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 type 1944 BS-3. Also used were German captured 75-mm anti-tank guns Rak 40. They were purposefully assembled, stored and repaired if necessary.
It was officially put into service in mid-1944. 37-mm airborne gun ChK-M1.
It was specially designed to arm parachute battalions and motorcycle regiments. The gun weighing 209 kg in combat position allowed for air transportation and parachuting. 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 a short distance. The shells were interchangeable with the 37 mm 61-K anti-aircraft gun. The gun was 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, there was the possibility of transporting the gun on a single 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 recoil devices, the 37-mm airborne gun model 1944 combined the ballistics of an anti-aircraft gun, powerful for its caliber, with small dimensions and weight. With the armor penetration values close to 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 the crew and its camouflage. At the same time, the M-42 also has a number of advantages - the presence of a full-fledged wheel travel, which allows the gun to be towed by a car, the absence of a muzzle brake unmasking when firing, a more effective fragmentation projectile and a better armor-piercing projectile.
The 37-mm ChK-M1 cannon was about 5 years late, was put into service and put into production when the war came to an end. Apparently, she did not take part in 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45-mm anti-tank guns were hopelessly outdated by the end of hostilities, even the presence of ammunition 45-mm guns M-42 a sub-caliber projectile with normal penetration at a distance of 500 meters - 81-mm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 fired at the side, from extremely small distances. The active use of these guns until the very last days of the war can be explained by their high maneuverability, ease of transportation and camouflage, the huge accumulated stocks of ammunition of this caliber, as well as the inability of the Soviet industry to provide the troops in the required number with anti-tank guns with higher characteristics.
One way or another, in the active army, "forty-fives" were very popular, only they could move by the forces of calculation in the battle formations of the advancing infantry, supporting it with fire.
At the end of the 40s, "forty-fives" began to be actively withdrawn from parts and transferred to storage. However, for quite a long period of time, they continued to remain in service with the Airborne Forces and used as training weapons.
A significant number of 45 mm M-42 were transferred to the then allies.
American soldiers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment study an 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 57-mm anti-tank gun ZiS-2 became possible in 1943, after the necessary metal-working machines were received from the USA. The restoration of serial production took place with difficulty - 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 units with the ZIS-2; in these conditions, the increase in the production of the 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 carrying out state and military tests was released in May 1943, and in the production of these guns, the backlog preserved 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 to confidently hit the 80-mm frontal armor of the most common German medium tanks Pz. IV and assault self-propelled guns StuG III at typical combat distances, as well as the side armor of the Pz. VI "Tiger" tank; at distances less than 500 m, the Tiger's frontal armor was also hit.
In terms of the total cost and manufacturability of production, combat and service and operational characteristics, the ZIS-2 became the best Soviet anti-tank gun of the war.
Since the resumption of production, until the end of the war, the troops received more than 9000 guns, but this was not enough to fully equip the anti-tank units.
Production of the ZiS-2 lasted until 1949, inclusive, in the post-war period about 3500 guns were produced. From 1950 to 1951, only the ZIS-2 barrels were produced. Since 1957, the previously released ZIS-2 has been modernized into the ZIS-2N variant with the ability to conduct combat at night due to the use of special night sights
In the 1950s, new sub-caliber projectiles with increased armor penetration were developed for the cannon.
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 the 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 index Type 55. 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, the anti-tank units were armed with captured German 75-mm anti-tank guns Cancer 40. During the offensive operations of 1943-1944, a large number of guns and ammunition were captured. Our military appreciated the high performance of these anti-tank guns. At a distance of 500 meters, along the normal, a sub-caliber projectile penetrated 154-mm armor.
In 1944, shooting tables and operating instructions were issued for Cancer 40 in the USSR.
After the war, the guns were transferred to storage, where they were located at least until the mid-60s. Subsequently, some of them were "disposed of", and some were transferred to the allies.
A snapshot of the RaK-40 guns was taken at the parade in Hanoi in 1960.
In fear of an invasion from the South, several anti-tank artillery battalions were formed as part of the North Vietnamese army, armed with the German 75-mm anti-tank guns RaK-40 from the Second World War. These guns were captured in large numbers in 1945 by the Red Army, and now the Soviet Union has 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, in the course of the war, divisional artillery guns had to fire at enemy tanks, perhaps even more often than specialized anti-tank guns.
Since 1944, due to the slowdown in the release of 45-mm guns and the lack of 57-mm ZIS-2 guns, despite the insufficient armor penetration for that time divisional 76 mm ZiS-3 became the main anti-tank gun of the Red Army.
In many respects, this was a forced measure, the penetration of an armor-piercing projectile, which penetrated 75-mm armor at a distance of 300 meters along the normal, was not enough to fight the German medium tanks Pz. IV.
As of 1943, the armor of the PzKpfW VI Tiger heavy tank 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 tank PzKpfW V "Panther", as well as the upgraded PzKpfW IV Ausf H and PzKpfW III Ausf M or N, were also weakly vulnerable in the frontal projection for the ZIS-3; 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 the 100-mm vertical armor remained unbearable for it.
The relative weakness of the anti-tank capabilities of the ZIS-3 was realized by the Soviet military leadership, but until the end of the war, the ZIS-3 was not replaced in the anti-tank subunits. 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.
Soon after the end of the war and the release 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 the anti-tank artillery. This did not prevent 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-3 are often used as fireworks 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 Salute Division under the commandant's office of Moscow, which conducts fireworks on the holidays on February 23 and May 9.
In 1946, 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 for a number of reasons was very delayed.
Outwardly, the D-44 strongly resembled the German 75-mm anti-tank Cancer 40.
From 1946 to 1954, plant No. 9 (Uralmash) produced 10,918 guns.
D-44s were in service with a separate anti-tank artillery battalion of a motorized rifle or tank regiment (two anti-tank artillery batteries consisting of two fire platoons) 6 each in a battery (in division 12).
As ammunition, unitary cartridges with high-explosive fragmentation grenades, reel-shaped sub-caliber projectiles, cumulative and smoke projectiles are used. The direct firing range of the BTS BR-367 at a target 2 m high is 1100 m. At a range of 500 m, this projectile penetrates an armor plate 135 mm thick at an angle of 90 °. The initial speed of 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 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 modifications. Thus, an M-72 engine of the Irbit Motorcycle Plant with a capacity of 14 hp was installed on one of the cannon beds. (4000 rpm.) Providing a self-propelled speed of up to 25 km / h. The transmission of power from the engine was provided through the propeller shaft, differential and axle shafts to both wheels of the gun. The gearbox, which is part of the transmission, provided six forward gears and two reverse gears. A seat is also fixed on the bed for one of the crew numbers, which performs the functions of the driver. At his disposal there is a steering gear that controls an additional, third, cannon wheel, mounted at the end of one of the beds. A headlamp 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 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 vastness of 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 weapons 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 was created anti-tank 85 mm gun D-48 … The main feature of the D-48 anti-tank gun was an 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 weapon. An armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1,000 m pierced armor with a thickness of 150-185 mm at an angle of 60 °. A sub-caliber projectile at a distance of 1000 m penetrates homogeneous armor with a thickness of 180-220 mm at an angle of 60 °. Maximum firing range of high-explosive fragmentation projectiles weighing 9.66 kg. - 19 km.
From 1955 to 1957 produced: 819 copies of D-48 and D-48N (with night sight APN2-77 or APN3-77).
The guns entered service with individual anti-tank artillery divisions of a tank or motorized rifle regiment. As an anti-tank gun, the D-48 cannon quickly became obsolete. In the early 60s of the XX century, tanks with more powerful armor protection appeared in NATO countries. A negative feature of the D-48 was the "exclusive" ammunition, not suitable 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 memo to Stalin, proposed, along with the resumption of production of the 57-mm ZIS-2, to start 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 launched into production. Due to the presence of a wedge breechblock with a vertically moving wedge with semi-automatic, the arrangement of vertical and horizontal guidance mechanisms on one side of the gun, as well as the use of unitary shots, the rate of fire of the gun is 8-10 rounds per minute. The cannon was fired with 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 a meeting angle of 90 ° pierced armor with a thickness of 160 mm. 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 large role. At the final stage of the war, 98 BS-3s were attached as a means of strengthening five tank armies. The gun was in service with the light artillery brigades of the 3-regimental composition.
In the artillery of the RGK, as of January 1, 1945, there were 87 BS-3 cannons. At the beginning of 1945, in the 9th Guards Army, as part of three rifle corps, one cannon artillery regiment, 20 BS-3 each, 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 counter enemy artillery and suppress long-range targets.
BS-3 had a number of disadvantages that made it difficult to use it as an anti-tank. When firing, the gun jumped a lot, which made the gunner's work unsafe and knocked down the sighting installations, which, in turn, led to a decrease in the practical rate of aimed shooting - 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 that unmasked the position and blinded the crew. The mobility of the gun with a mass of more than 3500 kg left much to be desired, transportation by the crew on the battlefield was almost impossible.
After the war, the gun was in production until 1951, a total of 3816 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 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, BS-3 cannons until recently were used as a coastal defense weapon in service with the 18th machine-gun and artillery division stationed in the Kuril Islands, and there is also a fairly significant number of them 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 an ATGM with a semi-automatic guidance system, which requires only keeping the target in the sight of the sight, the situation has changed in many ways. The military leadership of many countries considered metal-intensive, bulky and expensive anti-tank weapons an anachronism. But not in the USSR. In our country, the development and production of anti-tank guns continued in significant numbers. Moreover, at a qualitatively new level.
In 1961 entered service 100-mm smooth-bore anti-tank gun T-12, developed in the design bureau of the Yurginsky machine-building plant No. 75 under the leadership of V. Ya. Afanasyeva and L. V. Korneeva.
The decision to make a smoothbore gun at first glance may seem rather 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, it is possible to make the gas pressure much higher than in a threaded 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 - there is no need to be afraid of the so-called "flushing" of the rifling fields.
The cannon 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. Vertical wedge shutter with spring semi-automatic. Unitary charging. The carriage for the T-12 was taken from the 85 mm D-48 rifled anti-tank 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 serial production in 1970. The anti-tank artillery divisions of the motorized rifle divisions of the USSR Armed Forces included two anti-tank artillery batteries, consisting of six 100-mm T-12 (MT-12) anti-tank guns.
The T-12 and MT-12 cannons have the same warhead - a long, thin barrel with a length of 60 calibers with a "saltcellar" muzzle brake. Sliding beds are equipped with an additional retractable wheel installed at the openers. The main difference between the modernized model MT-12 is that it is equipped with a torsion bar suspension, which is blocked during firing to ensure stability.
When rolling the gun manually, a roller is placed under the trunk part of the bed, which is fastened with a stopper on the left bed. The T-12 and MT-12 cannons are transported by a standard MT-L or MT-LB tractor. For movement in the snow, the LO-7 ski mount was used, which made it possible to fire from skis at elevation angles up to + 16 ° with an angle of rotation up to 54 °, and at an elevation angle of 20 ° with an angle of rotation up to 40 °.
The smooth barrel is much more convenient for firing guided projectiles, although in 1961, most likely, this was not yet thought of. To combat armored targets, an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile with an arrow-shaped warhead with high kinetic energy is used, 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 projectiles.
Shot ZUBM-10 with an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile
Shot ZUBK8 with a cumulative projectile
When installing a special targeting device on the gun, you can use shots with the anti-tank missile "Kustet". The missile control is semi-automatic along the laser beam, the firing range is from 100 to 4000 m. The missile penetrates armor behind ERA ("reactive armor") up to 660 mm thick.
9M117 rocket and ZUBK10-1 round
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 1A31 Ruta hinged guidance radar.
MT-12R with radar 1A31 "Ruta"
The gun was massively in service with the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, supplied to Algeria, Iraq and Yugoslavia. They took part in hostilities 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.
Anti-tank guns MT-12 continue to be in service in Russia.
According to the press center of the Ministry of Defense, on August 26, 2013, a fire was extinguished at well No. P23 U1 near Novy Urengoy with the help of an accurate shot with an UBK-8 cumulative projectile from the MT-12 Rapier cannon of the Yekaterinburg separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District.
The fire began on August 19 and quickly turned into uncontrolled combustion of natural gas breaking through the faulty fittings. The artillery crew was transferred to Novy Urengoy by a military transport aircraft that took off from Orenburg. At the Shagol airfield, equipment and ammunition were loaded, after which the artillerymen under the command of the officer of the missile forces and artillery command 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 specialists came to the conclusion that the T-12 cannon “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 instructed to develop a new, more powerful anti-tank gun with the ballistics of the 125-mm smooth-bore D-81 tank gun. The task was difficult to fulfill, since the D-81, having excellent ballistics, gave the strongest recoil, which was still tolerable for a tank weighing 40 tons. But on field trials, 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, in the 125-mm cannon, 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-man 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: a towed D-13 and a 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 cannon had a mechanized system for transferring it from the combat position to the stowed position 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 converging the beds, and then lowered to the ground. Hydraulic cylinders raise the gun to maximum ground clearance, as well as raise and lower the wheels.
Sprut-B is towed by Ural-4320 or MT-LB tractor. In addition, for self-propelling on the battlefield, the gun has a special power unit based on the MeMZ-967A engine with a hydraulic drive. The engine is located on the right side of the implement under the hood. On the left side of the frame, the driver's seats and the gun control system are installed during self-movement. At the same time, the maximum speed on dry dirt roads is 10 km / h, and the ammunition load is 6 shots; fuel range - up to 50 km.
The ammunition load of the 125-mm gun "Sprut-B" includes separate-case loading shots with HEAT, 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. Shot VBM-17 with a sub-caliber projectile - M1 tanks "Abrams", "Leopard-2", "Merkava MK2". The VOF-36 round 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 "Sprut" can shoot shots ZUB K-14 with anti-tank missiles 9M119, the control of which is semi-automatic by a laser beam, the firing range is from 100 to 4000 m. Shot weight is about 24 kg, missiles - 17, 2 kg, it penetrates the armor behind the ERA with a thickness of 700–770 mm.
Currently, towed anti-tank guns (100- and 125-mm smooth-bore) 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. Ballistics and ammunition of the 125-mm gun "Sprut-B", unified with the guns 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 destruction of tanks and the possibility of hitting them point-blank. In addition, the Sprut-B can be used as a non-anti-tank weapon. Its HE-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.
