DShK
DShK | |
---|---|
Gas-operated, flapper locking | |
Rate of fire | 600 rounds/min |
Muzzle velocity | 850 m/s (2,800 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 2,000 m (2,200 yd) |
Maximum firing range | 2,500 m (2,700 yd) |
Feed system | 50 round belt |
Sights | Iron/optical |
The DShK 1938 (
Specifications
The DShK is a belt-fed machine gun firing the 12.7×108mm cartridge, and uses a butterfly trigger.[16] Firing at 600 rounds per minute, it has an effective range of 2.4 km (1+1⁄2 mi), and can penetrate up to 20 mm of armor up to a range of 500 m.[17] The DShK has two "spider web" ring sights for use against aircraft. It is used by infantry on tripod mounts or deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armor-plate shield. It is also mounted on tanks and armored vehicles for use against infantry and aircraft; nearly all Russian-designed tanks prior to the T-64 use the DShK.[18]
History
Requiring a heavy machine gun similar to the M2 Browning, development of the DShK began in the Soviet Union in 1929 and the first design was finalised by Vasily Degtyaryov in 1931.[17][19] The initial design used the same gas operation from the Degtyaryov machine gun, and used a 30 round drum magazine, but had a poor rate of fire. Georgy Shpagin revised the design by changing it to a belt-fed with a rotary-feed cylinder, and the new machine gun began production in 1938 as the DShK 1938.[17][20] The DShK and the American M2 Browning are the only .50 caliber machine guns designed prior to World War II that remain in service to the present day.[21]
During World War II, the DShK was used by the
In 1946, an improved variant was produced, with a revised muzzle and feeding system. Named the DShK 38/46 or DShK-M, over a million were produced from 1946-1980.[17] The gun was also revised to become more reliable, and easier to manufacture.[24] The new DShK was produced under license in Pakistan, Iran, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland[25] and Czechoslovakia.[17] Czechoslovak variant, most often encountered on quads, is visually distinguishable by a rectangular muzzle brake.[26] China produced their own variant of the design, designated the Type 54.[27]
After World War II, DShKs were used widely by communist forces in Vietnam, starting with the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. While not as powerful as anti-aircraft cannons, the DShK was easier to smuggle through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.[17] DShKs were a major threat to American aircraft in the Vietnam War,[16] and of the 7,500 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft lost during the war, most were destroyed by anti-aircraft guns including DShK.[17]
In June 1988, during The Troubles, a British Army Westland Lynx helicopter was hit 15 times by two Provisional IRA DShKs smuggled from Libya, and forced to crash-land near Cashel Lough Upper, south County Armagh.[28]
Rebel forces utilized DShKs in the Syrian civil war, often mounting the gun on cars. In 2012, the Syrian government claimed to have destroyed 40 such technicals on a highway in Aleppo and six in Dael.[29]
The DShK began to be partially replaced in the Soviet Union by the NSV machine gun in 1971, and the Kord machine gun in 1998.[21] The DShK remains in service, although it is no longer produced.[18]
The weapon was used by Ukrainian forces in the
Users
- Afghanistan[33]
- Albania[33] "DShkM" locally produced from a Chinese copy.
- Algeria[33]
- Angola[33]
- Armenia[33]
- Azerbaijan[33]
- Bangladesh[33] Type 54.
- Belarus[33]
- Bulgaria[33]
- Burkina Faso[11]
- Burundi[34]
- Cambodia[33]
- Cameroon[35]
- Cape Verde[33]
- Central African Republic[33]
- Chad[33]
- Chile[36]
- China: Produced DShKM variant Type 54.[37]
- Congo-Brazzaville[33]
- Congo-Kinshasa[33]
- Cuba[33]
- Cyprus[33]
- four barrelled version.[37]
- Czech Republic[33]
- East Germany[38]
- Egypt[33]
- Equatorial Guinea[33]
- Eritrea[33]
- Ethiopia[33]
- Finland[33]
- Georgia[33]
- Ghana[33]
- Guinea[33]
- Guinea-Bissau[33]
- Hungary[33]
- Indonesia[33]
- Iran: Manufactured DShKM variant named MGD 12.7.[39][40]
- Iraq[33] called the "Doshka" by Iraqis.
- Israel[33]
- India Captured during Kargil War.[citation needed]
- Côte d'Ivoire[42]
- Kazakhstan[33]
- Kenya[43]
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan[33]
- Laos[33]
- Liberia[44]
- Libya[33]
- Lithuania[33]
- North Macedonia[33]
- Madagascar[33]
- Armed and Security Forces of Mali
- Malta[33]
- Mongolia[45]
- Mozambique[33]
- Nicaragua[33]
- Niger[citation needed]
- Nigeria[33]
- North Korea[33]
- North Vietnam[37]
- Pakistan: Used by the Pakistan Army. DShKM variant produced locally.[46][47]
- Peru[33]
- Poland Produced locally.[48][49]
- Palestine
- Romania Produced locally[50] (still used with TR-85 tanks).
- Russia[33]
- Rwanda: Used by Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur.[citation needed]
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia[33]
- Seychelles[33]
- Sierra Leone[33]
- Slovakia[33]
- Somalia[33]
- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic[3]
- South Sudan[51]
- Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.[37]
- Sudan[citation needed]
- Syria[33]
- Tamil Tigers. (former user)
- Tanzania[33]
- Togo[33]
- Turkey[52]
- Turkmenistan[33]
- Uganda[33]
- Ukraine: Also produces a variant with a bipod and large muzzle brake for infantry usage.[33][53]
- Vietnam[33]
- Yemen[33]
- Yugoslavia: Manufactured DShKM variant.[39]
- Zambia[33]
- Zimbabwe[33]
Non-state users
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad Al-Quds Brigades
- Daesh
- Iraqi insurgents
- Provisional IRA[37]
Gallery
-
A Romanian DShK chambered in12.7×99mm NATOon display at Expomil 2005.
-
A soldier with the Ukrainian Land Forces fires a DShKM
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DShKMTR-85M1
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DShKM URO VAMTAC
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DShK M1938
-
DShKM anti-aircraft machine gun on aT-55tank loader's roof hatch
-
The M53 is an anti-aircraft mounting of four 12.7 mm heavy machine guns vz. 38/46 (Czech copy of Soviet DShKM)
See also
- FN BRG-15
- HMG PK-16
- KPV heavy machine gun
- List of Russian weaponry
References
- ISBN 9781472822512. Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ISBN 9781107026919.
- ^ a b Francesco Palmas (2012). "Il contenzioso del sahara occidentale fra passato e presente" (PDF). Informazioni della Difesa (in Italian). No. 4. pp. 50–59. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 16.
- ^ a b Neville 2018, p. 24.
- ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ "Rwandan government soldiers fire 12 June 1994 heavy artillery at".
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 30.
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 35.
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 37.
- ^ a b Cherisey, Erwan de (July 2019). "El batallón de infantería "Badenya" de Burkina Faso en Mali - Noticias Defensa En abierto". Revista Defensa (in Spanish) (495–496).
- armamentresearch.com. Archivedfrom the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 38.
- ^ "Cal.12.7 x 99 mm Machine Gun" (PDF). Cugir Arms Factory.
- ^ Green, Michael (2022). Red Army Weapons of the Second World War. Pen and Sword. p. 25.
- ^ a b c Larson, Caleb (2021-02-03). "The Soviet DShK Heavy Machine Gun Won't Go Away". The National Interest. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Roblin, Sebastien (2018-11-10). "How a Deadly Russian World War II .50 Caliber Machine Gun Blasted its Mark into History". The National Interest. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ a b Willbanks 2004, p. 134.
- ^ Willbanks, James (2004). Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. p. 200.
- ^ Willbanks 2004, p. 109.
- ^ a b Rottman, Gordon (2010). Browning .50-caliber Machine Guns. Osprey Publishing. p. 72.
- ^ "Finnish Army 1918–1945: Antiaircraft Machineguns". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ "Dushka: The Soviet Fifty Caliber – Page 2 – Small Arms Defense Journal".
- ^ Willbanks 2004, p. 121.
- ^ "65 Years of Armament Production in Tarnow". 4 September 2020.
- ^ "Dushka: The Soviet Fifty Caliber – Page 4 – Small Arms Defense Journal".
- ISBN 978-0-521-88040-4. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ISBN 0-340-71737-8
- ^ "الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء". Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ Parth Satam (January 5, 2023). "Ukraine Uses Powerful Searchlights & Anti-Aircraft Guns To Neutralize Russian Geran-2 UAVs Used During Night Strikes". www. eurasiantimes.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ THOMAS NEWDICK (December 13, 2022). "Inside Ukraine's Desperate Fight Against Drones With MiG-29 Pilot "Juice"". www.thedrive.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ Sebastien Roblin (December 11, 2022). "To Stop Killer Drones, Ukraine Upgrades Ancient Flak Guns With Consumer Cameras And Tablets". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
- ^ Thierry Vircoulon (2014-10-02). "Insights from the Burundian Crisis (I): An Army Divided and Losing its Way". International Crisis Group. Archived from the original on 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
- ^ "Cameroon air strikes on Boko Haram". BBC News. 29 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7106-1241-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84065-245-1.
- ^ "12,7-mm-überschweres Maschinengewehr DSchK Modell 1938 und Modell 1938/46". Militaertechnik der NVA (in German).
- ^ a b "G3 Defence Magazine August 2010". calameo.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ Neville 2018, p. 9.
- ^ NRT (2017-01-25). "Peshmerga Ministry: There will be no withdraw from liberated areas". NRT TV. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
- ^ de Tessières, Savannah (April 2012). Enquête nationale sur les armes légères et de petit calibre en Côte d'Ivoire: les défis du contrôle des armes et de la lutte contre la violence armée avant la crise post-électorale (PDF) (Report). Special Report No. 14 (in French). UNDP, Commission Nationale de Lutte contre la Prolifération et la Circulation Illicite des Armes Légères et de Petit Calibre and Small Arms Survey. p. 97. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ^ World Armies (2012-10-08). "Kenyan Army". flicker. Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ISBN 978-0-19-928085-8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ Mongolian military museum. Ulaanbaatar. Sights of intersest Archived 2013-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-1-921941-48-1.
- ^ "12.7mm DShK heavy machinegun". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ^ "65 lat dostaw uzbrojenia z Tarnowa". 3 June 2018.
- ^ "65 Years of Armament Production in Tarnow". 4 September 2020.
- ^ Gander, Terry J. (4 May 2001). "ROMARM machine guns". Jane's Infantry Weapons 2002-2003. p. 3407.
- ^ Small Arms Survey (2014). "Weapons tracing in Sudan and South Sudan" (PDF). Small Arms Survey 2014: Women and guns (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 224. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- ^ "Reported use by intelligence agency". Archived from the original on 2016-07-24.
- ^ "Ukrainian Modified DShK with Buttstock, Picatinny Rail, and Bipod in Ground Role". The Firearm Blog. 19 December 2017.
Further reading
- Leszek Erenfeicht (29 August 2012). "Dushka: The Soviet Fifty Caliber". Small Arms Defense Journal. Vol. 4, No. 3.
- Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon: A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 53. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.
External links
- DShK and DShKM at guns.ru.
- Video of Operation