85 mm anti-aircraft gun M1939 (52-K)
The 85 mm Flak 52-K is a Soviet anti -aircraft gun of the 85 mm caliber . The Soviet name is 85-мм зенитная пушка обр. 1939 г. and means 85mm anti-aircraft gun M1939 . The other designation 52-K follows the designation system of Soviet drawn artillery systems used from the 1950s , the letter K stands for the manufacturer and the number 52 for the serial number of the development in this work. The GRAU index is 52-P-365 (52-П-365).
development
The gun is based on the design of the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun M1938 (76-мм зенитная пушка образца 1938 года). This in turn was a further development of the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun model 1931 (3-K) (76-мм зенитная пушка образца 1931 года (3-К)). In August 1930, the Bureau of Technical Work and Research (Бюро для технических работ и изучений (БЮТАСТ)) signed a contract for the supply of four 7.5 cm anti-aircraft guns and the associated manufacturing technology. The office was founded in 1929 to handle armaments deals for the Rheinmetall company in the Soviet Union. Between February and April 1932, the four weapons made in Germany were tested together with samples made in Plant No. 8. In the same year the gun was added to the armament of the Red Army . In the 1938 model, the carriage was modified so that the total weight was reduced from 4970 kg to 4300 kg. At the same time, however, it became clear that the advancing development of aircraft required a weapon with a greater firing height. However, this could only be achieved by increasing the caliber. Therefore, a weapon with a caliber of 85 mm was placed on the mount of the 1938 model. The lock design of the 1938 model was retained. The increase in caliber also had the advantage that the explosive mass of the grenades could be increased, which increased the effective radius of the fragments. After its successful testing in 1939, the gun was taken over into the armament of the Red Army. Plant No. 8 in Kaliningrad near Moscow (today Koroljow) was selected for series production.
construction
.jpg)
gun
The gun was largely conventional. The one-piece barrel with a length of 55 calibers had a muzzle brake . The hydraulic pipe brake and the pneumatic-hydraulic pipe retractor were arranged below and above the pipe. The pipe return is normally 1150 mm, but is limited with increasing pipe elevation and is only 600 mm at an angle of 82 °. A vertically running semi-automatic drop block lock is used as the lock , in which a spring supports the opening of the lock. The shutter must be closed manually. Manual opening is only required before the first shot is fired, after which the semi-automatic lock opens after the shot has been fired, ejects the cartridge case, inserts the grenade cartridge from the loading cradle into the chamber and locks again. The charging cradle is located behind the breech, in which the grenade cartridges to be fired are inserted. Cartridged ammunition is fired. The design allows a practical rate of fire of 10 to 12 rounds per minute. The weapon is aimed purely mechanically in terms of height and side; there were no electrical straightening drives. If the guide values were determined with the help of a command device - for example the PUAZO 6 - the lateral and elevation angles to be set were displayed on a so-called zero vision device. The directional gunners had to bring the actual values of the cannon on the device into agreement with the target values transmitted by the command device.
Visor
The use of command equipment had become internationally accepted in the anti-aircraft artillery by the end of the 1930s, as it significantly improved the accuracy of shooting and reduced ammunition consumption. However, the 52-K could shoot without a command device - only with an optical sight.
Mount
The gun was placed on a four-wheeled, cross-shaped mount . This enabled a lateral directional range of 360 °. In the event of a battle, the side bars were swiveled out, the support plates under the bars manually extended and the wheels lifted from the ground until the carriage was horizontal. The transition from marching to combat situation took one minute, from combat to marching position two minutes. In exceptional cases it was also possible to fire directly from the marching position, i.e. without folding down the spars and extending the support plates, but the probability of hits was lower.
A stub axle steering was used for the carriage construction. This enabled the lower mount to be positioned low, but the driveability of the rifled gun was unsatisfactory at high speeds. All-terrain trucks were used as tractors. Chain hoists could also be used in difficult terrain. A cruising speed of 50 km / h was permitted on the road.
A protective shield that was firmly connected to the upper mount (and thus swiveled with it) protected the operator against splintering. The shield was usually removed when fighting air targets.
ammunition
The ammunition was in principle interchangeable with the ammunition used in other Soviet guns of the same caliber. Frag grenades 53-UO-365 (53-УО-365) were used to combat air targets. Various time fuses (T-5 (Т-5), TM-30 (ТМ-30), WM-30 (ВМ-30) and WM-2 (ВМ-2)) were available for this projectile . A fragmentation grenade split up into 500 fragments, each weighing 5 g.
In the fight against tanks, the anti-tank shells 53-UBR-365 (53-УБР-365) and 53-UBR-365K (53-УБР-365K) as well as the sub-caliber 53-UBR-365P (53-УБР-365П) were used Commitment. With the 53-UBR-365 tank shells, 100 mm of armor could be penetrated at a distance of 100 m at an impact angle of 60 °, at a distance of 500 m still 90 mm and at a distance of 1000 m still 85 mm. At an angle of incidence of 90 °, the corresponding values were 120, 110 and 100 mm. This made it possible to fight the Panzerkampfwagen IV . The lower caliber shells were more powerful. The BR-365P projectile of the UBR-365P sub-caliber shell reached a v 0 of 1040 m / s and penetrated 107 mm of armor steel at a distance of 1000 m at an angle of impact of 90 °. In contrast, the BR-365 and BR-365K tank shells only reached 792 m / s, while still penetrating 99 and 92 mm armor at 1000 m.
Modifications
The 52-K was continuously improved during the production period. These improvements were aimed on the one hand at increasing combat strength and on the other hand at reducing manufacturing costs. In the course of production, the tube, closure and target devices were changed and a protective shield for ground combat was developed. Production costs fell from 2,051.5 man-hours in 1942 to 1,360.5 man-hours in 1943.
Type 56
The weapons produced in the People's Republic of China are called Type 56.
Chariot cannons
The 52-K was also a starting point for the development of a range of 85mm chariot guns. Three types of derived guns of the same caliber with the same external ballistic properties were mass-produced:
- 85 mm D-5S cannon for the SU-85 medium tank destroyer , developed by the design office of Artillery Plant No. 9 in Sverdlovsk under FF Petrov's direction and in production since August 1943;
- 85 mm D-5T cannon for the KW-85 and IS-1 heavy tanks and the early T-34/85 medium tank , developed by the design office of Artillery Plant No. 9 in Sverdlovsk under Petrov's direction and in production since September 1943;
- 85-mm cannon of the type SiS S-53 for the medium tank T-34/85 of the most built version, developed by the artillery central design office in Moscow under WG Grabins management, reworked by the design office of the artillery plant No. 92 "Josef Stalin" in Gorki and in production since January 1944.
Technical specifications
| 85 mm anti-aircraft gun, model 1939 | |
| General properties | |
| classification | Anti-aircraft cannon |
| Chief designer | |
| Name of the manufacturer | 52-K |
| Manufacturer | Zavod No. 8 (Plant No. 8, Russian Завод № 8) in Kaliningrad |
| Weight in firing position | 4,500 kg |
| Weight in driving position | 4,500 kg |
| team | 7 men |
| Years of construction | 1939-1945 |
| number of pieces | 14,422 |
| pipe | |
| caliber | 85 mm |
| Pipe length | 4,685 mm (L / 55) |
| Fire dates | |
| Elevation range | −6 ° to + 82 ° |
| Side straightening area | 360 ° |
| Maximum range | 15,650 m |
| Maximum muzzle velocity | 1,050 m / s |
| fire rate | 10-20 rounds / min |
| agility | |
| Top speed in tow | 50 km / h |
commitment
Operational principles
The 52-K was used in an anti-aircraft battery, which in addition to six anti-aircraft guns also included reconnaissance equipment and means for targeting. The 52-K was designed for use with the PUAZO-3 (ПУАЗО 3) command unit . The PUAZO-3 calculated the guideline values for air targets at a distance of 700 to 12,000 m and an altitude of maximum 9,600 m. The PUAZO-3 is an analog computer, most of which is built up with encoders and resolvers. The PUAZO-3, which appeared in 1940, was the first to have the option of electrically transmitting the firing values to the guns. The shot values were displayed on the gun on the so-called zero vision device. The weapons had to be aimed manually according to the specifications of this device. These first Soviet command devices had only simple reflex sights that were relatively imprecise to determine the target coordinates. A stereoscopic rangefinder was present in the battery, but not linked to the command unit, so its values had to be transmitted orally. This process was relatively slow, imprecise and prone to failure. Nevertheless, the PUAZO-3 remained in the inventory of the corresponding anti-aircraft batteries until the 1950s.
During the Second World War , the Red Army also used radars for target assignment. The RUS-1 enabled reconnaissance at distances of up to 90 km, while the RUS-2 , which was used from 1943, could reconstruct the course, distance and approximate distance from air targets up to 120 km away. A transmission of the target data to the command device or the guns was not possible with these radar devices. This was only possible with the SON-2 (СОН-2) gun alignment station developed in 1942, but the accuracy of this gun alignment station was insufficient. Since the device was built on several vehicles and the antenna was very large due to the use of meter waves, the tactical mobility was not satisfactory either. In the case of the successor, the Neptun gun alignment station (Нептун), the device could be made more compact by changing the wave range, but the range and accuracy remained unsatisfactory here as well. Although a few hundred copies of the SON-2 were produced, these first Soviet gun-straightening stations were of little practical importance during the Second World War. In the opinion of Soviet scientists, the American SCR-584 with the computing device M9 and the 90 mm anti-aircraft gun M1 was the only practically usable gun aiming station during the Second World War.
The problem of electronic target assignment could only be solved in the Soviet Union after the end of the war. With the gun straightening station SON-9 and the ПУАЗО 6 a system that was quite efficient for the time was available.
Use in the Soviet Army
The 52-K was originally used by the Red Army in the heavy flak regiments, each regiment had 16 guns. With 14,422 copies produced (until 1945), the 52-K provided most of the Soviet heavy anti-aircraft artillery. During the Second World War, 4,047 aircraft were shot down with the 52-K; an average of 598 shells were needed for one shot.
Guns captured by the Wehrmacht were given the designation 8.5cm FlaK M.39 (r). In some cases, the prey weapons were rifled to the 8.8 cm caliber that is common in Germany and then given the designation 8.5cm / 8.8cm FlaK M.39 (r).
After the end of the Second World War, the 52-K was quickly withdrawn from the armament of the Soviet armed forces, now known as the Soviet Army, as more powerful guns were available with the 57 mm Flak S-60 and the 100 mm Flak KS-19 . Most of the weapons that are no longer needed have been given to other countries, but some are used as hail or avalanche cannons in civilian areas.
Use in the National People's Army
The 52-K was only used for a very short period of time in the National People's Army . The gun was already introduced in the forerunner organization of the National People's Army, the Barracked People's Police . From 1954, two 52-K batteries with six guns each should be available in the anti-aircraft regiments designated as the S-5 Command (equivalent to a division), but the guns came in slowly. When the NVA was formed, the structure of the flak regiments was retained, but the 37-mm Flak 61-K was replaced by the 57-mm Flak S-60 and the 85-mm Flak 52-K by the 100-mm -Flak KS-19 to be replaced. However, since these weapons could not be procured as quickly as required, the 52-K remained in stock for a while as a replacement armament.
Use in other armed forces
The weapon has been exported to Afghanistan , Albania , Algeria , Bulgaria , China, Cuba , Egypt , Iran , Iraq , the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , Poland , Romania , Sudan , Syria , Vietnam , the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and Yugoslavia. These are used Soviet weapons or weapons produced under license in China and the ČSR. In these countries, the gun was still in use in the mid-1980s.
During the Korean War , the Chinese and North Korean forces used the 52-K.
See also
literature
- Александр Широкорад : Великий антракт.
- М.В. Давыдов: Годы и люди. из истории ОАО "НИЭМИ". Радио и связь, 2009, ISBN 5-256-01601-6 (MW Dawydow: Years and People. From the history of the "OAO NIEMI". Radio i Swjas publishing house) (Russian).
- М. М. Лобанов: Развитие советской радиолокационной техники. Воениздат, 1982 (MM Lobanow: The Development of Soviet Radar Technology . Vojenizdat Publishing House, 1982) (Russian).
- Wilfried Copenhagen : The land forces of the NVA. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-02297-4 .
- Christopher F. Foss (Editor): Jane's Armor and Artillery 1986–1987. Jane's Publishing Company Ltd, London / New York, 1986, 0-7106-0833-0 (English).
Web links
- Missile and weapons service in Kdo.MB III, technical catalog, 85 mm anti-aircraft gun KS-12 (52P365)
- 85-мм зенитная пушка 52-К образца 1939 года (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Russian Arms forum ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ see Schirokorad, p. 41
- ↑ a b c Jörg Siegert , Helmut Hanske: Main battle tanks of the NVA . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03294-1 , p. 32-34 (208 pp.).
- ↑ Information according to the RWD technical catalog
- ↑ see М.В. Давыдов: Годы и люди. из истории ОАО "НИЭМИ". издательство "Радио и связь", 2009, ISBN 5-256-01601-6 .
Anti-tank guns: 37 mm PaK 1-K | 37 mm PaK M1944 | 45 mm PaK M1932 | 45 mm PaK 53-K | 45 mm PaK M-42 | 57 mm PaK SiS-2 | 100 mm FK BS-3
Battalion and regiment guns : 45 mm howitzer M1929 | 76 mm cannon M1927 | 76mm cannon M1943
Mountain guns: 76 mm M1938 cannon
Division guns : 76 mm cannon M1902 / 30 | 76 mm cannon M1933 | 76 mm F-22 cannon | 76 mm cannon USW | 76 mm gun SiS-3 | 85 mm cannon D-44 | 107 mm cannon M-60 | 122 mm howitzer M1909 / 37 | 122 mm howitzer M1910 / 30 | 122 mm howitzer M-30 | 152 mm mortar NM
Corps and army guns: 107 mm cannon M1910 / 30 | 122 mm cannon M1931 (A-19) | 122 mm cannon M1931 / 37 (A-19) | 152 mm howitzer M1909 / 30 | 152 mm howitzer M1910 / 37 | 152 mm howitzer M-10 | 152 mm howitzer D-1 | 152 mm cannon M1910 / 30 | 152 mm cannon M1910 / 34 | 152 mm howitzer ML-20 | 160 mm grenade launcher M1943
Heaviest guns: 152 mm Br-2 | 203 mm howitzer M1929 | 203 mm howitzer B-4 | 210 mm gun Br-17 | 280 mm mortar Br-5 | 305 mm howitzer M1915 | 305 mm howitzer Br-18
Anti- aircraft guns: 25 mm anti-aircraft gun 72-K | 37-mm anti-aircraft gun 61-K | 76 mm anti-aircraft gun M1931 | 76 mm anti-aircraft gun M1938 | 85 mm anti-aircraft gun M1939 | M1944 85mm anti-aircraft gun