The development of a 152mm anti-aircraft gun with an SSP was carried out in the post-war years. The technical design of the anti-aircraft guns in 1949 was presented by OKB-8 under the name KS-52. The main characteristics of the KS-52 project:
- the rate of fire is not less than 10 rds / min;
- the mass of the projectile used - 49 kilograms;
- total weight of the gun - 46 tons;
- muzzle velocity - 1030 m / s.
The anti-aircraft gun project was presented to the technical council, at which representatives of the artillery committee and the ministry of armaments did not approve of the project as a whole. In the same year, the KS-52 project was closed, all work on the project was discontinued. However, two years later, in 1951, the CM decree “No. 2966-1127 of 1951-26-11, the theme of creating an anti-aircraft gun of 152mm caliber was revived. The basis for the creation of a new weapon is the KS-30 anti-aircraft gun. The main developer is OKB-8 and the design bureau of plant # 172. M. Tsyrulnikov became the chief designer of the new project.
The new anti-aircraft gun in the course of work is named KM-52. The problems of "redesigning" the KS-30 into the KM-52 with a large caliber did not make it possible to complete the project before 1954. The finished project was presented to the technical council of the Ministry of Industry at the end of the year. In the last days of January 1955, the project was approved and recommended for production.
The main assembly of the KM-52 was assigned to the plant # 172. The cannon barrels were ordered to be produced at the factory # 8. Anti-aircraft gun drives, created by TsNII-173, were manufactured by plant # 710. Ammunition was developed by NII-24, shells for the projectile - NII-147. Factory # 73 was engaged in the manufacture of ammunition. The remaining elements of the shot were made using similar technologies for the SM-27 shot.
Device and design
KM-52 was equipped with a muzzle brake, the efficiency of which was 35 percent. The shutter is of horizontal wedge design, the shutter is operated from the rolling energy. The anti-aircraft gun was equipped with a hydropneumatic recoil brake and a knurler. The wheel drive with a carriage is a modified version of the KS-30 anti-aircraft gun.
The shot is separate-case. For the supply of shells and charges from the left to the right, separate loading mechanisms were installed, the work of the mechanisms was carried out from electric motors. The store itself is designed as a conveyor. Projectiles and charges were fed to certain places on the ramming line, where they are assembled into a single shot system. After that, the shot is sent by a hydropneumatic rammer. The shutter automatically finished preparing the gun for firing. Used ammunition KM-52 - remote-fragmentation grenade. Samples 5655 and No. 3 are indicated.
Manufacturing and testing
In 1955, deliveries of the first barrels to the main assembly plant began. The first production sample of the KM-52 was assembled by the end of 1955. In December, factory tests began, after which the anti-aircraft gun was handed over to the main customer.
The main field tests begin. KM-52 showed excellent results of rate of fire up to 17 rds / min., Due to charging mechanisms, additional solutions, optimal design revision. The anti-aircraft gun in the main tests was tested in continuous bursts, the largest - 72 continuous shots. By 1957, a test batch of 16 KM-52 units was being manufactured. They are equipped with two new anti-aircraft artillery batteries, with a permanent station near Baku. A few months later, the KM-52 anti-aircraft gun is proposed to be adopted.
The fate of KM-52
The 152mm anti-aircraft gun was never put into service. In 1958, work on the creation of the ARS for the KM-52 anti-aircraft gun was stopped. In addition to the 16 units produced, more KM-52s were not produced.
There are several versions why the anti-aircraft gun was never adopted. The first of these was the emergence of jet aircraft, which were already developing high speeds and gaining great heights. The estimated flight of the KM-52 projectile at a 15 kilometer height is about 30 seconds. During this time, the jet plane will leave its calculated place to such a distance that shooting will be completely useless. And to conduct a normal anti-aircraft reflection, it would take a huge number of anti-aircraft guns concentrated in one place. The second version is based on the fact that although the speeds and heights of the aircraft increased, they remained fairly low-maneuverable high-altitude vehicles and, in principle, it was possible to calculate the required point of destruction. However, the cost of the shots required to destroy one aircraft exceeded its cost. Therefore, the one who applied such attitudes would lose in any case. Here it is worth considering the automation of firing, which would only increase the difference in cost between shots and aircraft. In addition, missiles were being developed, including anti-aircraft missiles, which, oddly enough, were somewhat cheaper or had a much lower cost of a rocket-plane.
Main characteristics:
- length - 8.7 meters;
- vertical guidance angles - 360 degrees;
- weight - 33.5 tons;
- rate of fire - up to 17 rds / min;
- range defeat height / ground - 30/33 kilometers;
- deviation height / ground - 205/115 meters;
- combat crew - 12 people;
- ammunition weight: projectile / charge / total - 49 / 23.9 / 93.5 kilograms;
- projectile speed - 1000 m.s.
