Military

T-12 100-mm anti-tank gun Rapier
MT-12 100-mm anti-tank gun
2A19 100-mm anti-tank gun
2A29 100-mm anti-tank gun

Currently, towed anti-tank guns are a relative rarity, and most such weapons are in service with the armies of the republics of the former Soviet Union. In some former member states of the Warsaw Pact, a significant number of 100-mm anti-tank guns T-12 (also known as 2A19) and MT-12 (upgraded version) also remained. The T-12 was adopted in the mid-50's. As a result of the operation, it became necessary to make small changes in the design of the carriage, and in 1972 an improved version of the MT-12 appeared.

The 100 mm anti-tank gun MT-12 (GRAU-2A29, in some sources it is designated as "Rapier") is a towed anti-tank gun developed in the late 1960s in the USSR. Serial production was started in the 1970s. This anti-tank weapon is a modernization of the T-12 (GRAU-2A19). The modernization consisted in placing guns on the new gun carriage.

The anti-tank gun is a type of artillery weapon designed to destroy the enemy's armored vehicles. As a rule, this is a long-barreled gun with a considerable initial velocity of the projectile. In most cases, firing from a similar gun is conducted by direct fire. When developing anti-tank guns, special attention is paid to minimizing its size and weight. This should facilitate the disguise of the gun on the ground and its transportation.

The development of anti-tank guns as a form of artillery armament was at the end of the 1930s. The main impetus to the intensive development of this weapon was the increasing role of armored vehicles on the battlefield. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the main anti-tank gun was a cannon caliber of 45 millimeters, also known as "sorokapyatka." At the initial stage of the war, she successfully fought with the Wehrmacht tanks. Over time, the reservation of German tanks has increased, and this required more powerful anti-tank guns. This could be achieved by increasing their caliber. The main factor in the development of anti-tank guns is the resistance of armor and projectile.

After the war, the development of anti-tank guns did not stop. Designers of artillery weapons offered various options. They experimented with both the artillery unit and the gun carriage. For example, a motorcycle engine was installed on the gun carriage of the D-44 gun. Thus, the speed of self-movement of the gun at 25 kilometers per hour was ensured. Concerning the caliber of anti-tank guns, by the mid-1950s, it had reached 85 mm.

In the mid-1960s, the development of barrel artillery slowed down somewhat. The reason for this was the rapid development of missile weapons. The troops practically ceased to receive new barreled weapons, while rockets became more widespread. For example, the armament of the Soviet Army received complexes ATGM (anti-tank guided missile). It is not known how the history of the development of anti-tank cannons turned, if the designers did not use one technical innovation when creating the guns. Until a certain time the trunks of anti-tank guns had rifling. The rifling attach to the projectile rotation, thus ensuring its steady flight. In 1961, a T-12 cannon was adopted. The barrel of this gun has no rifling cutters - it is a smoothbore gun. The stability of the projectile is achieved by means of stabilizers that open in flight. This innovation allowed to increase the caliber to 100 mm. The initial velocity of the projectile also increased. In addition, a non-rotating shell is more suitable for a cumulative charge. In the future smooth-bore guns were used to fire not only projectiles but also guided missiles.

The design of the T-12 gun was developed in the design bureau of the Yurga Machine-Building Plant. Supervised the work of Afanasiev V.Ya. and Korneev L.V. For the new gun was used two-tier gunfire and the barrel from the 85-millimeter rifled anti-tank gun D-48. The trunk of the T-12 from the D-48 was distinguished only by a 100-millimeter smooth-walled monoblock tube and a muzzle brake. The T-12 channel consisted of a chamber and a smooth-walled cylindrical guide part.

The T-12 is a 100-mm smoothbore antitank gun mounted on a two-wheeled, split-trail carriage, with a single caster wheel near the trail ends. The long (8,484-mm) gun tube has a cylindrical, multi-perforated muzzle brake which is only fractionally larger in diameter than the thin barrel. The MT-12 variant has a winged shield angled to the rear on both sides and an additional recoil cylinder above the breech on the right. Both versions frequently mount infrared night sighting equipment. The T-12 and MT-12 fire fin-stabilized, non-rotating rounds similar to those of the 115-mm gun of the T-62 tank.

Muzzle velocity is 900 meters per second for HE and HEAT rounds or 1,500 meters per second for HVAPFSDS rounds. Maximum indirect fire range is 8,200 meters (Frag-HE). The effective direct fire range is approximately 1,000 meters (HEAT) or 2,000 meters (HVAPFSDS). The HEAT round can penetrate about 400 millimeters of armor at any range. The HVAPFSDS round can penetrate about 225 millimeters at 1,000 meters. The theoretical rate of fire is reportedly 14 rounds per minute; however, rate for aimed fire is only 6 rounds per minute, and the maximum practical rate is 10 rounds per minute.

In the late 1960's for the gun developed an improved gun carriage. Work on a new carriage began in connection with the transition to a new tractor, which has a high speed. The upgraded gun was given the designation MT-12. Serial production of this anti-tank gun began in 1970. Included in the ammunition shells allowed to hit modern tanks at that time - American M-60, German Leopard-1.

As a tractor it used the MT-L (multipurpose conveyor light) or MT-LB (armored version of the conveyor). This transporter was very widespread in the Soviet Army. On its base, barrel and missile self-propelled artillery units were created. The caterpillar track provides the transporter with excellent cross-country terrain. The tractor is capable of towing an MT-12 anti-tank gun with a maximum speed of 60 km / h. The power reserve of this conveyor is 500 km. The calculation of the gun during transport is placed inside the machine. During the march, the cannon is covered with canvas covers protecting the implement from dust, dirt, snow and rain.

Time of transfer of an anti-tank gun from a marching position to a combat position is no more than 1 minute. Upon arrival, artillerymen take off their covers and remove the beds. When the stands are divided, the gun is more stable. Then lower the lower armor plate. Shield cover provides protection of calculation and mechanisms from damage by splinters and bullets. The calculation opens the inspection windows in the shield and mounts the sighting devices.

When conducting fire direct fire in sunny weather or when shooting against the sun, the sight of OP4M-40U is additionally equipped with a special light filter. Night sight APN-6-40, which can be equipped with a gun, increases the combat quality of the gun. For shooting in difficult weather conditions, a version of the gun with a radar sight was developed.

Although the T-12 / MT-12 gun is designed primarily for direct fire, it is equipped with an additional panoramic sight and can be used as an ordinary field gun for firing explosive ammunition from closed positions.

To combat armored targets, an armor-piercing and sub-caliber projectile with a swept warhead with a high kinetic energy capable of penetrating armor 215 mm thick at a distance of 1000 meters is used. Such ammunition is usually associated with tank guns, but the T-12 and MT-12 use single-load shells, other than the ammunition of a 100 mm D-10 tank gun mounted on T-54 and T-55 tanks. Also from the T-12 / MT-12 can be fired by cumulative anti-tank missiles and ATGM 9M117 "Kastet" guided by laser beam.

One of the modifications of the T-12 was produced in the former Yugoslavia: a 100 mm barrel was installed on the carriage of the 122 mm D-30 howitzer. This modification received the designation "TOPAZ".