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25 mm automatic air defense gun M1940 (72-K)

Field	Value
image	72-K.jpg
caption	72-K at the Saint Petersburg Artillery Museum.
type	Anti-aircraft autocannon
is_ranged	x
is_artillery	x
service	1941-1970s
designer	Kalinin plant #8
design_date	1939-1940
manufacturer	Plant #88
production_date	1941-1945
number	4,600
mass	1210 kg
length	5.3 m
width	1.7 m
height	1.8 m
crew	6
cartridge	25×218mmSR
caliber	25 mm
rate	240 rpm
velocity	910 m/s
max_range	2.4 km
feed	7-round clips

The 25 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun model 1940, plant code 72-K, was a Soviet autocannon that entered service with the Red Army in 1941. The weapon's mobility and rate of fire were unsatisfactory and production stopped at the end of the Second World War.

Description

The 72-K is either based on the Bofors 25 mm M/32 or the 37 mm gun M1939 (61-K).

The gun weighs approximately 445 kg, is about 2 m long. It uses a long-recoil mechanism which adds weight and limits the rate of fire. The gun can fire 240 rounds per minute.

The gun fires 25×218mmSR ammunition. The 25×218mmSR M1940 cartridges were made in high-explosive incendiary and armour-piercing types; the shape was slightly different than the Bofors m/32 cartridge. M1940 ammunition was fed in 7-round charger clips.

Development

The 72-K was intended to be a lighter and more mobile alternative to the 61-K; the was mounted on a bulky four-wheeled carriage. The prototype, designated ZIK-25, was designed by L.A. Yavlyalas at Kalinin Plant #8, and then given the plant designation 72-K. The gun was mounted on a four-wheel carriage and tested at an anti-aircraft range in April and May 1940. According to the test results, the 72-K had "no essential advantages" over the 61-K, mobility was less than expected because of the large carriage, and the ammunition needed to be redesigned for accuracy. The gun was adopted in 1940.

The first guns were produced in 1941 at Plant #172 in Perm; the intended carriages were not available so they were mounted on trucks which gave them the intended mobility. Production expanded to Plant #4 in Krasnoyarsk in 1942, and Plant #88 in 1943. By this time, the intended carriages were in use and augmented with gun shields.

Production likely ended in 1945 due to the lack of mobility and firepower compared to the 61-K.

Operational history

The 72-K was withdrawn from Soviet service after the Second World War. They were sold to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia where they remained in use until the mid-1970s.

Mountings and variants

; 72-K : Original gun and entered service as the 25 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun model 1940. Single-gun mounting on a four-wheel carriage weighing 1210 kg with a gun shield, crew of six, and can engage targets moving up to 200 m/sec at a maximuum slant range of 2.4 km. Around 4600 guns produced. Production ended in 1945. ; 84-K : Naval mounting for the 72-K. Developed by Kalinin Plant #8 starting in 1940, and passed testing and accepted in 1941. Wartime evacuations delayed entry into production until December 1943 at Plant #88. Improved 84-KM introduced in 1944; 330 produced. Production ended in 1945. ; 94-K : Twin 72-K mounting. Designed by Plant #88 the end of 1943, design corrected to 94-KM after tests in 1944, and entered service as 25 mm anti-aircraft gun model 1944. The four-wheel carriage weighs 2150 kg and has a crew of nine. Some were mounted on ZIS-11 trucks. Plant #88 produced 237 guns. Production ended in 1945. ; Z-1 : Twin naval 84-K mounting for submarines designed by Plant #88. Passed range tests in 1944 and cancelled at the end of the Second World War. ; Z-5 : Proposed quadruple mounting by Plant #88.

References

Sources

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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