim reputation among the allied forces for its high speed and the utmost accuracy of firing. In addition, its firing range was 2400 m.

The Red Army used the 120 mm M1938, which entered service in 1939, to provide fire support to its infantrymen. He was the very first mortar with such a caliber that was ever produced and used in world practice. When the German troops encountered this weapon on the battlefield, they appreciated its power, after which they put a copy into production and designated it as the Granatwerfer-42. M1932 weighed 285 kg and was the heaviest type of mortar that the infantrymen had to carry with them. To do this, it was either disassembled into several parts, or pulled on a special cart. Its firing range was 400 m less than that of the German Granatwerfer-34.

Self-propelled installations

In the very first weeks of the war, it became clear that the infantry was in dire need of reliable fire support. The German armed forces ran into an obstacle in the form of well-fortified positions and a large concentration of enemy troops. Then they decided to strengthen their mobile fire support with the Vespe self-propelled 105-mm artillery mount mounted on the PzKpfw II tank chassis. Another similar weapon - "Hummel" - was part of the motorized and tank divisions since 1942.

In the same period, the Red Army was armed with self-propelled unit SU-76 with a 76.2 mm cannon. It was installed on a modified chassis light tank T-70. Initially, the SU-76 was supposed to be used as a tank destroyer, but during its use it was realized that it had too little firepower for this.

In the spring of 1943, Soviet troops received new car- ISU-152. It was equipped with a 152.4 mm howitzer and was intended both to destroy tanks and mobile artillery, and to support infantry with fire. First, the gun was mounted on the KV-1 tank chassis, and then on the IS. In combat, this weapon proved to be so effective that it remained in service with the Warsaw Pact countries until the 70s of the last century.

This type of gun was of great importance during the conduct of hostilities throughout the Second World War. The heaviest of the then available artillery, which was in service with the Red Army, was the M1931 B-4 howitzer with a caliber of 203 mm. When the Soviet troops began to slow down the rapid advance of the German invaders on their territory and the war on the Eastern Front became more static, heavy artillery was, as they say, in its place.

But the developers were always looking for the best option. Their task was to create a weapon in which, as far as possible, such characteristics as a small mass, a good firing range and the heaviest projectiles would harmoniously merge. And such a weapon was created. They became the 152-millimeter howitzer ML-20. A little later, a more modernized M1943 gun with the same caliber, but with a weighted barrel and a large muzzle brake, entered service with the Soviet troops.

The defense enterprises of the Soviet Union then produced huge batches of such howitzers, which fired massively at the enemy. Artillery literally devastated German positions and thereby thwarted enemy offensive plans. An example of this is Operation Hurricane, which was successfully carried out in 1942. Its result was the encirclement of the 6th German army near Stalingrad. More than 13 thousand guns were used for its implementation different types. Artillery preparations of unprecedented power preceded this offensive. It was she who largely contributed to the rapid advance of the Soviet tank troops and infantry.

German heavy weapons

According to after the First World War, Germany was forbidden to have guns having a caliber of 150 mm or more. Therefore, the specialists of the Krupp company, who were developing the new gun, had to create a heavy field howitzer sFH 18 with a 149.1-mm barrel, consisting of a pipe, a breech and a casing.

At the beginning of the war, the German heavy howitzer moved with the help of horse traction. But later, its modernized version was already dragging a half-track tractor, which made it much more mobile. The German army successfully used it on the Eastern Front. By the end of the war, sFH 18 howitzers were mounted on tank chassis. Thus, the Hummel self-propelled artillery mount was obtained.

Rocket troops and artillery is one of the divisions of the ground armed forces. The use of missiles during the Second World War was mainly associated with large-scale hostilities on the Eastern Front. Powerful rockets covered large areas with their fire, which compensated for some of the inaccuracy of these unguided guns. Compared to conventional shells, the cost of rockets was much less, and besides, they were produced very quickly. Another advantage was their relative ease of use.

Soviet rocket artillery used 132 mm M-13 rounds during the war. They were created in the 1930s and by the time Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, they were in very small quantities. These rockets are perhaps the most famous of all such shells used during the Second World War. Gradually, their production was established, and by the end of 1941, the M-13 was used in battles against the Nazis.

It must be said that rocket troops and artillery of the Red Army plunged the Germans into a real shock, which was caused by the unprecedented power and deadly effect of the new weapon. BM-13-16 launchers were placed on trucks and had rails for 16 rounds. Later, these missile systems would be known as "Katyusha". Over time, they were modernized several times and were in service with the Soviet army until the 80s of the last century. With the advent of the expression "Artillery is the god of war" began to be perceived as true.

German rocket launchers

A new type of weapon made it possible to deliver explosive explosive parts both over long and short distances. Thus, short-range projectiles concentrated their firepower on targets located on the front line, while long-range missiles attacked objects located behind enemy lines.

The Germans also had their own rocket artillery. "Wurframen-40" - a German rocket launcher, which was located on the Sd.Kfz.251 half-tracked vehicle. The missile was aimed at the target by turning the machine itself. Sometimes these systems were introduced into battle as towed artillery.

Most often, the Germans used the Nebelwerfer-41 rocket launcher, which had a honeycomb structure. It consisted of six tubular guides and was mounted on a two-wheeled carriage. But during the battle, this weapon was extremely dangerous not only for the enemy, but also for their own calculation because of the nozzle flame escaping from the pipes.

The weight of projectiles with had a huge impact on their range. Therefore, the army whose artillery could hit targets located far behind the enemy line had a significant military advantage. Heavy German rockets were useful only for indirect fire when it was necessary to destroy well-fortified objects, such as bunkers, armored vehicles or various defensive structures.

It is worth noting that the German artillery fire was much inferior in range rocket launcher Katyusha because of the excessive heaviness of the shells.

Super heavy guns

Artillery played a very important role in the Nazi armed forces. This is all the more surprising since it was almost the most important element of the fascist military machine, and for some reason modern researchers prefer to focus their attention on studying the history of the Luftwaffe (air force).

Even at the end of the war, German engineers continued to work on a new grandiose armored vehicle - a prototype of a huge tank, in comparison with which everything else military equipment seemed to be a dwarf. Project P1500 "Monster" did not have time to implement. It is only known that the tank was supposed to weigh 1.5 tons. It was planned that he would be armed with an 80-cm Gustav gun from the Krupp company. It is worth noting that its developers have always thought big, and artillery was no exception. This weapon entered service with the Nazi army during the siege of the city of Sevastopol. The gun fired only 48 shots, after which its barrel wore out.

Railway guns K-12 were in service with the 701st artillery battery, stationed on the coast of the English Channel. According to some reports, their shells, and they weighed 107.5 kg, hit several targets in southern England. These artillery monsters had their own T-shaped track sections, necessary for installation and targeting.

Statistics

As noted earlier, the armies of the countries that participated in the hostilities of 1939-1945 came to grips with obsolete or partially modernized guns. All their inefficiency was fully revealed by World War II. Artillery urgently needed not only to be updated, but also to increase its number.

From 1941 to 1944, Germany produced more than 102 thousand guns with different caliber and up to 70 thousand mortars. By the time of the attack on the USSR, the Germans already had about 47 thousand artillery pieces, and this is without taking into account assault guns. If we take the United States as an example, then over the same period they produced about 150 thousand guns. Great Britain managed to produce only 70 thousand weapons of this class. But the record holder in this race was the Soviet Union: during the war years, more than 480 thousand guns and about 350 thousand mortars were fired here. Prior to this, the USSR already had 67 thousand barrels in service. This figure does not include 50mm mortars, naval artillery and anti-aircraft guns.

During the years of World War II, the artillery of the warring countries has undergone great changes. Constantly, either modernized or completely new guns came into service with the armies. Anti-tank and self-propelled artillery developed especially rapidly (photographs of that time demonstrate its power). According to experts from different countries, about half of all losses of the ground forces are accounted for by the use of mortars during the battle.

For hundreds of years, artillery has been an important component of the Russian army. However, she reached her power and prosperity during the Second World War - it was not by chance that she was called the "god of war." An analysis of a long-term military campaign made it possible to determine the most promising areas of this kind of troops for decades to come. As a result, modern Russian artillery today has the necessary power both for effective combat operations in local conflicts and for repelling massive aggression.

legacy of the past

New samples of Russian weapons "lead a pedigree" from the 60s of the XX century, when the Soviet army leadership set a course for high-quality rearmament. Dozens of leading design bureaus, where outstanding engineers and designers worked, laid the theoretical and technical foundation for the creation of the latest weapons.

The experience of previous wars and the analysis of the potential of foreign armies have clearly shown that it is necessary to rely on mobile self-propelled artillery and mortar installations. Thanks to decisions made half a century ago, Russian artillery acquired a solid fleet of caterpillar and wheeled missile and artillery weapons, the basis of which is the “flower collection”: from the nimble 122-mm Gvozdika howitzer to the formidable 240-mm Tulip.

Barrel field artillery

The barrel artillery of Russia has a huge number of guns. They are in service with artillery units, units and formations of the Ground Forces and represent the basis of the firepower of the Marine Corps and Internal Troops. Barrel artillery combines high firepower, accuracy and accuracy of fire with simplicity of design and use, mobility, increased reliability, flexibility of fire, and is also economical.

Many samples of towed guns were designed taking into account the experience of the Second World War. In the Russian army, they are gradually being replaced by self-propelled artillery guns developed in 1971-1975, optimized for performing fire missions even in a nuclear conflict. The towed guns are supposed to be used in fortified areas and in secondary theaters of military operations.

Armaments

At present, the barrel artillery of Russia has the following types of self-propelled guns:

• Floating howitzer 2S1 "Carnation" (122-mm).
• Howitzer 2SZ "Acacia" (152 mm).
• Howitzer 2S19 "Msta-S" (152 mm).
• Gun 2S5 "Hyacinth" (152 mm).
• Gun 2S7 "Peony" (203 mm).

A self-propelled howitzer with unique characteristics and the ability to fire in the “flurry of fire” mode 2S35 “Coalition-SV” (152 mm) is undergoing active tests.

The 120-mm self-propelled guns 2S23 "Nona-SVK", 2S9 "Nona-S", 2S31 "Vena" and their towed analogue 2B16 "Nona-K" are intended for fire support of combined arms units. A feature of these guns is that they can serve as mortars, mortars, howitzers or anti-tank guns.

anti-tank artillery

Along with the creation of highly effective anti-tank missile systems, considerable attention is paid to the development of anti-tank artillery pieces. Their advantages over anti-tank missiles lie primarily in their relative cheapness, simplicity of design and use, and the ability to fire around the clock in any weather.

Russian anti-tank artillery is moving towards increasing power and caliber, improving ammunition and sighting devices. The pinnacle of this development was the 100-mm anti-tank smoothbore gun MT-12 (2A29) "Rapier" with increased muzzle velocity and effective range up to 1500 m. 660 mm.

The towed PT 2A45M Sprut-B, which is in service with the Russian Federation, also has even greater armor penetration. Behind dynamic protection, it is capable of hitting armor up to 770 mm thick. Russian self-propelled artillery in this segment is represented by the 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled gun, which has recently been put into service with paratroopers.

mortars

Modern Russian artillery is unthinkable without mortars for various purposes and calibers. Russian samples of this class of weapons are exclusively effective tool suppression, destruction and fire support. The troops have the following samples of mortar weapons:

• Automatic 2B9M "Cornflower" (82 mm).
• 2B14-1 "Tray" (82 mm).
• Mortar complex 2S12 "Sani" (120-mm).
• Self-propelled 2S4 "Tulip" (240 mm).
• M-160 (160 mm) and M-240 (240 mm).

Characteristics and features

If the mortars "Tray" and "Sled" repeat the designs of the models of the Great Patriotic War, then the "Cornflower" is fundamentally new system. It is equipped with automatic reloading mechanisms, which allows firing with an excellent rate of fire of 100-120 rds / min (compared to 24 rds / min for the Tray mortar).

Russian artillery can rightly be proud of the self-propelled mortar "Tulip", which is also an original system. In the stowed position, its 240-mm barrel is mounted on the roof of an armored tracked chassis, in combat it rests on a special plate resting on the ground. In this case, all operations are carried out using a hydraulic system.

Coastal troops in the Russian Federation as a branch of independent forces of the Navy was formed in 1989. The basis of its firepower is made up of mobile missile and artillery systems:

• "Redoubt" (missile).
• 4K51 "Frontier" (missile).
• 3K55 "Bastion" (missile).
• 3K60 "Ball" (missile).
• A-222 "Coast" (artillery 130-mm).

These complexes are truly unique and pose a real threat to any enemy fleet. The newest Bastion has been on combat duty since 2010, equipped with Onyx/Yakhont hypersonic missiles. During the Crimean events, several "Bastions", defiantly placed on the peninsula, thwarted plans for a "show of force" by the NATO fleet.

The latest Russian coastal defense artillery A-222 "Bereg" effectively works both on small-sized high-speed vessels moving at a speed of 100 knots (180 km / h), and medium surface ships (within 23 km from the complex), and ground targets.

Heavy artillery is always ready to support powerful complexes. Coastal troops: self-propelled guns "Hyacinth-S", gun-howitzer "Hyacinth-B", gun-howitzer "Msta-B", howitzers D-20 and D-30, MLRS.

Multiple launch rocket systems

Since the Second World War, Russian rocket artillery, as the successor to the USSR, has had a powerful group of MLRS. In the 1950s, a 122-mm 40-barrel system BM-21 "Grad" was created. The ground forces of the Russian Federation have 4,500 such systems.

BM-21 "Grad" became the prototype of the "Grad-1" system, created in 1975 to equip tank and motorized rifle regiments, as well as a more powerful 220-mm Uragan system for artillery units of the army level. This line of development was continued long-range system"Smerch" with 300-mm projectiles and the new MLRS of the divisional level "Prima" with an increased number of guides and rockets of increased power with a detachable warhead.

Procurement of a new MLRS "Tornado" is underway - a bicaliber system mounted on the MAZ-543M chassis. In the Tornado-G variant, it fires 122-mm rockets from the Grad MLRS, three times as effective as the latter. In the Tornado-S variant, designed for firing 300-mm rockets, it is 3-4 times superior to the Smerch in terms of combat effectiveness. "Tornado" strikes targets with a volley and single high-precision rockets.

Flak

Russian anti-aircraft artillery is represented by the following self-propelled small-caliber systems:

• Quadruple self-propelled installation "Shilka" (23 mm).
• Self-propelled twin installation "Tunguska" (30 mm).
• Self-propelled twin installation "Pantsir" (30 mm).
• Towed twin installation ZU-23 (2A13) (23 mm).

Self-propelled units are equipped with a radio instrumentation system that provides target acquisition and auto-tracking, generation of data for aiming. Automatic aiming of guns is carried out with the help of hydraulic drives. Shilka is exclusively an artillery system, while Tunguska and Pantsir are also armed with anti-aircraft missiles.

During the war, the 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 given as a means of reinforcing five tank armies. The gun was in service with the light artillery brigades of the 3rd regiment.

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

Basically, due to the long firing range - 20650 m and a fairly effective high-explosive fragmentation grenade weighing 15.6 kg, the gun was used as a hull gun to fight enemy artillery and suppress distant targets.

The BS-3 had a number of shortcomings that made it difficult to use it as an anti-tank weapon. When firing, the gun jumped heavily, which made the gunner's work unsafe and knocked down aiming 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 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 calculation. The mobility of a gun with a mass of more than 3500 kg left much to be desired, transportation by crew forces on the battlefield was almost impossible.

After the war, the gun was in production until 1951 inclusive, a total of 3816 BS-3 field guns were produced. In the 60s, the guns underwent modernization, this concerned primarily 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 entered the BS-3 ammunition load.

This weapon was also supplied to other countries, 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, the BS-3 guns were used as coastal defense weapons in service with the 18th machine gun and artillery division stationed on the Kuril Islands, and a fairly significant number of them are also 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 field of view of the sight, the situation has changed in many ways. 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 numbers. And at a qualitatively new level.

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