Already before the First World War, the task of combating enemy aircraft became one of the most important military-tactical issues. Along with fighter planes, ground means were also used for this purpose. Conventional guns and machine guns were not well suited for shooting at airplanes, they had an insufficient angle of elevation of the barrel. It was possible, of course, to fire from conventional rifles, but the probability of hitting was sharply reduced due to the low rate of fire. In 1906, German engineers proposed to mount a firing point on an armored car, giving it mobility, combined with firepower and the ability to fire at high-lying targets. BA "Erhard" - the world's first anti-aircraft self-propelled gun. Over the past decades, this type of weapon has developed rapidly.
Requirements for ZSU
The classical scheme of organizing the air defense system in the understanding of military theorists of the interwar period was a single ring structure surrounding the most important government,industrial-economic or administrative areas. Each element of such air defense (a separate anti-aircraft installation) was subordinate to the command of the fortified area and was responsible for its own sector of airspace. The air defense system of Moscow, Leningrad and other large Soviet cities acted approximately in this way in the initial period of the war, when Nazi air raids occurred almost daily. However, despite its effectiveness, such a course of action was completely inapplicable in the conditions of dynamic defense and offensive. It is difficult, although theoretically possible, to cover each military unit with an anti-aircraft battery, but moving a large number of guns is not an easy task. In addition, stationary anti-aircraft artillery installations with their unprotected crews are themselves a target for enemy attack aircraft, which, having determined their location, are constantly striving to bomb them and secure operational space for themselves. In order to carry out effective cover for forces in the front line, air defense systems had to have mobility, high firepower and a certain degree of protection. A self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is a machine that has these three qualities.
During the war
During the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army practically did not have anti-aircraft self-propelled guns. Only in 1945 did the first weapons of this class (ZSU-37) appear, but these guns did not play a big role in the final battles, the forces of the Luftwaffe were actuallydefeated, and besides, fascist Germany experienced a serious lack of fuel. Prior to this, the Soviet army used towed 2K, 25-mm and 37-mm 72-K (Loginov guns). The 85-mm 52-K gun was used to destroy high- altitude targets. This anti-aircraft gun (like others), if necessary, also hit armored vehicles: the high initial velocity of the projectile made it possible to break through any defense. But the vulnerability of the calculation required a new approach.
The Germans had samples of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, created on the basis of tank chassis ("East wind" - Ostwind, and "Whirlwind" - Wirbelwind). The Wehrmacht was also armed with the Swedish Nimrod anti-aircraft gun, mounted on a light tank chassis. Initially, it was conceived as an armor-piercing weapon, but it turned out to be ineffective against the Soviet "thirty-fours", but it was successfully used by German air defense.
ZPU-4
The wonderful Soviet film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet…”, which reflected the heroism of anti-aircraft gunners who fell into an unforeseen situation (of which there were many during the war), for all its undoubted artistic merits, contains one inaccuracy, however, forgivable and not very important. The ZPU-4 anti-aircraft machine gun mount, with which the brave heroines shoot down a German plane at the beginning of the picture, in 1945 only began to be developed at plant No. 2 under the guidance of designer I. S. Leshchinsky. The system weighed just over two tons, so it was easy to tow. She had a four-wheeled chassis, it cannot be called fully self-propelled due to the lack of an engine, but high mobilityhelped to successfully apply it in Korea (1950-1953) and in Vietnam. Both military conflicts demonstrated the high efficiency of the model in the fight against helicopters, which were massively used by US troops for landings and assault operations. It was possible to move the ZPU-4 with the help of an army jeep, "gas", harnessing horses and mules, and even just pushing. According to unverified data, this type of equipment is used by the opposing forces in modern conflicts (Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan).
Post-war ZSU-57-2
The first decade after the Victory passed in conditions of undisguised mutual hostility between the Western countries, united in the NATO military alliance, and the Soviet Union. The tank power of the USSR had no equal both in quantity and quality. In the event of a conflict, columns of armored vehicles could (theoretically) reach at least Portugal, but they were threatened by enemy aircraft. The anti-aircraft installation, which was put into service in 1955, was supposed to protect against air attack on the moving Soviet troops. The caliber of the two guns placed in the ZSU-57-2 circular turret was considerable - 57 mm. The rotation drive is electro-hydraulic, but for reliability it was duplicated by a manual mechanical system. The sight is automatic, according to the target data entered. With a rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute, the installation had an effective range of 12 km (8.8 km vertically). Chassis fully consistent with the main purpose of the machine, it was borrowed from the T-54 tank, sothus, she could not lag behind the column.
Shilka
After a long search for suitable and optimal solutions, which took two decades, Soviet designers have created a real masterpiece. In 1964, mass production of the latest ZSU-23-4 began, which met all the requirements of modern combat with the participation of enemy attack aircraft. By that time, it had already become clear that the greatest danger to ground forces was posed by low-flying aircraft and helicopters that did not fall within the range of altitudes at which conventional air defense systems are most effective. The Shilka anti-aircraft gun had an amazing rate of fire (56 rounds per second), had its own radar and three guidance modes (manual, semi-automatic and automatic). With a caliber of 23 mm, it easily hit high-speed aircraft (up to 450 m / s) at a distance of 2-2.5 km. During the armed conflicts of the sixties and seventies (Middle Eastern, South Asian, African), this ZSU showed itself from the best side, mainly due to fire qualities, but also due to high mobility, as well as the protection of the crew from the damaging effects of fragments and small-caliber ammunition. The self-propelled anti-aircraft gun "Shilka" has become a significant milestone in the development of domestic mobile complexes of the operational regimental level.
Wasp
With all the advantages of the Shilka regimental complex, a possible theater of full-scale military operations could not be provided with a sufficient level of coverwhen using only artillery systems of relatively small caliber and short range. To create a powerful "dome" over the division, a completely different one was required - an anti-aircraft missile launcher. "Grad", "Smerch", "Hurricane" and other MLRS with high fire efficiency, combined into batteries, are a tempting target for enemy aircraft. A mobile system that moves across rough terrain, has the ability to quickly deploy combat, is sufficiently protected, all-weather - that's what the troops needed. The Osa anti-aircraft gun, which began to enter military units in 1971, answered these requests. The radius of the hemisphere within which equipment and personnel can feel relatively safe from enemy air raids is 10 km.
The development of this sample was carried out for a long time, more than a decade (Ellipsoid project). The rocket was first entrusted to the Tushino Machine-Building Plant, but for various reasons the task was entrusted to the secret OKB-2 (Chief Designer P. D. Grushin). Four ZUR 9M33 became the main weapon of the memory. The installation can capture a target on the march, it is equipped with a highly effective anti-jamming guidance station. It is in service with the Russian Army today.
Buk
In the early seventies, the creation of reliable air defense systems of the operational level in the USSR was of great importance. In 1972, two enterprises of the defense complex (NIIP and NPO Fazotron) were tasked with creating a system capable of shooting downballistic missile "Lance", with a speed of 830 m / s and any other object capable of maneuvering with overloads. The Buk anti-aircraft gun, designed according to this technical assignment, is part of a complex that includes, in addition to it, a detection and target designation station (SOC) and a loading vehicle. The division, which has a single control system, includes up to five launchers. This anti-aircraft installation operates at ranges up to 30 km. On the basis of the 9M38 solid-propellant missile, which has become unified, sea-based air defense systems have been created. Currently, the complex is in service with some countries of the former USSR (including Russia) and states that previously purchased them.
Tunguska
The development of rocket technology does not diminish the role of artillery, especially in such a critical area of defense technology as air defense systems. An ordinary projectile, with a good guidance system, may well cause damage no less than a reactive one. An example is a historical fact: during the Vietnam War, specialists from the American company McDonell were forced to hastily develop a cannon container for the F-4 Phantom aircraft, which they initially equipped only with URs, without taking care of onboard artillery. Soviet designers of ground-based air defense systems approached the issue of combined weapons more prudently. The Tunguska anti-aircraft gun, created by them in 1982, has hybrid firepower. The main weapons are 9M311 missiles in the amount of eight units. This is the most powerfulCurrently ZSU, its hardware complex provides reliable capture and destruction of targets in a wide range of frequencies and speeds. Especially dangerous low-flying high-speed aircraft are intercepted by an artillery complex, which includes a twin anti-aircraft gun (30 mm) with its own guidance system. The range of destruction by guns is up to 8 km. The appearance of the combat vehicle is no less impressive than its tactical and technical data: the undercarriage, unified with the Wasp GM-352, is topped with a turret with menacingly bristling missiles and barrels.
Abroad
After World War II, the development of highly effective air defense systems began in the United States. SZU "Duster", created on the basis of the chassis of the "Bulldog" - a tank with a carburetor engine, was produced in large quantities (in total, more than 3,700 pieces were produced by Cadillac). The machine was not equipped with a radar, its tower did not have top protection, however, it was widely used during the Vietnam War to defend against air raids by the DRV.
The French mobile air defense system AMX-13 DCA received a more advanced guidance system. It was equipped with an airborne radar, which operates only after combat deployment. The date of completion of the design work is 1969, but AMX was produced until the 80s, both for the needs of the French army and for export (mainly to Arab countries that adhered to a pro-Western political orientation). This anti-aircraft installation proved to be generally good, but in almost all respects it was inferior to the Soviet Shilka.
Another American model of this class of weapons is the Volcano M-163 SZU, built on the basis of the widely used M-113 armored personnel carrier. The car began to enter the military units in the early 1960s, so Vietnam was the first (but not the last) test for it. The firepower of the M-163 is very high: six machine guns "Gatling" with rotating barrels gave out a rate of fire of almost 1200 rounds per minute. The protection is also impressive - it reaches 38 mm of armor. All this provided the sample with export potential, it was supplied to Tunisia, South Korea, Ecuador, North Yemen, Israel and some other countries.
How is the SZU different from the air defense system
In addition to artillery and hybrid air defense systems, air defense missile systems are currently the most common, an example of which is the aforementioned Buk. As the name of the class of weapons itself implies, these systems, as a rule, do not work as autonomous support vehicles for ground forces, but as part of divisions that include combat units for various purposes (charging, command and staff, mobile radars and guidance stations). In the classical sense, any ZU (anti-aircraft gun) should provide protection against enemy aircraft of a certain operational area on its own, without the need to concentrate additional auxiliary means, therefore, the Patriot, Strela complexes, the S-200 - S-500 series in this article were not considered. These air defense systems, which form the basis of the air security of many countries, including Russia, deserve a separate review. They usually combinethe ability to intercept targets in wide speed and altitude ranges, are highly effective, but - due to the high cost - are inaccessible to many countries that are forced to rely on conventional mobile installations, inexpensive and reliable, for their defense.
