Anti-tank artillery wwii. List of artillery of the ussr of the second world war. The birth of the artillery special forces

In the first months after the October Revolution on the Don, in Siberia, in the Urals, North-West of Russia, centers of the White movement began to appear - centers of anti-Soviet struggle. At the same time, to counteract them, the Red Guard detachments were created, and on January 15, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, headed by V. I. Lenin, adopted a decree on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) - the Armed Forces of the Soviet state. The exhibition hall contains a photocopy of this decree.

By the summer of 1918, Russia was engulfed in flames of fratricidal Civil war... In the main territory of the country, hostilities ceased by the end of 1920, and in Far East, in Primorye, they continued until the fall of 1923. With the outbreak of the war, both whites and reds began to pay special attention to the creation of artillery units. The Red Army was in a more favorable position, since the main industrial regions of the country and a large number of artillery depots and arsenals of the internal military districts were under the control of the Bolsheviks. For this reason, the numerical superiority of its artillery over the artillery of the White armies was overwhelming.

Action Soviet artillery during the Civil War, the first section of the hall's exposition is dedicated. The photographs show one of the first artillery batteries of the Red Army, formed in Petrograd in the spring of 1918, and the red artillery commanders - the first issue of the Second Soviet Petrograd artillery courses, which took place in the fall of 1918.

I. G. Drozdov. The first Red Army soldiers in 1918 1924.

Here you can also see the personal belongings of active participants in the Civil War - a revolver of the Nagant system presented by the Tula gunsmiths to the commander of the 25th rifle division V.I. Chapaev, a Caucasian saber that belonged to the wife of the commissar of the 25th division V.I. Furmanova, another revolver of the Nagant system of the outstanding Soviet artilleryman N.N. Voronov (later the Chief Marshal of Artillery), as well as a dagger that belonged to the commander of one of the cavalry divisions of the Red Army G.I. Kotovsky.

On display in the hall is the first Soviet order - the Order of the Red Banner, established by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of the RSFSR dated September 16, 1918. Portraits of Soviet military leaders awarded during the Civil War with four Orders of the Red Banner - V.K. Blucher, S.S. Vostretsov, J.F. Fabritsius and I.F. Fedko.

There is a very interesting exhibit in the hall - a homemade 50-mm smooth-bore cannon used by the Ural red partisans in battles with the White Guards. A muzzle-loading cannon with a hammer-type percussion-primer mechanism, fired stone cannonballs or "shot" at a distance of up to 250 m.

In the Civil War in Russia, both on the side of the Whites and on the side of the Reds, troops and equipment of foreign countries - England, France, USA, Germany, Japan, Czechoslovakia, China, Latvia, and others took part. This is confirmed by the 18-pound display in the hall. (85 mm) British field gun mod. 1903, captured by the Red Army in battles against the Anglo-American interventionists near Shenkursk in January 1919.

During the war years, Soviet artillery has gone from individual guns and scattered Red Guard and partisan formations to an independent branch of the armed forces. The combat skill of the artillerymen grew stronger, new types of artillery arose. Thus, during the defense of the Kakhovsky bridgehead in the summer of 1920, a modern anti-tank defense system was born. In this operation, the artillery of one of the defense sectors was commanded by a former Kolchak officer, a talented artilleryman L.A. Govorov, later an active participant in the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union. A photocopy of the layout of the artillery during the defense of the Kakhovsky bridgehead and a photograph of Govorov's paintbrush are exhibited in the hall. There are also portraits of the first chief of artillery of the Red Army, Yu.M. Scheideman, as well as one of the largest Soviet commanders of the Civil War period, a prominent reformer of the armed forces in the post-war period, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR M.V. Frunze.

After the end of the war in 1924-1928. in the USSR, a large-scale military reform was carried out, during which the size of the Red Army was significantly reduced. At the same time, special attention was paid to the development of special types of troops, in particular artillery and armored forces. The exposition presents a photocopy of the law "On compulsory military service" of September 28, 1925, regulations and instructions of the Red Army of the 1920s, photographs showing the combat training of soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, including artillerymen.

The experience of the World War and the Civil War showed the need to improve the quality of artillery weapons. Due to the devastation that prevailed in industry after the war, a lack of raw materials and qualified personnel, the initial tasks of the Soviet artillery were to put in order and the subsequent modernization of the samples already in service. The hall contains original samples and photographs of artillery systems, ammunition and instruments that were in service with Russian artillery in the 1920s. Samples are also presented here. small arms Red Army of that period.

However, it was clear to the country's leadership and military command that modernization alone would not solve the problems of improving weapons. Even during the Civil War, on December 17, 1918, the Commission for Special Artillery Experiments (KOSARTOP) was created in Petrograd, which was organizationally part of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU). This commission, which existed until 1926, was entrusted with the tasks of performing scientific research and experimental work in the field of artillery. The members of the commission developed promising projects for new guns, mortars, and ammunition. Photographs of the chairman of the commission V.M. Trofimov and its permanent members N.F. Drozdov, F.F.Lander, V.I. Rdultovsky and M.F. Rosenberg are presented in the exhibition. Nearby there are prototypes of artillery guns created in the second half of the 1920s - the 37-mm cannon of M.F. Rosenberg, the 45-mm cannon of A.A. Sokolov, the 65-mm howitzer of R.A. Durlyakhov and dr.

In 1926, due to a significant increase in the volume of artillery research on the basis of KOSARTOP, a number of design bureaus and research institutes were created, working on the instructions of the GAU.

In 1927, the first regimental cannon was adopted, which is a modernized and improved 76-mm short cannon mod.

1913-1925, and in 1929 the first Russian battalion 45-mm was adopted. howitzer (cannon) mod. 1929 designed by F.F.Lander with sliding beds, increasing the flexibility of the fire. There are also modernized weapons of the First World War: 76-mm. rapid-fire cannon mod. 1902-1930, 122 mm howitzer mod. 1910-1930, 152-mm howitzer mod. 1910-1930 and 107-mm cannon mod. 1910-1930 As a result of the modernization, the firing range has significantly increased (for cannons - by almost 50%, for howitzers - by 30%), the mobility of guns has increased as a result of the transition from wooden wheels to metal ones with tires filled with spongy rubber, which also made it possible to successfully transfer guns from horse traction to mechanical.

In the 20s. in the USSR, active work was carried out to create new models of manual automatic weapons. A remarkable school of Soviet gunsmiths was formed, the outstanding representatives of which were V.G. Fedorov, V.A. Degtyarev, F.V. Tokarev, G.S. Shpagin, S.G. Simonov.
Personal items, awards, samples of weapons created by them are exhibited in special cabinets. Particularly interesting are the samples adopted by the Red Army at the end of the 1920s. machine guns designed by V.A. Degtyarev - aviation (paired DA-2 arr. 1928 and PV-1), infantry arr. 1927 (DP-27), tank arr. 1929 (DT-29). Two cabinets are occupied by a collection of the first samples of automatic weapons created in 1921-1927. V. G. Fedorov, V. A. Degtyarev, G. S. Shpagin. Here are the automatic rifles of F.V. Tokarev arr. 1932 and S.G. Simonov arr. 1931 and 1936, submachine guns designed by F.V. Tokarev, S.G. Simonov, S.A. Korovin.

During the years of the first five-year plan (1929-1932), in connection with the development of aviation, new models of anti-aircraft artillery guns, rangefinders, and anti-aircraft artillery fire control devices (PUAZO) were created, which develop installations for firing at air targets and transfer them to guns.

A 76-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1931 and ammunition for it. Next to the gun are PUAZO-1 and PUAZO-2, range finder, synchronous communication cable, commander's tablet mod. 1927, sound detector and anti-aircraft searchlight station.

A separate section of the exposition is devoted to the emergence and development of a completely new type of artillery weapons - dynamo-reactive cannons, proposed in 1923 by designer L. V. Kurchevsky. When fired from them, part of the powder gases rushed through the nozzle in the direction opposite to the movement of the projectile. There was a reactive force equal to the pressure force of the powder gases at the bottom of the projectile. This achieved the practical recoillessness of the gun barrel. In the early 30s. in service ground forces, aviation and navy consisted of dynamo-reactive guns of various types. Among the exhibits are the 37-mm anti-tank rifle of the Kurchevsky RK, the 76-mm BOD battalion cannon, the 76-mm dynamo-reactive cannon DRP-4 and the 76-mm aircraft gun of the Kurchevsky APK-4. For his merits in the creation of new types of artillery weapons, L.V. Kurchevsky was among the first Soviet citizens to be awarded the Order of the Red Star (No. 116). But, to the greatest regret for domestic science and the armed forces, in 1937 the designer was repressed and in 1939 he died in prison, and the army was left without effective weapons.

The period from 1933 to 1940 was marked by a new qualitative stage in the development of domestic artillery. The modernized guns of the old types no longer met modern requirements, so the main task facing the Soviet designers was to create a new material part of the artillery. On March 22, 1934, the Labor and Defense Council of the USSR Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution "On the system of artillery weapons of the Red Army for the second five-year plan." This system provided for the rearmament of the Red Army during the second five-year plan (1933-1937) with new models of modern artillery equipment. Particular attention was paid to the development of anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery, the improvement of old and the development of new types of ammunition, the standardization and unification of weapons.

From the middle of 1932, the 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1932 However, despite the high ballistic data, it had a number of disadvantages, in particular, it lacked suspension. Therefore, as a result of the modernization, a new gun was created, called the 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1937 A new semi-automatic shutter was created for it, a push-button trigger was introduced at the flywheel of the lifting mechanism, which increased the rate of fire and accuracy of fire, as well as suspension, which increased the mobility of the gun. In addition, the cannon had a sprung front end for 50 rounds, the wheels of which were of the same type as the wheels of the cannon. The new cannon, along with the front end for it and samples of ammunition, can be seen on display.

To replace the 76-mm mountain gun mod. 1909 by the design bureau of the plant. MV Frunze created a new 76-mm mountain gun mod. 1938 It was light and silent on the move, had good cross-country ability on mountain roads and was not inferior in its fighting qualities to foreign models. In the display case you can see a disassembled model of this weapon and drawings showing the way of transporting the weapon in packs.

By 1936, under the leadership of chief designer V.G. Grabin, the first Soviet divisional 76-mm gun mod. 1936 (F-22). None of its nodes were borrowed from other systems. The rate of fire of the gun was increased to 20 rounds per minute, and the firing range - up to 14 km, although the complexity of the device and the large mass reduced its combat capabilities. In this regard, the design bureau of V.G. Grabin in a short time developed and put into service the 76-mm cannon mod. 1939 (USV), which was lighter, more compact and eliminated the shortcomings of its predecessor, the F-22.

A separate part of the exposition is devoted to the development of domestic mortar weapons. Its development was mainly carried out by the design group under the leadership of B.I.Shavyrin. In the 2nd half of the 30s. a whole family of mortars was created. Samples of all of them are on display. So, for example, a 50-mm company mortar mod. 1938 was distinguished by its simplicity of design, high accuracy and good fragmentation effect, and the small mass of the mortar and the ability to carry it in one pack made it a very maneuverable weapon. In the course of the modernization, the mass of the mortar decreased by 2 kg, it became easier to manufacture, the dead space was reduced by 100 m. The new mortar was named “50-mm company mortar mod. 1940 ".

In 1937, an 82-mm mortar was created, which was distinguished by high ballistic data, had a base plate of a more rational design and had a relatively high practical rate of fire - 15 rounds per minute. A powerful and highly maneuverable weapon for escorting mountain rifle units was the 107-mm mountain-pack mortar mod. 1938 He could be disassembled into several parts and transported in nine horse packs. On the merits of the 120-mm regimental mortar mod. 1938 speaks volumes about the fact that its design in 1943 was copied by the Germans. All domestic mortars were distinguished by their small size, long firing range, mobility, rate of fire and were successfully used during the Great Patriotic War. Samples of ammunition for them are shown next to the mortars. Behind the complex showing the creation of mortars in our country, showcases with fuses and remote tubes for artillery ammunition, rockets and feathered mines.

To replace the 122 mm howitzer mod.
1909/30, which in its tactical and technical data was already inferior to the corresponding samples of foreign armies, a team led by F.F. Petrov created a howitzer of the same caliber - a 122-mm howitzer mod. 1938 (М-30). The sliding frame of its gun carriage made it possible to significantly increase the angles of horizontal and vertical shelling, which in turn sharply increased the ability to maneuver with fire. The suspension significantly increased the howitzer's maneuverability. She was in service until the 1980s.

The best use of artillery in battle was facilitated by the successes achieved in such a branch of artillery science as internal and external artillery ballistics. Scientific research artillery scientists D.A. Ventzel, P.V. Gelvikh, I.I. Grave, V.D. Grendal, N.F. Drozdov, V.G. Dyakonov, D.E. Kozlovsky, V.V. Mechnikov , Ya.M. Shapiro made it possible by the fall of 1939 to create new firing tables, rules for firing military and anti-aircraft artillery, revise manuals on fire training and the course of firing, as well as other manuals.

The showcases display portraits of prominent Soviet designers of artillery guns V.G. Grabin, F.F. Petrov, I.I. Ivanov, M.Ya. Krupchatnikov, who were awarded the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor for their activities.

Along with the creation of new weapons, Soviet designers also developed new ammunition for them. The activities of the most prominent Soviet specialists in this field, D. N. Vishnevsky, A. A. Gartz, M. F. Vasiliev, are reflected in documents, photographs, and printed works. Next to them are samples of the shells they created, remote tubes, fuses.

A great deal of work during these years was carried out by the designers-gunsmiths. In 1938, the 12.7 mm was created and entered service. heavy machine gun the Degtyarev-Shpagin system (DShK) on the Kolesnikov universal machine, which makes it possible to fire both at ground and air targets. This machine gun is on display. Next to him is a 7.62-mm heavy machine gun of the V. A. Degtyarev system mod. 1939 (DS-39). There are also samples of automatic weapons designed by G. S. Shpagin, V. A. Degtyarev, B. G. Shpitalny, I. A. Komaritsky, M. E. Berezin and S. V. Vladimirov, created in the 2nd half x years.

Particular attention was paid to the creation of weapons for aviation.
In 1936, Soviet designers developed an ultra-high-speed machine gun - ShKAS, capable of firing 1800 rounds per minute. In 1939, the super-ShKAS entered service, the rate of fire of which reached 3600 rounds per minute. This machine gun is exhibited next to the universal machine gun of the Berezin system (UB), which was one of the main types of aircraft weapons during the Great Patriotic War. Nearby is a large-caliber aircraft machine gun from designers
B. G. Shpitalny and S. V. Vladimirov (ShVAK). The hall also houses a coaxial anti-aircraft mount for machine guns of the B.G.Shpitalny and I.A.

A major contribution to the development of automatic weapons was the creation of submachine guns by V.A. Degtyarev and G. S. Shpagin. PPD and PCA are presented in the showcase.

In September 1935, personal military ranks were introduced in the Red Army. One of the showcases contains portraits of the first five Marshals of the Soviet Union - K.E. Voroshilov, S.M. Budyonny, M.N. Tukhachevsky, V.K.Blyukher, A.I. Egorov.

In the second half of the 1930s. significant changes took place in the development of military educational institutions - their number increased, curricula changed, military schools were renamed into military schools. Materials on artillery schools are on display.

However, in the same period, a wave of political repression hit the Red Army. About 40 thousand commanders and political workers, including M. N. Tukhachevsky, V. K. Blucher, A. I. Egorov, were repressed, many were shot. The death of many experienced commanders and weapons designers seriously undermined the combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces.

Created by Soviet designers military equipment showed high fighting qualities in battles with the Japanese militarists who suddenly invaded the territory of Soviet Primorye near Lake Khasan on July 29, 1938. On the stands dedicated to these events, battle patterns are shown. Japanese troops in the Khasan area managed to capture the dominant heights - Zaozernaya and Bezymyannaya. On August 6, a Soviet offensive was scheduled, the ultimate goal of which was to drive the Japanese off Soviet soil. By the end of August 7, units of the 40th division of the Red Army, crushing the Japanese, reached the eastern slopes of the Zaozernaya hill. In these battles, Lieutenant I.R.Lazarev, the commander of a 45-mm cannon platoon of the 118th Infantry Regiment of the 40th Infantry Division, acted heroically. When, attacking the eastern slopes of the hill, the Red Army men lay down under heavy fire, the artillerymen of Lieutenant Lazarev, who were moving in the infantry battle formations, opened fire on the enemy with direct fire. At one of the guns, Lazarev personally acted as a gunner and, despite the heavy fire from the Japanese and the resulting injury, continued to fire. Three enemy guns were destroyed, and machine gun fire was suppressed. On August 9, the enemy was driven back outside the territory of the state border, and two days later, hostilities were stopped. Hero of the Soviet Union Captain I.R. Lazarev died in a battle with the Nazi invaders in the fall of 1941. One of the windows displays his winter helmet, as well as the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

During the operation conducted by the Soviet-Mongolian troops under the command of corps commander G.K. Zhukov in July - August 1939, the 6th Japanese army was inflicted a crushing defeat in the area
R. Khalkhin-Gol. The Japanese suffered huge losses from Soviet artillery fire. In a showcase dedicated to the battle on the river. Khalkhin-Gol, there is a photograph and awards of the commander of the artillery battalion, Captain A.S. Rybkin. In battles with the Japanese, with skillful actions and well-aimed fire, he more than once thwarted enemy infantry attacks, suppressed several artillery batteries, and distinguished himself during a breakthrough of the enemy's defenses. For bravery and courage shown in battles with the Japanese on the Khalkhin-Gol river, A.S. Rybkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on November 17, 1939.

The painting of the artist M. Avilov "Eleven border guards on the Zaozernaya hill" is dedicated to the events in the Far East. Here you can also see two captured cannons and weapon captured from the Japanese.

The increased role of aviation dictated the need for a sharp improvement in the quality of anti-aircraft artillery. The 76-mm anti-aircraft guns that were in service no longer fully met the increased requirements, therefore, in 1939, the 85-mm high-power anti-aircraft gun mod. 1939, which, if necessary, could be used to combat ground targets and strengthen anti-tank defenses. To combat aircraft operating at low altitudes, small-caliber automatic anti-aircraft guns were created. In 1939 and 1940. They adopted 37- and 25-mm automatic cannons. They had a high rate of fire and were a powerful means of fighting not only against enemy aircraft, but also against ground targets - tanks, armored vehicles, etc. Along with these guns, ammunition for them is also displayed in the hall. During the Great Patriotic War, these guns were an effective means of combating German attack aircraft and dive bombers.

The exposition also has anti-aircraft artillery fire control devices (PUAZO-3), a commander's anti-aircraft tube, a stereoscopic range finder of a 4-meter base and a meter anti-aircraft range finder. The stand contains illustrative material that was used in training in shooting from anti-aircraft artillery guns. Of interest are the first samples of radar stations - RUS-2 and P-2M.

The events related to the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 were also reflected in the hall. The stand shows a diagram of military operations. The main obstacle for the advancing units of the Red Army was the fortified zone of permanent structures, the so-called "Mannerheim line", the flanks of which rested against Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland and therefore could not be bypassed. The "Mannerheim Line" was a dense chain of pillboxes, bunkers and dugouts, reinforced with anti-tank ditches, nadolbami, barbed wire and skillfully adapted to the terrain. How formidable the Finnish defense was can be judged by the wreckage of the Finnish reinforced concrete fortifications and the granite anti-tank obstruction displayed in the hall. In addition, one of the photographs shows a section of the front edge of the Finnish fortified strip in 1939. In such a situation, artillery acquired special importance. With her fire, she destroyed the detected enemy firing points, thereby clearing the way for infantry and tanks. The exposition features Soviet concrete-piercing shells of various calibers and a 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1937 No. 2243. Under enemy fire, the commander of the 45-mm anti-tank gun I. Ye. Yegorov rolled the gun out into the open area and, firing armor-piercing shells at the embrasures of the pillbox, suppressed it, and after the gun was disabled, he took along with the calculation of participation in the attack of the infantry. For his courage in battle, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The events of this war are dedicated to the paintings of artists M. Avilov "The pillbox fell silent forever" and A. Blinkov "The capture of Vyborg by Soviet troops on March 12, 1940". The hall displays the flag of the 27th Infantry Regiment, hoisted on March 13, 1940 over Vyborg. In a separate showcase, captured enemy small arms are shown.

In addition to samples of artillery equipment, the exposition includes military uniforms from the 1920s-1930s. The uniforms, tunics and headdresses of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army can be seen in glass cases located along the central gallery of the hall.

Soviet artillerymen made a great contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. No wonder they say that artillery is the "God of war". For many people, the legendary guns remain the symbols of the Great Patriotic War - the "forty-five", the 45-mm cannon of the 1937 model, with which the Red Army entered the war, and the most massive Soviet cannon during the war - the 76-mm divisional cannon of the 1942 model ZIS-3 ... This weapon was produced in a huge series during the war years - more than 100 thousand units.

Legendary "forty-five"

The battlefield is shrouded in clouds of smoke, flashes of fire and the noise of explosions all around. An armada is slowly moving into our positions German tanks... They are opposed by only one surviving artilleryman, who personally loads and directs his forty-five on the tanks.

A similar plot can often be found in Soviet films and books, it was supposed to show the superiority of the spirit of a simple Soviet soldier, who, with the help of practically "scrap metal", managed to stop the high-tech German horde. In fact, the 45-mm anti-tank gun was far from a useless weapon, especially at the initial stage of the war. With reasonable use, this weapon has repeatedly demonstrated all its best qualities.

The history of the creation of this legendary gun dates back to the 30s of the last century, when the first anti-tank gun was adopted by the Red Army - the 37-mm cannon of the 1930 model. This gun was a licensed version of the German 37-mm gun 3,7-cm PaK 35/36, created by Rheinmetall engineers. In the Soviet Union, this gun was produced at the plant number 8 in Podlipki, the gun received the designation 1-K.

At the same time, almost immediately in the USSR, they thought about improving the weapon. Two ways were considered: either to increase the power of the 37-mm gun by introducing new ammunition, or to switch to a new caliber - 45 mm. The second way was recognized as promising. Already at the end of 1931, the designers of Plant No. 8 installed a new 45 mm barrel in the 37-mm anti-tank gun of the 1930 model, while slightly strengthening the gun carriage. So the 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1932 model was born, its factory index was 19K.

As the main ammunition for the new gun, it was decided to use a unitary shot from a 47-mm French cannon, the projectile of which, more precisely, not even the projectile itself, but its obturating belt, was simply sharpened from 47 mm to 46 mm in diameter. At the time of its creation, this anti-tank gun was the most powerful in the world. But even despite this, the GAU demanded an upgrade - in order to reduce the weight of the gun and bring the armor penetration to 45-55 mm at ranges of 1000-1300 meters. On November 7, 1936, it was also decided to transfer 45-mm anti-tank guns from wooden wheels to metal wheels filled with spongy rubber from the GAZ-A car.

By the beginning of 1937, the 45 mm cannon of the 1932 model had new wheels installed and the gun went into production. In addition, the gun received an improved sight, a new semi-automatic, a push-button trigger, a more reliable shield attachment, suspension, better balancing of the swinging part - all these innovations made the 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1937 model (53K), meeting all the requirements of the time.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it was this weapon that formed the basis of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army. As of June 22, 1941, there were 16,621 such guns in service. In total, during the war years, 37,354 pieces of 45-mm anti-tank guns were produced in the USSR.

The gun was intended to combat enemy armored vehicles (tanks, self-propelled guns, armored personnel carriers). For its time and at the beginning of the war, its armor penetration was quite adequate. At a distance of 500 meters, an armor-piercing projectile pierced 43-mm armor. This was enough to fight the German tanks of those years, the armor of most of which was more bulletproof.

At the same time, already during the war in 1942, the gun was modernized and its anti-tank capabilities increased. The 45-mm anti-tank gun of the 1942 model, designated M-42, was created by modernizing its 1937 predecessor. The work was carried out at the plant No. 172 in Motovilikha (Perm).

Basically, the modernization consisted in lengthening the barrel of the gun, as well as strengthening the propellant charge and a number of technical measures that were aimed at simplifying the serial production of the gun. At the same time, the thickness of the armor of the gun's shield increased from 4.5 mm to 7 mm for better protection of the crew from armor-piercing bullets. As a result of the modernization, the muzzle velocity of the projectile was raised from 760 m / s to 870 m / s. With the use of caliber armor-piercing shells, the armor penetration of the new gun at a distance of 500 meters increased to 61 mm.

The M-42 anti-tank gun was able to fight all German medium tanks of 1942. Moreover, during the entire first period of the Great Patriotic War, it was the forty-fives that remained the basis of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army. During Battle of Stalingrad these guns accounted for 43% of all guns in service with anti-tank regiments.

But the appearance in 1943 of new German tanks, primarily the "Tiger" and "Panther", as well as the modernized version of the Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H, which had a frontal armor of 80 mm, Soviet anti-tank artillery was again faced with the need to increase firepower.

The problem was partially solved by restarting the production of the 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun. But despite this and thanks to the well-oiled production, the production of the M-42 continued. With the Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H tanks and the Panther, this gun could fight by firing them into the side, and such fire could be counted on due to the high mobility of the gun. As a result, it was left in production and in service. A total of 10,843 of these guns were manufactured from 1942 to 1945.

Divisional gun model 1942 ZIS-3

The second Soviet weapon, no less legendary than the forty-five, was the ZIS-3 divisional gun of the 1942 model, which today can be found on many pedestals. It should be noted that by the time the Great Patriotic War began, the Red Army was armed with rather outdated field guns of the 1900/02, 1902/26 and 1902/30 models, as well as fairly modern weapons: 76.2-mm divisional guns of the 1936 model ( F-22) and 76.2-mm divisional gun model 1939 (USV).

At the same time, work on the ZIS-3 was started even before the war. The famous designer Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin was engaged in the design of the new weapon. He began work on the gun at the end of 1940 after his 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun successfully passed the tests. Like most anti-tank guns, it was quite compact, had a lightweight and durable carriage, which was quite suitable for the development of a divisional gun.

At the same time, for the 76.2-mm divisional guns F-22 and USV, a technological barrel had already been created, which had good ballistic characteristics. So the designers practically had only to put the existing barrel on the carriage of the ZIS-2 gun, equipping the barrel with a muzzle brake to reduce the load on the gun carriage. In parallel with the design process of the divisional gun, issues related to the technology of its production were resolved, the production of many parts was tested by stamping, casting, welding. In comparison with the USV gun, labor costs were reduced by 3 times, and the cost of one gun fell by more than a third.

The ZIS-3 was a weapon of a modern design at that time. The barrel of the gun is a monoblock with a breech and a muzzle brake (absorbed about 30% of the recoil energy). A semi-automatic wedge gate was used. The descent was lever or push-button (on guns of different production series). The barrel resource of the guns of the first series reached 5000 shots, but for most guns it did not exceed 2000 shots.

Already in the battles of 1941, the ZIS-3 gun showed all its advantages over the heavy and inconvenient for gunners F-22 and USV guns. This allowed Grabin to personally present his weapon to Stalin and receive official permission from him to launch the gun into mass production, moreover, the weapon had already been produced and was actively used in the army.

At the beginning of February 1942, formal tests of the gun took place, which lasted only 5 days. As a result of the tests, the ZIS-3 gun was put into service on February 12, 1942 with the official name "76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model." For the first time in the world, the production of the ZIS-3 gun was carried out by the flow method with a sharp increase in productivity. On May 9, 1945, the Privolzhsky plant reported to the party and the government about the production of the 100,000th 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon, increasing their output during the war years by almost 20 times. A more than 103 thousand of these guns were manufactured during the war years.

The ZIS-3 cannon could use the entire range of 76-mm cannon shells available, including a variety of old Russian and imported grenades. So the steel high-explosive fragmentation grenade 53-OF-350, when the fuse was installed on the fragmentation action, created about 870 lethal fragments, the effective radius of destruction of manpower which was equal to 15 meters. When installing the fuse for high-explosive action at a distance of 7.5 km, the grenade could penetrate a wall of brick 75 cm thick or an earthen embankment 2 m thick.

The use of the 53-BR-354P sub-caliber projectile ensured penetration of 105 mm of armor at a distance of 300 meters, and at a distance of 500 meters - 90 mm. First of all, subcaliber shells were sent to provide anti-tank fighter units. Since the end of 1944, the 53-BP-350A cumulative projectile has also appeared in the troops, which could penetrate armor up to 75-90 mm thick at a meeting angle of 45 degrees.

At the time of the adoption of the 76-mm divisional gun of the 1942 model of the year, it fully met all the requirements facing it: in terms of firepower, mobility, unpretentiousness in daily operation and manufacturability of production. The ZIS-3 gun was a typical example of a weapon of the Russian design school: technologically uncomplicated, cheap, powerful, reliable, absolutely unpretentious and easy to operate.

During the war years, these guns were produced by the flow method using any more or less trained workforce without losing the quality of the finished samples. The guns were easily mastered and could be kept in order by the personnel of the units. For the conditions in which the Soviet Union found itself in 1941-1942, the ZIS-3 gun was almost an ideal solution, not only in terms of combat use but also in terms of industrial output. All the years of the war, the ZIS-3 was successfully used both against tanks and against infantry and enemy fortifications, which made it so versatile and massive.

122-mm howitzer model 1938 M-30

The M-30 122 mm howitzer of the 1938 model became the most massive Soviet howitzer during the Great Patriotic War. This gun was mass-produced from 1939 to 1955 and consisted, and is still in service with some countries. This howitzer took part in almost all significant wars and local conflicts of the 20th century.

According to a number of artillery successes, the M-30 can be safely attributed to one of the best examples of the Soviet barrel artillery the middle of the last century. The presence of such a howitzer in the artillery units of the Red Army made an invaluable contribution to the victory in the war. In total, 19 266 howitzers of this type were assembled during the release of the M-30..

The howitzer was developed in 1938 by the Motovilikhinskiye Zavody Design Bureau (Perm), led by Fyodor Fedorovich Petrov. Serial production of the howitzer began in 1939 at three factories at once, including Motovilikhinskiye Zavody (Perm) and the Uralmash artillery plant (Sverdlovsk, since 1942, Artillery Plant No. 9 with OKB-9). The howitzer was in serial production until 1955, which most clearly characterizes the success of the project.

In general, the M-30 howitzer had a classic design: a reliable, durable two-hull gun carriage, a rigidly fixed shield with a raised central sheet, and a 23-gauge barrel without a muzzle brake. The M-30 howitzer was equipped with the same gun carriage as the 152-mm D-1 howitzer. Large-diameter wheels received solid slopes, they were filled with spongy rubber. At the same time, the modification of the M-30, which was produced in Bulgaria after the war, had wheels of a different design. Each 122-m howitzer had two different types of openers - for hard and soft soil.

The 122 mm M-30 howitzer was undoubtedly a very successful weapon. The group of its creators under the leadership of FF Petrov managed to very harmoniously combine simplicity and reliability in one model of artillery weapons. The howitzer was very easily mastered by the personnel, which was in many respects characteristic of howitzers of the First World War era, but at the same time it had a large number of new design solutions that made it possible to increase the fire capabilities and mobility of the howitzer. As a result, the Soviet divisional artillery got its hands on a powerful and modern howitzer, which was able to operate as part of the highly mobile tank and mechanized units of the Red Army. The widespread use of this 122 mm howitzer in various armies of the world and the excellent reviews of the gunners only confirm this.

The gun was appreciated even by the Germans, who at the initial stage of the war managed to capture several hundred M-30 howitzers. They adopted the weapon under the designation 12.2 cm s.F.H.396 (r) heavy howitzer, actively using them on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Starting in 1943, for this howitzer, as well as some other samples of Soviet barrel artillery of the same caliber, the Germans even launched a full-fledged mass production of shells. So in 1943 they fired 424 thousand shots, in 1944 and 1945 - 696.7 thousand and 133 thousand shots, respectively.

The main type of ammunition for the 122 mm M-30 howitzer in the Red Army was a fairly effective fragmentation projectile, which weighed 21.76 kg. The howitzer could fire these shells at a range of up to 11 800 meters. Theoretically, the 53-BP-460A armor-piercing cumulative projectile could be used to combat armored targets, which, at a 90 ° meeting angle with the armor, pierced armor up to 160 mm thick. Sighting range firing at a moving tank was up to 400 meters. But naturally this would be an extreme case.

The M-30 was intended primarily for firing from closed positions at openly located and entrenched enemy personnel and equipment. The howitzer was also successfully used to destroy enemy field fortifications (dugouts, bunkers, trenches) and make passages in wire barriers when it was impossible to use mortars for these purposes.

Moreover, the barrage of fire from the battery of M-30 howitzers with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a certain threat to German armored vehicles. The fragments formed when 122-mm shells burst were able to penetrate armor up to 20 mm thick, this was quite enough to destroy the sides of enemy light tanks and armored personnel carriers. For vehicles with thicker armor, howitzer shell fragments could disable the gun, sights, and chassis elements.

HEAT shells for this howitzer appeared only in 1943. But in their absence, the artillerymen were ordered to shoot at tanks and high-explosive shells, having previously set the fuse to high-explosive action. Very often, with a direct hit on a tank (especially for light and medium tanks), it became fatal for an armored vehicle and its crew, even to the point where the turret was dislodged from the shoulder strap, which automatically made the tank unusable.

Soviet anti-tank artillery played a crucial role in the Great Patriotic War, it accounted for about 70% of all destroyed German ones. The anti-tank warriors fighting "to the last", often at the cost of their own lives, repelled the attacks of the Panzerwaffe.

The structure and material part of anti-tank subunits in the course of hostilities was continuously improved. Until the fall of 1940, anti-tank guns were part of rifle, mountain rifle, motorized rifle, motorized and cavalry battalions, regiments and divisions. Anti-tank batteries, platoons and divisions were thus interspersed into the organizational structure of the formations, being their integral part. The rifle battalion of the rifle regiment of the pre-war state had a platoon of 45 mm guns (two guns). The rifle regiment and the motorized rifle regiment had a battery of 45 mm cannons (six guns). In the first case, the means of traction were horses, in the second - specialized tracked armored tractors "Komsomolets". The rifle division and the motorized division included a separate anti-tank division of eighteen 45-mm guns. For the first time, the anti-tank division was introduced to the state of the Soviet rifle division in 1938.
However, the maneuver of anti-tank guns was possible at that time only within the division, and not on the scale of the corps or army. The command had very limited capabilities to strengthen the anti-tank defense in tank-hazardous areas.

Shortly before the war, the formation of anti-tank artillery brigades of the RGK began. According to the state, each brigade was supposed to have forty-eight 76-mm cannons, forty-eight 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, twenty-four 107-mm guns, sixteen 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. The staff of the brigade was 5322 people. By the beginning of the war, the formation of the brigades was not completed. Organizational difficulties and the general unfavorable course of hostilities did not allow the first anti-tank brigades to fully realize their potential. However, already in the first battles, the brigades demonstrated the broad capabilities of an independent anti-tank formation.

With the outbreak of World War II, the anti-tank capabilities of the Soviet troops were severely tested. Firstly, most often rifle divisions had to fight, occupying a defense front exceeding the statutory standards. Secondly, the Soviet troops had to face the German "tank wedge" tactics. It consisted in the fact that the tank regiment of the Wehrmacht's tank division was striking in a very narrow sector of defense. At the same time, the density of attacking tanks was 50-60 vehicles per kilometer of the front. Such a number of tanks in a narrow sector of the front inevitably saturated the anti-tank defense.

Large losses of anti-tank guns at the beginning of the war led to a decrease in the number of anti-tank guns in a rifle division. The rifle division of the state of July 1941 had only eighteen 45-mm anti-tank guns instead of fifty-four in the pre-war state. For the July state, a platoon of 45 mm guns from a rifle battalion and a separate anti-tank division were completely excluded. The latter was reinstated in the state of the rifle division in December 1941. The shortage of anti-tank guns was to some extent made up for by the recently adopted anti-tank rifles. In December 1941, an anti-tank rifle platoon was introduced at the regimental level in the rifle division. In total, the division in the state had 89 anti-tank rifles.

In the field of organizing artillery, the general trend at the end of 1941 was the increase in the number of independent anti-tank units. On January 1, 1942, the active army and the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters had: one artillery brigade (on the Leningrad front), 57 anti-tank artillery regiments and two separate anti-tank artillery battalions. Following the results of the autumn battles, five anti-tank artillery regiments received the rank of guards. Two of them received a guard for the battles near Volokolamsk - they supported the 316th rifle division of I.V. Panfilov.
1942 was a period of increasing the number and consolidation of independent anti-tank units. On April 3, 1942, the State Defense Committee issued a decree on the formation of a fighter brigade. According to the staff, the brigade had 1,795 people, twelve 45-mm cannons, sixteen 76-mm cannons, four 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 144 anti-tank guns. By the next decree of June 8, 1942, the twelve formed fighter brigades were combined into fighter divisions, three brigades in each.

A milestone for the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army was the order of the NKO of the USSR No. 0528 signed by J.V. Stalin, according to which: the status of anti-tank subunits was increased, the personnel were given a double salary, a cash bonus was established for each destroyed tank, the entire command and personnel anti-tank artillery units were placed on special account and were to be used only in the indicated units.

The sleeve insignia in the form of a black rhombus with a red edging with crossed gun barrels became a distinctive sign of the anti-tank crew. The rise in the status of anti-tank crews was accompanied by the formation of new anti-tank fighter regiments in the summer of 1942. Thirty light (twenty 76 mm guns) and twenty anti-tank artillery regiments (twenty 45 mm guns) were formed.
The regiments were formed in a short time and immediately thrown into battle in the threatened sectors of the front.

In September 1942, ten more anti-tank fighter regiments were formed with twenty 45-mm guns each. Also in September 1942, an additional battery of four 76 mm guns was introduced into the most distinguished regiments. In November 1942, part of the anti-tank fighter regiments was combined into fighter divisions. By January 1, 1943, the Red Army's anti-tank artillery included 2 fighter divisions, 15 fighter brigades, 2 heavy anti-tank fighter regiments, 168 anti-tank fighter regiments, and 1 anti-tank fighter division.

The advanced anti-tank defense system of the Red Army received the name Pakfront from the Germans. CANCER is the German abbreviation for anti-tank gun - Panzerabwehrkannone. Instead of a linear arrangement of guns on the defended front at the beginning of the war, they were united in groups under a single command. This made it possible to concentrate the fire of several guns on one target. The basis of the anti-tank defense was the anti-tank areas. Each anti-tank area consisted of separate anti-tank strong points (PTOPs), which were in fire communication with each other. "To be in fire communication with each other" - means the ability to conduct neighboring anti-tank guns fire on one target. PTOP was saturated with all types of fire weapons. The basis of the PTOP fire system was 45-mm guns, 76-mm regimental guns, partly cannon batteries of divisional artillery and anti-tank artillery units.

The finest hour of the anti-tank artillery was the battle on the Kursk Bulge in the summer of 1943. At that time, 76-mm divisional guns were the main means of anti-tank units and formations. "Sorokapyatki" made up about a third of the total number of anti-tank guns on the Kursk Bulge. A long pause in hostilities at the front made it possible to improve the condition of units and formations due to the supply of equipment from industry and the resupply of anti-tank regiments with personnel.

The last stage in the evolution of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army was the enlargement of its units and the appearance of self-propelled guns in the anti-tank artillery. By the beginning of 1944, all fighter divisions and separate fighter brigades of the combined-arms type were reorganized into anti-tank fighter brigades. On January 1, 1944, the anti-tank artillery included 50 anti-tank brigades and 141 anti-tank destroyer regiments. By order of the NKO No. 0032 of August 2, 1944, one SU-85 regiment (21 self-propelled guns) was added to the fifteen anti-tank brigades. In reality, only eight brigades received self-propelled guns.

Particular attention was paid to the training of personnel of anti-tank brigades, a purposeful combat training gunners to fight the new German tanks and assault guns. In the anti-tank units, special instructions appeared: "Memo to the artilleryman - the destroyer of enemy tanks" or "Memo on the fight against Tiger tanks." And in the armies, special rear polygons were equipped, where gunners trained in firing at mock-up tanks, including moving ones.

Along with the improvement of the skill of the artillerymen, tactics were improved. With the quantitative saturation of the troops with anti-tank weapons, the "fire bag" method was increasingly used. The guns were placed in "anti-tank nests" of 6-8 guns in a radius of 50-60 meters and were well camouflaged. The nests were located on the ground to achieve long-range flanking with the ability to concentrate fire. Passing tanks moving in the first echelon, fire opened suddenly, at the flank, at medium and short distances.

In the offensive, anti-tank guns were promptly pulled up after the advancing subunits in order, if necessary, to support them with fire.

Anti-tank artillery in our country began in August 1930, when, within the framework of military-technical cooperation with Germany, a secret agreement was signed, according to which the Germans pledged to help the USSR organize the gross production of 6 artillery systems. For the implementation of the contract in Germany, a front company "BYUTAST" was created (limited liability company "Bureau for technical work and research").

Among other weapons proposed by the USSR was the 37 mm anti-tank gun. The development of this weapon, bypassing the restrictions imposed by the Versailles Treaty, was completed at the Rheinmetall Borzig company in 1928. The first samples of the gun, named So 28 (Tankabwehrkanone, i.e. anti-tank gun - the word Panzer came into use later) entered trials in 1930, and in 1932 supplies to the troops began. The Tak 28 gun had a 45-caliber barrel with a horizontal wedge gate, which provided a fairly high rate of fire - up to 20 rounds / min. The carriage with sliding tubular beds provided a large horizontal guidance angle - 60 °, but the chassis with wooden wheels was designed only for horse traction.

At the beginning of the 30s, this gun penetrated the armor of any tank, perhaps, it was the best in its class, far ahead of developments in other countries.

After modernization, having wheels with pneumatic tires that allow towing by a car, an improved gun carriage and an improved sight, it was put into service under the designation 3,7 cm Pak 35/36 (Panzerabwehrkanone 35/36).
Remaining until 1942 the main anti-tank gun of the Wehrmacht.

The German gun was put into production at the plant near Moscow. Kalinin (No. 8), where she received the factory index 1-K. The enterprise mastered the production of a new weapon with great difficulty, the guns were made semi-handicraft, with manual fitting of parts. In 1931, the plant presented 255 guns to the customer, but did not hand over a single one due to the poor build quality. In 1932, 404 guns were delivered, in 1933 - another 105.

Despite the problems with the quality of the guns produced, the 1-K was a fairly advanced anti-tank gun for the 1930 year. Its ballistics made it possible to hit all tanks of that time, at a distance of 300 m, an armor-piercing projectile normally penetrated 30-mm armor. The gun was very compact, its low weight allowed the crew to easily move it around the battlefield. The disadvantages of the gun, which led to its rapid withdrawal from production, were the weak fragmentation effect of the 37-mm projectile and the lack of suspension. In addition, the released guns were notable for their low build quality. The adoption of this gun was considered as a temporary measure, since the leadership of the Red Army wanted to have a more universal gun that combined the functions of an anti-tank and battalion gun, and the 1-K, due to its small caliber and weak fragmentation projectile, was poorly suited for this role.

The 1-K was the first specialized anti-tank gun of the Red Army and played an important role in the development of this type. Very soon, it began to be replaced by a 45-mm anti-tank gun, becoming almost invisible against its background. At the end of the 30s, 1-K began to be withdrawn from the troops and transferred to storage, remaining in operation only as training.

At the beginning of the war, all the guns in the warehouses were thrown into battle, since in 1941 there was a shortage of artillery to equip a large number of newly formed formations and make up for huge losses.

Of course, by 1941, the armor penetration characteristics of the 37-mm 1-K anti-tank gun could no longer be considered satisfactory; it could confidently hit only light tanks and armored personnel carriers. Against medium tanks, this weapon could only be effective when firing at the side from close (less than 300 m) distances. Moreover, Soviet armor-piercing shells were significantly inferior in armor penetration to German shells of a similar caliber. On the other hand, this gun could use captured 37-mm ammunition, in this case, its armor penetration significantly increased, even exceeding the same characteristics of a 45-mm gun.

It was not possible to establish any details of the combat use of these guns, probably almost all of them were lost in 1941.

The very great historical significance of 1-K is that it became the ancestor of a series of the most numerous Soviet 45-mm anti-tank guns and Soviet anti-tank artillery in general.

During the "liberation campaign" in western Ukraine, several hundred Polish 37-mm anti-tank guns and a significant amount of ammunition for them were captured.

Initially, they were sent to warehouses, and at the end of 1941 they were transferred to the troops, since due to the large losses of the first months of the war, there was a large shortage of artillery, especially anti-tank artillery. In 1941, the GAU published a "Brief Description, Operating Instructions" for this gun.

The 37-mm anti-tank gun, developed by the Bofors company, was a very successful weapon, capable of successfully fighting armored vehicles protected by bulletproof armor.

The gun had a fairly high muzzle velocity and rate of fire, small dimensions and weight (which made it easier to camouflage the gun on the ground and roll it onto the battlefield by the crew), and was also adapted for rapid transportation by mechanical traction. Compared to the German 37-mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun, the Polish gun had better armor penetration, which is explained by the higher initial velocity of the projectile.

In the second half of the 30s, there was a tendency to increase the thickness of tank armor, in addition, the Soviet military wanted to get an anti-tank gun capable of providing fire support to infantry. This required an increase in caliber.
The new 45 mm anti-tank gun was created by superimposing the 45 mm barrel on the carriage of the 37 mm anti-tank gun mod. 1931 year. The carriage was also improved - suspension of the wheel travel was introduced. The semi-automatic shutter basically repeated the 1-K scheme and allowed 15-20 rounds / min.

The 45-mm projectile weighed 1.43 kg and was more than 2 times heavier than the 37-mm. At a distance of 500 m, the armor-piercing projectile, normally penetrated 43-mm armor. At the time of adoption, the 45-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1937 pierced the armor of any then existing tank.
A 45-mm fragmentation grenade when bursting gave about 100 fragments, retaining a lethal force when flying 15 m along the front and 5-7 m deep. ...
Thus, the 45 mm anti-tank gun had good anti-personnel capabilities.

From 1937 to 1943, 37354 guns were fired. Shortly before the start of the war, the 45-mm cannon was discontinued, as our military leadership believed that the new German tanks would have a thickness of frontal armor that was impenetrable for these guns. Shortly after the start of the war, the gun was put into series again.

45-mm cannons of the 1937 model of the year were assigned to anti-tank platoons of rifle battalions of the Red Army (2 guns) and anti-tank divisions of rifle divisions (12 guns). They were also in service with separate anti-tank regiments, which included 4-5 four-gun batteries.

For its time in terms of armor penetration "forty-five" was quite adequate. Nevertheless, the insufficient penetration capacity of the 50-mm frontal armor of the Pz Kpfw III Ausf H and Pz Kpfw IV Ausf F1 tanks is beyond doubt. This was often due to the low quality of armor-piercing shells. Many batches of shells had a technological defect. If the heat treatment regime was violated in production, the shells turned out to be too hard and, as a result, split against the tank's armor, but in August 1941 the problem was solved - in manufacturing process technical changes were made (localizers were introduced).

To improve armor penetration, a sub-caliber 45-mm projectile with a tungsten core was adopted, which pierced 66-mm armor at a distance of 500 m along the normal, and when firing at a dagger range of 100 m - armor 88 mm.

With the advent of sub-caliber shells, late modifications of the Pz Kpfw IV tanks became "tough" for the "forty-five". The thickness of the frontal armor, which did not exceed 80 mm.

At first, the new shells were on a special account and were issued individually. For the unjustified consumption of sub-caliber shells, the gun commander and gunner could be brought to trial.

In the hands of experienced and tactically skillful commanders and trained crews, the 45 mm anti-tank gun posed a serious threat to enemy armored vehicles. Its positive qualities were high mobility and ease of camouflage. However, for a better defeat of the armor targets, a more powerful weapon was urgently required, which became the 45-mm cannon mod. 1942 M-42, developed and put into service in 1942.

The 45-mm M-42 anti-tank gun was obtained by upgrading the 45-mm cannon of the 1937 model at Plant No. 172 in Motovilikha. The modernization consisted of lengthening the barrel (from 46 to 68 calibers), increasing the propellant charge (the mass of gunpowder in the case increased from 360 to 390 grams) and a number of technological measures to simplify mass production. The thickness of the armor of the shield cover was increased from 4.5 mm to 7 mm for better protection of the crew from armor-piercing rifle bullets.

As a result of the modernization, the muzzle velocity increased by almost 15% - from 760 to 870 m / s. At a distance of 500 meters along the normal, an armor-piercing projectile penetrated 61mm, and an APCR projectile penetrated -81mm armor. According to the memoirs of anti-tank veterans, the M-42 had a very high firing accuracy and a relatively small recoil when fired. This made it possible to fire at a high rate of fire without correcting the aiming.

Serial production of 45-mm guns mod. 1942 of the year was started in January 1943 and was carried out only at plant number 172. During the most intense periods, the plant produced 700 of these guns per month. In total, 10,843 guns mod. 1942. Their production continued after the war. New guns, as they were released, went to re-equip anti-tank artillery regiments and brigades with 45-mm anti-tank guns mod. 1937 of the year.

As it soon became clear, the armor penetration of the M-42 to fight against German heavy tanks with powerful anti-cannon armor Pz. Kpfw. V "Panther" and Pz. Kpfw. VI "Tiger" was not enough. More successful was the firing of sub-caliber projectiles at the sides, stern and undercarriage. Nevertheless, thanks to the well-organized mass production, mobility, ease of camouflage and low cost, the gun remained in service until the very end of the war.

In the late 30s, the issue of creating anti-tank guns capable of hitting tanks with anti-cannon armor became acute. Calculations showed the futility of the 45 mm caliber in terms of a sharp increase in armor penetration. Various research organizations considered calibers 55 and 60 mm, but in the end it was decided to stop at the caliber 57 mm. Weapons of this caliber were used in the tsarist army and (Nordenfeld and Hotchkiss cannons). For this caliber, a new projectile was developed - a standard case from a 76-mm divisional gun with a re-compression of the muzzle of the case to a caliber of 57 mm was adopted as its case.

In 1940, the design team headed by Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin began to design a new anti-tank gun that would meet the tactical and technical requirements of the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU). The main feature of the new gun was the use of a 73 caliber long barrel. At a distance of 1000 m, the gun pierced 90 mm armor with an armor-piercing projectile.

A prototype of the gun was manufactured in October 1940 and passed factory tests. And in March 1941, the gun was put into service under the official name "57-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1941 g. " In total, from June to December 1941, about 250 guns were delivered.

57-mm cannons from experimental parties took part in the hostilities. Some of them were installed on the Komsomolets light tracked tractor - this was the first Soviet anti-tank self-propelled gun, which, due to the imperfection of the chassis, turned out to be not very successful.

The new anti-tank gun easily penetrated the armor of all then existing German tanks. However, due to the position of the GAU, the release of the weapon was discontinued, and the entire production reserve and equipment were mothballed.

In 1943, with the appearance of heavy tanks from the Germans, the production of the gun was restored. The gun of the 1943 model had a number of differences from the guns of the 1941 release, aimed primarily at improving the manufacturability of the gun. Nevertheless, the restoration of serial production was difficult - technological problems arose with the manufacture of barrels. Mass production of a gun under the designation "57-mm anti-tank gun mod. 1943 " ZIS-2 was organized by October - November 1943, after the commissioning of new production facilities, provided with equipment supplied under Lend-Lease.

From the moment of the resumption of production, until the end of the war, more than 9000 guns were received by the troops.

With the restoration of production of the ZIS-2 in 1943, the guns entered the anti-tank artillery regiments (iptap), 20 guns per regiment.

From December 1944, the ZIS-2 was introduced into the staff of the guards rifle divisions - into the regimental anti-tank batteries and into the anti-tank destroyer battalion (12 guns). In June 1945, ordinary rifle divisions were transferred to a similar state.

The capabilities of the ZIS-2 made it possible to confidently hit the 80-mm frontal armor of the most common German medium tanks Pz.IV and assault self-propelled guns StuG III at typical combat distances, as well as the side armor of the Pz.VI "Tiger" tank; at distances less than 500 m, the frontal armor of the Tiger was also hit.
In terms of the total cost and manufacturability of production, combat and service and operational characteristics, the ZIS-2 became the best Soviet anti-tank gun of the war.

Based on materials:
http://knowledgegrid.ru/2e9354f401817ff6.html
Shirokorad A. B. The Genius of Soviet Artillery: The Triumph and Tragedy of V. Grabin.
A. Ivanov. Artillery of the USSR in the Second World War.

Anti-tank artillery The Red Army was subdivided into military and RGK. Military anti-tank artillery was first introduced into the rifle forces in the early 30s of the last century as a "separate anti-tank battery" in the rifle division. A separate anti-tank division was introduced into the structure of the rifle division. batteries of regimental artillery, batteries of divisional 76-mm guns of artillery regiments, individual anti-aircraft artillery divisions of divisions).
Studying the experience of the combat use of the armored forces of the Wehrmacht in 1939-1940, Soviet military experts came to the conclusion that attacks by enemy tanks could only be resisted by massing anti-tank fire weapons. As an experimental organizational form of this massing, a separate cannon artillery regiment of the RGK was chosen, armed with 76-mm F-11 cannons and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. In total, four such regiments were formed in KOVO and ZAPOVO. These were the first anti-tank artillery units of the RGK. But as a result of the activities of the regiments, a brigade was determined by the new structure of the military unit of anti-tank defense.
On October 14, 1940, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR appealed to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) with proposals for carrying out NEW organizational measures in the Red Army in the first half of 1941. In particular, it was proposed:

Form 20 machine-gun and artillery motorized brigades with powerful cannon and machine-gun armament, designed to fight and counter enemy tank and mechanized troops. The deployment of E brigades should be:
a). L VO - 5 brigades.
b). PribOVO - 4 brigades.
v). ZAPOVO - 3 brigades.
G). KOVO - 5 brigades,
e). ZabNO - 1 brigade.
With). Far Eastern Front - 2 brigades ... ".
Three artillery regiments of fortified areas KOVO and ODVO, as well as all four separate artillery regiments armed with 76-MM cannons and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, created temporarily to reinforce the troops of KOVO and ZAPOVO, were proposed to form the brigades.
The permission to form was received, and on November 4, 1940, by the directives of the USSR People's Commissar of Defense, the formation of 20 machine-gun and artillery motorized brigades began as part of the Red Army's Armored Forces, with a deadline for completing the staffing of the brigades with personnel and training material on January 1, 1941. The acquisition of material and equipment was to occur gradually as it came from industry. Soon the phrase "machine-gun and artillery" was abolished, and the brigades began to be called "motorized", introducing confusion in some publications on the history of the pre-war Red Army, where they were called "motorized rifle". brigades were formed according to wartime states No. 05 / 100-05 / 112 (diagram 1).

In total, the brigade was supposed to have: 6199 people, 17 T-26 tanks, 19 armored vehicles, machine guns: D11 - 56, easel - 156, anti-aircraft large-caliber - 48. mortars: 50-mm-90.82-mm - 28, 107-mm - 1 2.cannons: 45-mm anti-tank - 30.76-mm F-22 - 42.37-mm automatic anti-aircraft - 12, 76-mm or 85-mm anti-aircraft - 36, tractors - 82. motor vehicles - 545.

The formation of the brigades was directed by the 4th (KOVO) and 5th (ZAPOVO) cannon artillery regiments. 48th Reserve Artillery Regiment of the OdVO, 191st Infantry Regiment of the Grodekovsky UR of the Far Eastern Front. Motorized brigades were formed in the following military districts (fronts): LVO - 1. 4.7, 10th; PribOVO - 2,% 8, 11th, ZAPOVO - 3, 9, 13, 14th, KOVO - 6, 15, 18, 20, 22nd, OdVO -12th and on the Far Eastern Front - 16 and 23 -I am.
Considering the structure of the motorized brigade, one can notice the main drawback - 76 and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns were not quite suitable for anti-tank defense purposes due to their weight and size characteristics and the lack of an armored shield. In addition, the divisions armed with these guns, according to the state, did not have anti-aircraft artillery fire control devices (PUAZO) and rangefinders, which did not allow them to be used for air defense purposes.

As often happened in the domestic Armed Forces, without having time to complete and train, in February-March 1941, all brigades were disbanded, equipment and personnel were not used for new formations - rifle divisions of 6,000 personnel and motorized divisions of mechanized corps. For example, in the LVO on the basis of the 4th brigade, by July 1, 1941, the 237th rifle division was formed, from the 10th brigade - the 177th rifle division, in the ODVO on the basis of the 12th brigade, the 218th motorized division of the 18th first mechanized corps. in PribOVO on the basis of the 11th brigade - the 188th rifle division.

At the beginning of 1911, the head of the GAU of the Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Kulik, informed the leadership of the Red Army intelligence data that the German army was rapidly re-equipping its troops with tanks with increased armor, in the fight against which all our 45-mm artillery would be ineffective. The intelligence received most likely referred to captured French B-1 bis tanks. having armor with a thickness of 60 mm. Just in the spring of 19-11, a small number of these machines were rearmed with flamethrowers and entered service with the individual tank battalions of the Wehrmacht with the index k-2.

Be that as it may, the heads of the People's Commissariat of Defense took this information quite seriously. As a result, just before the war, the production of 45 mm anti-tank and 76-mm divisional guns was discontinued, and instead of them, preparations were hastily carried out for the release of 107-MM guns.

In addition, on April 23, 1911, by the decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and SNKSSSR No. 1112-459ss "On new formations in the Red Army", ten anti-tank artillery brigades of the RUK were planned to be formed by June 1, 1941, consisting of:
- Brigade management:
- 2 artillery regiments:
- Headquarters battery;
- Mine engineer battalion;
- Motor transport battalion.

According to the staff, the brigade had 5322 people, 48 76-mm cannons of the 1936 model (F-22), 48 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, 24 107-mm M-6O cannons, 16 - 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. 12 heavy machine guns, 93 DT light machine guns. 584 trucks.
123 special vehicles, 11 passenger cars and 165 tractors (Scheme 2).

The brigades were formed in Kiev (1.2, 3.4 and 5th). Western (6. 7,8th) and Baltic (9th and 10th) Special military districts. All brigades were created at the ball of 6-thousand rifle divisions of the state N * 4/120 formed in February - April 1941. Brigade directorates were formed from the headquarters of the chiefs of artillery of divisions, the rest of the units and subunits from howitzer and light artillery regiments of integral anti-aircraft artillery divisions, separate signal battalions, separate sapper battalions, and automobile companies for transporting divisions. The personnel missing to the states came from other parts of the KOVO. ZanOVO and PriboVO. The completed brigades with vehicles and tractors were to be shut down in the second half of 1941.

For example, in ZAPOVO, all brigades were formed on the basis of three rifle divisions that arrived in the district in the first half of May 1941 from the Moscow (22-4th and 231st rifle divisions) and Siberian (201st rifle divisions) military districts.

Commanders were promoted to the positions of brigade commanders mainly to the number of chiefs of artillery of rifle and mechanized corps or divisions. For example, the chief of artillery of the 2nd mechanized corps of the ODVO, Major-General of artillery K. Moskalenko, was appointed commander of the 1st anti-tank artillery brigade Zap, and the chief of artillery of the 160th rifle division of the Moscow Military District, Colonel M. Nedelin, was appointed commander of the 1st brigade. Interestingly, both of these brigade commanders were later the first and second Commanders-in-Chief. Rocket Troops strategic purpose.

It was believed that an anti-tank artillery brigade is capable of creating a density of 20-25 anti-tank guns per 1 km of the front on a 5-6 km wide front and repelling, in cooperation with other types of troops, an attack by one or two enemy tank divisions.
Apparently the presence of ten anti-tank defense brigades seemed insufficient, therefore, to strengthen the anti-tank capabilities of the troops, the directive General Staff The Red Army from May 16, 1941, 50 tank regiments and several separate reconnaissance battalions of the newly formed mechanized corps, before they received tanks by July 1, 1941, had to arm themselves with 76-mm n 45 mm cannons and DT machine guns based on: for the tank POLK 18 45-MM and 24 76-mm cannons and 14 machine guns, for a reconnaissance battalion 18 45-mm cannons.

A check of the progress of the implementation of the directives of the IKS) of the USSR, carried out by the General Staff of the Red Army in early June 1911, showed that the staffing of the brigades with personnel, vehicles and other possessors of the GVOM was carried out slowly. On June 11, 194 1, the brigades had from 30 to 78% of the standard number of guns. So. in the 6th Iptabr RGK there were only about 11% of the number of cars assigned to it by the state, and there were no tractors at all. The 11th Iptabr RGK, due to the lack of means of traction, could only use 3 divisions IZ 11. In the 636th artillery regiment of the 9th Iptabr of the RGK for 68 guns, there were only 15 tractors and cars.

The very first battles with the tank formations of the Wehrmacht revealed a new mental illness of the soldiers of the Red Army - a disease called "tank fear". Numerous stories of retreating soldiers about the power and large number of German tanks, capable of, in a short time, suddenly, to produce envelopes - "pincers * and encirclement - * cauldrons *," made an indelible impression on those who were going to the front.

The headquarters of the High Command in the last decade of June made a decision on the formation of separate anti-tank artillery regiments of the RGK for state number 04/133 (wartime) with a total number of 1,551 people without a school for junior command personnel, divisions of 107-mm guns and air defense. From June 30, 1941, according to the directives of the General Staff of the Red Army, the formation of such regiments began in Orlovsky (the 753rd ap readiness period is by the morning of July 7, the 761st ap readiness period is by July 7, the 7b5th ap. Readiness period is August 15) and Kharkiv ("64th ap. Date of readiness by August 15) military districts. Difficulties with staffing with the materiel led to the fact that in order to accelerate the formation of directives of the General Staff of the Red Army No. 71 / org and 72 / org of July 18, 1911, all four The regiments were reorganized on a paid basis in the composition of five 4-gun battalions of 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. They were named "PTO artillery regiments".

Units were sent to form anti-tank artillery regiments air defense, which had 76- and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. So, the 509th anti-aircraft artillery regiment (commander - Major V.A.Gerasimov) met the beginning of the war as part of the 4th Air Defense Division in Lvov. The regiment's batteries on the outskirts of the city destroyed at least 11 enemy aircraft. After numerous battles, the regiment on July 7, 1941 concentrated in the Ignatopol camps near Korosten. where on July 8 it was reorganized into the 509th anti-tank artillery regiment (since 1942 - the 3rd guards artillery anti-tank regiment).

By Decree GKOK No 172ss of July 16, 1941 "On the Mozhaisk Defense Line", the commander of the Moscow Military District, Lieutenant General P. Artemyev, was allowed to withdraw 200 85-mm guns from the Moscow air defense system and form 10 lightweight artillery (anti-tank regiments (five batteries in each regiment.) The minimum readiness period of these regiments (Nos. 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876. 877, 878.879, 880) was set - July 18-20.

Decree of GKO # 735ss of October 5, 1941 “On the formation of 24 anti-tank defense regiments. armed with 85 mm and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns - to strengthen the anti-tank defense of the army of the Western Front, it was ordered to form 4 artillery anti-tank regiments at the expense of the 1st Air Defense Corps, which covered the capital from the air. Each regiment consisted of 8 - 85-mm and 8 - 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, the readiness date was set on October 6. In addition, but by the same decree, another 20 NTO artillery regiments of the same composition, but with the possibility of replacing 37-mm anti-aircraft guns with 45-mm anti-tank ones, were formed in the Moscow military district. The date of readiness of the first six regiments was set on the 8th. the next four by the 10th and the remaining ten by the 15th of October.
On the Leningrad Direction, to strengthen and support the ground forces, the 2nd Air Defense Corps on July 5, 1941 allocated 100 anti-aircraft guns with the best crews and sent them to the anti-tank defense. By order of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front on August 11, 115.189.194 and 351st anti-aircraft artillery regiments additionally formed four anti-tank battalions and sent them to the anti-tank defense in the Southern Fortified Region.

All further formations of anti-tank defense regiments were carried out in 4 or 6-battery composition. The number of batteries in a regiment was determined mainly by the availability of the material part at the time of formation, as well as by the desire to experimentally find out the most advantageous form of organization of the regiment. It was believed that a regiment of such a composition is maneuverable, easy to control, it is easier to staff, materiel and personnel due to its small size.

In total, in 1941 it was normalized and sent to the front, according to some sources - 72, according to others - at least 90 artillery regiments of NTO. In addition, in the Leningrad military district in July 1941, the 14th artillery anti-tank brigade of two field strengths was formed, which also took part in hostilities on the Northern (later Leningrad) front.

The experience of the first battles showed. that the anti-tank brigades of the RGK are a powerful means of fighting tanks. At the same time, they also had drawbacks - the difficulty of managing units and subunits, cumbersome organizational structure... Numerous command links (brigade - regiment - division - battery) did not allow to quickly and timely bring information to the performers, process it in a short time, making decisions in a timely manner. The maneuverable nature of the slaughterhouses gave rise to rapid changes in the situation and in the balance of forces and equipment in certain sectors of the front. The success of repelling enemy tank attacks largely depended on the continuous control of brigade units and subunits on speed
their maneuver to threatened areas and the timely opening of fire.

The brigade organization of the anti-tank artillery made it difficult to fulfill these requirements. The regiments of anti-tank brigades, as a rule, operated separately and often at a considerable distance from one another, which not only made it difficult for the brigade commander to control them, but sometimes completely excluded him. At the same time, the regiment commander found it very difficult to control the actions of the six divisions. The brigades, having taken on the first blows of German tanks, disappeared in the crucible of battles of the first year of the war: the 1st - in September as part of the 5th Army of the South-Western Front, the 2nd - in August as part of the 12th Army of the Southern Front, 3rd - in August as part of the 6th Army of the Southern Front, 1st - in November as part of the 18th Army of the Southern Front 5th - in October as part of the 40th Army of the Southwestern Front, 6, 7 and 8th - in June-July as part of the Western Front. 9th - in September as part of the 11th Army of the North-Western Front and 10th in October as part of the North-Western Front.

In the military anti-tank artillery, in connection with the large losses of 45-mm guns, four times overlapping the receipts from industry, as well as the formation of a significant number of new rifle and cavalry divisions, it was decided to reduce the number of 45-mm guns in rifle divisions. On July 29, 19-11, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR approved the new staff of the rifle division No. 04/600 (wartime), to which the newly formed divisions and divisions recovering from battles were transferred. Therefore, the payment was completely excluded - a platoon of 45-mm guns of a rifle battalion and a separate artillery battalion of 45-mm guns of a rifle division. In total, the rifle division had 18 45-mm guns instead of 54 in the pre-war state. In the cavalry, in July 1941, a new staff of light cavalry division No. 07/3 (wartime) was introduced, according to which the number of cavalry regiments was reduced to three, and 45 mm guns in each regiment - to two. Thus, the cavalry division had only 6 45-mm guns instead of 16 according to the pre-war state. According to such headquarters, 81 cavalry divisions were formed there in 1911.

To some extent, the decrease in the number of anti-tank guns was offset by the start of production in October and the arrival at the front in November of the anti-tank rifles of Simonov and Degtyarev. However, at first, the design of anti-tank rifles went with big problems... It got to the point that on August 10, 1941, by order of GOKO No. 453ss at the Tula Arms Plant, the German 7.92-mm anti-tank rifle was put into production, and by order of GOKO No. 661ss of September 11, an anti-tank cartridge of caliber 7 .92- was adopted by the Red Army. mm.

The staff of a separate rifle brigade No. 04/730 (wartime) of October 15, 1941 included a separate three-battery anti-tank division (12- 57th anti-tank guns of the 1941 model (ZIS-2)). On December 6, 1941, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR approved the next staff of rifle division No. 04/750 (wartime), in which a company of anti-tank rifles (27 anti-tank rifles), a battery of 45-mm cannons (6 guns ") were introduced into the rifle regiment, and the division was also restored a separate anti-tank division (12 - 57-mm guns. 8 anti-tank rifles.) In total, according to the new state, the division had 12 - 57-mm, 18-45-mm guns and 89 anti-tank rifles.
As of January 1, 1942, the active army and the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters had: one artillery brigade. 57 artillery regiments and two separate anti-tank artillery battalions. They were on the following fronts:
- Leningradsky - 14 abbr PTO, 1.2. 3.4. 5, 6.7, b90ap PTO;
- Volkhovsky - 884 apt VET;
- North-West - 171.698, 759 ap PTO);
- Kalininsky - 873 ap. 213 OADN VET;
- Western- 289.296, 304, 316.483.509.533, 540.551.593.600.610.6-I, 694, 703, 766.768.863.868.869.871.989.992 ap, 275 oadn PTO:
- Bryansk - 569.1002 ap PTO;
- South-West - 338.582, 591, 595, 651.738.760. 76-1 ap PTO,
- Southern - 186.521.530.558.665.727.754. 756 apt VET:
- 7th Separate Army - 514 anti-tank guns; Reserve rate of the VGK - 702.765 an IITO.

More than 30 anti-tank regiments were lost in the first year of the war. The previous numbers of the disbanded or reorganized artillery regiments of the PTO are known - 18.24, 39.79,117.121.197.367.395.421.452.453,455. 525, 559.598.603, 689, 696, 697.699.700, 704, 753.758, 761, 872, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, 879, 880.885th and the regiment of Major Bogdanov of Leningradsky front.

For skillful military operations, by order of the NKO of the USSR No. 4 of January 8, 1942, five artillery regiments of the NTO of the Western and one regiment of the South-Western fronts were transformed into guards; 289, 296, 509, 760, 304, 871st respectively in 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6th Guards.

The release of the required number of 76-mm F-22USV cannons made it possible to replace 85-mm anti-aircraft guns with them in anti-tank artillery units. By Decree of GKOK No. GKO-1530SS dated April 3, 1942 - On the replacement and removal of 85 mm anti-aircraft guns from the anti-tank regiments of the fronts * during April 1942, 272 guns were withdrawn from the fronts:
- West - 98,
- Kalininsky-20,
- Northwest - 6,
- Volkhovsky - 10.
- Crimean - 8,
- South-80.
- Southwest-42.
- 7th Separate Army - 8.

All these guns were transferred to the Moscow Air Defense Corps, and in return from the industry they will receive the same number of USV guns in April. A little later, by a new resolution of GKOK No. 1541 dated April 5, 1942, “On strengthening the air defense of the mountains. Moscow, in order to strengthen the air defense of the capital, was required to transfer at the expense of the anti-tank artillery regiments of the fronts another 100 85-mm anti-aircraft guns in April, and another 80 guns in May 1942.

On April 3, 1942, GKO decree # 1531ss began the formation of 20 artillery regiments of the RGK (20 76-mm F-22USV cannons in each) with a readiness period of April 25 (10 regiments) and May 10, 1942.
By the decree of GKOK No. GKO-1607ss dated April 16, 1942 "On the organization, staffing and armament of the fighter brigade", new anti-tank formations of the combined-arms type began to form - separate fighter brigades (onbr). According to the approved organization, the brig included:
a). Brigade management (with a communications platoon and a motorcycle platoon);
b). Two anti-tank battalions (72 1GGR in each);
v). Anti-tank artillery regiment (four batteries of 76-mm ZIS-3 cannons (the People's Commissariat of Defense proposed F-22USV cannons in the draft resolution, but with the hand and red pencil of I.V. Stalin in the text of the Resolution -USV- it was corrected to * ZIS-3 * -
Approx. authors), three batteries of 45-mm guns, one battery of 37-mm anti-aircraft guns):
G). Separate mine engineering battalion;
e). A separate tank battalion (21 T-34 tanks, 11 T-60 or T-70 tanks);
e). A separate company of machine gunners (100 people);
g). A separate mortar division (8 -82 mm and 4 - 120-mm mortars).

In total, the fighter brigade had 1 ~ 9S men. 453 submachine guns, 10 light machine guns. 144 anti-tank rifles. 4 37 mm anti-aircraft guns. 12-45mm anti-tank guns, 16-76mm ZIS-3 guns, 8-82mm and 4 120mm mortars, 33 tanks, 193 cars and 22 motorcycles.

The decree instructed the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense to form "25 fighter brigades with a term - the first five by May 5. ten by May 20 and ten by June 28, 1942. In the Red Army, separate fighter brigades were kept according to states number 0 4/270 - 04/276 (wartime).

The next decree No. GOKO-1901 ss dated June 8, 1942 introduced a new organization of anti-tank formations. Twelve formed fighter brigades were united into four fighter divisions (id) of three brigades each. The division was formed:
- in the Moscow military district - 1st and 2nd; in the Volga Military District - 3rd;
- in the Ural Military District - 4th. Fighter divisions were supposed
use: 1st - on the South-West, 2nd - on the Bryansk, 3rd - on the Western and 4th - on the Kalinin fronts.

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Data source: quote from the journal "Front illustration for 2003-5" "Anti-tank artillery of the Red Army"