Artillery is a branch of the armed forces whose main armament is artillery guns - firearms with a caliber of at least 20 mm designed to defeat the enemy on land, sea and air. Under the same concept, they understand the entire set of items of artillery weapons (guns, ammunition, firing devices, etc.).

The principle of operation of an artillery gun is based on the physicochemical process of converting the combustion energy of the powder charge in the barrel into the energy of the projectile movement that occurs during the shot. When fired, develop high temperatures(3000–3500 degrees) and a pressure of 400–500 MPa in very short periods of time (0.001–0.06 s). At the same time, on forward movement projectile, 25-35% of the charge energy is spent, the rest of it goes to secondary work (rollback of moving parts, dynamic balancing of recoil in recoilless rifles and grenade launchers, ensuring the operation of automation in automatic weapons, etc.) or is lost. The gases flowing out of the bore form flames, smoke and a shock wave, which is the source of sound.

An artillery gun consists of two main parts - a barrel with a bolt and a gun carriage. The barrel is designed to throw a projectile (mine) with a certain initial speed and give it a stable flight in the right direction. It is a pipe, the inner cavity of which is called the bore. The inner diameter of the bore is called the caliber. For rifled weapons in Russia, the caliber is determined by the distance between opposite fields of rifling, in the USA and Great Britain - by the distance between rifling. Usually the caliber of a weapon is expressed in linear units: inches (25.4 mm), lines (2.54 mm), millimeters. The caliber is also called the diameter of the projectile (rocket) according to their largest cross section.

The end sections of the barrel are called breech and muzzle. The bore after loading and during firing from the breech is closed by a bolt, which is located in the bolt nest of the breech. The bore consists of a chamber where the propellant charge is placed and the leading part. In the chamber, the propellant charge is burned and its chemical energy is converted into the kinetic energy of the projectile. The leading part is designed to guide the movement of the projectile. At rifled barrels it is also used to give the projectile rotational motion.

The barrels of some guns have muzzle brakes and ejectors. A muzzle brake is a device designed to absorb the energy of recoil parts (by 25–75%). The use of a muzzle brake reduces the load on the carriage and reduces the total mass of the gun. Muzzle brakes differ in the number of chambers (tubeless, single and multi-chamber), the number of rows of side holes (single and multi-row) and their shape (slotted, mesh and window). Muzzle brakes according to the principle of action are divided into active, reactive and active-reactive action.

Ejector - a device for purging the bore of an artillery gun from powder gases, as well as reducing the gas pollution of the combat compartments of tanks, self-propelled guns and shipborne artillery turrets. The operation of the ejector is based on the principle of ejection (suction) of powder gases due to the creation of a gas pressure difference in the breech and muzzle of the barrel.

Depending on the device of the leading part of the channel, the trunks are rifled and smoothbore. In most countries, the right-hand cutting of weapons is adopted (from left to top to right). The rifling gives the projectile a rotational movement, which ensures its stability on the trajectory, increases the accuracy of fire and range. In turn, smoothbore guns have a number of advantages. The absence of rifling allows them to significantly increase the pressure of powder gases in the bore and, accordingly, increase the initial speed and armor penetration of armor-piercing projectiles. A smooth barrel is less susceptible to erosion from powder gases, has less bore wear when firing high-velocity armor-piercing projectiles. Its service life is about twice as long as that of a rifled barrel. It is also cheaper to manufacture.

According to the arrangement of the walls, gun barrels are divided into unfastened, fastened (self-fastened) and collapsible. Loose barrel - a monolithic pipe, called a monoblock barrel; made from one piece. Bonded barrel - a barrel that has artificial stresses created in advance in the manufacturing process in the walls, which increase its strength. To do this, the barrel is made of two or more pipes put on one another with tension. The outer tube is called the casing. Collapsible barrel - a barrel consisting of two pipes put on one another with a gap that is selected during the shot. Collapsible barrels come with a free pipe or a free liner. A free pipe has thicker walls compared to a liner and is not covered over its entire length, but only in that part where the highest pressures of powder gases develop in its channel. The use of collapsible barrels makes it possible to quickly replace their worn-out part in combat conditions (re-barrelling) and increases ease of use (disassembly into packs in mountainous conditions).

Shutter - a device designed to send artillery shot into the chamber, locking and unlocking the bore, firing a shot and ejecting the cartridge case. The shutters of artillery pieces are divided by design into wedge and piston. Wedge gate - a gate, the locking part of which is a wedge. It is used in artillery guns of unitary and separate-sleeve loading. There are vertical wedge gates (in small-caliber guns) and horizontal (in large-caliber guns). Piston valve - a valve, the locking part of which is a piston. It is used in artillery guns of medium and large caliber with separate case and cartridge loading.

Carriage - a machine on which the barrel of an artillery gun is fixed. Designed to give the barrel vertical and horizontal angles (with the help of pickup mechanisms), absorb the recoil energy when fired (by recoil devices) and transfer the resulting forces to the ground (or to the base of the installation), as well as to move the artillery gun. Carriages are movable (wheeled or tracked), semi-stationary (on a movable base for tank, self-propelled, ship, aircraft guns) and stationary (on a fixed base for casemate and coastal guns).

The carriage consists of a cradle with recoil devices, upper and lower machine. A cradle with recoil devices and a barrel make up the swinging part of the gun. The barrel and recoil devices are fixed in the cradle. When fired, the barrel rolls back along the cradle for a certain length, the recoil devices slow down the barrel during the rollback, after which, with the help of the recoil devices, the barrel returns to its original position. The upper machine is the basis for the swinging part of the tool. A cradle, a balancing mechanism, aiming mechanisms, sights and a shield cover are fixed on it. With the help of a rotary mechanism, the upper machine rotates in a horizontal plane.

Sights are used for precise aiming of the gun at the target and consist of a gun panorama and an artillery sight. The gun panorama serves for a circular view of the terrain, aiming and marking the gun. The artillery sight provides aiming of the gun in the horizontal and vertical planes.

The shield cover, made of steel sheets 3-10 mm thick, is designed to protect the gun crew and vulnerable parts of the carriage from bullets and shell fragments.

Lower machine with beds and undercarriage is the base of the rotary part of the tool. The beds, when bringing the gun into a combat position, are bred and fixed in the ground with coulters, which ensures the gun immobility when fired and lateral stability when changing the direction of fire. In the stowed position, the beds are brought together and fixed on the front end of the gun, in its absence on the hook of the tractor.

The main combat properties of an artillery gun include: the power of projectiles, accuracy of fire, range, rate of fire, fire maneuverability, mobility, air transportability, reliability in operation, simplicity and ease of maintenance.

The power of ammunition is an indicator of the effectiveness of its action on the target. Thus, the power of high-explosive projectiles is determined by the area of ​​the destruction zone, which depends on the mass and properties of the explosive charge, the ability to penetrate obstacles, and the installation of the fuse; fragmentation projectiles - the area of ​​the reduced fragmentation zone, determined by the number, mass and speed of fragmentation, the vulnerability of the target and the conditions of the encounter; armor-piercing shells - the thickness of pierced armor at a given angle of impact, the probability of hitting an armored target.

Shooting accuracy is a probabilistic assessment of the possible positions of the points of impact (explosions) of shells, missiles relative to the target. It is characterized by accuracy and accuracy of fire.

Range - the greatest range at which a weapon can throw a projectile (rocket, mine).

Rate of fire - the number of shots that can be fired from this sample weapons per unit of time (usually one minute); one of the main tactical and technical characteristics of a weapon that determines its power and effectiveness of firing. Distinguish between combat and technical rate of fire of weapons. Combat rate of fire - the practically possible rate of fire of a weapon in the conditions of its combat use, i.e. taking into account the time for aiming, reloading and transferring fire from one target to another. Technical rate of fire - the highest rate of fire of a weapon allowed by its technical capabilities. It is determined by the time between two consecutive shots (the time of reloading and firing a shot).

Fire maneuverability is determined by the speed of opening fire and the flexibility of fire. Flexibility of fire - the ability to fire at targets occupying any position in relation to the weapon, the speed of opening and transferring fire from one target to another.

The mobility of an artillery gun is the ability of an artillery gun to move quickly before the start of a battle and during hostilities. It is characterized by an average speed of movement and the time it takes to deploy to a combat position, as well as to withdraw from positions.

Artillery guns have a diverse classification according to a variety of criteria. So, according to the type of troops, artillery of the ground forces and naval artillery (coastal and ship) are distinguished.

By design features(type) of guns is subdivided into cannons, howitzers, cannon-howitzers, mortars, mortars, recoilless rifles and rocket weapons.

According to the device of the bore - rifled and smoothbore.

According to their functional purpose, guns are classified into aviation, mountain, infantry, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft, ship and coastal guns.

By caliber or power, small-caliber guns (20-75 mm), medium-caliber guns (75-155 mm), large-caliber (heavy) guns (155-460 mm) and guns of special power (over 460 mm) are distinguished.

According to ballistic properties, guns with a flat trajectory (guns) and a mounted trajectory (howitzers, mortars and mortars) are distinguished.

According to organizational and staffing, artillery is subdivided into battalion, regimental, divisional, corps, army and strategic reserve artillery.

According to the methods of movement, artillery is divided into self-propelled, towed, self-propelled, transportable and stationary artillery.

According to the method of loading, artillery is divided into separate-loading guns, guns with a unitary shot, cap guns, automatic guns, semi-automatic guns and guns with manual loading.

According to the design of the sight, guns with an independent aiming line (remains stationary when the lifting mechanism is operating), guns with a semi-dependent aiming line and guns with a dependent aiming line (fixed motionless on the swinging part of the gun and moves with it when the lifting mechanism is operating) are distinguished.

In some countries, field artillery is distinguished for battles in the open field; positional (siege), where the battle is less volatile due to the fact that the targets are stationary, or positions are occupied for a longer time; fortress (casemate or coastal), installed permanently with a narrow one with special shooting techniques.

The main tactics of artillery include the following.

Artillery attack - fighting artillery in an offensive operation with the aim of suppressing enemy defenses and continuous support of infantry and tanks with massive artillery fire in breakthrough areas. This achieves superiority over enemy artillery in the direction of action of the strike groupings of troops. To ensure interaction with the advancing units, the artillery concentrated on the breakthrough site was combined into artillery groups subordinate to combined arms commanders. Based on the nature of the actions of infantry and tanks at different stages of the offensive, the artillery offensive was divided into three periods: artillery preparation for the attack; artillery support for the attack; artillery support for infantry and tank operations in the depths of enemy defenses.

Artillery preparation for the attack was carried out by conducting massive and concentrated fire to the entire tactical depth of the enemy defense (8-10 km) in combination with the fire of guns allocated for direct fire at targets on the front line. Artillery support for an attack was achieved by successive concentrations of fire or a barrage of fire to a depth of 3-5 km, as well as a combination of these two types of fire. Artillery escort of infantry and tanks during the battle in depth was carried out by a combination of fire and maneuver of escort guns with the concentrated fire of artillery groups.

Artillery preparation is understood as attacking tactical actions of artillery designed to destroy or suppress enemy fire weapons, manpower, defensive structures and other objects before the offensive of friendly troops. Depending on the task, artillery preparation was carried out from several tens of minutes to several hours.

Fork - a technique used in artillery, in which two such shots are fired, so that with one of them the projectile flies a little over the target, and with the second one it does not reach the target a little. Forking the target is the desired zeroing result after which shooting to kill can be started using the average values ​​between the firing settings for the first and second shots if they are not too different. If the fork is too large for the transition to fire to kill, then the fork begins to be “halved” (reduced by 2 times with each change of overshoot sign) until sufficient accuracy is achieved.

Barrage (cutting off) fire is a type of artillery fire used suddenly to repel attacks and counterattacks by enemy infantry and tanks at pre-planned and, as a rule, targeted lines (areas). Barrage fire is divided into frontal and flank fire in relation to the front of its subunits. Removing the nearest barrage line from friendly units outside cover ensures the safety of friendly troops. The depth of the areas of barrage fire usually reaches 150-200 meters. When the enemy leaves the area of ​​barrage fire, the fire is transferred to the next line. To destroy air targets, barrage fire can be used by anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns.

Sound metering (sound intelligence) is a method of determining the location of an object by the sound it creates. It is especially widely used in military affairs to identify the location of enemy artillery batteries and conduct counter-battery fire.

Counter-battery fire is the firing of artillery pieces from closed firing positions at similarly located enemy artillery fire weapons. As a rule, counter-battery firing is carried out by a whole artillery unit(battery or division) against a group of enemy guns located close to each other. Most often, the target turns out to be an enemy battery, and it is precisely

because of this, counter-battery shooting got its name. Counter-battery firing is considered successful if the enemy fire weapons and their crews are suppressed or destroyed. Suppression implies a further temporary inability of enemy fire weapons to continue firing. It is caused by the need for enemy gun crews to wait out the fire raid in shelters. If the area of ​​impact is in close proximity to the enemy's guns, then his inability to fire may continue for some more time, necessary to change the firing position. Even if the area of ​​impact is far from the enemy's guns and does not pose an immediate danger to them, they can also be silenced to prevent more accurate determination of their location. This case is also considered a successful suppression of the target. If the hit area during counter-battery firing covers an enemy firing position and after firing the enemy guns and their crews are irretrievably disabled, then the target is considered destroyed.

Counter-battery shooting has its own characteristics. The main one is the large remoteness of the target from the front line (up to several tens of kilometers), which makes it impossible for direct observation by artillery reconnaissance on the front line. Therefore, the following means are used to determine the coordinates of the target: direct observation from an aircraft, the results of aerial photography, a sound reconnaissance unit, a radar station, visual observation of the phenomena associated with shooting, the deployment of reconnaissance agents or the use of agents in the enemy's near rear.

There are methods to counteract counter-battery fire. Thus, when choosing a firing position, one takes into account the features of the terrain, which can simplify or complicate the task of hiding the battery from the above-mentioned technical reconnaissance equipment. For sound camouflage of the location of the battery, explosive packs were used, imitating the sound of an artillery shot, in order to cause counter-battery fire at the location of the explosive packs, and thereby reveal the position of the enemy battery. To distract the enemy's attention from the location of the main artillery forces, various demonstrations, false positions, and wandering guns were used to disperse his counter-battery fire.

In artillery, several methods of firing are practiced, in which an artillery gun is aimed at a target and sends a projectile, depending on the purpose of the gun, the location of the target and the combat situation, along one or another trajectory.

Direct fire is a shooting method in which the shooter visually observes the target and aims by aligning the sight with the target.

Semi-direct fire is a method of shooting in which the shooter visually observes the target, aiming in the horizontal plane is carried out by combining the sight with the target, and aiming in the vertical plane is carried out as when shooting from closed positions.

Shooting from closed positions - conducting artillery fire at targets that are not in direct line of sight from the firing position, aiming is carried out with the help of third-party observers.

Mounted firing - firing from artillery pieces at barrel elevation angles over 20 °. Mortar shooting - firing from artillery pieces at elevation angles over 45 °.

A volley is a simultaneous shot from several artillery pieces. When firing from guns, a volley retains its significance, both due to its amazing impression, and in the sense of a strong destructive effect with the combined hit of several projectiles and a mass of lesions in a short period of time. Volley fire of artillery is carried out in those cases when the guns are well aimed, and must be consistent with the actual need, properties and importance of the target. A volley is made either on command, or automatically, by means of electrical devices and fuses; automatic volley is used for fortress guns and for ship artillery.

In addition to the above tactics the use of artillery, the following types of artillery fire are known: fire on an individual target, concentrated fire (conducted simultaneously by several batteries or a division on one precisely defined target), sequential concentration of fire (focused on enemy strongholds and other targets in front of the front and on the flanks of the attacking troops, sequentially transferred to the depth), combing fire (clears the entire strip between the lines of the fire curtain and suppresses enemy firing points reviving in some places), fire fringing (a kind of barrage fire), debilitating fire (long-term, massive fire on the same specific targets) , disturbing fire (methodical, infrequent fire on the same areas without exact definition goals), etc.

Artillery has a long history. However, its appearance, reflected in the Second World War, was laid before the start of the First World War and during its course. Artillery guns created at this time

served as the basis for the creation of guns in service during the Second World War. Already by the beginning of the First World War, artillery pieces had a rifled barrel, a recoilless single-bed carriage with openers, an arc sight with a side level and a goniometer, a charge of smokeless powder, and a unitary loading with a breech.

The role of artillery in the conduct of combat operations in all armies increased. During offensives, to break through the enemy defenses, guns began to be used more and more massively, concentrating up to 80 - 100, and in some operations up to 120 - 160 guns per 1 km of the front in breakthrough sectors. Accordingly, the number of guns in the armies increased. So, by the beginning of the war, the main warring countries had the following number of guns: Russia - 7,088, France - 4,300, England - 1,352, Germany - 9,388, Austria-Hungary - 4,088 guns. During the war, the number of guns was increased by 2-3 times.

Along with the quantitative growth of artillery, its quality improved: the range and power of the guns increased. Infantry escort artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery appeared. Increased the caliber of heavy guns. Artillery began to be transferred to mechanical traction, used firing from closed firing positions. New means and methods of conducting artillery reconnaissance, an artillery instrumental reconnaissance service appeared. Observation aircraft and balloons began to be used to correct firing at unobserved targets.

In the interwar period, the tactical and technical characteristics of old guns and ammunition were improved, new guns were created, and self-propelled artillery was being developed.

The armies of the world entered World War II with old, partially modernized guns and outdated tactics for their use. The concepts for the development of artillery in all countries were different, and, as practice has shown, they were erroneous. Germany relied on bomber aircraft, leaving artillery a supporting role. At the same time, she actively developed anti-aircraft artillery, assuming the same enemy strategy. France was based on infantry fire support artillery - field and infantry guns, and also built mortars. Great Britain and the United States paid primary attention to howitzers and mortars, while modernizing the old multi-purpose artillery arsenal. In the USSR, they tried to create universal field guns and at the same time modernized their old stock. Japan treated artillery as an auxiliary weapon and did not pay any attention to its development.

Thus the war began with approximately the same artillery weapons as the First World War, but used on a much larger scale. The outbreak of hostilities quickly revealed shortcomings in the existing artillery arsenals and led to the comprehensive, rapid development of artillery, especially its new types: anti-tank, jet and self-propelled. In anti-aircraft artillery, the rate of fire has increased, fire control systems have appeared. The role of mortars increased sharply, and recoilless guns began to be used. The number of guns produced has increased significantly.

Estimated number of guns, samples of which took part in the war by countries and types of guns (without transferred/received)
Types and number of guns
mountain tools Zenith. Infantry and field guns Howitzers and mortars Fri. Guns 1)

Railway guns 2)
Australia — — — —
Austria-Hungary — 577 638 580
Belgium — 1 024 — 750
England 40 583 2 350 22 033 63 605
Germany 204 413 25 314 35 833 58 574
Denmark — — — 1200
Italy 4 409 4 301 1 144 276
Spain — — — —
Netherlands — 686 — 380
Norway — — 8 —
Poland 146 628 — 1 200
USSR 51 991 56 301 37 477 113 868
USA 211 509 716 29 731 37 744
Finland — — — 544
France 2 294 22 341 2 863 5 768
Czechoslovakia 387 304 1 611 1 807
Sweden — 492 786 3 600
Japan 43 319 4 041 2 590 8 000
559 051 119 075 134 714 297 896

Table continuation

A country

Types and number of guns

Cor. Guns 3)

 Heavy Guns 4) TOTAL ACS Mortars 5)

Avia. Guns 6)
Australia — 213 —
Austria-Hungary 46 4 435 202
Belgium — 1 774 —
England 5 343 145 404 5 549 147 000
Germany 102 327 759 29 296 107 300
Denmark — 1 200 —
Italy 10 13 262 1 054
Spain 19 19 —
Netherlands — 1 066 —
Norway — 36 —
Poland — 1 974 —
USSR 810 263 406 24 767 402 300
USA 849 307 862 37 915 111 000
Finland 14 558 18
France 1 390 36 834 — 32 400
Czechoslovakia — 4 366 —
Sweden 48 5 339 42
Japan — 62 134 132 125 300
8 631 1 177 641 98 975 946 400

1) Anti-tank guns

2) Railway guns

3) Ship guns

4) Heavy and coastal guns

5) Mortars and recoilless guns

6) Aircraft guns

In addition to the above data, Germany had 40.2 thousand rocket launchers, the USSR - 26.2 thousand, and the British and US Navy - 5.1 installations mounted on ships.

Thus, in the Second World War, at least 2.8 million guns and mortars could take without taking into account aircraft guns.

The characteristics of the state and development of artillery in some countries during the war is as follows.

Great Britain, modernizing old guns, practically did not create new models. The main attention in the pre-war period was directed to the development of medium-caliber howitzers of sufficiently high performance characteristics. The industry was unable to master the production of medium-caliber aircraft guns (30-45 mm), as a result, aviation was overloaded with numerous heavy machine guns and 20 mm guns, which, especially in the second half of the war, were ineffective. The basis of British naval guns were medium-caliber guns built in the pre-war years and the second half of the war. Almost all large-caliber guns were built before the First World War or during its period, some of them were modernized in the interwar period.

Great Britain was almost the only maritime state that did not have large-caliber heavy and coastal guns in service. This task was solved by a mass of medium-caliber guns and ships. At the same time, the number of small-caliber coastal guns (up to 100 mm) was extremely large, which was due to the British fear of the German mosquito fleet. To reinforce coastal defenses, large-caliber railway guns, usually decommissioned from ships, were used.

The anti-aircraft artillery of Great Britain, despite its relative modernity, turned out to be qualitatively and quantitatively not ready to repel mass German air raids. This problem was not resolved even by the end of the war, even taking into account US Lend-Lease supplies. The effectiveness of anti-aircraft, naval and coastal artillery increased significantly in the second half of the war due to the use of radar stations and fire control systems.

Great Britain and the countries of the British Commonwealth were among the leaders in the production of mortars. At the same time, light mortars located directly in the infantry units occupied more than half of the entire issue. At the same time, the number of field and infantry guns in service with the army was too small. At the same time, most of the guns were modernized artillery of the First World War. The number of anti-tank guns fired by Great Britain ranks third in the world, but two-thirds of them were small-caliber. The country did not have specialized guns to fight heavy tanks.

British self-propelled artillery was not numerous and consisted, for the most part, of anti-tank guns and howitzers mounted on the basis of obsolete tanks. Self-propelled anti-aircraft installations were more often based on the chassis of trucks, less often - light tanks. Missile weapons Britain was in its early stages of development. Multiple launch rocket systems were in serial production, which served as auxiliary weapons.

In the first half of the war, German aircraft guns met the requirements of the time, but in the second part of it, there was clearly a lack of large-caliber guns, the development of which turned out to be “raw”. German naval guns, for the most part, were built in the pre-war years and were qualitatively different from similar enemy models, which allowed German sailors to engage in artillery duels with ships that had superior numbers and larger caliber guns.

Germany had a significant number of large-caliber coastal guns converted from naval guns, both of its own production and captured. Almost all of these guns were produced before the First World War. To fill the shortage of heavy guns on the Eastern Front. Germany actively used railway guns of medium, and especially large caliber. They were built on the basis of obsolete naval guns, as well as specially designed guns. The guns were used both in offensive operations and in defense, distinguished by their high range.

German anti-aircraft artillery, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, was the best during the war years. A large number and high mobility of small and medium caliber anti-aircraft guns provided effective air defense for troops at the front. Large-caliber anti-aircraft guns equipped with radar stations and fire control systems created a fairly dense barrage over cities and military installations. In addition, the number of captured German anti-aircraft guns exceeded the number of anti-aircraft guns produced by many countries, incl. and the USSR for the entire period of the war.

Germany has created new light samples and heavy howitzers, as well as over heavy mortars. At the same time, its industry was able to establish their mass production. Infantry and field guns in Germany were represented by a wide range of modernized World War I guns and wartime developments, which accounted for at least half of the artillery armament of infantry units. In addition to guns, medium-caliber mortars significantly increased firepower infantry units and occupied more than 70% of their total output.

Being one of the first countries to create specialized anti-tank guns, Germany in 1941-1942. found itself without an effective gun capable of withstanding the medium and heavy tanks of the enemy. And only at the beginning of 1943, having adapted an anti-aircraft gun to fight tanks, she no longer had problems with this.

In terms of effectiveness on the battlefield, German self-propelled artillery mounts rightfully occupied a leading position. Applying the specialization of self-propelled guns in terms of functionality, Germany has reached the second place in the world in terms of the number of units produced. Along with the USSR, she built self-propelled guns according to special projects, which significantly prevailed over the "hybrids".

Developments in rocket science and mass production of rockets had no analogues in the world. However, the shortcomings in their design and the lack of resources for production did not allow Germany to achieve significant results in their application. German rocket artillery was put into mass production and approximately corresponded in terms of quality to analogues produced in the USSR, and in quantitative terms it was 1.5 times higher. At the same time, the German military perceived rocket artillery without "hysterical delight", since they considered it a senseless waste of explosives in dimensionless territories.

Italian naval guns were predominantly medium caliber built during the interwar period. However, according to their tactical and technical data, they lagged behind the requirements of the time. Italy did not have large caliber anti-aircraft guns at its disposal, and medium caliber anti-aircraft guns were fired in the interwar period, i.e. were obsolete. A small number of modern small-caliber artillery could not solve problems with air defense.

To equip the army, howitzers were used mainly from the First World War, and only a third of the guns were built in the interwar period. The number of mortars fired was insignificant. At the same time, only medium-caliber mortars were mass-produced. Almost all of Italy's arsenal of infantry and field guns consisted of modernized World War I guns. Only two models were produced in the interwar period, and even then in small quantities.

Aviation guns in the USSR, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, met the requirements of the time. The only problem that was not solved during the war was the aiming devices for air weapons. The basis of the ship guns of the USSR was medium-caliber artillery built before the First World War, and only a small number of guns were fired in the interwar period. All large-caliber guns were pre-war Russian models. However, only a few ships had fire control systems.

Based on the length of the border coastline, the USSR possessed a meager number of coastal defense guns, represented by a medium caliber of interwar construction and a large caliber of guns created before the First World War. At the same time, they had a significant impact on the course of defensive military operations in the first half of the war. Mainly thanks to coastal batteries the defense of Sevastopol, Odessa and, to some extent, Leningrad was held.

Numerous, and quite modern, mobile heavy artillery, belonging to the reserve of the headquarters of the commander in chief, turned out to be ineffective, both in defensive operations and in offensive ones. The reason for this situation was the unprofessional command in its use. The lack of heavy artillery was partially compensated by medium-caliber railway guns. Possessing sufficient mobility and firing range, they effectively conducted a counter-battery fight against the enemy.

Anti-aircraft artillery in the USSR was the most backward among all types of artillery weapons, both in quantity and in qualitatively. This gap was not overcome by the end of the war. The USSR did not have large-caliber anti-aircraft guns at all, practically did not use fire control systems and gun automation, and there was a critical lack of radar stations. Air defense systems, except for those protecting Moscow and Leningrad, existed only nominally.

The largest number of howitzers, infantry, field guns and mortars during the war years was built in the USSR, which in separate operations on the Soviet-German front in 1943-1945. allowed to reach the density of artillery in the areas of penetration of the prepared positional defense of the enemy 200 - 300 artillery pieces per 1 km of the front, and in some cases even more. Soviet artillery was the most effective branch of the Red Army. According to the calculations of the Soviet side, up to 60-80% of the German losses came from artillery fire.

Not having a single mass-produced self-propelled guns by the beginning of the war, the USSR was able to launch the production of almost all calibers of universal self-propelled guns during the war. And by the end of the war, he could compete with Germany in tank destroyers and assault guns. At the same time, the production of ZSU and self-propelled howitzers in the USSR was not established.

Rocket engineering in the USSR during the war was at the stage of experiments. At the same time, actively developed rocket artillery, which the Soviet command gave special meaning. This attitude was due to the high rate of fire of multiple rocket launchers, the large destructive power of shells and the possibility of firing at squares. Having the largest number of artillery pieces among all the warring countries, the Soviet military did not know how and did not have the opportunity to shoot at targets, but "hit" at squares. However, this method of firing required great amount guns and shells that successfully replaced rocket launchers. Hence the love of the command for the "Katyusha" and "Andryusha" and the legend of their "exceptional efficiency."

In the United States, the basis of aircraft guns was 20-mm guns, which fully satisfied the demands of the Pacific theater of operations, and clearly lagged behind European requirements. Despite the mass construction of the fleet during the war, the ships were armed with medium-caliber guns developed in the interwar period. Less than half of the battleships built during the war years received modern large-caliber guns.

not seeing military threat from the sea, the United States had less than two hundred stationary coastal guns of obsolete modifications. About 700 heavy mobile guns were used to improve the situation. In addition, like Great Britain, the United States used medium and large caliber railway guns previously decommissioned from ships.

During the war, the United States produced the largest number of anti-aircraft guns, two-thirds of which were small-caliber, which was due to the specifics of military operations in the Pacific theater. large-caliber long-range guns in the absence of an enemy, they were issued in symbolic quantities.

In the United States, pre-war developments were limited to medium-caliber howitzers, which, although they did not have outstanding performance characteristics, were produced with a large margin during the war years. The release of light mortars in the United States occupied about 60% of the total release.

The release of anti-tank guns in the United States was limited to small caliber, which coped well with anti-bullet armor Japanese tanks. In Europe, the Americans used British guns. The United States, having produced the largest number of self-propelled guns, did not create a single special installation project.

Specialized guns were mounted on trucks, armored personnel carriers and tank chassis. At the same time, the quality component of the installations relied more on "self-propelled" than on the effectiveness of weapons, the shortcomings of which were replaced by the number of self-propelled guns produced.

US rocket science was in the experimental development stage, and rocket artillery was used as an auxiliary fire support weapon for infantry or landing forces.

France could not advance further than 20-mm guns either in development or in the production of aircraft guns. Most medium caliber naval guns were built in the pre-war years, at a time when almost all large caliber guns were built before the First World War. France replaced the dilapidation of its coastal and heavy guns with their abundance, which led it to receive the status of the main supplier of captured weapons to the Wehrmacht. In addition, many decommissioned medium and large caliber naval guns were put on railway platforms. Heavy-duty guns (caliber over 400 mm) were also created. Almost all of them, like the previous ones, fell into the hands of the enemy.

The number of anti-aircraft guns built by France was insignificant, moreover, medium-caliber guns were among the modernized ones. France, modernizing old guns, created medium and large-caliber howitzer guns, but their number was clearly not enough to conduct effective combat operations. Light mortars occupied a predominant place in their total release, although their total number was clearly insufficient for the French army. At the same time, the number of infantry and field guns was only slightly inferior to Germany, although half of them were produced during the First World War and subsequently modernized. Due to the lack of special anti-tank guns to fight tanks with anti-shell armor, the French used infantry and field guns.

Japan, having created magnificent models of medium-caliber aircraft guns, was unable to arrange their production in sufficient quantities, having waged a war with ineffective 20-mm weapons. Almost all medium-caliber naval guns were created in the interwar period. Large-caliber battleship guns were produced both in the period before the First World War and in the interwar period. And only 460-mm guns for the largest battleships in the world were built in 1941.

Of the large-caliber land guns, Japan had only 30 railway installations, which did not have time to take part in hostilities. Despite the relative "freshness" of the produced anti-aircraft guns, most of them were obsolete, especially large calibers. In this regard, even a fairly large number of anti-aircraft guns fired did not provide significant resistance to the Allied aviation.

In the prewar years in Japan, a number of samples of medium-sized cannons and large-caliber howitzers were created. During the war, giving primary importance to the actions of the infantry, the improvement of artillery special attention was not given. And their number excluded the conduct of military operations adequate to the enemy.

Japan, having released a significant number of light mortars, did not pay enough attention to medium and heavy calibers. A 47-mm anti-tank gun was created to fight tanks. In part anti-tank artillery in Japan, there were only small-caliber guns that did not penetrate the anti-shell armor of the allied tanks.

Rocket artillery in Japan was in its infancy, and was used sporadically in combat operations.

On February 12, 1942, the most massive Soviet gun of the Great Patriotic War ZIS-3 was adopted, which, along with the T-34 and PPSh-41, became one of the symbols of the Victory.

76-mm divisional gun model 1942 (ZIS-3)

ZIS-3 became the most massive weapon of the Great Patriotic War. The divisional cannon, developed under the leadership of Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin, appeared at the front in the second half of 1942. The light and maneuverable ZIS-3 has found a very wide application for combating both manpower and equipment of the enemy. The divisional gun turned out to be essentially universal, and most importantly, easy to learn and manufacture, just at the moment when it was necessary to send the maximum possible number of guns to the active army in a short time. In total, more than 100 thousand ZIS-3s were produced - more than all other guns combined during the war.

37 mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939

Designed to destroy low-flying air targets. Power was supplied from a cage for five artillery cartridges. But often in the initial period of the war, these guns were also used as anti-tank guns. A gun with a high muzzle velocity in 1941 pierced the armor of any German tanks. The disadvantage of the gun was that the failure of one of the gunners made firing alone impossible. The second minus is the lack of an armor shield, which was not originally intended for an anti-aircraft gun and appeared only in 1944. In total, at least 18 thousand 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns were produced

Howitzer-gun ML-20

A unique weapon that combined the firing range of a cannon and the ability of a howitzer to fire flat fire. Not a single battle, including Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, Berlin, could not do without the participation of these guns. At the same time, not a single army in the world, including the German one, had such systems in service at that time.
It is noteworthy that the ML-20 became the first Soviet gun to open fire on German territory. On the evening of August 2, 1944 from ML-20 on German positions in East Prussia about 50 rounds were fired. And then a report was sent to Moscow that shells were now exploding on German territory. From the middle of the war, the ML-20 was also installed on soviet self-propelled guns SU-152, and later on ISU-152. In total, about 6900 ML-20 guns of various modifications were produced.

ZIS-2 (57-mm anti-tank gun model. 1941) is a weapon with a very difficult fate. One of the two anti-tank guns of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War - the second was the "forty-five". It appeared in 1941, but then there were simply no targets for this gun - any German ZIS-2 tank was pierced through and through, and in the difficult conditions of transferring industry to a war footing, it was decided to abandon the production of a technologically complex and expensive gun. They remembered the ZIS-2 in 1943, when heavy tanks appeared in the German troops. Again, these guns were at the front from the summer of 1943 on the Kursk Bulge and in the future they proved themselves well, coping with almost any German tanks. At distances of several hundred meters, the ZIS-2 pierced the 80-mm side armor of the "tigers".

85 mm anti-aircraft gun model 1939

This weapon during the Great Patriotic War was very widely used both at the front and for the protection of rear facilities and large transport hubs. During the Great Patriotic War, 85-mm anti-aircraft guns destroyed up to 4 thousand enemy aircraft. During the fighting, this gun was often used as an anti-tank gun. And before the start of mass production of the ZIS-3, it was practically the only gun capable of fighting "tigers" at long distances. The feat of senior sergeant G.A. This episode of the Battle of Moscow is dedicated Feature Film"At your doorstep."

Universal ship artillery installation. On Soviet ships (for example, cruisers of the Kirov type) it was used as long-range anti-aircraft artillery. The gun was equipped with an armor shield. Firing range 22 km; ceiling - 15 km. Since it was impossible to track the movement of enemy aircraft with heavy guns, firing, as a rule, was carried out by curtains at a certain range. The weapon turned out to be useful for destroying ground targets. In total, 42 guns were fired before the start of World War II. Since production was concentrated in Leningrad, which was under blockade, the ships of the Pacific Fleet under construction were forced to equip not 100-mm, but 85-mm guns as long-range artillery.

"Forty-five"

The 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1937 model was the main anti-tank gun of the Red Army in the initial period of the war and was capable of hitting almost any German equipment. Since 1942, its new modification (45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1942 model) with an elongated barrel was adopted. From the middle of the war, when the enemy began to use tanks with powerful armor protection, the main targets of the "forty-five" were transporters and self-propelled guns and enemy firing points. On the basis of the 45-mm anti-tank gun, the 45-mm semi-automatic naval gun 21-K was also created, which turned out to be ineffective due to the low rate of fire and the lack of special sights. Therefore, whenever possible, the 21-K was replaced with automatic guns, transferring the removed artillery to reinforce the positions of ground troops as field and anti-tank guns.

Type 92 70 mm battalion gun 1932 This cannon is the most famous artillery piece of the Japanese army during World War II, it could be used both as a mortar and as a conventional field gun. Light and easy to handle, it was easily serviced by several people; during transportation, it was dismantled, carried in parts, or carried entirely on a horse or mule. The carriage had a pneumohydraulic recoil device, the wheels were mounted on crank axles, so that for better stability the gun could be lowered straight... 152 mm howitzer D-1 1943 The accumulated experience of unification and standardization of various artillery systems allowed Soviet designers to create new types of guns necessary for arming the army in the shortest possible time. At the end of 1942 Soviet troops switched to offensive operations and to support the formations, a fairly maneuverable 152-mm hull howitzer with a relatively low weight was required. Its development was entrusted to the design bureau under the leadership of F.F. Petrov. Engineers have used already developed... 128-mm anti-tank self-propelled gun "Jägdtiger" ("Jagdtiger") 1944 Following the tradition of using a tank in service to convert it into a self-propelled gun by mounting a larger caliber cannon on its chassis, the Germans immediately saw a potential self-propelled gun in the heavy Tiger II. Since the tank was armed with an 88 mm cannon, following the logic, a more powerful 128 mm gun should have been placed on it. starting speed its 28.3-kilogram projectile was smaller than that of the 88-mm gun, but at a greater range its armor penetration was higher ... Type 4 200 mm rocket launcher Although Imperial Japan On the eve of World War II, it lagged behind European states in terms of the level of development of traditional types of weapons; in the course of subsequent battles, it largely managed to catch up thanks to the technical assistance provided by Nazi Germany. However, Japan was unable to establish mass production of such modern types of weapons as jet aircraft and rocket launchers due to the limited potential of the industry and low-skilled labor.... 82 mm mortar BM-36 1936 In 1935–1936, small-scale production of 82-mm battalion mortars began. By November 1, 1936, the Red Army had 73 82-mm battalion mortars, although according to the states they were supposed to have 2586 pieces. In 1937, 1587 82-mm mortars were produced, in 1938 1188, in 1939 1678. In the I-III quarters of 1940, three NKV plants (No. Red October "was given the task to produce 6700 82-mm mortars. By August 1... 75 mm field gun type 38 1905 Having entered the 20th century, imperial Japan, remote from the countries of Europe and America, had no experience in developing heavy weapons. Therefore, she purchased licenses for its production from well-known gunsmiths in Europe, in particular from Krupp. One such acquisition in 1905 was a Type 38 cannon in 75 mm caliber. Minor changes were made to the design of the gun, related to the peculiarities of the Japanese production technology of that time. So, the carriage beds acquired a square section ... Rocket launcher BM-13 1941 On July 14, 1941, the German command received a panicky report from the front: “The Russians used a battery with an unusual number of guns. The troops fired upon by the Russians testify: the fire raid is like a hurricane. The loss of life is significant." All this commotion was made by only one battery of captain I.A. Flerova, armed family rocket launchers BM-13, later known as "Katyusha". The development of 82 mm and 132 mm rockets began in the USSR in 1930... 90 mm anti-aircraft gun M1 1940 In 1938, US Ordnance Command realized that the 76.2 mm M3 anti-aircraft gun was no longer sufficient and ordered a heavier gun capable of firing projectiles weighing at least 21 pounds (9.5 kg). Preliminary studies showed that a 90-mm gun with 24-pound (10.9 kg) projectiles was quite acceptable in this regard, and in 1938 the development of the model was approved. The gun was put into service in March 1940 under the designation M1, it had a two-axle carriage and a special... 75 mm gun Type 35 1902 By the beginning of World War II, the Type 35 75 mm gun was the most modern artillery piece in the Japanese army. It was designed on the basis of the experience of military operations in Manchuria and China. The gun carriage had a retractable coulter and crew seats - probably the last of the field guns with such seats. Guns of this type were supposed to replace horse-drawn field guns of the 1908 model, but their production volumes lagged far behind the requirements of the army, so the arrival ... 20 mm anti-aircraft gun Polsten (Polsten) 1937 This gun was designed by Polish engineers who were trying to simplify the design of the famous Oerlikon gun, making it even faster, lighter and cheaper. The Poles even managed to make the first prototype but in 1939 the Germans occupied Poland. The sample, along with the drawings, was secretly taken out of the country, and eventually, along with some of the Polish developers, ended up in England. Here, the designers managed to complete their work, and the gun was put into production... 75-mm anti-tank self-propelled gun "Jägdpanzer IV" ("Jagdpanzer" IV) 1944 Jgd Pz IV was originally designed as an analogue of the StuG III assault gun, but only on the basis of the Quartet and the factory facilities of the companies involved in its production. (Hence the second name StuG neuer Art mit 7.5cm PaK L/48 auf Fahrgestell PzKpfw IV). The task was given to Krupp-Gruson, the leading company for this model of the tank. Almost simultaneously, the company "Fomag" also took up the design. In October 1943, she presented admission committee a sample of non-armored steel .... 240 mm gun St. Chamond 1884 This French gun was originally conceived as a coastal and siege weapon. However, at the end of 1914, when the need for heavy artillery was extremely high, many of these guns were removed from the fortresses, and the Saint-Chamond company made a fairly convenient stationary carriage for them. After that, the gun could be transported in two parts (barrel and carriage), which were then installed in place using a winch. The gun turned out to be quite successful, and the Saint-Chamond company received an order ... 76.2 mm anti-aircraft gun Q.F. 3-in 20cwt 1914 Q.F. 3-dm became the first English gun specially designed as an anti-aircraft gun. Initially, it was intended to arm ships and was put into production in early 1914. An unusual name referring to the gun's weight (20 quintals or 1 English ton) is a way of distinguishing it from the other 3-inch guns with which the British army and navy were equipped in abundance. The gun was mounted on a massive pedestal with the possibility of circular rotation, this pedestal with the help of bolts could... 140 mm gun B.L. 5.5-in 1942 The Mk 2 BL 5.5-inch cannon was designed to replace the British 60-pounder, and the 5.5-inch (140 mm) caliber was chosen to give the projectile a better ballistic shape. At first, to compensate for the weight of a heavy barrel, it was supposed to equip the gun with a special pneumohydraulic mechanism, but this gave rise to a number of problems, and as a result, conventional spring balancing devices were used instead of pneumohydraulics, the “horns” of which noticeably towered above the barrel. First... 203 mm howitzer B.L. 8-in Mk.VII 1916 Britain entered the First World War with very few heavy guns, so one of its main concerns was to establish the production of such guns. Since the equipment for the production of 203-mm (8-inch) guns was available in in large numbers, their production was established quite quickly, at the same time standard carriages for them were developed. The guns turned out to be heavy, with riveted iron frames of rectangular section and big wheels. Because the system is open... 88 mm anti-tank gun Pak.43/41 1943 The Pak-43/41 gun was one of the most powerful anti-tank guns of the Second World War period. In terms of armor penetration, only the Soviet 100-mm cannon mod. 1944 and the German 128mm Pak-44. The contract for the development of an 88-mm anti-tank gun under the designation "Product 5-809" of the company "Krupp" and "Rheinmetall-Borsig" was received in the middle of 1942, and in the spring of 1943, a new anti-tank gun under the designation "Pak-43 / 41" began P... 150 mm field howitzer sFH.18 1918 Before the start of World War II, in the artillery regiment infantry division Wehrmacht included a heavy artillery division equipped with 12 150-mm sFH.18 howitzers. Separate divisions of the German RGK were also armed with guns of this type. Heavy howitzers "mod. 18" were produced by the firms "Krupp" and "Rheinmetall", and in the middle of 1941, the German troops had over 2800 of these guns, designed to destroy enemy rear facilities and destroy his debts ... 122-mm hull gun A-19 1931 Heavy field artillery during the First World War was divided into divisional and corps. The corps included long-range 100–110 mm cannons and 150–155 mm howitzers, designed to destroy pillboxes, rear structures and fortifications, as well as enemy communications nodes. In 1927, the command of the Red Army, having at its disposal a 107-mm corps gun mod. 1910, required the development of a more powerful artillery system caliber 122 mm. Four years later on... 105 mm howitzer M3 1943 In 1941, the US Army felt the need for a 105 mm airborne howitzer. Such a gun would weigh 2,500 pounds (1,134 kg) and have a range of at least 7,000 yards (6,400 m) and would be used by airborne units. A gun with the required characteristics was created by increasing the barrel caliber of a 68.6 mm (2.7 in) M2A1 howitzer to 105 mm and mounting it on a carriage from a standard 75 mm (2.95 in) M3A1 howitzer. Significantly improved... 65 mm mountain gun 65/17 mod.13 1913 The 65-mm (2.5-dm) mountain gun adopted by the Italian army in 1913 could be quickly disassembled into 6 parts for transportation on mules. In exceptional cases, the weapon could also be carried by people. However, if conditions allowed, then the gun was transported by horses or some other means of transport. Like other mountain guns, this gun did not have any frills, it was maximally lightened and simplified, since it was supposed to be used in hard-to-reach terrain under severe conditions. 1 Next page... End

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