Before the war, it was precisely the recoilless with a loaded barrel that was developed here. Much has been written about the adventurer Kurchevsky, and M. N. Kondakov's information is extremely scarce.
Moreover, Kondakov, unlike Kurchevsky, was not not only repressed, but also remained unchanged until his death in 1954 as the head of a powerful artillery design bureau (at first he was called KB Artakademiya, and then - OKB-4Z).
Kondakov was the first in the world to create a recoilless automatic cannon. The automatics of the gun worked on the principle of gas evacuation. It is impossible to consider Kurchevsky's automatic cannons, where the cartridge was fed due to the muscular force of the shooter or compressed air from a cylinder.
In January 1934, Kondakov and Tolochkov proposed projects for automatic 76-mm recoilless air cannons. In AU, the project was generally approved, but competitors were initially offered to create a smaller sample of the system in caliber 45 mm and 37 mm, which was done in OKB AU.
The 45mm cannon was manufactured and successfully tested. Both the 76-mm and 45-mm guns had a loaded barrel, but that was the end of their resemblance to the Kurchevsky DRP. The gun's automatics worked by removing powder gases from the bore. The food is exchangeable. There are 6 shells in the clip. Fireproof brass sleeve. After the shot, the barrel moved forward 450 mm, after which the spent cartridge case was extracted and the next cartridge was fed.
In 1935-1936. Kondakov created a 37-mm company rocket-propelled gun RPTR (in fact, it was a cannon). A significant contribution to the design of the gun was made by S. E. Rashkov.
This principle of automation was applied by Kondakov in 45-mm aircraft and 37-mm anti-tank guns.
The 37-mm RPTR was created according to the loaded barrel scheme.
On the battlefield, the system was transported on wheels. In addition, it was easily disassembled and carried on human and horse packs.
Caliber mm: 37
VN angle hail: -10 ° - + 15 °
Angle GN hail: 60 °
Barrel length with funnel mm: 1550
Full length of the system, mm: 1650
System weight in firing position: 63 kg.
Practical rate of fire, rds / min: 30
Tests of the prototype RPTR were started at NIAP at the end of 1936. A standard 37-mm armor-piercing projectile from a 37-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1930 Projectile weight 0, 674 kg, fuse MD-5. At NIAP, the RPTR showed the same accuracy of fire as the 37-mm PTP mod. 1930 g.
Projectile weight, kg 0, 674
Charge weight, kg 0, 175
Initial speed, m / s 545
Channel pressure, kg / cm2 2450
Plant No. 7 received an order for a small series of 30 RPTR guns. However, the RPTR did not go into mass production due to the general prejudice against recoilless guns. Before that, there were complaints about the weight (!) And the unmasking effect of the gas jet.
But unlike Kurchevsky's guns, Kondakov's automatic recoilless ones worked quite well. The projects included assault rifles of calibers 45 and 76, 2 mm, which could really be used in the aviation of the USSR.
Alas, the incompetent designs of the adventurer Kurchevsky greatly compromised the very idea of recoilless guns. Shirokorad writes that in 1943, after the appearance of information about German 75mm and 105mm recoilless guns, Stalin said on this occasion: "Together with the dirty water they threw out the child."
In the museum on Poklonnaya Hill, there is a very interesting weapon that I cannot identify. This is probably one of Kondakov's experimental guns on a gun carriage.
Continuation and addition from other sources:
According to the GKO decree No. 1454 of September 17, 1943OKB-43 developed the DRP-76 76-mm automatic aviation cannon. The gun fired unitary shots weighing 8, 75 kg. A projectile weighing 4, 6 kg had an initial speed of 530 m / s. The gun firing rate was 80 rds / min. The food is tape. There are 6 rounds in the tape. Factory ground tests of DRP-76 took place in 1949 at the Air Force range. Tests confirmed the relatively high design data of the gun, including good accuracy, but the Air Force abandoned it. OKB-43 converted it into a ship system. In 1951-1952. DRP-76 was tested on a boat-hunter (MO), but the Navy did not want to deal with DRP.
