The use of SZU 2 57 for ground targets. Correspondence duel. Use in combat
When the Great Patriotic War ended, the euphoria subsided a little, workdays began. The analysis of the war began. Obtaining military experience and its comprehension.
So, it was precisely the comprehension of the experience gained during the war that showed the complete failure of the military air defense that was available in the Red Army. In general, everything was very bad with air defense, and people who were not stupid and fought came to the conclusion that something had to be done in this situation.
Tankers especially asked for protection from aviation. The tank is a very tasty target both in those years and today, by the way. And he has a priority just like a tank and it turns out. Quite large. And only an anti-aircraft machine-gun company relied on a tank brigade in the second half of the 40s.
These are 48 personnel and 9 DShK machine guns. For 65 tanks and 146 trucks, I note. According to States Nos. 010/500 - 010/506 (November 1943). Anti-aircraft guns were not supposed to be used by a separate tank brigade at all. Ugly arrangement, of course.
But even in the divisional structure of air defense systems, there were negligibly few. Yes, and they were equipped mainly with towed 37-mm anti-aircraft guns 61-K or 25-mm 72-K, which still had to be deployed and prepared for battle before repulsing the raid.
Practice has shown that there was not and could not be a more tasty morsel for German aviation in the Great Patriotic War than a unit on the march.
At the same time, the enemy was armed with a fairly large number of self-propelled air defense systems, the main difference from the towed ones was that they were ready to open fire without any additional preparation.
If you carefully study the issue, then the Red Army had mobile air defense systems. On trucks.
On the one hand, cheap and cheerful, on the other - the complete absence of any protection from the actions of enemy aircraft. Not the best alignment, given the Germans, albeit easily, but armored mobile air defense systems.
The current situation had to be rectified by adopting an anti-aircraft self-propelled gun capable of firing on the move, keeping up with the tanks on the march. And the installation would have to have a sufficient caliber to effectively defeat enemy bombers and armored attack aircraft.
The first serial ZSU, created in the USSR, was the ZSU-37, armed with a 37-mm 61-K cannon. Conditionally serial, since its production was limited to 75 cars produced in 1945, which on the scale of the Red Army was not even a drop in the ocean.
A more serious application was the 57-mm automatic gun S-60, developed in the design bureau of V. G. Grabin. The gun was a success, but in the original version it had the same drawback - low mobility. Therefore, already in 1947, even before the adoption of the S-60 into service, the development of its twin version under the designation S-68, intended for arming a self-propelled gun, began.
For the new ZSU, a chassis was created based on the T-54 medium tank. The new self-propelled unit received the factory designation "product 500" and the army ZSU-57-2 and was put into service after comprehensive tests conducted in 1950.
ZSU was produced at plant No. 174 in Omsk from 1955 to 1960, a total of 857 units were produced.
The ZSU crew consisted of six people:
- driver mechanic. It was located in the frontal part of the hull on the left;
- gunner;
- gunner-installer of the sight;
- loading the right and left guns (2 people);
- installation commander.
The place of the driver in the ZSU
In addition to the driver, all crew members were housed in an open tower.
The body of the ZSU-57-2 is welded, made of armor plates 8-13 mm thick. The tower is rotating, welded, located in the central part of the body on a ball bearing. The rear armor plate was removable.
In the stowed position, the tower could be covered with a canvas awning.
The workplaces of the crew members were located as follows: in front of the left - the loader of the left gun, behind him in the center of the turret - the gunner, to the right of the gunner there was the sight installer, in front of the right - the loader of the right gun, in the back in the center of the turret - the workplace of the ZSU commander.
A sleeve collector was attached to the rear sheet of the tower.
The operation of the automatic gun was based on the principle of using the recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. The gun had a monoblock barrel, a piston sliding bolt, a hydraulic recoil brake, a spring knurler and was supplied with a muzzle brake.
Vertical (−5 ... + 85 °) and horizontal aiming was carried out using electro-hydraulic drives powered by an electric motor.
The horizontal guidance speed was 30 °, vertical - 20 ° per second.
In the event of a failure of the electric drive, the possibility of manual aiming remained: the commander of the vehicle was responsible for horizontal guidance, and the gunner for vertical guidance. This was a very problematic action, since in this case the commander and gunner must have physical fitness well above average.
The feed of the guns is clipped, from box magazines for 4 shots. The practical rate of fire was 100-120 rounds per minute per barrel, but the maximum duration of continuous firing was no more than 40-50 rounds, after which the barrels needed to be cooled.
The ammunition load of the ZSU-57-2 was 300 unitary shots, of which 176 in 44 stores were placed in stacks in the turret, 72 in 18 stores were in the bow of the hull, and another 52 shots in the form not equipped with clips were placed under the floor of the turret.
In general, the combat effectiveness of the ZSU-57-2 depended on the qualifications of the crew, the training of the platoon commander, and was not too high. This was primarily due to the lack of radar in the guidance system. Effective fire to kill could only be carried out by stopping, firing "on the move" at air targets was not provided at all.
The comparative firing efficiency of the ZSU-57-2 was significantly lower than that of the battery of S-60 guns of similar design, since the latter had PUAZO-6 with SON-9, and later - the RPK-1 Vaza radar instrumentation system.
However, the strength of the use of the ZSU-57-2 was the constant readiness to open fire, the lack of dependence on the tug, the presence of armor protection for the crew.
ZSU-57-2s were used in the Vietnam War, in the conflicts between Israel and Syria and Egypt in 1967 and 1973, and in the Iran-Iraq war. Due to the relatively low rate of fire and the lack of automated radar guidance devices, this machine did not differ in high efficiency.
In April 2014, video footage of the use of the ZSU-57-2 by the Syrian army in the battles in the vicinity of Damascus appeared.
However, when evaluating the effectiveness of the ZSU-57-2, it is worth mentioning not only the minuses. Yes, the low rate of fire and the lack of automated radar guidance and tracking devices are undoubtedly a weak point. However, when accompanied by tanks, the ZSU-57 could take on not only the role of an air defense system.
It is also worth considering the fact that the ZSU was not the only means of air defense of a tank regiment, for example, but a means of collective air defense against aircraft flying at altitudes up to 4000 m, since altitudes up to 1000 m were blocked by DShK / DShKM anti-aircraft machine guns, which were in the tank regiment as many as armored vehicles. The efficiency is not very high, but, nevertheless, a certain rebuff to enemy aircraft could be provided.
On the other hand, in the conflicts where the ZSU-57 took part, in the armies that used the installation, they were well aware of the low effectiveness of the ZSU as an air defense system.
But the installation showed itself well in the role of self-propelled guns for escorting tanks, or, in modern terms, BMPT. And in this regard, the ZSU-57-2 was, perhaps, more effective than the air defense system. At least, there were very few armored targets on the battlefields that could withstand the hit of the BR-281U armor-piercing projectile, which from a distance of 1000 m, flying out of the barrels at a speed of 1000 m / s, confidently pierced up to 100 mm of armor.
ZSU-57-2 nevertheless left a certain mark in our military history as a test platform. Which was followed by both Shilka, Tunguska and Pantsir, as well as the BMPT and BMOP projects currently being implemented.
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The ZSU-57-2 chassis is the variant used on the T-54 tank, with thinner armor and fewer (one on each side) number of wheels, although the length of the tracks remains the same. The case - steel, completely welded. The place of the driver is located on the left in front of the hull, the places of the remaining members of the calculation are in the open tower. The engine and transmission are in the rear of the hull. Suspension torsion type with a drive wheel in the rear and guide - in the front, with four road rollers, supporting rollers are not installed. Since the ZSU 57-2 is lighter than the T-54 with the same chassis, it has a higher power/weight ratio (18.56 hp/ton) and lower ground pressure. In order to increase the cruising range to 595 km, additional fuel tanks can be installed.
The mount uses the same ammunition as the widely used 57mm S-60 towed gun. The vertical guidance angle is from -5 to +85°, the turret rotates 360°, the turret rotation speed is 30° per second, in case of a malfunction, manual control of the gun is possible.
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The following types of ammunition are used: fragmentation tracer and armor-piercing tracer Fragmentation tracers are mainly used in firing at air targets; armor-piercing, capable of penetrating 96-mm armor at a distance of up to 1000 m, are used to destroy armored vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. On air targets, the installation can conduct effective fire at a distance of up to 4000 m, with a maximum target height of 8800 m. The maximum horizontal range is 12000 m, but fire control is problematic at such a range. The installation was widespread in the USSR, later it was replaced by the ZSU 23-4. ZSU 57-2 was also used by the armed forces of Angola, Algeria, Bulgaria, Cuba, East Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Syria and Yugoslavia. In 1982, the Syrian army actively used it as a means of fire support during the war in Lebanon.
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Immediately after the end of World War II, the production of anti-aircraft guns 61-K and 72-K was discontinued. Both of these guns had an insufficient rate of fire and a number of design flaws; their bulky and heavy four-wheeled carts did not allow them to effectively accompany the infantry with fire and wheels. At the same time, during the war, about 68% of all aircraft were shot down precisely from 25 - 37-mm anti-aircraft guns.
In 1944, the design of a new 57-mm S-60 automatic anti-aircraft gun began at the Central Design Bureau under the leadership of V.G. Grabin. It was accepted into service in January 1950 and put into serial production the same year.
The S-60 became the first domestic field anti-aircraft gun, the guidance of which was carried out remotely, with the help of servo drives powered by PUAZO-6 or PUAZO-b-bo. In turn, PUAZO received data from the SON-9 gun-guided radar station.
Mounted on a four-wheeled wagon, this gun could more or less satisfactorily cover the military rear and infantry in defense. However, for the air defense of tank and motorized troops on the offensive
on the march and on the march, the gun on the towed wagon was no good. Therefore, in 1947, at NII-58, under the leadership of V.G. Grabin, they began designing a twin 57-mm S-68 automatic anti-aircraft gun based on the S-60, intended both for installation on a tracked chassis and on a wheeled vehicle. Its prototype with an electric drive ESP-76 was installed on the S-79A wagon and was tested, but did not go into series. The caterpillar chassis was created on the basis of the units of the medium tank T-54. In the self-propelled version, the machine received the factory name - product 500, and the army - ZSU-57-2.
Comprehensive tests of the ZSU-57-2 were carried out in 1950. According to the museum of armored forces in Kubinka, its serial production was carried out at the plant N2 174 in Omsk from 1955 to 1960. But according to other sources, the production of S-68 guns for this machine began at factory No. 946 only in 1957 (249 of them were made that year).
The ZSU-57-2 was a lightly armored tracked vehicle with a rotating turret providing all-round anti-aircraft fire from automatic cannons. The main parts of the vehicle are the armored hull, turret, weapons, power plant, power transmission, undercarriage, electrical equipment, communications and fire fighting equipment.
The armored corps was divided into three sections: control, combat and power. The first was located on the left in the bow of the hull, it contained the driver's seat; the second - in the middle part of the hull and in the tower; the third - in the stern of the car and was separated from the combat partition. The body was welded from armor plates with a thickness of 8 - 13 mm.
The welded turret, open from above, was located on a ball bearing above the cutout of the turret roof sheet. To install the gun in front of it there was a loophole. The rear wall of the turret with a window for the exit of shells was made removable, which made it easier to mount the gun. In the stowed position, the upper cutout of the tower was covered with a folding canvas awning with 13 viewing windows made of plexiglass. To open the awning, it was enough to unfasten the straps and throw it back. To collect spent cartridges and clips fed by the gun conveyor through a window in the rear wall, a case collector was installed outside the rear of the turret.
There were 5 seats in the tower: in front - the left machine gun; behind him (in the middle) - the gunner; behind, to the right of the gunner's seat - the installer of the sight; to the right of the gun in front - the right-hand loading machine; behind, symmetrically with the gunner's seat - the commander of the vehicle. When firing, the loaders' seats were removed, laid on a suspended floor and fastened with clips.
Department of Management:
1 - driver's seat, 2 - shock absorber bracket, 3 - control lever of the left PMP, 4 - speedometer, 5 - driver's hatch closing mechanism handle, 6 - emergency exit hatch handle, 7 - escape hatch flap, 8 - handle observation device, 9 - protective glass of the observation device, 10 - PPO signal panel, 11 - instrumentation panel, 12 - backstage lever, 13 - fuel priming pump handle, 14 - fuel distribution valve handle, 15 - drinking tank, 16 - control lever right PMP, 17 - PPO signal, 18 - fuel supply control pedal, 19 - foot brake pedal, 20 - main clutch pedal, 21 - spare parts box.
ZSU-57-2 of the first releases. The barrels of the S-68 gun are raised to the maximum elevation angle.
The twin S-68 automatic gun consisted of two S-60 type automata, which had the same device, while the details of the right automaton were a mirror image of the details of the left one. The principle of operation of automation is the use of recoil energy with a short rollback of the barrel.
The barrel of the machine gun consisted of a pipe, a copier and a muzzle brake. The pipe was a monoblock, made in one piece with the breech. On the outer surface of the breech of the pipe there was a longitudinal ridge for attaching the copier. From the sides on the breech there were cutouts in the shape of a projectile. Barrel length with muzzle brake - 4365 mm (76.6 klb); length of the threaded part - 3560 mm; the steepness of the rifling is constant - 35 calibers, the total rifling - 24. The assembled barrel with the knurler was inserted into the neck of the cradle and, using two sectoral protrusions on its breech, was connected to the receiver clip.
The piston longitudinally sliding gate was located in the cradle. The opening of the shutter during firing was carried out during the rollback by the accelerating mechanism. The shutter was sent to the forward position and closed by means of the springs of the ramming mechanism located on the hydraulic buffer and in the shutter body. The knurler is spring. Rollback brake - hydraulic spindle type. The recoil brake cylinder remained stationary during firing. Rollback length 325 - 370 mm.
The swinging part of the gun consisted of two parallel machine guns connected to each other into a single block by cradles. It was balanced by weights attached to the cradles, and fastened in the machine with the help of two trunnions, which are a large ball bearing. The vertical and horizontal guidance of the S-68 gun was carried out by an electro-hydraulic drive, powered by a DC electric motor through hydraulic universal speed controllers (URS).
The machine gun was installed on the bottom of the tower. It consisted of a body with a bracket, a mechanism for attaching a gun in a stowed position and a conveyor. The lifting mechanism was located on the left side of the machine and had two drives: electro-hydraulic (with smooth adjustment of the guidance speed) and manual.
Installing the S-68 gun (top view): 1 - muzzle brake (right and left), 2 - barrel (right and left), 3 - cradle (right and left), 4 - manual cocking handle of the right magazine carriage, 5 - right magazine, 6 - tray of the right magazine, 7 - cocking handle of the right shutter, 8 - seat of the right automatic loader, 9 - gear reducer with a column of the rotation mechanism, 10 - span of the manual drive of the rotation mechanism, 11 - URS of the rotation mechanism, 12 - right collimator , 13 - swinging part of the sight, 14 - commander's seat, 15 - control platform of the sight, 16 - range flywheel, 17 - conveyor manual drive flywheel, 18 - conveyor gearbox, 19 - sight installer's seat, 20 - mock-up aircraft (target heading indicator) , 21 - sight table, 22 - gunner's seat, 23 - left collimator, 24 - electric trigger button, 25 - gear reducer of the lifting mechanism, 26 - URS of the lifting mechanism, 27 - hand drive stroke of the lifting mechanism, 28 - descent pedal of the left automatic machine, 29 - ped al descent of the right automaton, 30 - seat of the charging left automaton, 31 - cocking handle of the left shutter, 32 - lever of the mutual closure mechanism (left), 33 - lever of the mutual closure mechanism (right), 34 - tray of the left magazine, 35 - left magazine, 36 - handle for manual cocking of the carriage of the left magazine, 37 - rear sight.
Installing the S-68 gun (rear view):
1 - fencing of the floor of the tower,
2 - course stabilizer pedal, 3 - course stabilizer switch-off box, 4 - left tray, 5 - URS control column, 6 - range of the manual drive of the lifting mechanism, 7 - left collimator, 8 - sight table, 9 - rear window cover of the machine, 10 - right collimator, 11 - span of the manual drive of the turning mechanism, 12 - signaling box, 13 - radio station, 14 - hand wheel of the conveyor manual drive, 15 - right tray, 16 - stopper flywheel, 17 - casing, 18 - start-switching device, 19 - laying ammunition under the floor, 20 - the floor of the tower.
Placement of cannon shots in the turret of the machine: 1 - pallet for attaching clips, 2 - upper clip attachment bar, 3 - rack for stacking five clips, 4 - stacking two clips on the right inclined sheet of the tower, 5 - laying the clip on the left inclined sheet of the tower.
Shots of 57-mm automatic guns S-60 and S-68
Tower ZSU-57-2. On the right inclined sheet - a glass of the antenna input and the antenna of the radio station 10RT-26E, on the left and right on the tower - arcs for attaching the awning, on the aft sheet - a sleeve collector.
The mass of the twin gun S-68 was 4500 kg.
Gun sight - automatic, anti-aircraft, construction type; was intended to solve the problem of determining the meeting point of the projectile with the target when firing. To do this, the following initial (input) data were previously determined and installed on the sight: target speed, heading angle and slant range. The speed of the target was determined by the type of aircraft, the heading angle - by the apparent direction of movement of the target, the range to the target - by eye or using a range finder.
When using an electro-hydraulic drive, two crew members worked with a sight: the gunner aimed the gun in azimuth and elevation of the target; the sight installer set the initial data of the sight - speed, heading angle and range, and if necessary - the dive or pitch angle. When using the manual guidance drive, three crew members worked with the sight: the vehicle commander aimed the gun in azimuth, the gunner - in the elevation of the target, the sight installer set the initial sight data.
The ammunition load of the ZSU-57-2 consisted of 300 unitary cannon shots located in special ammunition racks in the turret and hull. The main part of the ammunition (248 shots) before loading into the machine
Hull (bow):
1 - right side sheet, 2 - roof over the fan, 3 - entrance blinds, 4 - fender, 5 - bracket for fastening the fender, 6 - niche sheet, 7 - front folding mudguard, 8 - front tank filler cap, 9 - upper sloping sheet, 10 - covers of the driver's observation devices, 11 - emergency exit hatch cover, 12 - bracket for mounting the headlight, 13 - rack for attaching the board, 14 - tow hook, 15 - bank for attaching spare tracks, 16 - lower inclined sheet, 17 - idler crank bracket, 18 - bracket from the balancer of the road wheel, 19 - balancer stop, 20 - hydraulic shock absorber bracket, 21 - kicker, 22 - final drive housing, 23 - folding part of the rear mudguard.
well, it was equipped with clips and was placed in the tower (176 shots) and the bow of the hull (72 shots). Part of the ammunition load (52 shots) was not loaded into clips and fit into special compartments under the rotating floor. Shots with armor-piercing shells loaded into clips were placed in the aft part of the tower to the right and left of the cannon machine. The supply of clips was carried out manually by the loader.
The charge for all shells is the same - 1.2 kg of pyroxylin powder grade 11/7, cartridge weight 6.6 kg, sleeve length 348 mm. The initial velocity of the projectile is 1000 m/s. The ballistic firing range was 12 km, but the fragmentation projectiles were equipped with a self-liquidator with a response time of 12 - 16 s, which provided a slant range of 6.5 - 7 km.
Table of armor penetration by shells BR-281 and BR-281U
(initial speed 1000 m/s)
The V-54 engine was a 12-cylinder, V-shaped, four-stroke, high-speed, compressorless liquid-cooled diesel engine. It was installed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the machine on a pedestal welded to the bottom of the hull. Engine capacity - 38.88 liters, weight - 895 kg.
Three fuel tanks with a total capacity of 640 liters were placed in the ZSU case. External tanks were installed on the right side of the car, on the fender. The capacity of each is 95 liters.
A mechanical power transmission with a step change in gear ratios was located in the aft part of the hull. It consisted of a guitar, a main dry friction clutch, a five-speed gearbox, two planetary turning mechanisms, two final drives, a fan drive and a compressor drive.
The caterpillar mover consisted of two caterpillars 580 mm wide, two driving wheels, two guide wheels with track tensioning mechanisms and eight road wheels. Cast drive wheels with removable gear rims were located at the rear. The undercarriage had four hydraulic shock absorbers connected to the balancers of the front and rear road wheels.
The main source of energy was a G-74 DC generator with a power of 3 kW (108 A at 27 - 29 V) at a rotation speed of over 2100 rpm (that is, at an engine crankshaft speed of 1200 rpm and higher). To start the engine and to power the on-board network when the generator was not running, six batteries of the 6-STEN-140M or 6-MST-140 type were installed on the machine. The voltage of six batteries was 24 V, their total capacity was 420 Ah.
I - handrail, 2 - right shield, 3 - hook, 4 - bracket,
5 - stop, 6 - rubber lining, 7 - antenna input glass, 8 - arc,
9 - radio station bracket,
10 - the bottom of the tower,
11 - ring, 12 - window, 13 - machine base,
14 - shell,
15 - plate.
Disarmed and "shoeed" ZSU-57-2 as targets at one of the training grounds.
The external communication of the ZSU-57-2 was provided by the 10RT-26E portable radio station, and the internal communication by the TPU-47 tank intercom. The radio station provided reliable telephone communication when driving at a distance of 7 to 15 km, and when stopped - from 9 to 20 km.
Relatively few ZSU-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were manufactured. They entered service with a number of tank regiments, where it was supposed to have one ZSU battery of 4 installations. Where the ZSU-57-2 was lacking, 14.5-mm ZTPU-2 twin anti-aircraft machine gun mounts on the BTR-40 and BTR-152 chassis were used.
The ZSU-57-2 received its baptism of fire in the Vietnam War, and they fought on the territory of both North and South Vietnam. Since the 60s, a number of ZSU-57-2s have been sold or transferred to the GDR, Poland, Finland and Iran *. Iranian ZSU-57-2 participated in the war with Iraq. In China, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was created and put into mass production, which was an artillery unit ZSU-57-2, mounted on the chassis of the Chinese tank "59".
The ZSU-57-2 had a number of shortcomings - a low rate of fire, manual clip loading, and the impossibility of firing on the move. The fire efficiency of the ZSU-57-2 battery was even lower than the batteries of the towed 57-mm S-60 guns, controlled from PUAZO-6 with SON-9, and then from the RPK-1 Vaza radar instrumentation system. After all, when firing at jet aircraft at low and ultra-low altitudes and determining the target speed “according to the type of aircraft”, and the range to the target - “by eye or using a range finder”, the probability of hitting is extremely low (one would like to say - “into white light, like in a penny"). During the 1967 war on the Sinai Peninsula, a very characteristic photo was taken: a MiG-17 aircraft was flying over Israeli positions at ultra-low altitude, and the soldiers did not have time to react to it - no one even turned their heads towards the aircraft. It is clear that the ZSU needed at least an order of magnitude faster guns, the angular guidance speed was not 20-30 deg / s, but 50-100 deg / s, and a fully automated radar fire control system.
*According to the Military Balance reference book, ZSU-57-2s also arrived in Angola, Syria, Egypt, Cuba, Hungary and North Korea. - Approx. ed.
Of course, this assessment of the ZSU-57-2 is given retroactively, from the standpoint of the 90s. In fairness, we note that the ZSU of our potential opponents did not surpass the ZSU-57-2 in their firepower. In the 1950s, the US Army was armed with the M19 ZSU on the chassis of the M24 Chaffee light tank, developed in 1945, and the M42 on the chassis of the M41 light tank, which entered the troops from 1954. And the British Army was armed with ZSU based on the Crusader tank, created in 1943. All these vehicles were armed with 40-mm Bofors cannons (American ZSU-paired, and English-single). Their projectile weight was 0.934 kg, muzzle velocity 875 m/s, rate of fire 120 rds/min per barrel. All sights are hand-held optical sights. However, in 1956, the M42 ZSU underwent modernization and, having received the M42A1 index, was equipped with the T50 radar target detection and tracking system. Thus, even before launching into serial production, the ZSU-57-2 began to significantly lose to its main enemy in the fire control system.
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After the end of the Great Patriotic War, critically evaluating the experience of the combat use of military air defense systems, Soviet military experts could not but recognize the low effectiveness of anti-aircraft units of tank and mechanized units and formations. The trouble with our military air defense of mobile units and formations was both in the weak organizational structure of anti-aircraft units (the tank brigade had only an anti-aircraft machine-gun company armed with nine anti-aircraft machine gun mounts 12.7 mm DShK), and in the discrepancy between the weapons of anti-aircraft artillery battalions (rear) tank and mechanized corps, equipped with towed 37 mm anti-aircraft guns 61-K or 25 mm 72-K, the maneuverable nature of the combat operations of these formations. Indeed, anti-aircraft artillery units armed with the mentioned guns often simply did not have time to turn around from the march to firing positions to repel enemy air attacks on tank and motorized rifle units. In connection with the completion of serial production of 25 mm and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns 72-K and 61-K, based on an analysis of the experience of combat operations of military air defense in the past war, the Council of Ministers of the USSR on April 9, 1947 issued resolution No. 935-288ss on the creation of a new 57 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft installation (ZSU), designed to cover the actions of motorized rifle and tank units. The design and creation of prototypes of the artillery unit of the ZSU was entrusted to the Central Research Institute of Artillery Armament (TsNIIAV, later - TsNII-58, Korolev, Moscow Region) under the guidance of the famous designer of artillery armament V.G. Grabin. The design of the chassis and the installation as a whole was entrusted to the department of the chief designer of plant No. 174 (Omsk, now the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Omsk Transport Engineering Plant"). By November of the same year, a preliminary design of the ZSU was completed, however, due to the unavailability of the project of the artillery unit, further work on the creation of an installation in the OGK of plant No. 174 was suspended. At TsNIIAV, meanwhile, development work continued to create an artillery unit for the new ZSU. It was decided to design a 57 mm twin anti-aircraft artillery mount based on the components and mechanisms of the 57 mm S-60 anti-aircraft gun, created at TSNNIAV in 1944. In 1948, a prototype S-68 was assembled (as the twin gun was called), which was presented for testing together with the ESP-76 electric drive. The tests were generally satisfactory. Further work on the creation of ZSU continued on the basis of the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 2252-935ss dated June 22, 1948. In accordance with it, the responsibility for the creation and preparation for production of ZSU was assigned to the WGC of plant No. 174. The overall management of the project was carried out by the lead designer of the WGC E.Sh . Paley. The chassis of the installation, which was assigned the factory index "object 500", was decided to be designed on the basis of the components and mechanisms of the new T-54 medium tank, which was fully justified from the point of view of unifying the production of armored vehicles. As an artillery unit, it was recommended to use a 57 mm twin automatic anti-aircraft gun S-68 developed at TsNIIAV. At the beginning of 1949, the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Armored and Mechanized Troops of the USSR Ministry of the Armed Forces (NTK BT and MV USSR Armed Forces) was presented with a joint project of the OGK of plant No. 174 and TsNIIAV and a set of technical documentation for the new ZSU. After its consideration and approval by the leadership of the STC BT and MV, the OGK began working out the working drawings and assembling the prototype, which began already in May 1949. However, in view of the fact that the designers of the OGK, when pairing the projects of the S-68 gun and the chassis of the installation, encountered unexpected difficulties, the first prototype was ready only by June 1950. From the end of July to November of the same year, factory tests of the new installation were carried out, which were found to be unsatisfactory. Within a month, the necessary changes were made to the design and technical documentation based on the results of the tests, and by the end of December 1950, the second prototype of the machine was manufactured, which was submitted in February 1951 for state tests. The tests continued inclusive through March of the same year, and as a result, object 500 was recognized as not fully meeting the tactical and technical requirements of the NTK BT and MV. Work to eliminate shortcomings in the WGC of plant No. 174 was carried out in the period April - May 1951, and in early June 1951, the plant began manufacturing a series of experimental ZSU in the amount of six units, which were submitted for military testing. According to the results of military tests, the ZSU design was generally recognized as satisfactory, but with a large number of indications of shortcomings, the elimination of which was delayed until the beginning of 1953. once again revealed a number of shortcomings. Finally, in December 1954, the newly modified model of the installation, after firing and mileage tests, was recommended for mass production and adoption. By Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 22-131ss of February 14, 1955, the ZSU with the factory index object 500 was put into service under the name 57 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun ZSU-57-2. Serial production of the ZSU-57-2 was organized at plant No. 174 in September 1956 and continued until the beginning of 1960. The production of the S-68 artillery unit was located at the production facilities of plant No. 1001 (Krasnoyarsk, now OJSC Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant ") . A total of 867 ZSU-57-2s were manufactured. The installations were equipped with anti-aircraft artillery batteries of tank regiments. The machine was exported to the armies of the Warsaw Pact member states, as well as to Angola, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Finland.
ZSU-57-2 belongs to the class of lightly armored tracked combat vehicles, which includes an armored hull, a rotating open turret with an artillery unit installed in it, a power plant, chassis, transmission, electrical equipment and communications equipment. The hull houses the control compartment, partly the fighting compartment and the power compartment. The hull was assembled by welding from armor plates 8-13 mm thick. The department of management housed the workplace of the driver. A rotating welded turret was located in the central part of the hull on a ball bearing. The rear armor plate was removable. In the stowed position, the tower could be covered with a canvas awning. A 57 mm S-68 twin automatic cannon was mounted in the turret and the crew members' workplaces were located: in front on the left - the loader of the left gun, behind him in the center of the turret - the gunner, to the right of the gunner there was a sight installer, in front to the right - the loader of the right gun, in the back in the center towers - the workplace of the ZSU commander. In addition, a radio station was mounted in the tower. A sleeve collector was attached to the rear sheet of the tower. The swinging part of the S-68 consisted of two 57 mm machine guns similar in design to the swinging part of the S-60 automatic anti-aircraft gun, recoil devices (POA) and a cradle. The nodes and mechanisms of the right machine gun were a mirror image of the left. The operation of the automation was based on the principle of using the recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. The monoblock barrel consisted of a tube, a copier and a muzzle brake. From the sides of the breech were made figured cutouts in the form of a projectile profile. Piston longitudinally sliding gates were located in the cradle. The opening of the shutter during firing was carried out during the rollback by the accelerating mechanism. The shutter was sent to the forward position and closed using the springs of the ramming mechanism located on the hydraulic buffer and in the shutter body. The knurler is spring. Rollback brake - hydraulic, spindle type. The recoil brake cylinder remained stationary during firing. Sights - automatic anti-aircraft, construction type. 57 mm unitary shots UOR-281U, OR-281, BR-281, BR-281U, BR-281SP were used as ammunition. It should be noted that the effectiveness of firing at air targets of the ZSU-57-2 battery, according to the results, was an order of magnitude lower than the performance of batteries of 57 mm towed S-60 anti-aircraft guns, due to the impossibility of using a standard artillery anti-aircraft fire control device (PUAZO).
Tactical and technical characteristics
| №№ | Characteristic name | unit of measurement | Characteristic value |
| 1 | Crew | people | 6 |
| 2 | Armament | 57 mm automatic twin anti-aircraft gun S-68 | |
| 3 | barrel length | klb. | 76,6 |
| 4 | Artillery weight | kg | 4500 |
| 5 | Ammunition | PCS. | 300 |
| 6 | Engine power V-54 | hp | 520 |
| 7 | Engine weight | kg | 895 |
| 8 | Max Speed | km/h | up to 50 |
| 9 | Combat weight | T | 28,1 |
| 10 | Fuel range | km | 420 |
| 11 | Booking | mm | 8-13 |
| 12 | body length | mm | 6220 |
| 13 | Width | mm | 3270 |
| 14 | Height | mm | 2750 |
| 15 | Ground clearance | mm | 425 |
| 16 | rate of fire | shots/min | 105-120 |
| 17 | The initial speed of the projectile | m/s | 1000 |
| 18 | Firing range when hitting ground targets | m | 12 000 |
| 19 | Firing range in height | m | 8 000 |
| 20 | Fragmentation projectile weight | kg | 2,8 |
| 21 | Elevation angle minimum | deg. | - 5 |
| 22 | Elevation angle maximum | deg. | +85 |
| 23 | Angle of horizontal aiming | deg. | 360 |
| 24 | Maximum armor penetration | mm | 110 |
| 25 | Communication means: radio station
intercom |
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10RT-26E
TPU-47 |