Command device-6

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The command device 6 ( Russian Прибор управления артиллерийским зенитным огнем, ПУАЗО-6 , transcription : Pribor uprawljenia artilleriskim senitnim ognem) was used to guide the fire from anti-aircraft batteries . With the help of the device, the values ​​for aiming the guns were determined from the target coordinates of an air target and passed on to the guns. The command device was developed in the Soviet Union from 1946 . In the National People's Army , the device was also called the PUAZO-6.

development

Command device 6-60

Already at the end of the First World War it became clear that fighting the ever higher and faster flying aircraft required suitable anti-aircraft artillery operations. The determination of proved problematic was the increasing lead point that results from the movement direction and speed of air target and the time of flight of projectiles. With the help of the ring sight commonly used for anti-aircraft weapons, the lead point could only be estimated, but not determined. From the consideration of being able to calculate the lead point with the help of the target coordinates of the air target and their rate of change, the first command devices for the guidance of AA batteries emerged. These devices, constructed as analog computers , were able to use the target coordinates determined by optical rangefinders to determine the guideline values ​​for the guns and for large-caliber anti-aircraft weapons also the duration of the time fuse of the grenades. From the beginning of the 1940s, these command devices were also coupled with radar stations to determine the target coordinates.

The first Soviet command device PUAZO-1 (ПУАЗО 1) was created in 1930. With him and the successor PUAZO-2 (ПУАЗО 2), which was available from 1934, the calculated fire values ​​had to be transmitted to the guns orally or by telephone. The PUAZO-3 (ПУАЗО 3), which appeared in 1940, made it possible for the first time to electrically transmit 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.

Command unit PUAZO-5

It was only after the end of the Second World War that the PUAZO-5 (ПУАЗО 5) command unit had an integrated stereoscopic range finder. It served to guide the batteries equipped with the automatic 57-mm Flak S-60 . Constructively, it was based closely on the German command unit 40. In the meantime, however, optical distance measurement was already outdated, as the corresponding radar devices provided a much more precise and, above all, all-weather method for determining the target coordinates.

The PUAZO-6 (ПУАЗО 6) should be able to be coupled with the newly developed gun alignment stations GRS-4 (SON-4) and GRS-9 (SON-9), while the target coordinates and their rate of change were determined by the gun alignment stations. Alternatively, it was also possible to determine the coordinates with an integrated optical rangefinder. The device was intended to guide the AA batteries of the automatic 57 mm Flak S-60 , the 85 mm Flak 52-K or their successors KS-12 and KS-1 and the 100 mm Flak KS- 19 . The variant with the GRS-4 was intended for the KS-19, with the GRS-9 for the smaller calibers.

The device was developed in the central design office of the Scientific Research Institute No. 20 (Russian: ЦАКБ НИИ-20, ZAKB NII-20). The development started immediately after the end of the Second World War. However, the design initially created in the NII-5 was not satisfactory. The then Soviet Defense Minister Ustinow instructed that the device should be significantly improved or redeveloped within a year. According to Ustinov's instructions, the development of the command device was ordered on September 21, 1952 by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In accordance with instructions, the development of the device was completed in 1953.

The PUAZO-30 (ПУАЗО 30) command unit, which works in a similar manner, was developed for the 130 mm KS-30 anti-aircraft gun . The main difference to the PUAZO-6 were the higher values ​​for range and height of the air target to be fought. For the GRS-4, the PUAZO-7 (ПУАЗО 7) ​​was developed, which was scaffolded in the gun alignment station. For the first time in a Soviet anti-aircraft system, the elements of target reconnaissance, identification and escort as well as the determination of the shot values ​​were combined in one device complex. This path was consistently continued with the RPK-1 fire control device and conceptually brought to a close. The integration of a command device in the gun alignment station GRS-9 was ruled out because of its smaller dimensions and the additional weight. In practice, the PUAZO-6 was used together with the GRS-9 to guide the 100 mm KS-19 anti-aircraft gun, as the value ranges were also sufficient for this more powerful weapon.

construction

Structure and mode of operation

The device was built on a two-axle carriage with stub axle steering. The command device consisted of

  • a computing device rotatably mounted on the base
  • a D-49 optical distance measuring device (so-called 3 m base) permanently mounted on the computing device
  • the motor-generator, which is permanently mounted on the base
  • the actual lower mount
  • a battery pack attached under the platform
  • an electrical unit for powering the command device
  • the PTRP-4M exercise and testing device
  • the towing vehicle, usually an AT-S chain tractor

The arithmetic unit was an analog computer , most of which was built with encoders and resolvers . The advantage of this design lay in the significantly higher operating speed of analog computers compared to digital computers at the time of development and in the simple implementation of the differential equations to be solved by rotating electrical machines.

The input information - bank angle, elevation angle and slope distance - was converted into the guide values ​​for the anti-aircraft guns in the computing device. The input information was usually provided by the connected GRS-9 gun alignment station. If the GRS-9 was equipped with tacho generators for the command unit, the speed of change of the lateral and elevation angles was transmitted as input information. With these values could lead point are determined as with the conventional method precisely. With the optical rangefinder, which was permanently installed on the computing device, the angles to the target and the slanting distance could also be determined without radar radiation, albeit with reduced accuracy. The following deployment procedures resulted:

  • Determination of the angles and the distance by the GRS-9,
  • Determination of the distance by the optical rangefinder, the distance by the GRS-9,
  • Determination of the angles and the distance by the optical rangefinder.

From these values ​​the computer calculated the elevation of the barrel and the directional angle of the anti-aircraft guns. For the anti-aircraft guns KS-19 and KS-12, the ignition position was also calculated. The values ​​determined were transmitted electrically to the guns. The anti-aircraft guns S-60 and KS-19 were equipped with electric directional drives; The aiming of the weapons and the setting of the detonators (for KS-19) were automatic here. The 85 mm FlaK 52-K did not have any electrical directional drives; here the guide values ​​were displayed on a so-called zero vision device.

The operation consisted of a total of six soldiers. In addition to the leader of the measuring team and the machine operator, an operator was responsible for the distance to the target, the directional angle, the angle of elevation and the target height.

The PTRP-4M training and testing device was used to check the correct functioning of the command device and to train the operator. For training purposes, the PTRP-4M training and testing device was able to imitate the course of a target and transfer the current coordinates to the command device.

The electrical unit was used to power the command unit and, in the batteries of the 57 mm Flak S-60, also to power the directional drives of the anti-aircraft guns.

variants

A total of three variants of the command device-6 were developed.

The command device 6-60 (ПУАЗО 6-60, PUAZO 6-60) was used to guide an anti-aircraft battery S-60. The igniter setting was not calculated, the unit was an SPO-30 electric unit. The unit was mounted on a two-axle trailer, also with stub axle steering. It provided an alternating voltage of 230 V with a frequency of 50 Hz and a nominal output of 30 kW. The unit ensured the power supply of the command device and the directional drives of the anti-aircraft guns.

The command unit 6-12 (ПУАЗО 6-12, PUAZO 6-12) was used to control an anti-aircraft battery KS-12. The detonator setting was calculated using a PZS-3 electrical unit. The unit was loaded on the loading area of ​​the traction device of the command unit. To operate it was rolled off the loading area of ​​the traction device on a ramp with rails. With the help of the wheels, it could be moved manually on firm ground. A direct voltage of 120 V was provided with a nominal output of 3 kW. The unit ensured the power supply to the command unit. To convert the direct current into the alternating current required by the command unit, the command unit had the motor generator, which served as a converter.

The command unit 6-19 (ПУАЗО 6-19, PUAZO 6-19) was used to control an anti-aircraft battery KS-19. The fuse setting was calculated, there was no separate unit.

commitment

Soviet Union

The device was used from the mid-1950s in the anti-aircraft batteries of calibers 57 mm, 85 mm and 100 mm together with the gun alignment stations GRS-4 and GRS-9. It was replaced in the 57 mm batteries from 1961 by the RPK-1. During this period, the heavy anti-aircraft batteries were also replaced by anti-aircraft missile complexes and removed from the active armament.

National Peoples Army

The introduction of the PUAZO-6 in the air defense of the NVA began in 1955/56. It was used in the 57 mm, 85 mm and 100 mm flak batteries and replaced the PUAZO-3 in the 85 mm flak. Initially, the medium flak batteries (S-60) were only fired according to the information provided by the optical rangefinder, as the gun alignment station GRS-9 did not open until 1958/59. From 1961 the anti-aircraft regiments of the air defense gave up their 57-mm and 100-mm anti-aircraft guns and were restructured into anti-aircraft missile regiments. The 85-mm anti-aircraft cannons had already been removed from the armament so that the PUAZO-6 only remained in the anti-aircraft regiments of the armored and motorized rifle divisions equipped with the S-60. From the mid-1960s onwards, increasing wear and tear limited the PUAZO-6's operational readiness more and more. A new purchase was not possible because the device was no longer produced. The still operational PUAZO-6s were combined in the units of the MB-V, while the units of the MB-III were temporarily equipped with the Hungarian command unit E-2BD.

In 1968 the GRS-9 and thus also the PUAZO-6 began to be replaced by the RPK-1 fire control unit. However, this replacement could not be completed until 1975. In the meantime, the AT-S chain hoist in the units still equipped with PUAZO-6 has been replaced by the Tatra 813 truck . When the NVA was dissolved in 1990, there were no more PUAZO-6s in active stock.

Other countries

The PUAZO-6 was delivered to practically all states that also used the corresponding Soviet anti-aircraft guns. It was used in the Korean War , the Vietnam War, and various military conflicts between the Arab states and Israel.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see Dawydow, p. 169ff.
  2. ↑ Instead of the gun alignment station GRS-9, a gun alignment station GRS-4 could also be used.
  3. ↑ Various operating methods for level flight, inclination, incline or target angle smaller than 0.1 ° were possible.

Web links

Commons : PUAZO-6  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • М.М.Лобанов: РАЗВИТИЕ СОВЕТСКОЙ РАДИОЛОКАЦИОННОЙ ТЕХНИКИ; издательство "Воениздат". 1982 (Russian).
  • Collective of authors: Handbook for air defense gunners. Military publishing house of the GDR, 4th edition 1975.
  • Wilfried Copenhagen: The land forces of the NVA. Motorbuch Verlag, 1st edition 1999.