ZiS-30
| ZiS-30 | |
|---|---|
ZiS-30 with the cannon raised |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 4-5 |
| length | 3.45 m |
| width | 1.86 m |
| height | 2.44 m |
| Dimensions | 4.5 tons |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 7-10 mm |
| Main armament | 1 × 57 mm ZiS-2 cannon |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm MG Degtjarjow DT |
| agility | |
| drive |
GAZ-M , 4-cylinder petrol engine, 50 HP |
| suspension | Leaf spring |
| Top speed | 40 km / h |
| Power / weight | |
| Range | 250 km |
The ZiS-30 was a light self-propelled gun that was built in 1941 for the Soviet Red Army . The chassis is armored and based on the T-20 “Komsomolez” artillery tractor . The construction was successful, but the numbers produced were too small due to the limited availability of the Komsomolez tractors.
Production history
The ZiS-30 was one of the few hastily designed armored combat vehicles that Soviet industry produced shortly after the German invasion during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. In August 1941, Vasily Gavrilowitsch Grabin's design office at the Gorky plant No. 92 mounted the 57-mm ZiS-2 cannon on the chassis of a Komsomolets artillery tractor. Only around 100 were produced.
For its era, the ZiS-2 gun was one of the most powerful anti-tank guns on the market. Most guns of the period were between 20 and 50mm, which made the ZiS-2 slightly larger at 57mm, but it was also much longer, and a larger breech fired far stronger ammunition. It fired a 3 kg grenade with a muzzle velocity of 990 m / s, which is more typical for late war weapons than for early ones. For comparison, the British Army's contemporary 2-pounder fired a 40mm shell weighing just over 1kg at around 800m / s, and the 6-pounder it replaced fired a 2.3kg shell at 850 m / s.
The assembly on the Komsomolez was relatively easy. She essentially cut out the drive area enough to allow the sled to go into the hole, then cut off the back of the wagon so it didn't protrude past the back of the tractor. The result left the gun with a relatively wide angle of fire, but when swung to the extreme, the breech placed far from the side of the vehicle. Wooden running boards on either side of the aft deck could be folded out to provide a work area for the gunner and loader when the gun was panned this way.
Although the drivers were protected by light armor, the gunner and loader were only protected by a light gun shield on the front of the breech. They were completely exposed on the sides and rear, and the relatively high profile of the deck made them easy targets.
