12.7 mm Degtyarev-Shpagin DShK heavy machine gun

On February 26, 1939, by a decree of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, a 12.7-mm easel machine gun of the 1938 model DShK (“Degtyareva-Shpagin large-caliber”) of the system of V. A. Degtyarev with a drum receiver of the belt of the G. S. system was adopted. Shpagin. The machine gun was adopted on the universal machine of the I.N. Kolesnikov with a detachable wheel drive and a folding tripod. During the Great Patriotic War, the DShK machine gun was used to combat air targets, lightly armored vehicles of the enemy, his manpower at long and medium ranges, as armament of tanks and self-propelled guns. At the end of World War II, designers K. I. Sokolov and A. K. Norov carried out a significant modernization of the heavy machine gun. First of all, the power mechanism was changed - the drum receiver was replaced by a slider one. In addition, manufacturability has been improved, the mount of the machine gun barrel has been changed, and a number of measures have been taken to increase survivability. The reliability of the system has been improved. The first 250 modernized machine guns were produced in February 1945 at a factory in Saratov. In 1946, the machine gun was put into service under the designation “12.7 mm machine gun mod. 1938/46, DShKM. The DShKM immediately became a tank anti-aircraft machine gun: it was installed on tanks of the IS, T-54 / 55, T-62 series, on the BTR-50PA, modernized ISU-122 and ISU-152, special vehicles on a tank chassis.
Since the differences between the 12.7 mm machine gun mod. 1938, DShK and modernized machine gun mod. 1938/46 DShKM consists mainly in the device of the feed mechanism, we will consider these machine guns together.

Automatic machine gun and operates due to the removal of powder gases through a transverse hole in the wall of the barrel, with a long stroke of the gas piston. The closed-type gas chamber is fixed under the barrel and is equipped with a three-hole pipe regulator. Along the entire length of the barrel, transverse ribbing is made for better cooling; a single-chamber active muzzle brake is mounted on the muzzle of the barrel. The barrel bore is locked when the bolt lugs are pulled apart. The DShK barrel was equipped with an active muzzle brake, which was subsequently replaced by a flat brake of an active type (such a muzzle brake was also used on the DShK, and became the main one for tank modifications).

The leading link of automation is the bolt carrier. A gas piston rod is screwed into the bolt frame in front, and a drummer is attached to the rack in its rear part. When the bolt approaches the breech breech, the bolt stops and the bolt carrier continues to move forward; The reduction of the lugs and the unlocking of the shutter is carried out by the bevels of the figured seat of the bolt carrier when it moves backward. Extraction of the spent cartridge case is provided by the bolt ejector, the cartridge case is removed from the weapon downwards through the bolt frame window using a spring-loaded rod reflector mounted at the top of the bolt. The reciprocating mainspring is put on the gas piston rod and closed with a tubular casing. In the butt plate there are two spring shock absorbers that soften the impact of the bolt carrier and the bolt at the rearmost point. In addition, shock absorbers give the frame and bolt initial speed return movement, thereby increasing the rate of fire. The reloading handle, located at the bottom right, is rigidly connected to the bolt frame and is small in size. The reloading mechanism of the machine gun mount interacts with the reload handle, but the machine gunner can directly use the handle, for example, by inserting a cartridge into it with the bottom of the cartridge case.

The shot is fired with the shutter open. The trigger mechanism allows only automatic fire. It is actuated by a trigger lever pivotally mounted on the butt plate of the machine gun. The trigger mechanism is assembled in a separate housing and is equipped with a lever non-automatic fuse that blocks the trigger lever (the front position of the flag) and prevents spontaneous lowering of the sear.

The impact mechanism is powered by a reciprocating mainspring. After locking the bore, the bolt frame continues to move forward, in the extreme forward position it hits the clutch, and the drummer hits the striker mounted in the bolt. The sequence of operations of rearing the lugs and hitting the striker eliminates the possibility of firing if the barrel bore is not completely locked. To prevent the bolt frame from rebounding after being hit in the extreme forward position, a “delay” is mounted in it, including two springs, a yoke and a roller.

DShKM machine gun in incomplete disassembly: 1 - barrel with gas chamber, front sight and muzzle brake; 2 - bolt carrier with a gas piston; 3 - shutter; 4 - lugs; 5 - drummer; 6 - wedge; 7 - butt pad with buffer; 8 - trigger housing; 9 - cover and base of the receiver and feed drive lever; 10 - receiver

Cartridge supply - tape, with the left supply of a metal link tape. The tape consists of open links and fits into a metal box attached to the installation bracket. The visor of the box serves as a feed tray for the tape. The drum receiver DShK was actuated from the handle of the bolt carrier moving backward, it bumped into the fork of the swinging feeder lever and turned it. The pawl at the other end of the lever turned the drum 60°, which pulled the tape. Extraction of the cartridge from the link of the tape - in the lateral direction. In the DShKM machine gun, the slide type receiver is mounted on top of the receiver. The slider with feed fingers is driven by a toggle lever rotating in a horizontal plane. The crank arm, in turn, is driven by a swing arm with a fork at the end. The latter, as in the DShK, is driven by the bolt carrier handle.

By flipping the slider crank, you can change the ribbon feed direction from left to right.
The 12.7-mm cartridge has several options: with an armor-piercing bullet, armor-piercing incendiary, sighting-incendiary, sighting, tracer, armor-piercing incendiary tracer (used against air targets). The sleeve does not have a protruding rim, which made it possible to apply a direct feed of the cartridge from the tape.

For shooting at ground targets, a folding frame sight is used, mounted on a base on top of the receiver. The sight has worm gears for installing the rear sight and introducing lateral corrections, the frame is equipped with 35 divisions (up to 3500 m in 100) and is tilted to the left to compensate for bullet derivation. The pin front sight with a fuse is placed on a high base in the muzzle of the barrel. When firing at ground targets, the dispersion diameter at a distance of 100 m was 200 mm. The DShKM machine gun is equipped with a collimator anti-aircraft sight, which facilitates aiming at a high-speed target and allows you to see the aiming mark and the target with equal clarity. DShKM, which was mounted on tanks as an anti-aircraft gun, was supplied with collimator sight K-10T. Optical system the sight formed at the output the image of the target and the aiming grid projected onto it with rings for firing with lead and divisions of the goniometer.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the DShK machine gun

Caliber: 12.7mm
Cartridge: 12.7x107
Machine gun body weight: 33.4 kg
Machine gun body length: 1626 mm
Barrel length: 1070 mm
Muzzle velocity: 850-870 m/s
Rate of fire: 80-125 rds / min
Rate of fire: 550-600 rds / min
Sighting range: 3500 m
Belt capacity: 50 rounds




Caliber: 12.7×108mm
Weight: 34 kg machine gun body, 157 kg on a wheeled machine
Length: 1625 mm
Barrel length: 1070 mm
Nutrition: tape 50 rounds
Rate of fire: 600 shots/min

The task to create the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to fight aircraft at altitudes up to 1500 meters, was issued by that time to the already very experienced and well-known gunsmith Degtyarev in 1929. Less than a year later, Degtyarev presented his 12.7mm machine gun for testing, and since 1932, small-scale production of a machine gun under the designation DK (Degtyarev, Large-caliber) began. In general, the DC repeated in design light machine gun DP-27, and was powered by detachable 30-round drum magazines mounted on top of the machine gun. The disadvantages of such a power scheme (bulky and big weight shops, low practical rate of fire) forced to stop the release of the DC in 1935 and start improving it. By 1938, the designer Shpagin had developed a belt feed module for the recreation center, and in 1939 the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "12.7mm heavy machine gun Degtyarev - Shpagin model 1938 - DShK. Mass production of DShK was launched in 1940-41. - torpedo boats). According to the experience of the war in 1946, the machine gun was modernized (the design of the tape feed unit and the barrel mount were changed), and the machine gun was adopted under the designation DShKM.
DShKM was or is in service with more than 40 armies of the world, is produced in China ("type 54"), Pakistan, Iran and some other countries. The DShKM machine gun was used as an anti-aircraft gun on Soviet tanks of the post-war period (T-55, T-62) and on armored vehicles (BTR-155). At present, in the Russian Armed Forces, the DShK and DShKM machine guns have almost completely been replaced by the Utes and Kord heavy machine guns, which are more advanced and modern.

The DShK heavy machine gun is automatic weapon built on the gas principle. The barrel is locked by two combat larvae, pivotally mounted on the bolt, for recesses in the side walls of the receiver. The fire mode is only automatic, the barrel is fixed, ribbed for better cooling, equipped with a muzzle brake. Power is supplied from a non-loose metal tape, the tape is fed from the left side of the machine gun. At DShK, the tape feeder was made in the form of a drum with six open chambers. The drum, during its rotation, fed the tape and at the same time removed cartridges from it (the tape had open links). After the drum chamber with the cartridge arrived in the lower position, the cartridge was fed into the chamber by a bolt. The drive of the tape feeder was carried out using a lever located on the right side, swinging in a vertical plane when on its lower part the loading handle, rigidly connected to the bolt carrier, acted. At the DShKM machine gun, the drum mechanism has been replaced with a more compact slider mechanism, also driven by a similar lever connected to the loading handle. The cartridge was removed from the tape down and then directly fed into the chamber.
In the butt plate of the receiver, spring-loaded buffers of the shutter and the shutter frame are mounted. The fire was fired from the rear sear (from the open bolt), to control the fire, two handles on the back of the vaporized triggers were used. The sight is frame, the machine also had mounts for an anti-aircraft foreshortening sight.

The machine gun was used from the universal machine of the Kolesnikov system. The machine was equipped with removable wheels and a steel shield, and when using a machine gun as an anti-aircraft wheel, the shield was removed, and the rear support was bred, forming a tripod. In addition, the machine gun in the anti-aircraft gun was equipped with special shoulder rests. The main disadvantage of this machine was its high weight, which limited the mobility of the machine gun. In addition to the machine gun, the machine gun was used in tower installations, on remotely controlled anti-aircraft installations, on ship pedestal installations.

In the USSR, many types of weapons were created, which to this day are very popular all over the world. These include the DShK machine gun. It has been removed from service in our country, but dozens of other countries are actively using it. In my time soviet soldiers gave this machine gun the nickname "Darling", transforming its abbreviation into a peaceful, good name. But in reality it was a formidable heavy machine gun that terrified enemies.

How it all began

At the end of 1925, it turned out that the Red Army was in dire need of a powerful heavy machine gun. The designers were given the task to develop such a weapon, and the caliber had to be chosen within 12-20 millimeters. On a competitive basis and according to the test results, the 12.7 mm caliber cartridge was chosen as the main one. But the army command was not too satisfied with the presented samples of weapons, and therefore the testing of new prototypes took place constantly.

So, at the beginning of 1931, two machine guns were tested at once: the “Dreyse systems” and the “Degtyarev systems”. The commission considered that the sample from Degtyarev deserves attention, since it was much lighter and easier to manufacture. The first attempt at mass production was made in 1932, but the following year only 12 machine guns were assembled, and in 1934 the production of the DK was completely curtailed. Initially, the DShK machine gun did not cause much enthusiasm among the military.

What happened

And the thing is that the next tests of 1934 of the year revealed one unpleasant feature of the new weapon: it turned out that the machine gun was actually useless to fight even with relatively fast targets (especially air ones), since the rate of fire was extremely low, and the magazines offered by the manufacturer - so heavy and uncomfortable that even experienced fighters experienced many difficulties in handling them. In 1935, a decree was issued on the complete cessation of all production of recreational materials.

By the way, do you know the correct name for the DShK (machine gun)? The decoding is simple: "Degtyareva-Shpagin large-caliber." Wait, how did the famous Shpagin get here? After all, we are talking about Degtyarev? Everything is simple.

The position of a practically rejected gun was saved by the outstanding domestic gunsmith G.S. Shpagin, who in 1937 invented such a tape feed mechanism, the installation of which did not require any serious alteration of old machine guns. In April next year new design was successfully tested at the factory, in winter the sample passed the tests with flying colors, and in 1939 the DShK machine gun "officially" appeared.

Information about the technical device

Automation - standard, works by removing exhaust gases. Three holes of different diameters were provided in the gas chamber: with the help of a small regulator, it was possible to flexibly adjust the amount of gases that was transferred directly to the gas piston. On the trunk, along its entire length, "ribs" are made, which serve for a more uniform and intense heat dissipation.

A muzzle active brake is attached to the muzzle. At first, its shape resembled a parachute, but later the designers began to use a flat-shaped brake.

The shutter frame is the basis of all automation. The bore was locked with the help of lugs on the bolt, which were bred in different directions. A return spring is mounted on the gas piston rod. Spring shock absorbers in the butt plate not only significantly soften the recoil, but also prevent rapid wear of the weapon. In addition, it is they who give the bolt carrier the initial speed of the return movement. This ingenious innovation was proposed by Shpagin: this is how the designer increased the rate of fire.

Of course, after the introduction of this device into the design, it was necessary to equip the machine gun with a device that dampens the rebound so that the frame does not “jump” in the extreme forward position.

Reloading and shooting

A handle for reloading weapons is rigidly coupled to the bolt frame. The mechanism of direct reloading of the machine-gun system also interacts with it, but if the machine gunner inserts the cartridge with a cartridge case head, he can do without it. Shooting is carried out with an open shutter.

It should be remembered that the DShK machine gun allows exclusively automatic fire and is equipped with a non-automatic fuse, the principle of operation of which is based on the complete blocking of the trigger.

The bolt, approaching the breech, stops completely, while the bolt carrier itself continues to move forward. The thickened part of the drummer cocks the lugs of the bolt, which go into special recesses made in the wall of the receiver. Even after the barrel is locked, the bolt carrier continues to move forward, where its striker hits the striker. The shutter is unlocked using the bevels of the same frame when it moves back.

Ammunition mechanism

Power is supplied from the tape. It is metal, link. Served on the left side. The tape is placed in a metal container attached to the machine gun mount. A drum-type tape receiver is mounted on a large-caliber DShK machine gun, which operates from the handle of the bolt carrier. When she moved back, the feed lever was activated and rotated.

At its other end, a pawl was fixed, which turned the drum 60 degrees in one go. Accordingly, due to this mechanical energy, a cartridge belt was pulled. The cartridge was removed from it in the lateral position.

notice, that domestic ammunition caliber 12.7 mm has a very wide range of names of cartridges that can be used to solve various combat missions.

Sights, shooting at different types of targets

For firing at ground-based targets, a relatively simple, folding frame sight is used, marked up to a range of 3.5 thousand meters. Ring sight - anti-aircraft, was adopted in 1938. It allowed firing at flying enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 2400 meters, but the target speed should not exceed 500 km / h. In 1941, a significantly simplified sight was adopted.

In the case of its use, the firing range was reduced to 1800 meters, but the theoretical target could move at a speed of up to 625 km / h. In 1943 appeared new type a sight that made it possible to effectively hit enemy aircraft at any course of their movement, and even in those cases when the pilot performed a dive or nose-up. This made it possible to effectively deal with attack aircraft, which, as a rule, attacked from a small height.

Anti-aircraft variant

How he showed himself anti-aircraft DShK? The machine gun in the role of a weapon for combating air targets was not so good. It's all about the imperfect anti-aircraft machine, which often nullified all the advantages of new types of sights.

In particular, it turned out to be insufficiently stable. A limited series of special anti-aircraft machines with comfortable bipods and additional sights, but they (due to the difficulties of the war years) did not go into the series.

Special, balanced anti-aircraft installations were also developed. For example, the coaxial DShK machine gun was quite popular. Difficulties with their mass production were associated with the power system: without subjecting the weapon to a significant alteration, it was impossible to transfer the tape receiver to the other side. In the case of using built-in installations, all this created serious difficulties for the gun crew.

Production and combat use

In a series of machine guns went in 1939. They began to enter the army and navy starting next year. At first, there was a chronic lag behind the plan from reality: for example, in 1940, the production of 900 units was planned, while the plant was able to produce only 566 units.

In the very first six months of 1941, only 234 DShKs were produced, although in just a year it was necessary to make at least four thousand pieces. It is not surprising that the army and navy constantly, throughout the war, experienced a chronic shortage of heavy machine guns. Since the need for this type of weapon was higher at sea, 1146 DShKs were transferred from the army during the entire war.

However, the condition improved relatively quickly: in 1942, the army already received 7,400 machine guns, and in 1943 and 1944 almost 15,000 DShKs were produced annually.

What were they used for?

Since there were few machine guns, they became the main type anti-aircraft weapons: in order to combat ground targets, they were not used so often. However, in the first year of the war, the Wehrmacht constantly threw light tanks and tankettes into battle, against which the DShK was a formidable weapon, and therefore machine guns were “requisitioned” from anti-aircraft units.

Later, these weapons began to be transferred to anti-tank units on a regular basis, since the fighters fought off attacks by enemy attack aircraft with their help.

In urban battles, the DShK turned out to be much more in demand precisely for fighting enemy manpower. It often happened that from a simple brick house(for lack of then grenade launchers) it was very problematic to “pick out” the Germans. But if the assault group was armed with a DShK machine gun, the caliber of which made it possible not to pay special attention to the walls, then the situation changed dramatically for the better.

Armed with tankers

Often the machine gun was mounted on domestic tanks. In addition, they put it on the Soviet armored car BA-64D. A full-fledged DShK turret appeared in 1944, with the adoption of heavy tank IS-2. In addition, self-propelled guns were often equipped with machine guns, and this was often done by the crew itself.

It is important to note that domestic machine guns of this system were sorely lacking during the war years. In the United States, over 400,000 units were produced during the same period alone. It is not surprising that when planning Lend-Lease deliveries Special attention was given specifically to large-caliber machine guns.

Basic performance characteristics

What else characterizes the DShK machine gun? Its characteristics were as follows:

  • Cartridge - 12.7x108 mm (domestic variation of the same "Browning").
  • The body of the machine gun weighed 33.4 kg (without tape and cartridges).
  • With the machine (modification without a shield), the weight was 148 kg.
  • The total length of the weapon is 1626 mm.
  • The barrel length was 1070 mm.
  • Theoretical rate of fire is 550-600 rounds per minute.
  • The rate of fire in combat conditions is 80-125 rounds per minute.
  • Theoretically possible firing range is 3500 meters.
  • The real range is 1800-2000 meters.
  • The thickness of the pierced armor steel is up to 16 mm at a distance of 500 meters.
  • Food - a link belt of 50 rounds in a segment.

These are the characteristics of the DShK (machine gun). Its performance characteristics are such that this weapon is still used in dozens of countries around the world to this day, various modifications are still being produced.

DShK is a heavy machine gun based on the DK machine gun and using a 12.7×108 mm cartridge. The DShK machine gun is one of the most common heavy machine guns. He played a significant role in the Great Patriotic War, as well as in subsequent military conflicts.

It was a formidable means of fighting the enemy on land, at sea and in the air. The DShK had a peculiar nickname "Dushka". Currently, in the armed forces of Russia, DShK and DShKM are completely replaced by Utes and Kord machine guns as more modern and advanced.

Story

In 1929, the experienced and well-known gunsmith Degtyarev was instructed to develop the first Soviet heavy machine gun, designed primarily to combat aircraft at altitudes up to 1.5 km. About a year later, the gunsmith presented his 12.7 mm machine gun for testing. Since 1932, this machine gun under the designation DK was launched into small-scale production.

However, the DK machine gun had certain disadvantages:

  • low practical rate of fire;
  • large weight of stores;
  • bulkiness and heavy weight.

Therefore, in 1935, the production of the DK machine gun was discontinued, and the developers began to improve it. By 1938, the designer Shpagin had designed a DC tape power module. As a result, the improved machine gun was adopted by the Red Army on February 26, 1939 under the designation DShK - the Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine gun.

Mass production of the DShK began in 1940-1941. DShK machine guns used:

  • as an infantry support weapon;
  • as anti-aircraft guns;
  • installed on armored vehicles (T-40);
  • installed on small ships, including torpedo boats.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Kovrov Mechanical Plant produced approximately 2,000 DShKs. By 1944, more than 8400 machine guns had already been produced. And by the end of the war - 9 thousand DShK, the production of machine guns of this system continued in the post-war period.

According to the experience of the war, the DShK was modernized, and in 1946 a machine gun called DShKM entered service. DShKM was installed as an anti-aircraft machine gun on T-62, T-54, T-55 tanks. The tank version of the machine gun was called DShKMT.

Design features

Heavy machine gun DShK (caliber 12.7 mm) is an automatic weapon that uses the principle of removal of powder gases. DShK fire mode - only automatic, non-removable barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake and has special ribs for better cooling. The barrel is locked by two combat larvae, which are pivotally mounted on the bolt.

Power is supplied from a metal non-loose tape, the tape is fed from the left side of the DShK. The tape feeder is made in the form of a drum. During rotation, the drum simultaneously fed the tape, and also removed the cartridges from it (the tape had open links). After the chamber of the drum with the cartridge came to the lower position, the bolt fed the cartridge into the chamber.

The feed of the tape was carried out using a lever located on the right side and swinging in a vertical plane during the action of the loading handle, rigidly connected to the bolt frame.

The drum mechanism at the DShKM was replaced by a compact slider, which worked on a similar principle. The cartridge was removed from the tape down, after which it was fed directly into the chamber. In the butt plate of the receiver, spring buffers of the bolt frame and bolt are installed. The fire is conducted from the rear sear. To control the fire, two handles on the butt plate are used, as well as twin triggers. For aiming, a frame sight was installed, and special mounts were installed for the anti-aircraft foreshortening sight.

The machine gun was mounted on a universal machine of the Kolesnikov system, which was equipped with a steel shield and removable wheels. When using a machine gun as anti-aircraft gun the rear support was bred into a tripod, and the wheels and shield were removed. The main disadvantage of this machine was the weight, which limited the mobility of the machine gun. The machine gun was installed:

  • on ship pedestal installations;
  • in tower installations;
  • on remotely controlled anti-aircraft installations.

Specifications DShK model 1938

  • Cartridge - 12.7 × 108.
  • The total weight of the machine gun (on the machine, with a belt and without a shield) is 181.3 kg.
  • The weight of the “body” of the DShK without tape is 33.4 kg.
  • Barrel weight - 11.2 kg.
  • The length of the "body" DShK - 1626 mm.
  • Barrel length - 1070 mm.
  • Rifling - 8 right-handed.
  • The length of the rifled part of the barrel is 890 mm.
  • The initial speed of the bullet is 850-870 m / s.
  • The muzzle energy of a bullet is an average of 19,000 J.
  • The rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute.
  • Combat rate of fire - 125 rounds per minute.
  • Sighting line length - 1110 mm.
  • Sighting range for ground targets - 3500 m.
  • Sighting range for air targets - 2400 m.
  • Reach in height - 2500 m.
  • Type of machine - wheel-tripod.
  • The height of the line of fire in the ground position is 503 mm.
  • The height of the line of fire in anti-aircraft position is 1400 mm.
  • For anti-aircraft fire, the transition time to combat position from marching is 30 seconds.
  • Calculation - 3-4 people.

Modifications

  1. DShKT- tank machine gun, was first installed on IS-2 tanks as an anti-aircraft gun
  2. DShKM-2B- twin installation for armored boats, where two machine guns were installed in a closed tower, with bulletproof armor
  3. MTU-2- a twin turret weighing 160 kg, designed for installation on ships
  4. DShKM-4- experimental quad installation
  5. P-2K- a mine installation designed for submarines (during the campaign it was removed inside the boat)

Video about the DShK machine gun

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The DShK heavy machine gun was developed 78 years ago. And if in our army at the combat post the "dashka" was long replaced by the "Cliffs" and even more modern ones, then in many "hot spots" of the planet the machine gun continues to fight. What local “left-handers” and “Kulibins” are doing with the DShK is worthy of a separate description.

A bit of history. The easel machine gun chambered for 12.7x108 mm, called DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber) was developed on the basis of the DK machine gun and put into service in February 1939. The weapon was used both on land and at sea: on ships, armored vehicles, the T-40 amphibious tank, the T-60 tank (experimental anti-aircraft gun with two twin DShK in an open turret), on ISU-122, ISU-152 self-propelled guns, IS-2, IS-3 tanks (as an anti-aircraft gun), on armored trains and so on.

In the infantry version on a wheeled mount with an armored shield, the machine gun was intended to fight infantry, light armored vehicles and enemy firing points.

There was a DShK in various anti-aircraft variants. In the photo - a built-in machine-gun anti-aircraft installation near the Metropol restaurant in Moscow.

After the war, "dashki" equipped many soviet tanks(T-54, T-55, T-62, IS-3, T-10), self-propelled units(ASU-85), armored personnel carriers BTR-152, BTR-40. Later, they began to be replaced by the new machine gun NSV "Utes", and in Lately- Kord.

Now DShK in Russia can only be found in museums and mob warehouses. At the same time, his American "classmate" - Browning M2 - is even older than the Soviet "colleague". With various upgrades, he served and continues to serve in the US Army since 1932.

Naturally, the Soviet DShK was widely exported - both together with armored vehicles and separately - to many countries of the socialist camp, Asia and Africa. And its licensed or not-so release was established by China, Iran, Pakistan, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and even Sudan.

Therefore, you can meet the "dasha" in almost any theater of military operations of the 21st century. Despite the fact that the machine gun is quite heavy, it is simple, reliable, deadly, and it is not difficult to get cartridges for it.

Most often, DShKs are put on all-wheel drive pickups and jeeps by militants of various paramilitary formations. As a result, carts of the latest time are obtained - the so-called "technical". For the first time they began to be used en masse in the war between Libya and Chad in 1987. The conflict was nicknamed "Toyota War" because of the prevalence of this brand among Chadian military vehicles.

Then the units of the Chadian army on several hundred off-road vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns and Milan ATGMs were able to inflict a series of painful blows on the clumsy Libyan group.

IN civil war, which began in Libya in 2011, the "tekhnical" became the main weapon and means of transportation of the "rebels". Often they installed a glorified veteran of the DShK.

Photo: Xinhua / Hamza Turkia / East News

The desert plains of Syria and Iraq also contributed to the fact that "tekhnikals" became a kind of calling card militants of ISIS, Al-Nusra and other groups of "armed opposition".

But government forces also use it. This photo shows an epic combination of 14.5 mm CPV and 12.7 DShK in a twin.

In Ukraine, they did not lag behind the general "fashion".

Often, with the help of DShK, the armament of light armored vehicles is reinforced. Sometimes interesting combinations turn out like this: an American M113 armored personnel carrier with a DShK instead of a regular Browning M2 in Yemen.

And in Syrian Kurdistan, one of the Kurdish units of the YPG installed a DShK on an MTLB armored tractor.

The MTLB is armed in a similar way in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian army, in principle, is experiencing a certain need for modern machine guns, including large-caliber ones. Therefore, the old DShKs were withdrawn from the warehouses.

Often soviet machine gun installed on various, often improvised, armored vehicles. Homemade armored car "Scorpion" based on the UAZ-469 with a DShK on a tripod machine.

Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Even the armored Hummers donated by the USA to Ukraine are equipped with dashes.