Soviet experienced self-propelled artillery installation K-73 (ASU-57P)
At the end of the Second World War in the USSR, the development of new types of equipment and weapons for the airborne troops was widely launched. If we consider the armored vehicles, then the main focus of work was the creation of anti-tank SAU. Among the first, this task was attempted by the OKB IC SV (Special Design Bureau under the Engineering Committee of the Ground Forces), headed by Anatoly Fedorovich Kravtsev.
History create
ASU-57P (internal designation K-73) - a floating airborne assault aircraft was developed under the guidance of A. Kravtsev. in the Design Bureau of the Engineering Committee in parallel with the K-75 BTR. The Moscow Military Repair Plant No. 2, GBTU, in 1949, produced two prototypes of the K-73 ACS. The first of them was intended for running trials (including trials afloat), the second - for artillery trials, which took place at the GNIAP GAU. Designed, however, was not implemented in the metal, the variant ACS-57PT, which is intended, among other things, for towing artillery systems. ACS K-73 could parachute on the platform by parachute method separately from the crew or glider Yak-14 landing method.
Chassis
Case ACS-57P consisted of armor plates, which are interconnected by means of riveting. For the manufacture of frontal and side hull sheets used armored steel with a thickness from 4 to 8 millimeters. The thickness of the duralumin bottom was 3 millimeter. To reduce the mass of the ACS, the rear vertical wall and fences were also made of 1,5-millimeter duralumin. In the forward part of the hull, the dural deflector plate was installed, which turned and pressed against the hull while on land. All hatches of the sealing machine were fitted with rubber gaskets. On the rear wall of the hull to reduce the ingress of atmospheric air into the post-screw jet of water, there was a rotary shield of the propeller, made of duralumin and lowered when entering the water.
The open type ACS-57П case was divided into three compartments. The engine compartment was located in the front of the case. In the open rear part of the hull (if necessary, closed with a tarpaulin) were located: the department of management (to the right of the gun) where there was a driver-mechanic and a fighting department (jobs of the gunner-commander and loader) The engine compartment was separated from the combat compartment and the partition control compartment.
weaponry
Main weapon The ACS K-73 is a threaded H-51 gun of caliber 57 mm, unified on ammunition and ballistics with anti-tank gun ZIS-2. The gun was installed in the wheelhouse in a welded special frame and equipped with an effective slotted muzzle brake, which significantly reduced recoil (especially important when firing from water). The gun relative to the longitudinal axis of the self-propelled gun was shifted to 100 mm to the left. The height of the line of fire - 1160 mm. The maximum range of the shot was - 6000 m, direct - 1250 m. Target rate of fire - 7 shots per minute. Ammunition (30 shots) consisted of armor (53-271-BR, -271K, -271M, -271SP), piercing (53-BR-271P, -271N) and fragmentation (53-O-271U, -271ZH) shells . The piercing projectile had an initial speed of 1158 m / s. An SG-43 7,62 mm caliber machine gun with an 400 ammunition ammunition was paired with a cannon. Alignment of the coupled installation was carried out with the help of mechanisms with manual transmission. In the stowed position, the gun X-51 was attached with a special stopper and struts. Disengagement was carried out with a cable drive from the place of the self-propelled gun commander. The SAU also included a PNP 7,62-mm submachine gun (315 ammunition), a SSPN signal pistol (8 signal ammunition) and 8 F-1 hand grenades were housed in two structures.
Surveillance and communication devices, electrical equipment
The twin artillery installation was guided by the telescopic sight OP2-8. At the workplace of the self-propelled commander in the side and frontal sheets of the hull, observation slots were made to observe the terrain. For negotiations between crew members used tank Intercom TPU-47. For external radio communications, the radio station 10-RT-12 was used.
Electrical equipment ACS K-73 was performed by a single-wire circuit. The on-board network with voltage 12 B. The sources of electricity were the GT-1500 generator and a pair of ZSTE-100 batteries. To extinguish the fire in self-propelled guns, the OU-2 carbon dioxide fire extinguisher could be used.
Engine and transmission
The power plant was borrowed from GAZ-51H. Its six-cylinder carburetor engine, fuel supply, cooling, lubrication and starting systems were used. To the left of the engine, a fuel tank of duralumin was installed protected by special 8-mm rubber. 70-strong engine provided maximum speed on land 54 km / h, afloat - 7,8 km / h. To start the engine used electric starter. Ignition system - battery. To facilitate engine start-up at low temperatures, the GAZ-51 car borrowed a boiler-heater.
While the vehicle was moving overland, the air cooled by the radiator entered through an air intake hatch, made above the radiator in front of the roof of the hull. From the engine compartment, air was vented by means of a fan through air ducts with louvers. While overcoming water obstacles, the air intake hatch was hermetically sealed with flaps, and the air ducts were raised to prevent ingress of seawater. In this case, the air intake for cooling the engine and engine compartment was carried out by a fan from the fighting compartment.
The mechanical transmission consisted of the main friction of dry friction (steel on ferrodo); four-speed three-way gearbox; main gear; two side clutches with belt floating brakes; two single-stage final drives; main and onboard driveshafts. The main friction clutch, gearbox (except for the hub of the box shaft), as well as the hinges of the drive shafts were borrowed from the GAZ-51.
While driving on the water, the driver controlled the ACS K-73 using the steering wheel. In this case, through a drive in the horizontal plane, a three-blade propeller was mounted on the rotary outer part of the shaft line, which was mounted on the rear wall of the self-propelled gun body. The deviation of the shafting provided a working angle of rotation in 24 degrees. The outer part of the shafting and the screw when moving overland were removed in the spec. niche, made in the rear wall of the case on the left (in the direction of travel).
Chassis
For ACS-57P developed a new chassis. Suspension - individual, torsion. The caterpillar drive (on one side) consisted of a fine-track crawler belt with pin gearing, three support rollers with external damping, a guide wheel and a cast drive wheel of aft location. Aft rollers were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers, the design of which was similar to the shock absorbers of the ZIS-110 vehicle.
Machine Evaluation
11 February 1950 The Minister of War of the USSR signed a decree ordering the conduct of the ASU-1P tests from 5 to 1950 in June 57 of the year at the NIIBT test site. The commission was headed by Major General of the tank-engineering service N.N. Alymov. (Deputy - Major General of Tank Forces Supyan BD). Colonel AF Kravtsev represented the engineering committee. Tests of ACS K-73 were carried out according to the program approved by the head of the GBTU.
The purpose of the test was:
- determination of the performance characteristics of the presented machine and their compliance with TTT;
- Evaluation of the design of the ACS and determination of the reliability of individual mechanisms and units, ease of maintenance, dismantling and installation, conducting preventive inspections;
- determination of the possibility of overcoming water obstacles from a course in various conditions of the coastal areas and shores;
- determining the effectiveness of fire on the move and from a place for various purposes, the rate of fire and ease of firing, the reliability of the installation of the artillery system, sighting devices, machine guns, the impact of the shot on stability, the impact on the crew of a muzzle wave.
Sea trials were conducted at the Polygon test base, floating tests were carried out on the Moskva River and the Pirogov Reservoir. During the tests, the ASU-57P passed a total of 1672 kilometers on land (500 km on the highway, 1102 km on unpaved roads, 70 km on the road) and 104 km afloat. Upon completion of the tests, the commission issued a conclusion that the ASU-57P prototype conformed to the specified tactical and technical requirements. The most significant deviations from the tactical and technical requirements were the excess of the mass of the ACS by 90 kg (instead of 3250 - 3340), the absence of a mechanical pump and an easily removable device that improves the permeability.
During the tests, it turned out that in terms of a number of parameters, the ACS-57P surpassed the last sample of this type - the ACS-57 of plant No. XXUMX. At the same time, the K-40 self-propelled artillery mount presented for testing had a number of production and design flaws that reduced its fighting qualities. The main ones were:
- insufficient tightness of the case;
- insufficient strength of the installation parts for the gun and ammunition;
- the possibility of penetration into the body of lead splashes and bullets through the embrasures of the cannon, sight and machine gun;
- the absence of a bevelled block for forward observation at the vehicle commander;
- low reliability of the V-belt transmission of the engine;
- the impossibility of straight motion afloat.
The Commission considered it appropriate, after eliminating the shortcomings and testing of the artillery unit, to manufacture the installation batch of the ACS-57P for military tests. Although data on artillery tests at GNIAP GAU could not be found, it is known that they were successful. The creators of ACS K-73 naturally expected that their car would be put into service. However, this did not happen. By the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers, it was decided to transfer all the design documentation and the prototype to the Design Bureau of the Moscow Metallurgical Plant, headed by N.A. Astrov. Since September 1951, the development of a floating modification of the ACS-57 has been carried out. A prototype of the floating self-propelled artillery installation "Object 574" was built in November 1952 year. One of the prototypes of ACS K-73 was transferred to the Military History Museum of armored weapons and equipment (Kubinka village), where it is being exhibited even now.
Performance characteristics:
Classification - landed anti-tank ACS;
Combat weight - 3400 kg;
Crew - 3 person;
Developer - OKB IC;
Years of production - 1949 g .;
Quantity released - 2 pcs .;
Dimensions:
Body length - 5355 mm;
The length of the ACS with the gun forward - mm 5580;
Case width - 2085 mm;
Height - mm 1510;
Track - 1970 mm;
Base - 1800 mm;
Clearance - 250 mm;
Booking:
Type of armor used - bulletproof;
The forehead of the body, the top sheet (angle) - 8 mm (42 degrees);
The forehead of the body, the middle sheet (angle) - 6 mm (25 degrees);
The forehead of the body, the bottom sheet (angle) - 4 mm (45 degrees);
Forehead felling - mm 6;
Chassis side - 4 mm;
Body Feed - 1,5 mm;
Bottom - 3 mm;
Armament:
Make and caliber of the gun - H-51, 57-mm;
Type of gun - rifled;
Barrel length - 80,5 calibers;
Ammunition - 30 shots;
Horizontal guidance angles - from -8 to + 8 degrees;
Vertical guidance angles - from -4,5 to + 15 degrees;
Firing range - up to 6000 m;
Sight - OP2-8;
Mark machine gun and caliber - SG-43, 7,62 mm;
Mobility:
Engine brand - GAZ-51;
Type - gasoline;
Volume - 3480 cm3;
Maximum power at 2800 rpm - 70 hp,
Maximum torque at 1500 rpm - 205 N • m;
Engine power - 70 l. with.;
Configuration - 6-cylinder, in-line;
The number of cycles (tact) - 4;
Cooling - liquid;
Highway speed - 54 km / h;
Cruising on the highway - 234 km;
Cruising over rough terrain - 134 km;
Speed afloat - 7,8 km / h;
Cruising afloat - 46 km;
Suspension - individual torsion bar;
Ground pressure is 0,475 kg / cm²;
Overcoming ditch - 1,4 m;
Breakable wall - 0,54 m;
Overcoming rise - 28 hail.
Based on materials:
http://www.dogswar.ru
http://tekhnogun.com
http://russianarms.mybb.ru
http://www.oboznik.ru
http://desantura.ru
History create
ASU-57P (internal designation K-73) - a floating airborne assault aircraft was developed under the guidance of A. Kravtsev. in the Design Bureau of the Engineering Committee in parallel with the K-75 BTR. The Moscow Military Repair Plant No. 2, GBTU, in 1949, produced two prototypes of the K-73 ACS. The first of them was intended for running trials (including trials afloat), the second - for artillery trials, which took place at the GNIAP GAU. Designed, however, was not implemented in the metal, the variant ACS-57PT, which is intended, among other things, for towing artillery systems. ACS K-73 could parachute on the platform by parachute method separately from the crew or glider Yak-14 landing method.
Chassis
Case ACS-57P consisted of armor plates, which are interconnected by means of riveting. For the manufacture of frontal and side hull sheets used armored steel with a thickness from 4 to 8 millimeters. The thickness of the duralumin bottom was 3 millimeter. To reduce the mass of the ACS, the rear vertical wall and fences were also made of 1,5-millimeter duralumin. In the forward part of the hull, the dural deflector plate was installed, which turned and pressed against the hull while on land. All hatches of the sealing machine were fitted with rubber gaskets. On the rear wall of the hull to reduce the ingress of atmospheric air into the post-screw jet of water, there was a rotary shield of the propeller, made of duralumin and lowered when entering the water.
The open type ACS-57П case was divided into three compartments. The engine compartment was located in the front of the case. In the open rear part of the hull (if necessary, closed with a tarpaulin) were located: the department of management (to the right of the gun) where there was a driver-mechanic and a fighting department (jobs of the gunner-commander and loader) The engine compartment was separated from the combat compartment and the partition control compartment.
weaponry
Main weapon The ACS K-73 is a threaded H-51 gun of caliber 57 mm, unified on ammunition and ballistics with anti-tank gun ZIS-2. The gun was installed in the wheelhouse in a welded special frame and equipped with an effective slotted muzzle brake, which significantly reduced recoil (especially important when firing from water). The gun relative to the longitudinal axis of the self-propelled gun was shifted to 100 mm to the left. The height of the line of fire - 1160 mm. The maximum range of the shot was - 6000 m, direct - 1250 m. Target rate of fire - 7 shots per minute. Ammunition (30 shots) consisted of armor (53-271-BR, -271K, -271M, -271SP), piercing (53-BR-271P, -271N) and fragmentation (53-O-271U, -271ZH) shells . The piercing projectile had an initial speed of 1158 m / s. An SG-43 7,62 mm caliber machine gun with an 400 ammunition ammunition was paired with a cannon. Alignment of the coupled installation was carried out with the help of mechanisms with manual transmission. In the stowed position, the gun X-51 was attached with a special stopper and struts. Disengagement was carried out with a cable drive from the place of the self-propelled gun commander. The SAU also included a PNP 7,62-mm submachine gun (315 ammunition), a SSPN signal pistol (8 signal ammunition) and 8 F-1 hand grenades were housed in two structures.
Surveillance and communication devices, electrical equipment
The twin artillery installation was guided by the telescopic sight OP2-8. At the workplace of the self-propelled commander in the side and frontal sheets of the hull, observation slots were made to observe the terrain. For negotiations between crew members used tank Intercom TPU-47. For external radio communications, the radio station 10-RT-12 was used.
Electrical equipment ACS K-73 was performed by a single-wire circuit. The on-board network with voltage 12 B. The sources of electricity were the GT-1500 generator and a pair of ZSTE-100 batteries. To extinguish the fire in self-propelled guns, the OU-2 carbon dioxide fire extinguisher could be used.
Engine and transmission
The power plant was borrowed from GAZ-51H. Its six-cylinder carburetor engine, fuel supply, cooling, lubrication and starting systems were used. To the left of the engine, a fuel tank of duralumin was installed protected by special 8-mm rubber. 70-strong engine provided maximum speed on land 54 km / h, afloat - 7,8 km / h. To start the engine used electric starter. Ignition system - battery. To facilitate engine start-up at low temperatures, the GAZ-51 car borrowed a boiler-heater.
While the vehicle was moving overland, the air cooled by the radiator entered through an air intake hatch, made above the radiator in front of the roof of the hull. From the engine compartment, air was vented by means of a fan through air ducts with louvers. While overcoming water obstacles, the air intake hatch was hermetically sealed with flaps, and the air ducts were raised to prevent ingress of seawater. In this case, the air intake for cooling the engine and engine compartment was carried out by a fan from the fighting compartment.
The mechanical transmission consisted of the main friction of dry friction (steel on ferrodo); four-speed three-way gearbox; main gear; two side clutches with belt floating brakes; two single-stage final drives; main and onboard driveshafts. The main friction clutch, gearbox (except for the hub of the box shaft), as well as the hinges of the drive shafts were borrowed from the GAZ-51.
While driving on the water, the driver controlled the ACS K-73 using the steering wheel. In this case, through a drive in the horizontal plane, a three-blade propeller was mounted on the rotary outer part of the shaft line, which was mounted on the rear wall of the self-propelled gun body. The deviation of the shafting provided a working angle of rotation in 24 degrees. The outer part of the shafting and the screw when moving overland were removed in the spec. niche, made in the rear wall of the case on the left (in the direction of travel).
Chassis
For ACS-57P developed a new chassis. Suspension - individual, torsion. The caterpillar drive (on one side) consisted of a fine-track crawler belt with pin gearing, three support rollers with external damping, a guide wheel and a cast drive wheel of aft location. Aft rollers were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers, the design of which was similar to the shock absorbers of the ZIS-110 vehicle.
Machine Evaluation
11 February 1950 The Minister of War of the USSR signed a decree ordering the conduct of the ASU-1P tests from 5 to 1950 in June 57 of the year at the NIIBT test site. The commission was headed by Major General of the tank-engineering service N.N. Alymov. (Deputy - Major General of Tank Forces Supyan BD). Colonel AF Kravtsev represented the engineering committee. Tests of ACS K-73 were carried out according to the program approved by the head of the GBTU.
The purpose of the test was:
- determination of the performance characteristics of the presented machine and their compliance with TTT;
- Evaluation of the design of the ACS and determination of the reliability of individual mechanisms and units, ease of maintenance, dismantling and installation, conducting preventive inspections;
- determination of the possibility of overcoming water obstacles from a course in various conditions of the coastal areas and shores;
- determining the effectiveness of fire on the move and from a place for various purposes, the rate of fire and ease of firing, the reliability of the installation of the artillery system, sighting devices, machine guns, the impact of the shot on stability, the impact on the crew of a muzzle wave.
Sea trials were conducted at the Polygon test base, floating tests were carried out on the Moskva River and the Pirogov Reservoir. During the tests, the ASU-57P passed a total of 1672 kilometers on land (500 km on the highway, 1102 km on unpaved roads, 70 km on the road) and 104 km afloat. Upon completion of the tests, the commission issued a conclusion that the ASU-57P prototype conformed to the specified tactical and technical requirements. The most significant deviations from the tactical and technical requirements were the excess of the mass of the ACS by 90 kg (instead of 3250 - 3340), the absence of a mechanical pump and an easily removable device that improves the permeability.
During the tests, it turned out that in terms of a number of parameters, the ACS-57P surpassed the last sample of this type - the ACS-57 of plant No. XXUMX. At the same time, the K-40 self-propelled artillery mount presented for testing had a number of production and design flaws that reduced its fighting qualities. The main ones were:
- insufficient tightness of the case;
- insufficient strength of the installation parts for the gun and ammunition;
- the possibility of penetration into the body of lead splashes and bullets through the embrasures of the cannon, sight and machine gun;
- the absence of a bevelled block for forward observation at the vehicle commander;
- low reliability of the V-belt transmission of the engine;
- the impossibility of straight motion afloat.
The Commission considered it appropriate, after eliminating the shortcomings and testing of the artillery unit, to manufacture the installation batch of the ACS-57P for military tests. Although data on artillery tests at GNIAP GAU could not be found, it is known that they were successful. The creators of ACS K-73 naturally expected that their car would be put into service. However, this did not happen. By the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers, it was decided to transfer all the design documentation and the prototype to the Design Bureau of the Moscow Metallurgical Plant, headed by N.A. Astrov. Since September 1951, the development of a floating modification of the ACS-57 has been carried out. A prototype of the floating self-propelled artillery installation "Object 574" was built in November 1952 year. One of the prototypes of ACS K-73 was transferred to the Military History Museum of armored weapons and equipment (Kubinka village), where it is being exhibited even now.
Performance characteristics:
Classification - landed anti-tank ACS;
Combat weight - 3400 kg;
Crew - 3 person;
Developer - OKB IC;
Years of production - 1949 g .;
Quantity released - 2 pcs .;
Dimensions:
Body length - 5355 mm;
The length of the ACS with the gun forward - mm 5580;
Case width - 2085 mm;
Height - mm 1510;
Track - 1970 mm;
Base - 1800 mm;
Clearance - 250 mm;
Booking:
Type of armor used - bulletproof;
The forehead of the body, the top sheet (angle) - 8 mm (42 degrees);
The forehead of the body, the middle sheet (angle) - 6 mm (25 degrees);
The forehead of the body, the bottom sheet (angle) - 4 mm (45 degrees);
Forehead felling - mm 6;
Chassis side - 4 mm;
Body Feed - 1,5 mm;
Bottom - 3 mm;
Armament:
Make and caliber of the gun - H-51, 57-mm;
Type of gun - rifled;
Barrel length - 80,5 calibers;
Ammunition - 30 shots;
Horizontal guidance angles - from -8 to + 8 degrees;
Vertical guidance angles - from -4,5 to + 15 degrees;
Firing range - up to 6000 m;
Sight - OP2-8;
Mark machine gun and caliber - SG-43, 7,62 mm;
Mobility:
Engine brand - GAZ-51;
Type - gasoline;
Volume - 3480 cm3;
Maximum power at 2800 rpm - 70 hp,
Maximum torque at 1500 rpm - 205 N • m;
Engine power - 70 l. with.;
Configuration - 6-cylinder, in-line;
The number of cycles (tact) - 4;
Cooling - liquid;
Highway speed - 54 km / h;
Cruising on the highway - 234 km;
Cruising over rough terrain - 134 km;
Speed afloat - 7,8 km / h;
Cruising afloat - 46 km;
Suspension - individual torsion bar;
Ground pressure is 0,475 kg / cm²;
Overcoming ditch - 1,4 m;
Breakable wall - 0,54 m;
Overcoming rise - 28 hail.
Based on materials:
http://www.dogswar.ru
http://tekhnogun.com
http://russianarms.mybb.ru
http://www.oboznik.ru
http://desantura.ru
Information