PPSh system "Fiery hedgehog"

Towards the end of World War II, the Tupolev Design Bureau designed and built samples of Tu-2Sh attack aircraft with unusual weapons. The base for them was the Tu-2C. The main innovation is the PPSh battery. But these aircraft did not go into mass production.

Creation of a battery of automata on an assault aircraft
1944 year. The head of the armament department, A. Nadashkevich, and the chief engineer, S. Savelyev, from the Tupolev Design Bureau, suggest combining the submachine guns of the designer G. Shpagin into one battery and using it on assault aircraft to destroy enemy infantry units. PCA was installed on a platform designed for this. Such a system is called the “Fiery hedgehog”. In total, 88 PCA units were installed on the platform (11 rows of 8 submachine guns). Each of these was provided by a 71 magazine with 7.62-mm ammunition. The platform was mounted in the bomb bay of the aircraft. To install the PPS battery, they chose the Tu-2C assault bomber. For the production of assault fire, the pilot opened the bomb bay and, with the help of a special objective, fired at the enemy’s infantry. To produce a recharge, the platform with the PPSH battery was lowered by cables down from the compartment.

The decision to put PPSh batteries on two Tu-2S aircraft was approved at a meeting in 1944 at the head marshal aviation A. Novikova. A decade after the meeting, Tupolev turned to the Air Force Gen. A. Repin for the allocation of 180 PPSh design bureaus in 1941. They asked for disk shops for each PPSh and full ammunition, which amounted to 15 thousand rounds. In 1946, the PPSh “fire hedgehog” battery created on the platform successfully passed field flight and combat tests. The battery "fire hedgehog" has confirmed its effectiveness - dense fire at the chosen target. But the main disadvantages - the short duration of use and the need for ground reloading - outweighed all the advantages. The result was to achieve the specified requirements, namely to effectively defeat the enemy infantry units, they decided to use small-caliber cluster bombs. This was the only aircraft in the world that used a large number of barrels on board.

The weight of one PCA with 5.3 ammunition, the weight of all PCA in a battery is 466 kilogram. The weight of the PPSH battery on the 550 platform is 600 kilogram. Due to the small lifting weight of the aircraft of those times (in 40-50 years, it was somewhere 1.5-3 tons), and yet it was necessary to take on other weapons, to place on board the aircraft a large number of heavy machine guns was not possible. The same applies to the system of continuous supply of ammunition. The idea of ​​implementing such a system is not new, the Americans created an experimental JL-1921 aircraft back in 12.

The assault aircraft was armed with an 30 PP "Thompson" caliber .45 ACP. Submachine guns on it were two batteries. One battery in the 12 PP was installed for firing forward, the other in 16 PP for firing back, the 2PP was installed on the turret in the cockpit. But during the tests, the same problem as with the Fiery Hedgehog was revealed - a tedious and long ground recharge. And the effectiveness of pistol ammunition was extremely low.

Sources of:
http://alternathistory.org.ua

Comments

[islandpan]

interesting, informative

[Civil]

Vietnamese ganship prototype

[schta]

PPSh rate - 15 rounds per second (approximately). Shop for 71 rounds. As a result, all 5 trunks are emptied in 88 seconds, theoretically mowing all living things. After 5 seconds of fire, the aircraft is not needed.
Question: Is it effective? Life has shown that no. Although the idea was interesting.

[Brother Sarych]

Initially a crazy idea - what problem will this installation solve?
PPSh shoots with pistol bullets, the range of guaranteed destruction is limited, the penetrative effect of the bullet is weak - and why should this be piled on an airplane? Do you have extra cartridges from the country?
Yes, if you need to shoot a column of refugees - that's it! And against an armed enemy - utter stupidity ...

[urzul]

Wehrmacht supply columns, and as for the breakdown and distance, the planes then flew very low to attack

[urzul]

The idea was interesting and effective, but had a big minus, this is the reload speed

[laurbalaur]

Gunsmiths have the ultimate task of reloading ammunition! As for the layout, the Germans experimented with guns mounted at an up and down angle to shoot the B-17x. This device was called schrage musik!

[Glenn witcher]

Up and forward. Back aim uncomfortable.

[dred]

the installation is the dullest. First rounds eats a lot. Secondly, the range of pistol cartridges is low. The efficiency is also low.

[SIA]

Congratulations! You got out of the negative rating, keep it up.

[Region71]

My uncle took part in the delivery of goods to the territory of North Vietnam during the US-Vietnamese conflict. So he told me that in Vietnam there was a shortage of air defense systems and a kind of air defense system was used to combat low-flying aircraft. A lot of small trenches were dug near the port, in concrete rings were inserted into them, like wells, and Vietnamese soldiers, mostly women and teenagers armed with PPSh, were located in the trenches. During a raid, they opened tight obstructive fire. ships, only in the field of visibility were counted under a hundred such trenches.

[Brother Sarych]

Are you sure of the PCA? Something is somehow a little to be believed in it, if even from AK or SKS, even better from machine guns ...
It’s unlikely that even a WWI biplane from PPSh will be damaged if it flies above two hundred meters ...

[Region71]

I’m absolutely sure that I’ve heard and tell you. For an aircraft attacking at an altitude of less than a hundred meters, it’s enough. The rate of fire and the number of trunks are important. Even if the damage from such shooting was small, it might have a psychological effect. Imagine yourself as a pilot, aside an airplane which carries a tracer from several dozen trunks with a rate of fire of 1000 rounds per minute. Already not an uncle's story, but read somewhere that in Vietnam low-flying planes shot down from a sling. Americans often flew along the same route. All the villagers left when when approaching, stones were thrown from the sling, hit in the air intake and hello earth. By the way, the destruction of several jet aircraft was documented in this way.

[Brother Sarych]

Actually, there were stories that some uncle knocked down a Phantom from a bow, like he got into an open window - you didn't take it seriously, I hope?
As far as I know, but below 100 meters in Vietnam, planes did not fly, a little higher ...
About the slings, it’s generally fun - they would even have thought that they climbed onto each other’s shoulders and tried to spit the windshield of the plane ...
There were photos of people in the hatches, but honestly, I can’t remember the PCA in their hands ...

[snek]

Quote: Region71

I read somewhere that in Vietnam low-flying planes shot down from a sling. Americans often flew along the same route. All the villagers left, when approaching, they started throwing stones from a sling, getting into the air intake and hello to the ground. By the way, the destruction of several jet aircraft was documented in this way.

Recalled

[urzul]

PPSh has an aiming range of fire of bursts of 200m due to the cartridge 7,62 TT

[755962]

The designer of THIS had to be given the Shnobel Prize. It was a pity that it did not exist at that time.

[Brummbar]

As the saying goes, fiction is a trick.

[wasjasibirjac]

what kind of goal? the year of creation of this prodigy was 1944. at the fronts there is already saturation with automatic weapons, there is an excess of such projections. understandably. that they wanted to increase firepower. it would be better if the ShKAS were built on the same principle - and the rate of fire is higher, the rifle cartridge - a decent range. another question is how to aim IT at the enemy? attack aircraft speed - 400-500 km / h, i.e. 110-130 m / s, once - and already flew past the target, they are also looking down. so thank the Soviet designers that IT was not allowed into the series

[Bandera]

Some kind of hypertrophied weapons.
It’s better to drop a high-explosive fragmentation bomb of a similar weight. Than recharge, clean, etc.

[Castor oil]

Almost a volley fire system))))

[brr1]

Probably the goal was to litter the fascist forums. Make them "divide by zero". Such a kind of demotivator, sample 44.

[Alexanat]

The effectiveness of this system is zero. The Germans covered their columns on the march of the MZA with 20,37-mm guns. Decreasing to the aiming range of the TU-2 came under anti-aircraft fire

[Commissariat employee]

Interesting! Never heard of this.