The Soviet 57 mm anti-tank gun ZIS-2 is one of the best anti-tank artillery systems of the Second World War. The gun, which was created in the pre-war years, turned out to be an efficient and effective fire weapon of the anti-tank guns. The Soviet army units and units equipped with this anti-tank weapon could successfully fight the enemy’s heavy and well-armored vehicles. The appearance in the Soviet units of the 57-mm anti-tank gun ZiS-2 became a serious threat to the action of the tank units of the German troops in the final period of the Great Patriotic War.
History of creation and adoption
The gun was developed by the collective of the Design Bureau V.G. Grabina back in 1940 as an anti-tank fire weapons at the regimental and divisional levels. Despite the small caliber, the gun had a high penetrating power. At the time of creation, the weapon was considered the most powerful in its class. After some short-range testing, showing high ballistic and firing characteristics, the gun was adopted by the Red Army under the GAU index - the GRAU index - 52-P-271. However, due to the lack of relevant targets in the composition of the German Army’s tank forces during the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, it was decided to stop the serial production of the gun.
Only with the appearance on the battlefield in 1942 of heavy German T-VI Tiger tanks, the question arose of resuming the serial production of the ZiS-2 cannon. Since 1943, Soviet troops again began to receive powerful 57-mm anti-tank cannons ZiS-2 of the 1941 model for artillery divisions and regiments. In the course of subsequent operations on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the gun proved its high firing characteristics, successfully coping with medium and heavy German tanks. The serial production of the gun continued until 1949. During this time, the Soviet factories produced more than 13 thousand guns.
Technical characteristics of the anti-tank gun ZIS-2 sample 1941
- Calculation - 5 people.
- Combat weight - 1.25 tons.
- Unitary loading.
- The initial velocity of the armor-piercing projectile is 760 m / s.
- Rate of fire: 25 rounds per minute.
- The maximum firing range - 8400 m.
- The direct shot of an armor-piercing projectile is 1120 m.
- Armor penetration armor-piercing projectile: at a distance of 500 m - 84 mm, at a distance of 1000 m - 74 mm.
- The main types of ammunition: armor-piercing sub-caliber, high-explosive fragmentation projectiles, canister.
- The weight of an armor-piercing projectile is 3.19 kg.
- Transfer time from traveling to combat: 30-40 sec.
- Mode of transportation: transported by horse trades, passenger cars and trucks, Komsomolets tractor.
The Soviet 57-mm anti-tank guns ZIS-2 fought from 1941 to 1945 on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Later, for a long time, this weapon remained in service with the Soviet Army. A small number of ZIS-2 guns in the post-war period was delivered abroad, where it took part in military conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.
A photo
