Artillery 2024, November

It is very difficult to talk about artillery today. To put it simply, that is, Shirokorad, and those who are interested in artillery issues are well aware of the names of other Russian and foreign historians of artillery. This is in particular. Survey things are easier to do, and articles are so good precisely because they push

For many years Ukraine has been trying to build and develop its defense industry, as well as create its own models of weapons and equipment. The main platform for the demonstration of new developments is traditionally the Kiev exhibition "Zbroya ta Bezpeka". The next such event takes place directly

In order to successfully complete the assigned task and not fall under the enemy's retaliation, an artillery gun must have high mobility. The obvious solution to this problem is to mount the gun on a self-propelled chassis, but such a combat vehicle is complex and expensive. More simple and

All artillery guns of traditional schemes, including mortars, make a certain noise when firing, and also "demonstrate" a large muzzle flash. Loud gunshots and flames can unmask the position of the weapon and make it easier to retaliate. For this reason, the troops may be

In certain situations, fighters need weapons that produce minimal noise. Various means and methods of reducing the volume of a shot have become quite widespread in the field of small arms, and at the same time work is underway on systems of other classes. In response to special

The Russian army is armed with artillery systems of different calibers and for different purposes. Of great interest are tools of special power, designed to solve special problems. Such weapons, as well as all the processes around them, attract the attention of domestic and foreign

High mobility is the key to the effectiveness and survivability of an artillery gun. Self-propelled artillery units look best from this point of view, but they can be too complex and expensive to mass produce. In the past as an alternative to SPGs

Often, when considering American weapons systems, we say that most of them are intended for expeditionary units and subunits. It is clear that being "on the outskirts" of world politics, the Americans were well aware that they would have to get involved in a war on another

The human brain is strangely arranged. It is worth mentioning the name of Stalin in any article, as a dispute immediately begins about the personality of this person and his role in the history of the USSR and the world in general. At the same time, what is discussed in the article does not matter at all. Today I will deliberately start about Stalin, or rather, about

In one of the previous articles, I compared the history of the creation of almost any weapon of the early 20th century with a detective story. Now it will not be just a detective story, I intend to treat my favorite artillery fans with something more. To be honest, I don't even know how to properly name this story. But let's walk the path slowly and

In our publications, we wrote a lot about artillery systems that covered themselves with glory on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. About systems that some of our readers remember, saw or worked with. But there are copies of such systems in our archives that few have heard of, and even fewer of those

The United Arab Emirates is building its own defense industry, but it is not yet truly developed. In many areas, the dependence on foreign supplies of certain products remains. However, attempts are being made to create their own samples

Hello to all fans of huge calibers! We decided to start this article not quite traditionally. Simply because they considered it appropriate to tell about one of the little-known episodes of the war on the Karelian Isthmus. Due, probably, to the absence of more or less crucial battles in this area, we generally

China seeks to develop its armed forces, and for this it needs new weapons. New concepts are regularly proposed that can be implemented in promising projects with certain advantages. Recently it became known that Chinese scientists are working on a new option

We have already talked about the predecessor of the heroine of our story, the 76-mm mountain gun of the 1938 model. Weapon stories. 76-mm mountain gun model 1938 Today we will talk about the next generation. The 76-mm mountain cannon of the 1938 model has proven itself very well in the fields (more precisely

Anti-tank guns appeared in Russia in the fall of 1914. No, this statement is not a typo or the author's desire to prove that Russia is the "homeland of elephants." It was just that the anti-tank guns had a different purpose at that time, the fight against enemy machine guns, and not penetrating the armor of the tank, but

Successful combat tests of the super-heavy T-100 tank in the Finnish War of 39, allowed the designers of plant No. 185 to think about the serial production of their brainchild. Moreover, according to the decision of the military council of the North-Western Front, at the end of 39, the plant received an application for the creation of an engineering assault

The Chinese industry, including the defense industry, is well known for its tendency to copy foreign designs, both with and without a license. Most often, copies of foreign weapons and equipment were adopted in their original form, but there are interesting exceptions. So, within the framework of the SM-4 project

Indeed, "Sprut-B" is a very peculiar phenomenon in the history of our artillery. Currently, the 2A45M Sprut-B is considered the most powerful anti-tank gun in the world. Meanwhile, this is a story with a kind of continuation, and, I would say, the continuation turned out to be very successful. And it all began

It's probably worth starting with the definitions. And already they will set the further development of the theme of our story. So, today no one needs to explain what self-propelled artillery units (ACS) or self-propelled guns are. And self-propelled? "Self-propelled" - go by themselves. "Self-propelled" - move themselves

Continuing the theme of artillery weapons of the Russian army, we turn to the story of a weapon that is hard not to see at any exhibition, in any museum or any other site where it is exhibited. A weapon that a very small number of gunners can call their relatives

We often use the worn-out expression "God of War". An expression born too long ago to be true to us. Just a cliché. Just words. In an age with huge intercontinental missiles in mines equipped with nuclear warheads, smart and deadly

The story of the 152-mm howitzer M-10 mod. The year 1938 is interesting already because the assessments of this system are so contradictory that they puzzled the authors even after writing the article. On the one hand, the combat use of this weapon in all its guises in the Red Army gave rise to many criticisms

We are already accustomed to talking about pre-war artillery systems in excellent tones. Every system is a masterpiece of design thought. But today we are talking about a howitzer, which does not cause such admiration. Howitzer, which came to the Red Army from the distant 1909. But nevertheless, with honor

The SU-100 self-propelled anti-tank artillery mount was created on the basis of the T-34-85 medium tank by the Uralmashzavod design bureau in late 1943 - early 1944 and was a further development of the SU-85. By that time, it had already become clear that the 85 mm SU-85 gun was not worthy

I want to start an article quite frivolously. Finally we got there! Not to Berlin, as the heroine of our story, but to the history of the creation, construction and combat use of one of the first large-caliber artillery systems, created by Soviet designers. So, the most famous unknown hero

In the early thirties, Soviet specialists began to work out the appearance of promising self-propelled artillery installations. Various options for such a technique have been proposed, considered and tested, and some of them, having confirmed their potential, have found application in practice. Others were

The M-30 howitzer is probably known to everyone. The famous and legendary weapon of the workers 'and peasants', Soviet, Russian and many other armies. Any documentary film about the Great Patriotic War almost necessarily includes footage of the firing of an M-30 battery. Even today, despite its age, it is

The hardest thing is to talk about the tools that have been heard for a long time. In the pre-war period, according to this indicator, the first place should be given, without hesitation, to the 122-mm divisional howitzer of the 1910/30 model. Probably, there is no military conflict of that time, where these howitzers did not appear. Yes, and on

It is difficult to imagine a modern armed conflict that does not use improvised military equipment of handicraft production. Various armed formations, preparing for battles, install available weapons of one kind or another on available civilian vehicles. For some time now

The 105-mm self-propelled howitzer M7B2 Priest was the last production version of the famous American self-propelled gun during the Second World War. This modification was in service longer than others, the American army used this self-propelled gun during the Korean War. In the post-war years, various options

Self-propelled howitzer, designed on the basis of the M3 medium tank, and later on the M4. This vehicle was designed to provide mobile fire support for tank divisions. In February 1942, Terms of Reference 2 was standardized as M7 HMC. Serial production was started in April 1942

After a series of articles about the history of creation and about the mortars themselves, in fact, several readers immediately turned to us, ardent fans of artillery. With the demand to continue the historical series of stories about Russian artillery in general. About the first cannons, about the first guns, about the first victories and

The history of Russian artillery goes back more than six centuries. According to the chronicle, during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, Muscovites in 1382 used "cannons" and "mattresses" when repelling the next raid of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. If the "guns" of that period, the well-known historian of artillery N.Ye

High-speed tank destroyer The inability to install a 75-mm howitzer on the chassis of a light tank M3 Stuart upset the American military, but did not lead to abandonment of the desire to get a high-speed armored vehicle with good firepower. At the end of 1941, the T42 project appeared, during which it was planned

How the designer Vasily Grabin managed to create a weapon that became the most massive in the history of world artillerySoviet soldiers, primarily artillerymen of divisional and anti-tank artillery regiments, for its simplicity, obedience and reliability called it affectionately - "Zosia". In other parts for the rate of fire and

We paid quite a lot of attention to samples of foreign weapons, especially artillery, which the Red Army inherited from tsarist Russia. And finally, the time has come to talk about a truly Soviet weapon of the pre-war era. A weapon that even today commands respect for its size and power

Speaking in the previous article of the cycle that there were many interesting and instructive pages in the history of our artillery, even the word "detective" was used. We would like to introduce you to one military "almost detective". At least there will be plenty of spy tricks in it. The history of wars knows

Talking about the mortars of the world, we quite logically left on the topic of rocket artillery. Whatever one may say, the famous "Katyusha" and similar systems bore the proud name of rocket launchers. At the same time, it is rather difficult to speak of the world's reactive systems as mortars. It is quite

Continuing the theme of modern mortars, we continue to delve into the flower bed. Needless to say, our gunsmiths have subtle humor. All these "Carnations", "Acacia", "Peonies", "Hyacinths", "Lilies of the Valley", "Cornflowers", "Tulips" … List everything that