37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)

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37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Tigray War
Production history
Produced1939–1945 (USSR)
No. built20,000 (USSR)
Specifications
Mass2,100 kg (4,600 lb)
Barrel length2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) L/67[2]
Crew8[3]
Shell37 × 252 mmSR[4][5]
Shell weight730 g (1.61 lb) Frag-T
770 g (1.70 lb) AP-T
Caliber37 mm (1.5 in)
RecoilHydro-spring[3]
CarriageFour-wheeled with twin outriggers
Elevation−5° to 85°
Traverse360°[2]
Rate of fire160-170 rpm
Muzzle velocity880 m/s (2,900 ft/s)
Effective firing range4 km (13,000 ft) (effective ceiling)
Maximum firing range5 km (16,000 ft) (maximum ceiling)[2]
61-K at IDF/AF Museum, Chatzerim airbase, Israel

The 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) (

anti-aircraft gun developed during the late 1930s and used during World War II. The land-based version was replaced in Soviet service by the AZP S-60 during the 1950s. Guns of this type were successfully used throughout the Eastern Front
against dive bombers and other low- and medium-altitude targets. It also had some usefulness against lightly armoured ground targets.

Development

The Soviet Navy purchased a number of

M. N. Loginov, I. A. Lyamin and L. V. Lyuliev was successful, but the army thought that the 45 mm calibre was a little too large for an automatic field weapon. In January 1938 the Artillery Factory Number 8 in Sverdlovsk was ordered to develop a 37 mm weapon based on the same design. The task was fulfilled by the chief designer of the factory, Mikhail Loginov, and his assistant Lev Loktev
. Firing trials of the new 61-K were conducted in October 1938.

Competitive firing trials were conducted in 1940 between the 61-K and the

Bofors 40 mm/56
. There were no substantial differences found between them.

61-K in Poznan citadel, Poland

Land version

The weapon was initially installed as a single-barrel weapon on a four-wheeled ZU-7 carriage and was soon ready for service. An initial order for 900 units was placed. The gun was operated by a crew of eight men. A total of 200 rounds of ammunition were carried which were fed into the gun in five-round clips. Total Soviet production was around 20,000 units, ending in 1945. However, it has also been produced in Poland, China and North Korea.

Armour penetration of the armour-piercing (AP) rounds is reported as 37 millimetres of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) at 60°at 500 metres range and 28 millimetres of RHA at 90° at 1,500 metres range.

Naval version

70-K on the Soviet cruiser Krasny Kavkaz

The naval mounting was produced as the 70-K and had entered service before the German invasion of the Soviet Union replacing the semi-automatic 45 mm/46 21-K on many ships. It was fitted in large numbers to Soviet ships during the Second World War, including the T301 class minesweeper. The 70-K was produced until 1955, with a total of 3,113 built.

V-11 as a memorial to the defenders of Seraya Loshad fort

One drawback was that the 70-K required a barrel change after every 100 rounds fired. To improve on this, a twin-barrel water cooled mount, the V-11 (called "W-11" in East Germany and Poland because of different Cyrillic transliteration), entered service in 1946, and was in production until 1957. A total of 1,872 V-11 mounts were built.

After this an 85-calibre 100 mm (3.9 in) anti-aircraft mounts long version, the 45 mm/85, was developed and accepted into service in 1954, it was deployed in twin and quad turrets on a number of classes of vessels, including the Neustrashimy, Kildin and Kotlin-class destroyers. However, it was later replaced with the ZIF-31 twin 57 mm mounting.

The 37 mm twin mounting was exported to China where it was manufactured and used extensively, as the "Type 65". A turret-based version was produced from the late 1980s called the "Type 76" or H/PJA 76.

ZSU-37

The ZSU-37 was developed late in the Second World War, it was a single 37 mm gun mounted in a large open turret on the chassis of the SU-76 self-propelled gun.

Specifications

Designation M1939 70-K
(naval)		 V-11-M
(naval)		 45 mm
(naval)
Barrels 1 1 2 4 or 2
Calibre 37 mm (1.45 in)
Barrel length 2.73 m
(9 ft)		 2.3 m
(7.54 ft)		 2.3 m
(7.54 ft)		 3.8 m
(12.46 ft)
Muzzle velocity 880 m/s
(2,887 ft/s) 		900 m/s
(2,953 ft/s)
Weight 2,100 kg
(4,630 lbs)		 1,750 kg
(3,858 lbs)		 3,450 kg
(7,606 lbs)		 ?
Length 5.5 m
(18 ft)		 3.8 m
(12.46 ft)		 3.8 m
(12.46 ft)		 6 m
(19.68 ft)
Width 1.79 m
(5.87 ft)		 2.2 m
(7.21 ft)		 2.75 m
(9 ft)
Height 2.11 m
(7 ft)		 2.2 m
(7.21 ft)		 1.8 m
(6 ft)
Elevation +85 to
−5 degrees		 +85 to
−10 degrees		 +85 to
−10 degrees		 +90 to
0 degrees
Elevation speed ? 15 degrees / sec 13 degrees / sec ?
Traverse speed ? 20 degrees / sec 17 degrees / sec ?
Rate of fire per barrel

(cyclic)		 160 to 170 rpm 160 to 170 rpm 160 to 170 rpm 135 to 160 rpm

(practical) 		80 rpm 320 rpm[6] for all 2 barrels 100 rpm
Maximum range
(surface) 		9,500 m
(5.90 mi) 		?
Practical range
(surface) 		4,000 m
(2.48 mi) 		9,000 m
Maximum range
(air) 		6,700 m
(21,981 ft) 		?
Practical range
(air) 		3,000 m
(9,842 ft) 		6,000 m
Crew 8 6 3 4
  • Recoil length: 150 to 175 mm

Ammunition

Soldiers from Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Battalion, place C-4 explosives onto 37mm anti-aircraft rounds to be destroyed near the city of Bayji, Iraq, on June 20, 2004.

The cannon fires 37×252SR shells. The shells use brass cases lined with waxed paper and use KV-2U percussion primers. A small piece of lead-tin wire is included in the case to act as a de-coppering agent, to counteract the buildup of copper from the driving bands of the projectiles.[7] The Ammunition is produced in a number of countries including China, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan and Yugoslavia. The projectiles themselves are identical to those fired by the NS-37 aircraft cannon. The explosive shells are fitted with point detonating fuzes making them unsuitable for engaging fast moving or small targets.

Type Frag-T Frag-T AP-T HVAP HE
Calibre 37 mm 37 mm 37 mm 37 mm 45 mm
Country Russia
Name OR-167 OR-167N BR-167 BR-167P ?
Fuze MG-8 PD
or MG-37 PD		 B-37 PD
or MG-37 PD		 n/a n/a ?
Round 1.43 kg
(3.15 lbs)		 1.43 kg
(3.15 lbs)		 1.47 kg
(3.24 lbs)		 ?
Projectile 732 g
(1.43 lbs)		 735 g
(1.43 lbs)		 770 g
(1.62 lbs)		 620 g
(1.36 lbs) 		1.5 kg
(3.30 lbs)
Explosive 35 g
(1.23 oz)
of A-IX-2		 40 g
(1.41 oz)
of A-IX-2
or A-1Kh-2		 n/a n/a ?
Muzzle
velocity 		880 m/s
(2,887 ft/s) 		960 m/s
(3,150 ft/s) 		900 m/s
(2,953 ft/s)
Armour penetration ? ? 47 mm @ 500 m
(1.85 in @ 547 yds)
37 mm @ 1,000 m
(1.45 in @ 1,093 yds)		 57 mm @ 1000 m
(2.24 in @ 1,093 yds)		 ?

Variants

Type 74 of Bangladesh Army
    • Type 55 – copy of the single barreled 37 mm M1939
    • Type 63 – twin 37 mm guns with vertical stabilization mounted on a T-34 chassis.
    • Type 65 – copy of the twin barreled 37 mm.
    • Type 74 – upgraded version of the Type 65 with a greater rate of fire.
    • Type 74SD – Type 74 with servo system removed for operation with Type 800 laser course director system.
    • Type 79-III – upgraded version of the Type 74 with electro-optical director, and powered traverse and elevation.
    • Type 76 – Naval version of the twin 37 mm.
    • P793 – Advanced twin-barrel version, with electro-optical predicting sight and higher rate of fire and lengthened barrels giving a higher muzzle velocity (1,000 m/s). Operated by a crew of 5 or 6.
  • North Korea
    • Self-propelled version

Comparison of anti-aircraft guns

Country Gun model RPM Projectile weight Weight of fire
 Soviet Union 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) 80[3] .73 kg (1.6 lb)[6] 58.4 kg (129 lb)
 Nazi Germany 3.7 cm SK C/30 30 .74 kg (1.6 lb)[8] 22.2 kg (49 lb)
 France Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 15–21 .72 kg (1.6 lb)[9] 10.8–15.12 kg (23.8–33.3 lb)
 Italy Cannone-Mitragliera da 37/54 (Breda) 60–120 .82 kg (1.8 lb)[10] 49.2–98.4 kg (108–217 lb)
 United States
37 mm Gun M1
 90[11] .61 kg (1.3 lb) 54.9 kg (121 lb)
 Nazi Germany
3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43
 150 .64 kg (1.4 lb)[12] 96 kg (212 lb)
 United Kingdom QF 2-pounder naval gun 115 .91 kg (2.0 lb)[13] 104.6 kg (231 lb)
 Sweden
Bofors 40 mm gun
 120 .9 kg (2.0 lb)[14] 108 kg (238 lb)

Users

Current operators

Pakistani Type-65

Former operators

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "La 104ème brigade de la Garde républicaine syrienne, troupe d'élite et étendard du régime de Damas". France-Soir (in French). 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  2. ^
    OCLC 2000222
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  3. ^
    OCLC 911907988
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  4. ^ "37x252 SR". Archived from the original on 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  5. ^ "WW2 Equipment Data: Soviet Explosive Ordnance - 37mm and 45mm Projectiles". 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b DiGiulian, Tony. "Russia / USSR 37 mm/67 (1.5") 70-K - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-04. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  7. ^ "Russian Ammunition Page". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  8. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "Germany 3.7 cm/83 SK C/30 - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-03. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  9. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "France 37 mm/50 (1.46") Model 1925 and CAIL Model 1933 - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-04. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  10. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "Italy 37 mm/54 (1.5") Models 1932, 1938 and 1939 - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-04. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  11. ^ "37mm M1A2 L/53.5". Tarrif.net. Archived from the original on 2011-01-07.
  12. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "Germany 3.7 cm/57 (1.5") Flak M43 - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-03. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  13. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "United Kingdom / Britain 2-pdr QF Mark VIII - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-23. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  14. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "USA Bofors 40 mm/60 Model 1936 - NavWeaps". navweaps.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  15. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 429.
  16. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 320.
  17. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 81.
  18. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 236.
  19. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 381.
  20. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 433.
  21. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 239.
  22. ^ The Military Balance 2021, p. 454.
  23. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 242.
  24. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 438.
  25. ^ The Military Balance 2021, p. 461.
  26. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 393.
  27. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 325.
  28. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 445.
  29. ^ Mitzer, Stijn; Oliemans, Joost (1 September 2021). "The Tigray Defence Forces - Documenting Its Heavy Weaponry". Oryx Blog. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  30. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 446.
  31. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 449.
  32. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 450.
  33. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 328.
  34. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 335.
  35. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 265.
  36. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 271.
  37. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 454.
  38. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 344.
  39. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 458.
  40. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 276.
  41. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 277.
  42. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 280.
  43. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 465.
  44. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 469.
  45. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 471.
  46. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 354.
  47. ^ Mitzer, Stijn; Oliemans, Joost (29 October 2021). "Kurdish Armour: Inventorising YPG Equipment In Northern Syria". Oryx Blog. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  48. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 473.
  49. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 294.
  50. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 474.
  51. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 356.
  52. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 475.
  53. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 476.
  54. ^ The Military Balance 2016, p. 478.
  55. ISBN 978-0798301749
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  56. ^ "Zimbabwe Defence Forces". defenceweb.co.za. 13 October 2014. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  57. ^ История на Зенитната артилерия и Зенитно-ракетните войски в Българската армия, София 1995, с. 102-103. (History of Anti-aircraft artillery and Anti-aircraft and Missile Forces of the Bulgarian Army, Sofia 1995, p. 102-103.)
  58. ^ Mitzer, Stijn; Oliemans, Joost. "Vehicles and equipment captured by the Islamic State inside Syria until November 2014". Oryx Blog. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  59. ISBN 978-1-912174-23-2
    .

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 61-K 37 mm gun.
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