To combat the new medium and heavy tanks that appeared in the United States and Great Britain, several types of anti-tank self-propelled guns were developed in the USSR after the war.
In the mid-50s, the production of the SU-122 ACS, designed on the basis of the T-54 medium tank, began. The new self-propelled gun, designated to avoid confusion as SU-122-54, was designed and manufactured taking into account the previous combat experience of using self-propelled guns during the war years. A. E. was appointed the leading designer. Sulin.
SU-122-54
The main armament of the SU-122 was the D-49 cannon (52-PS-471D), an upgraded version of the D-25 cannon with which the post-war serial tanks of the IS series were armed. The gun was equipped with a wedge-shaped horizontal semiautomatic bolt with an electromechanical ramming mechanism, due to which it was possible to bring the rate of fire of the gun to five rounds per minute. The lifting mechanism of the sector-type weapon provides gun pointing angles from -3 ° to + 20 ° vertically. When giving the barrel an elevation angle of 20 °, the firing range using HE ammunition was 13,400 m. The cannon was fired with armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells, as well as high-explosive fragmentation grenades from M-30 and D-30 howitzers. With the advent in the early 1960s. the American M60 tank and the British Chieftain tank for the D-49 rifled cannon, sub-caliber and cumulative shells were developed. Ammunition - 35 rounds of a separate-sleeve type. Additional weapons were two 14.5 mm KPVT machine guns. One with a pneumatic reloading system is paired with a cannon, the other is an anti-aircraft one.
The body of the self-propelled guns is completely closed and welded from rolled armor plates, with a thickness of 100 mm in the frontal part, and an 85 mm side of the side. The fighting compartment was combined with the control compartment. In front of the hull there was a conning tower that housed a cannon.
A rangefinder was installed in a rotating turret located on the right of the roof of the wheelhouse.
ACS SU-122-54 would not have been equal on the battlefields of World War II. But the improvement of the tanks themselves, which became capable of hitting not only fire weapons and infantry, but also armored targets, since their armament improved, and the appearance of ATGMs, made the production of specialized tank destroyers meaningless.
From 1954 to 1956, the total number of cars produced was 77 units. Subsequently, after the repair, these vehicles were converted into armored tractors and technical support vehicles.
By the early 1980s, in most armies of developed countries, self-propelled anti-tank artillery mounts had practically disappeared. Their functions were taken over by ATGMs and partly by the so-called "wheeled tanks" - lightly armored universal vehicles with powerful artillery weapons.
In the USSR, the development of tank destroyers continued to provide anti-tank defense of airborne units. Specially for the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces), several types of self-propelled guns were designed and produced.
The first model of armored vehicles designed specifically for the airborne forces was the ASU-76 76-mm cannon, created under the leadership of N. A. Astrov. The project of the vehicle was developed in October 1946 - June 1947, and the first prototype of the SPG was completed in December 1947. ASU-76 had a crew of three, minimized dimensions, light bulletproof armor and a power plant based on automotive units. After the completion of the tests carried out in 1948-1949, on December 17, 1949, the ASU-76 was put into service, but its serial production, with the exception of two cars of the pilot batch assembled in 1950, did not withstand field tests. Due to a number of reasons, first of all, the refusal to produce the Il-32 heavy transport glider - the only landing vehicle at that time for a 5, 8-ton vehicle.
In 1948, in the design bureau of plant number 40, under the leadership of N. A. Astrov and D. I. Sazonov, the ACS ASU-57 was created, armed with a 57-mm semi-automatic cannon Ch-51, with the ballistics of the Grabin ZiS-2. In 1951, ASU-57 was adopted by the Soviet Army.
ASU-57
The main armament of the ASU-57 was a 57-mm semi-automatic rifled gun Ch-51, in the basic modification or modification Ch-51M. The gun had a 74, 16 caliber monoblock barrel. The technical rate of fire of the Ch-51 was up to 12, the practical aiming rate was 7 … 10 rounds per minute. The angles of horizontal guidance of the gun were ± 8 °, vertical guidance - from −5 ° to + 12 °. Ch-51 ammunition was 30 unitary rounds with all-metal casings. The ammunition load could include shots with armor-piercing, sub-caliber and fragmentation shells, according to the range of ammunition the Ch-51 was unified with the ZIS-2 anti-tank gun.
For self-defense of the crew, the ASU-57 in the early years was equipped with a 7, 62-mm heavy machine gun SGM or an RPD light machine gun carried on the left side of the fighting compartment.
ASU-57 had light bulletproof armor protection. The body of the self-propelled guns, semi-closed type, was a rigid bearing box-shaped structure assembled from armor steel sheets 4 and 6 mm thick, connected to each other mainly by welding, as well as non-armor duralumin sheets connected to the rest of the body parts using rivets.
ASU-57 was equipped with an inline 4-cylinder four-stroke carburetor car engine of the M-20E model produced by the GAZ plant, with a maximum power of 55 hp.
Before the advent of new generation military transport aircraft, the ASU-57 could only be transported by air using the Yak-14 towed transport glider. ASU-57 entered the glider and left it on its own through the hinged bow; in flight, the installation was fastened with cables, and to prevent swaying, its suspension nodes were blocked on the hull.
The situation has changed significantly with the adoption of new military transport aircraft of increased carrying capacity An-8 and An-12, which ensured the landing of the ASU-57 both by landing and by parachute. Also, a heavy military transport helicopter Mi-6 could be used to drop the ACS by landing method.
The ASU-57 entered service with the USSR Airborne Forces in relatively small quantities. So, according to the staffing table, in the seven airborne divisions available by the end of the 1950s, not counting one training division, in total there should have been only 245 self-propelled guns. In the army, the self-propelled guns received the nickname "Ferdinand" for the characteristic design features, previously worn by the SU-76, which was replaced by the ASU-57 in the self-propelled artillery divisions.
Since the transport equipment that was in service with the Airborne Forces in the early 1950s did not have airborne means, the self-propelled guns were also used in the role of a light tractor, as well as for transporting up to four paratroopers on armor, the latter was used, in particular, during flank or rear rounds of the enemy. when a quick transfer of forces was required.
The introduction of more advanced models into service with the Airborne Forces did not entail the removal of the ASU-57 from service; the latter only, after a series of reorganizations, were transferred from the divisional link of the Airborne Forces to the regimental. ASU-57 for a long time remained the only model of airborne armored vehicles capable of parachuting to provide fire support to the landing force. As the airborne regiments were rearmed in the 1970s with new airborne BMD-1s, which provided anti-tank defense and fire support down to the squad level, the ASU-57 regimental batteries were gradually disbanded. The ASU-57s were finally decommissioned in the early 1980s.
The success of the ASU-57 light airborne self-propelled gun gave rise to the desire of the Soviet command to have a medium self-propelled gun with an 85-mm cannon.
ASU-85
In 1959, the developed OKB-40, headed by N. A. Astrov
ASU-85. The main armament of the ASU-85 was the 2A15 cannon (factory designation - D-70), which had a monoblock barrel, equipped with a muzzle brake and an ejector to remove the remnants of powder gases from the barrel. The sectoral lifting mechanism with a manual drive provides elevation angles in the range from -5 to +15 degrees. Horizontal guidance - 30 degrees. The 7.62 mm SGMT machine gun was paired with the cannon.
The transportable ammunition load of 45 unitary shots included unitary shots weighing 21, 8 kg each with several types of shells. These included the UO-365K high-explosive fragmentation grenades weighing 9, 54 kg, having an initial speed of 909 m / s and intended to destroy manpower and destroy enemy fortifications. When firing at mobile, armored targets - tanks and self-propelled guns - armor-piercing tracer sharp-headed projectiles Br-365K weighing 9, 2 kg with an initial speed of 1150 m / s were used. With these shells it was possible to conduct aimed fire at a distance of up to 1200 m. An armor-piercing shell at a distance of 2000 m penetrated an armor plate 53 mm thick, located at an angle of 60 °, and a cumulative projectile - 150 mm. The maximum firing range of a high-explosive fragmentation projectile was 13,400 m.
The protection of the ASU-85 in the frontal part of the hull was at the level of the T-34 tank. The corrugated bottom gave the hull extra strength. In the bow on the right was the control compartment, which housed the driver's seat. The fighting compartment was located in the middle of the vehicle.
An automobile 6-cylinder, V-shaped, two-stroke 210-horsepower diesel engine YaMZ-206V was used as a power plant.
For a long time, the self-propelled gun could only be parachuted by the landing method. Only in the 70s were special parachute systems developed.
ASU-85, as a rule, were transported by military transport An-12. The self-propelled gun was installed on a platform to which several parachutes were attached. Before touching the ground, special rocket motors began to work, and the SPG landed safely. After unloading, the vehicle was transferred to a firing position for 1-1, 5 minutes.
ASU-85 was in production from 1959 to 1966, during which time the installation was modernized twice. First, a ventilated roof made of 10 mm thick rolled steel sheets with four hatches was installed above the fighting compartment. In 1967, ASU-85s participated in the Arab-Israeli conflict, known as the "Six Day War", and the experience of their combat use revealed the need to install a 12.7 mm DShKM anti-aircraft machine gun on the wheelhouse. Delivered to the German Democratic Republic and Poland. She took part in the initial period of the Afghan war as part of the artillery units of the 103rd Airborne Division.
The bulk of the machines produced were sent to the recruitment of individual self-propelled artillery divisions of the airborne divisions. Despite the termination of serial production, the ASU-85 remained in service with the airborne troops until the end of the 80s of the last century. ASU-85 was withdrawn from the armament of the Russian army in 1993.
In 1969, the BMD-1 airborne combat vehicle was adopted. That made it possible to raise the capabilities of the Airborne Forces to a qualitatively new level. The BMD-1 armament complex made it possible to solve the problems of combating manpower and armored vehicles. The anti-tank capabilities of the vehicles increased even more after the replacement of the Malyutka ATGM with the 9K113 Konkurs in 1978. In 1979, the self-propelled ATGM "Robot", created on the basis of BMD, was adopted. In 1985, the BMD-2 with a 30-mm automatic cannon entered service.
It would seem that airborne vehicles on a single chassis can solve all the tasks facing the Airborne Forces. However, the experience of the participation of these machines in numerous local conflicts revealed an urgent need for airborne, amphibious armored vehicles with powerful artillery weapons.
Who would be capable of providing fire support to the advancing assault force, acting on a par with the BMD, as well as fighting with modern tanks.
The self-propelled anti-tank gun 2S25 "Sprut-SD" was created in the early 90s, on the extended (by two rollers) base of the BMD-3 airborne assault vehicle by the joint-stock company "Volgograd Tractor Plant", and the artillery unit for it - at the artillery plant N9 (g. Ekaterinburg). In contrast to the Sprut-B towed artillery system, the new SPG was named Sprut-SD (self-propelled - airborne).
SPG Sprut-SD in a firing position
The 125-mm 2A75 smoothbore cannon is the main armament of the Sprut-SD CAU.
The gun was created on the basis of the 125-mm 2A46 tank gun, which is installed on the T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks. When installed on a lighter chassis, the gun was equipped with a new type of recoil device, providing a rollback of no more than 700 mm. The smoothbore gun of high ballistics installed in the fighting compartment is equipped with a computerized fire control system from the commander and gunner's workplaces, which are functionally interchangeable.
The cannon without a muzzle brake is equipped with an ejector and a thermal insulation casing. Stabilization in the vertical and horizontal planes allows you to fire 125-mm ammunition with separate-case loading. Sprut-SD can use all types of 125-mm domestic ammunition, including armor-piercing sub-caliber feathered projectiles and tank ATGMs. The gun ammunition (40 125-mm shots, of which 22 are in the automatic loader) can include a laser-guided projectile, which ensures the destruction of a target located at a distance of up to 4000 m. The cannon can fire afloat in waves of up to three points in the ± 35 sector deg., maximum rate of fire - 7 rounds per minute.
As an auxiliary armament, the Sprut-SD self-propelled gun is equipped with a 7, 62-mm machine gun paired with a cannon with an ammunition load of 2,000 rounds, loaded in one belt.
The Sprut-SD self-propelled gun is indistinguishable from a tank in appearance and firepower, but it is inferior to it in terms of protection. This predetermines the tactics of action against tanks - mainly from ambushes.
The power plant and chassis has much in common with the BMD-3, the base of which was used in the development of the 2S25 Sprut-SD ACS. Installed on it is a multi-fuel horizontally opposed six-cylinder diesel engine 2В06-2С with a maximum power of 510 hp. interlocked with hydromechanical transmission, hydrostatic swing mechanism and power take-off for two water-jet propellers. The automatic transmission has five forward gears and the same number of reverse gears.
Individual, hydropneumatic, with a ground clearance variable from the driver's seat (in 6-7 seconds from 190 to 590 mm) chassis suspension provides high cross-country ability and smooth ride.
When making marches of up to 500 km, the car can move along the highway at a maximum speed of 68 km / h, on unpaved roads - at an average speed of 45 km / h.
The Sprut-SD self-propelled guns can be transported by VTA aircraft and landing ships, parachute with a crew inside the vehicle and overcome water obstacles without preparation.
Unfortunately, the number of these highly demanded vehicles in the army is not yet large, in total, about 40 units have been delivered.
