Venevsky district - dangerous finds - artillery and cars. Venevsky district - dangerous finds - artillery and cars 85 mm anti-aircraft gun 52 k

At the end of the 30s, it became obvious that the rapid development of aviation would lead to significant problems in the future in the event of a confrontation between aviation and air defense forces. Thus, the existing air defense systems could not adequately guarantee sufficient effectiveness. There was a need to give the army anti-aircraft gun with a long range, the gun had to be powerful enough to hit high-flying armored targets.

It was decided to take the 76.2 mm Rheinmetall cannon as a basis and proceed from this when creating an anti-aircraft gun. This is what the designers of plant No. 8 did in 1937-1938. The 76.2 mm gun had a large margin of safety built into its casing, breech and carriage. As a result, a gun was developed that was new at that time (not counting the single copies that appeared) of the 85-mm caliber. 85 mm anti-aircraft gun Model 1939 is also known as KS-12. New gun had good characteristics- 800 m/sec initial velocity of a projectile weighing 9.2 kg and a destruction range of 10.5 km - allowed the new anti-aircraft gun to fight very effectively against armored and high-flying targets. The gun had an inertial semi-automatic bolt. Firing from an anti-aircraft gun at ground armored targets was also expected to show good results. Thus, even before the start of hostilities, the KS-12 anti-aircraft gun went into mass production. During the use of the gun in combat conditions, it was decided to equip the air defense gun with an armored shield. Instead of a barrel consisting of a free pipe with a casing, a monoblock barrel was introduced, and a semi-automatic copy-type bolt was used. The gun crews used semi-automatic anti-aircraft fire control devices PUAZO-2 mod. 1934 or PUAZO-3 mod. 1940 and a stereoscopic rangefinder. And since 1943, the RUS-2 Redut radar tracking stations were installed in the batteries.

Mass production of the KS-12 continued until 1944, when it was replaced by an even more powerful 85-mm anti-aircraft gun (KS-18), which also became the main means of air defense of the Red Army. From the previous modification, the new one had a longer monoblock barrel and an increased powder charge. A new cradle, a balancing mechanism and a bolt with a semi-automatic copy type were developed for the gun. It had an automatic fuse installer, which made it possible to speed up the preparation of a shot

Like the Germans, who from the middle of the war increasingly used anti-aircraft guns as the main armament of tanks, our designers also appreciated great benefits such a step. The ZIS-S-53 gun performed well during the war.

During the war, many serviceable guns fell into the hands of the Germans, which in their characteristics were similar to the German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun. Under the designations 8.5-cm Flak M.39(r) and 8.5-cm Flak M.44, our anti-aircraft guns were very actively used by the Germans.

The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun “survived” the war and was in service for some time Soviet army. A certain number were delivered to socialist countries, including Vietnam, where they were tasked with fighting American aircraft.

85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939

85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1944

This gun, from the moment of development, starting with the caliber and ending with what appeared in the end. But the main thing is the result, isn’t it?

It was not possible to establish where the 85 mm caliber came from. Sources are generally silent on this topic, as if someone just decided to invent such a thing. The only thing that could more or less serve as a starting point was the British 18-pounder (83.8 mm or 3.3") QF gun of the 1904 model, which was a larger version of the 13-pounder (76.2 mm) gun and very was very similar to her in everything except for size.

A number of such guns fell into the Red Army during Civil War, and was also in service with the Baltic states.

Until 1938, there was no 85 mm caliber in the domestic artillery at all. He occasionally appeared in preliminary designs, but it didn’t even make it to competitions. It appears that a phenomenon of this caliber was indeed accidental.

In 1937/1938, the designers of Plant No. 8 decided to use the good safety margins inherent in the design of the German Rheinmetall cannon, which we adopted under the name “76-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1931.” and increase its caliber.

According to calculations, the maximum caliber that could be placed in the casing of a 76 mm gun was 85 mm. The understanding of the need to adopt medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery was justified, so 85-mm anti-aircraft guns were put into mass production before the war.

But this, again, is just speculation.

It is also very difficult to say why the Red Army was not satisfied with the new 76-mm anti-aircraft gun designed by Loginov, which was a modification of the 3-K gun, which we have already written about.

The 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1938 model was just put into service when it was immediately replaced by the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model.

Designer G.D. Dorokhin took as a basis the development of the same Loginov - a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1938 model. Dorokhin proposed placing a new 85-mm barrel on the platform of a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, also using its bolt and semi-automatic mechanism.

Tests showed the need for further improvements caused by an increase in the caliber of the projectile, the weight of the powder charge and the weight of the installation itself. After increasing the supporting surface of the bolt wedge and the breech socket, as well as installing a muzzle brake, the gun was adopted by the Red Army under the name “85-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1939" or 52-K.

Many authors write that an important feature of the new anti-aircraft gun was its versatility: the 52-K was suitable not only for firing at enemy aircraft, but was also successfully used as an anti-tank weapon, firing at enemy armored vehicles with direct fire.

Considering that the 52-K received all its mechanisms from the 76-mm gun, everything was true for its predecessor to the same extent. However, the use of a more powerful projectile and powder charge provided greater armor penetration compared to the 76-mm gun.

The 76-mm cannon fired high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercing shells. For the 85-mm cannon, the 53-UBR-365K armor-piercing tracer pointed caliber projectile and the 53-UBR-365P armor-piercing tracer sub-caliber projectile were developed.

The 76-mm cannon had an armor-piercing caliber projectile with an initial speed of 816 m/s at a range of 500 m, piercing armor 78 mm thick, and at a range of 1000 m - 68 mm. The direct shot range was 975 m.

The shell for the 85 mm cannon had better performance.

When fired at an impact angle of 60°, a 9.2-kg projectile penetrates armor about 100 mm thick at a range of 100 m, 90 mm at a range of 500 m, and 85 mm at a range of 1000 m.
At a meeting angle of 96° at a range of 100 m, penetration of armor with a thickness of about 120 mm is ensured, at a range of 500 m - 110 mm, at a range of 1000 m - 100 mm.

The 85-mm sub-caliber armor-piercing tracer projectile weighing 4.99 kg had an even greater armor-piercing ability.

The firing range of the 85 mm gun was also slightly greater than that of the 76 mm gun. In height: 10230 m, in distance: 15650 m, for the 76 mm gun, respectively in height: 9250 m, in distance: 14600 m.

The initial velocity of the projectile was approximately equal, around 800 m/s.

In principle, it turns out that the appearance of the 85-mm gun was justified. Equally, some haste in development is also fully justified. The gun was more powerful, immediately mounted on a more transportable four-wheeled platform, and most importantly, it could successfully act as an anti-tank weapon at the time the Germans acquired heavy ones in 1942/43.

The creation of a new, four-wheeled ZU-8 platform made it possible to transport anti-aircraft guns at speeds of up to 50 km/h, instead of 35 km/h for its predecessors. The combat deployment time has also been reduced (1 minute 20 seconds versus 5 minutes for the 76-mm 3-K gun).

In addition, the 52-K served as the basis for the creation of the D-5 and ZIS-S-53 tank guns, which were subsequently installed on the SU-85 self-propelled guns and the T-34-85, KV-85 and IS-1 tanks.

In general, for its time, which included both design capabilities and industrial capabilities, the 52-K gun was quite good.

I’ll say more: it wasn’t better for the period 1941-1944. In 1942, when the Germans got their Tigers, the 52-K was the only gun that could hit these tanks with almost no problem.

A 76-mm cannon shell could penetrate the Tiger's side from 300 meters, and even then, with a 30% probability. The armor-piercing shell of the 85-mm cannon quite confidently hit the Tiger from a distance of 1 km in the frontal projection.

In 1944, a modernization was carried out, which improved the performance of the 52-K, but did not go into production due to the fact that the urgent need had already disappeared.

In total, during the period from 1939 to 1945, the USSR industry produced 14,422 52-K guns.

After being removed from service, the gun was widely supplied abroad. And it sold quite well.

And even in our time, the 52-K is quite successfully used as an anti-avalanche gun.

In our time, the strengths and weaknesses of the 85-mm Soviet and German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun have been repeatedly discussed. Indeed, the “aht-comma-aht” covered itself with glory and earned a reputation as an excellent weapon. But the fact is that 52-K was not particularly inferior to it in any way. And just like that she dropped to the ground german planes and stopped the tanks.

There is no point in repeating myself, the fact is that the gun came out quite decent, judging by the results.

Sources:
Museum military history, With. Padikovo, Moscow region.
Shunkov Victor. Red Army.

The full official name of the gun is 85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939. Created in Kaliningrad near Moscow by M. N. Loginov in accordance with the concept of engineer G. D. Dorokhin to modernize the 76-mm Loginov anti-aircraft gun of the 1938 model. It was actively used in the Great Patriotic War both in the role of anti-aircraft gun itself and anti-tank gun, and after its completion it was in service with the Soviet Army of the USSR Armed Forces for a long time until the adoption of anti-aircraft missile systems. The 52-K gun was transferred or sold to other countries to equip them armed forces. Some of the 52-K anti-aircraft guns, after being removed from service, were converted for peaceful use in mountainous areas as anti-avalanche weapons.

During the war, the gun served as the basis for the development of long-barreled tank guns D-5 and ZIS-S-53, which were installed on anti-tank self-propelled gun SU-85 and T-34-85, KV-85 and IS-1 tanks.

Characteristics and properties of ammunition

• Loading: unitary
• Ammunition range:
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with remote fuse T-5, TM-30, VM-30: 53-UO-365.
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with remote fuse VM-2: 53-UO-365,
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with adapter head and fuse KTM-1: 53-UO-365
  • Armor-piercing tracer caliber projectile 53-UBR-365
  • Armor-piercing tracer pointed-head caliber projectile 53-UBR-365K
  • Armor-piercing tracer sub-caliber projectile 53-UBR-365P
• Height reach, m: 10,230
• Muzzle velocity of the projectile, m/s
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with T-5: 800
  • Solid body fragmentation grenade: 793
  • Armor-piercing sub-caliber reel: 1050
  • Armor-piercing caliber sharp-headed: 800
• Projectile weight, kg
  • Armor-piercing caliber: 9.2
  • Armor-piercing sabot: 4.99
  • Fragmentation: 9.2-9.43; 9.24-9.54.
• Armor penetration of a caliber projectile, mm
  • The meeting angle relative to the tangent plane to the armor is 60 degrees
    • Distance 100 m: 100
    • Distance 500 m: 90
    • Distance 1000 m: 85
  • Normal to armor
    • Distance 100 m: 120
    • Distance 500 m: 110
    • Distance 1000 m: 100

Gallery

The Soviet 85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K on the Proletarian Bridge in Tula.jpg

85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K of the 6th battery on the Proletarsky Bridge in Tula, October 1941.

08-edited-85 mm air defense gun M1939-LMW.jpg

52-K. Lyubsk Military Museum, 2007.

Sources

• Shunkov V. N. Weapons of the Red Army. - Mn. : Harvest, 1999. - 544 p. - ISBN 985-433-469-4.

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An excerpt characterizing the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939 (52-K)

By the end of the 30s, the leadership of the Soviet armed forces came to the conclusion that the projected increase in the tactical and technical performance of aviation in the next few years would lead to the obsolescence of existing air defense weapons. The search began for projects of a more modern anti-aircraft gun with higher combat characteristics. We took the 76.2 mm model as the basis. In 1938, they increased it and received an 85-mm anti-aircraft gun, model 1939, KS-12.

In many ways similar arr. 1938, new model had a multi-chamber muzzle brake; this was not found in guns of smaller caliber. The armor shield for the gun crew was supplied as an additional order. In 1939, the production of a new anti-aircraft gun mod. 1939 just began to be produced in Kaliningrad. When the Germans invaded the USSR, the plant was evacuated to the Urals where it remained until the end of the war. The anti-aircraft gun produced there mod. 1939 became standard heavy weapons Air defense of the Soviet Army. The more powerful 85-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1944, KS 18, began to replace it only at the end of the war. Using the same projectile as the mod. 1939, the anti-aircraft gun had higher combat performance due to increased charge. Just like for German 88 mm guns, for mod. 39 and 44, it was possible to use anti-aircraft guns to fight tanks. Soviet anti-aircraft guns were very successful in this, and the Germans used them along with their own 88 series guns under the name 85-mm Flak M.39(g) and Flak M.44(g). Just like the captured Soviet 76.2 mm guns, they were sent to Germany for air defense needs. With the consumption of captured anti-aircraft ammunition, the anti-aircraft guns were gradually sharpened to the standard 88 mm caliber for the Wehrmacht, becoming 85/88-mm Flak M.39(r) guns.

The Soviet models of 1939 and 1944 were really good anti-aircraft guns. After the war, some of the guns remained in the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries (except the USSR) until the 80s; a number of them were in Sudan; in Vietnam they were used during the war with the United States. Later, “modernized” anti-aircraft guns worked with centralized systems fire control. The basic 85 mm model was used further in the development of subsequent generations Soviet weapons. It was adapted as the main weapon of a self-propelled assault artillery installation SU-85 and anti-tank gun; There was also a towed model of the same weapon.

Behind the protection of the sky.

85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K

Anti-aircraft gun mechanisms.

Characteristics

Year of issue
1938

Total produced
?

Weight
4300 kg
Calculation
7 people
Shooting characteristics
Caliber
85 mm
Initial projectile speed
800 m/s
Maximum firing range
15650 m
Height reach
10500 m
Rate of fire
20 shots/min.

Description

On September 5, 1937, the design bureau of plant No. 8 informed the Art Directorate about the project of engineer G.D. Dorokhin to attach an 85-mm barrel to the carriage of a 76-mm 3-K cannon. The 85-mm barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake, the weight of the projectile is 9.2 kg, the initial speed is 800 m/s.

On September 28, 1937, the People's Commissar of Defense addressed the Art Directorate with a proposal to include in the plan experimental work in 1938, Plant No. 8 produced a prototype of an 85-mm movable cannon, the tactical and technical requirements of which would be developed by the Art Directorate. By that time, the Art Directorate was already developing these requirements. Thus, by protocol of November 22, 1937, it was decided to cancel the task of designing 85-mm remote shrapnel.

On January 31, 1938, Plant No. 8 presented the Art Directorate with a description of the 85-mm 52-K gun. Instead of the existing liner (from a 76-mm 3-K anti-aircraft gun), a free pipe was taken, the end of which is free from the casing at a length of 1800 mm and has a screw-on muzzle brake. The free pipe casing has a thickening between the grips (so that the balancing mechanism from the 3-K carriage works normally) and is 1431 mm shorter than the existing monoblock of the 76-mm 3-K gun. This casing can be derived from an existing forging, the breech and wedge undergo minor modifications so that existing breech and wedge forgings from 3-K can be used.

In January 1938, factory tests were carried out on the first experimental 85-mm barrel on a 3-K carriage. According to the act of January 29, 1938, a total of 35 shots were fired at an angle of 0°. The first 20 shots were fired with a muzzle brake with a projectile weighing 9.2 kg, the initial speed was 613-830 m/s, and then 15 shots were fired without a muzzle brake with initial speed 673-714 m/s. For these 15 shots, the maximum initial speed is set at 715 m/s with an allowable recoil of 1150 mm for firing without a muzzle brake.

On January 31, 1938, an 85-mm barrel on a Z-K carriage arrived at the Sofrinsky training ground. On February 1, 45 shots were fired at elevation angles from 0° to +80° with an average initial speed of 827.2 m/s. Failures in the operation of semi-automatic devices (battery) were noted. The rollback length has been slightly increased.

The 85-mm gun was first tested at the Research Anti-Aircraft Artillery Range from July 8 to September 25, 1938. By the time of arrival at NIZAP, 104 shots had already been fired from the 85 mm barrel.

During the tests at NIZAP, 1,100 shots were fired and 500 km were covered. average speed towing behind a ZiS-5 on a dirt road is 30-35 km/h, the maximum speed is about 50 km/h.

Based on the results of field tests, the commission stated that the gun had passed the field tests and recommended it for adoption as a hull-mounted anti-aircraft gun.

On May 10, 1940, the Art Directorate finally established the index of the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun - “52-P-365”.

Production of 52-K was carried out exclusively at plant No. 8 named after. Kalinin, who until the winter of 1941-42. was located in the village of Podlipki (Moscow region), and then was evacuated to Sverdlovsk.

By June 22, 1941, the troops had 2,630 52-K guns. During the war, 676 guns were transferred to the Navy.