The Soviet 45-mm 53-K anti-tank gun of the 1937 type is the first domestic anti-tank gun specially designed and designed to combat lightly armed targets and tanks. The gun was created in the second half of the 30s of the 20th century as a response to the increasing role of armored units in offensive operations.
History of development and mass production
The main work was carried out on the production base of the plant number 8, located in Podlipki. The work was supervised by engineer M.N. Loginov. A 45 mm cannon of the 1932 model was chosen as a technical platform. It was planned to modify the system of loading the gun, setting it on the 37 mm gun carriage of anti-tank weapons of the 1931 model. The first prototype with a semi-automatic shutter was ready at the end of 1937 and received the GAU-52-P-243-PP-1 index. At the beginning of 1938, the weapons arrived at the testing grounds. In April 1938, the 45 mm anti-tank gun 53-K was adopted by the Red Army.
Serial production of the new gun began in July of the same year and lasted until 1944. In just 6 years, the troops received more than 37 thousand guns. The army gun received the chassis name "forty skater" corresponding to the caliber of the gun.
Main performance characteristics of the Soviet 45 mm anti-tank gun 53-K
- Calculation - 4 people.
- Combat weight - 0,560 tons.
- Unitary loading.
- The initial velocity of the armor-piercing projectile is 760 m / s.
- Rate of fire: 15-20 shots / min.
- The maximum firing range - 4400 m.
- The direct shot of an armor-piercing projectile: at a distance of 500 m. - 43 mm., At a distance of 1000 m. - 32 mm.
- The main types of ammunition: armor-piercing, fragmentation shells, canister.
- The weight of the armor-piercing projectile is 1.43 kg.
- Transfer time from traveling to combat: 1 min.
- Mode of transportation: transported by horse trades, passenger cars and trucks, Komsomolets tractor.
The new Soviet anti-tank 45 mm 53-K gun was used to equip anti-tank battalions of rifle regiments of the Red Army. The first anti-tank batteries of the regimental subordination and anti-tank divisions of rifle divisions were formed on the basis of the Soviet "forty-kings". The first experience of combat use of a 45 mm anti-tank gun of 1937 - armed conflict on the river. Halkin-Gol. During the Great Patriotic War, the gun was actively used in all main theaters of military operations as an anti-tank weapon and a weapon for direct support of infantry.
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