KS-12 52-K M1939 85mm single shot AA gun
PRC Type-72

The KS-12 85mm single shot AA gun is mounted on a 4 wheeled towed carriage. The Chinese variant is the Type-72. The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of 1939 is also known as the KS-12. The new gun had good characteristics - 800 m / s initial projectile speed of 9.2 kg and a range of 10.5 km - allowed the new anti-aircraft gun to fight very effectively against armored and high-flying targets. The gun had inertial semi-automatic shutter. High results were supposed to show and shooting from an anti-aircraft gun at ground armored targets. Thus, even before the outbreak of hostilities, the KS-12 anti-aircraft gun went into mass production. Although long withdrawn from Russian service, it remains operational in several countries, including North Korea.

The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun of 1939 appeared as a natural result of the development of Russian anti-aircraft artillery, which originated in 1914, when the designer of the Putilov factory F. Lander developed the first 76-mm anti-aerostatic gun of 1914. In 1915 and in 1928, this system was subjected to modernization, which increased the vertical firing range at a maximum elevation angle of up to 6,500 m; it was replaced by a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1931 model. In 1938, on the instructions of the GAU, several prototypes of the modernized 76-mm gun were manufactured. Installed on a four-wheeled carriage, it weighed 4200 kg - significantly less than the previous one. In this form, it is accepted into service as a 1938 anti-aircraft gun. However, the increase in speed and "ceiling" of the aircraft, increasing their survivability demanded an increase in the reach of anti-aircraft guns at height and an increase in the power of the projectile.

At the end of the 1930s, it became obvious that the rapid development of aviation would lead to significant problems in the future in the event of opposition from aviation and air defense forces. Thus, the already available means of air defense could not adequately guarantee sufficient effectiveness. There was a need to give the army a long-range anti-aircraft gun, the weapon had to be powerful enough to hit high-flying armored targets.

It was decided to base the 76.2-mm gun of the Rheinmetall company and to proceed from this when creating an anti-aircraft gun. The designers of the plant number 8 in 1937-1938 did this. The 76.2-mm gun had a large margin of safety embedded in the casing, breech and gun carriage. As a result, a new gun at that time was developed (not counting the single instances that appeared) of an 85-mm caliber.

On September 5, 1937, the design bureau of Plant No. 8 informed the Management Department about the project of engineer GD. Dorokhin overlay 85-mm barrel on the carriage of a 76-mm cannon 3K. The 85-mm barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake, the projectile weight is 9.2 kg, the initial speed is 800 m / s. Just in case, the military representative Tsyrulnikov calculated the imposition of the same barrel, but without the muzzle brake. At the same time, it was necessary to increase the weight of the barrel by 300-400 kg, which required a serious alteration of the components and parts of the system.

On September 28, 1937, the People's Commissar of Defense turned to the Department of Management with a proposal to include in the pilot work plan for 1938, Plant No. 8, the manufacture of a prototype 85-mm moving gun, whose tactical and technical requirements will be developed by Art-Direction. By that time, Art Management had already been developing these requirements. Thus, by protocol of November 22, 1937, it was decided to remove the design assignment for the 85-mm distance shrapnel.

On January 31, 1938, Plant No. 8 presented to the Administration a description of the 85-mm 52-K cannon. Instead of the existing liner (from the 3-mm 76-mm anti-aircraft guns), a free tube is taken, the end of which is free from the casing at a length of 1,800 mm and has a screw-on muzzle brake. Forgings free pipe new. The casing of the free pipe has a thickening between the claws (so that the balancing mechanism from the mast 3-K works normally) and shorter by 1,431 mm of the existing monoblock 76-mm 3-K gun. This casing can be obtained from the existing forging, the breech and the wedge undergo minor changes, so that you can use the existing forgings of the breech and wedge from 3-K. In addition, it was necessary to replace the breech, the wedge, the crank of the trigger handle, the extractor foot and introduce a muzzle brake.

In January 1938, factory tests of the first experienced 85-mm barrel on a 3-K carriage were carried out. According to the act of January 29, 1938, a total of 35 shots were made at an angle of 0 °. The first 20 shots were made with a muzzle brake with a projectile weighing 9.2 kg, the initial speed was 613-830 m / s, and then 15 shots were made without a muzzle brake with an initial speed of 673-714 m / s. For these 15 shots, the initial speed limit of 715 m / s was established, with a permissible recoil of 1150 mm for firing without a muzzle brake.

January 31, 1938 85-mm barrel on the gun carriage ZK arrived at the Sofrinsky landfill. On February 1, 45 shots were made at elevation angles from 0 ° to + 80 ° with an average initial speed of 827.2 m / s. Marked failures in the work of semi-automatics (battery). The length of the rollback slightly increased. The commission noted that even at a rate of fire 1 shot of 1.5-2 minutes the barrel heats up significantly. Overall, the results are satisfactory.

The 85-mm cannon on the gun carriage for the first time was tested at NIZAP (Research Anti-aircraft Artillery Test Site) from July 8 to September 25, 1938. By the time they arrived at NIZAP, 104 shots had been fired from an 85-mm barrel. According to the test results, the NIZAP commission noted a number of flaws in the 85mm cannon: Insufficient percentage of energy absorption by the muzzle brake, which leads to jumping of the system and knocking down the noise; The increase compared with the 3-K lateral dispersion of projectiles; Laminas on the back surface of the gate wedge.

Taking into account that the 85-mm gun as a whole justified itself, Art Management decided to order an experimental series of 20 guns at Plant No. 8.

The experimental series differed from the prototype, made at the end of 1937, with a new muzzle brake and an increased bearing surface of the wedge and breech. The lead specimen differed from the series itself in that the 85-mm barrel was superimposed on the carriage of the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1938 (simplified pedestal mounted on a four-wheeled vehicle), a wedge, a breech, semi-automatics and a sample casing made in 1937 were placed on it.

85-mm gun on the gun carriage 76-mm gun arr. 1938 was tested at NIZAP from April 21 to August 10, 1939 with interruptions due to the lack of ammunition. During the tests at NIZAP, 1,100 shots were fired and 500 km passed. The average towing speed of the ZIS-5 on a dirt road is 30-35 km / h, while the maximum speed is about 50 km / h. The device 85-mm gun on the gun carriage 7b-mm gun arr. 1938 is better than 3-K carriage. Muzzle brake operated satisfactorily. Three failures of semiautomatic are noted.

During the ground tests, they fired 9.2 kg shells with an initial speed of 800 m / s. According to the results of the ground tests, the commission stated that the ground tests had passed the gun, and recommended it for use as a corps anti-aircraft gun. On this occasion, Arthcom stated that "neither the 76-mm nor the 85-mm anti-aircraft guns can replace the 100-mm anti-aircraft gun, and these systems should not be mixed into a common pile."

And in 1939, G. Dorokhin creates a new system, imposing an 85-mm barrel on the carriage of a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, model 1938, using the bolt and semi-automatic of this tool. When choosing a caliber, he proceeded from the need to obtain a high initial velocity of the projectile and such a weight of the cartridge that would allow a sufficiently long work of the loader. Such requirements were most successfully combined in a caliber of 85 mm, the weight of the projectile was 9.2 kg, the weight of the cartridge — 15.1 kg, the initial speed — 800 m / s. Increasing the power of the gun required the installation of a muzzle brake, absorbing about 30% of the recoil energy.

The work carried out by the young designer G. Dorokhin, was approved, a prototype of the new gun entered the research testing ground. The main advantage of the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun over its predecessor - the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of 1931 - in the increased power of the projectile, which created a greater amount of damage in the target area. The ground recommended to adopt a gun as a medium caliber anti-aircraft gun. The gun was quickly mastered in production and, before the start of the Great Patriotic War, began to enter the army.

On May 10, 1940, the Directorate of Art finally established the index of the 85-mm anti-aircraft cannon - the 52-P-365. On July 5, 1940, Artkom urgently ordered to assemble four 85-mm anti-aircraft guns and send them to tests at Evpatoria, for which plant No. 8 should remove a 76-mm cannon arr. 1938 trunks and replace them with 85 mm.

Production of 52-K was conducted exclusively at the plant number 8 imeni Kalinin, which until the winter of 1941-42 was located in the village Podlipki (Moscow region), and then was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In 1940, the price of a single 52-K gun was 118 thousand rubles. By June 22, 1941, the troops had 2,630 52-K guns. During the war, 676 guns were transferred to the Navy.

During the use of the gun in combat, it was decided to equip the air defense weapon with an armored shield. Instead of a barrel consisting of a free pipe with a casing, a barrel-monoblock was inserted, a shutter with copy-type semiautomatic is applied. Calculations of guns used semi-automatic anti-aircraft fire control devices PUAZO-2 arr. 1934 or PUAZO-3 arr. 1940 and stereoscopic rangefinder. And since 1943, the radar tracking stations RUS-2 Redut went to the batteries. a barrel monoblock is introduced, a shutter with semiautomatic copying type is applied. Calculations of guns used semi-automatic anti-aircraft fire control devices PUAZO-2 arr. 1934 or PUAZO-3 arr. 1940 and stereoscopic rangefinder.

And since 1943, the radar tracking stations RUS-2 Redut went to the batteries. a barrel monoblock is introduced, a shutter with semiautomatic copying type is applied. Calculations of guns used semi-automatic anti-aircraft fire control devices PUAZO-2 arr. 1934 or PUAZO-3 arr. 1940 and stereoscopic rangefinder. And since 1943, the radar tracking stations RUS-2 Redut went to the batteries.

Mass production of the KS-12 continued until 1944, when it was replaced by an even more powerful 85-mm anti-aircraft gun (KS-18), which also became the main means of air defense of the Red Army. From the previous modification, the new one had a longer monoblock and an enlarged powder charge. A new cradle was developed for the gun, a balancing mechanism and a shutter with a copy-type semi-automatic. It had an automatic fuze installer, which made it possible to speed up the preparation of the shot.

Like the Germans, who from the middle of the war increasingly used anti-aircraft guns as the main armament of tanks, Soviet designers also appreciated the great benefits of such a move. The ZIS-S-53 cannon during the war proved itself well.

During the war, a lot of serviceable guns fell into the hands of the Germans, which by their characteristics were similar to the German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun. Under the designations 8.5-cm Flak M.39 (r) and 8.5-cm Flak M.44, our anti-aircraft guns were very actively used by the Germans.

The 85-mm anti-aircraft gun "survived" the war and for some time was armed with the Soviet Army. A certain amount was delivered to the socialist countries, including Vietnam, where they were given the task of fighting American planes. According to some information, and judging by the photos from the "hot spots" - this gun is still used in business.

Part of anti-aircraft guns after being removed from service was transferred to civilian services and served as avalanche guns in the highlands.