Studying captured German guns, the designers under the leadership of F. Petrov developed a new artillery gun layout - two sliding monitors were replaced by three monitors, the chassis was made on the upper machine. The supporting frame is of a fixed design, the other two are sliding with a spread angle of 120 degrees in a combat position. To set the gun into a combat position with a screw jack, the upper machine with the howitzer is lowered onto the lower machine, while the wheels of the gun are raised above the ground. The time required to bring the gun into a firing position is 100-150 seconds. The main feature that the howitzer has acquired is the ability to carry out circular fire without any additional movement of the gun. The howitzer has a small height of the line of fire, which makes it possible to use these weapons in anti-tank defense, in suppressing various enemy firing points and in the destruction of well-fortified enemy field installations. The howitzer was developed by the Sverdlovsk OKB-9 artillery plant named after M. Kalinin and was intended to replace the M-30 howitzer in service.
Main purpose:
- destruction of the enemy personnel in the open area and located in field fortifications;
- suppressing the fire of enemy field firing points;
- destruction of well-fortified field structures of the enemy, such as bunkers;
- ensuring the passage of their infantry units in enemy obstacles, such as a minefield or wire fence;
- counteraction of enemy ground combat equipment.
The device and composition of the howitzer gun D-30
The howitzer consists of the following main parts:
- trunk;
- recoil devices;
- carriage;
- sighting devices.
Trunk
The barrel consists of a pipe itself, a 2-slot muzzle brake, mounts, grips, a bolt and a breech with a barrel length of 38 calibers. Loading ammunition into the gun barrel is a separate-sleeve manual type.
Recoil devices
The howitzer's recoil device consists of a brake and a knurler.
Carriage
The carriage is made of upper and lower machines, a cradle, a balancing mechanism, drives for vertical-horizontal guidance, suspension mechanisms, wheels and howitzer mounts in the stowed position. Circular shooting is limited to elevation angles up to 18 degrees, up to 70 degrees shooting is limited to the sector of the location of the beds. The suspension of the levers is torsion bar; when the wheels hit a hole or an obstacle, the wheel levers turn and twist the torsion bars. Due to the use of elastic steel in the torsion bars, they, like springs, begin to unwind back and return the levers to the factory position.
Sights
Aiming devices - telescopic and panoramic sights.
The swinging part of the howitzer:
- trunk;
- recoil devices;
- cradle;
- sighting devices.
The rotating part of the howitzer:
- swinging part;
- wheel travel;
- upper machine;
- combat shield;
- balancing mechanism;
- aiming drives.
Fixed part of the howitzer:
- lower machine;
- three beds;
- hydraulic jack.
The semi-automatic wedge breechblock provided a high rate of fire for such a caliber - 8 rds / min, and the barrel layout, where the recoil brake and knurler are located on top, helped to reduce the gun's line of fire to 900 mm. All this made it possible to reduce the height of the howitzer and increase the camouflage performance in combat conditions.
For firing in the D-30 howitzer, high-explosive fragmentation ammunition with increased power 3OF56 was used. Used ammunition and other types:
- anti-tank cumulative;
- smoke;
- special chemical;
- fragmentation;
- armor-piercing cumulative (very rare);
- lighting;
- propaganda.
In addition, in the future, special ammunition with an increased range of destruction, an active-reactive type, was developed. Some of them were produced abroad, where howitzers were supplied from the Soviet Union. The firing range of active-reactive ammunition was more than 21 kilometers.
Howitzer transportation
Due to the unusual design of the gun, the transportation of the howitzer is also a bit unusual. The beds are connected to each other and suspended from the gun barrel. The howitzer itself is transported by means of a pivot device, which is made on the muzzle of the barrel. The mechanisms used in the wheeled howitzer made it possible to transport it at a fairly high speed - up to 80 km / h (equipped roads). For transportation on snowy roads, the howitzer is equipped with a ski mount, although firing from it becomes impossible. Small overall and weight characteristics made it possible to use the howitzer in airborne units or to carry out airborne assault from an aircraft to provide troops.
This howitzer has become widespread not only in the Army of the Soviet Union, but also in the camps of the Warsaw Pact and allied camps. The howitzer was created in the USSR and under license in a number of other states. And although today its production has been discontinued, it has always been valued among the troops for its simplicity, reliability, firepower and mobility. In service with Russia, Hungary, Vietnam, Lebanon, China, Mongolia, Romania, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Perhaps it is in service with Poland, Iraq, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Combat use
One of the most famous uses of the howitzer in combat is Afghanistan (1979-89). It was used in the Iranian-Iraqi military conflicts and in Chechen companies.
Howitzer modifications:
- D-30 - the first Soviet basic howitzer;
- D-30A - modernized Soviet serial howitzer;
- D-30Yu - Yugoslavian modification of the Soviet howitzer. Range of fire - 17.5 kilometers;
- howitzer "Saddam" - an Iraqi modification of the Soviet howitzer;
- Type 86 - Chinese modification of the Soviet howitzer.
Self-propelled urban installations with D-30:
- ACS 2S1 "Carnation" - the Soviet version of the use of a mobile chassis with a D-30 howitzer;
- ACS 2S2 "Violet" - Soviet self-propelled howitzer based on BMD-1;
- T34 / 122 - Syrian version of converting the T-34-85 tank and installing a 122 mm howitzer on it;
- T-34/122 - Egyptian version of a self-propelled howitzer based on the T-34-85. It differs from the Syrian version by the installation of armor plates with the possibility of folding back on the hinges. The weight of the vehicle turned out to be a little more, however, this practically did not affect the speed and cross-country ability of the chassis from the T-34-85 tank;
- SP-122 self-propelled gun - a prototype of a self-propelled howitzer. Designed for the Egyptian Army by the American and British firms Bowen-McLaughlin-York and Royal Ordnance. The chassis of the ACS was taken from the American ACS M-109. Not serially produced;
- Type 85 - Chinese version of a self-propelled howitzer. Chassis armored transporter Type 531, gun - analogue of the Soviet D-30 howitzer;
- T-34/122 - Cuban version of a self-propelled howitzer.
Main characteristics:
- length - 5.4 meters;
- width - 1.95 meters;
- barrel length - 4.8 meters;
- weight - 3.1 tons;
- range min / max - 4 / 15.4 kilometers;
- weight of the main ammunition - 21.7 kilograms;
- rate of fire - 8 rds / min;
- the flight speed of the ammunition - 690 m / s;
- vertical angles min / max - -7/70 degrees;
- horizontal angles - 360 degrees;
- calculation of the tool - 7 people.
