85 mm antitank gun D-48
Encyclopedia
The 85-mm antitank gun D-48 was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 85-mm calibre antitank gun used after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was designed as the replacement for the 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3). Distinguishing features of the D-48 include a very long barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....

 and a pepper-pot Muzzle brake
Muzzle brake
Muzzle brakes and recoil compensators are devices that are fitted to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire...

. The D-48 was itself replaced in the 1960s by the T-12 antitank gun
T-12 antitank gun
2A19 or T-12 is a Soviet smoothbore 100-mm anti-tank gun, which served as the main Eastern Bloc towed anti-tank gun from 1955 until the late 1980s.-History:The T-12 entered service in 1955, replacing the BS-3 100 mm field gun...

.

Overview

The gun was designed by the F. F. Petrov Design Bureau on the basis of the D-44 85-mm divisional gun
85 mm divisional gun D-44
The 85-mm divisional gun D-44 was a Soviet divisional 85-mm calibre field artillery gun used after World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 . The gun is no longer in front-line service with the Russian Ground Forces, although some 200 of the Chinese Type...

 and production of the D-48 began in 1953 at the No. 75 factory in Yurga
Yurga
Yurga is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: It was founded in 1886. Work settlement status was granted to it in 1942; town status was granted in 1949....

. The D-48 used the breechblock
Breechblock
A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing....

 from the BS-3 100-mm field gun in order to achieve a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute at maximum cadence. The gun can transition from march to combat order in about two minutes.

The D-48N was a version with an APN 2-77 or 3-77 infrared imaging device fitted for night combat. A licensed version of the D-48 was produced in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 as the Type 60.

The gun fires a high velocity armor-piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...

 tracer (HVAP-T) BR-372 Projectile
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....

 at 1040 meters per second and can penetrate 185mm of armor
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...

 at a range of 1000 meters at an angle of obliquity of 90 degrees. The 3BK-7 high explosive antitank (HEAT) projectile can penetrate 192mm of armor at an angle of obliquity of 60 degrees. The effective range of armor-piercing shells for the D-48 is 1,230 meters (HVAP-T) or 940 meters (HEAT). Additionally, the D-48 antitank gun is capable of firing a 9.66 kilogram OF-372 high explosive projectile to a direct fire range of 1,200 meters or an indirect fire range of 18.97 kilometers. The Ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 for the D-48 was developed by necking down 100-mm ammunition in order to achieve higher muzzle velocities.

The gun is towed by a URAL-375D
Ural-375D
The Ural-375D is a general purpose 4.5 ton 6x6 truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in the Russian SFSR since 1961. The ZIL-157 was the standard Soviet truck until it was replaced by the Ural-375D, which became the standard Soviet truck in 1979. The Ural-375D was soon replaced by the...

truck or an AT-P tractor with a maximum towing speed over asphalt roadway of about 60km/h. The tires on the D-48 are those of the ZIS-5 truck.

Designs with auxiliary power units were also investigated but never developed beyond prototype stage.
Performance of D-48 and comparable weapons
Effectiveness against rolled homogeneous armor
Weapon Muzzle Velocity, meters per second Penetration in mm
85 mm D-48 (firing BR-372) 1040 185 (at 90º, range 1000 meters)
8.8 cm PaK 43 (firing PzGr 40/43) 1130 193 (at 60º, range 1000 meters)
90 mm M3 (firing M304) 1021 195 (at 60º, range 914 meters)
These data are not directly comparable as various measurement methods are used.
They are, however, illustrative of the relative performance of the weapons.

Use by other nations

The D-48 has been exported to Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Congo, India, North Korea, Mongolia, Mozambique, Romania, Somalia, Sudan, and Vietnam.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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