Gun mount AK-130

World record holder for salvo power

Destroyer "Modern", armed with two installations AK-130

The destroyer Hull. The only copy: in 1971, a 203 mm Mk 71 gun was installed on the nose of the destroyer DD 945 Hull instead of the 127 mm Mk 42

The universal 130 mm gun AK-130 is designed to protect against low-flying sea-based anti-ship cruise missiles, allows you to fire at sea and coastal targets, support landing operations with fire

The gun uses several types of unitary cartridges ...

... high-explosive fragmentation with an impact fuse, high-explosive fragmentation with a radio fuse and high-explosive fragmentation with a remote fuse

The initial speed of the projectile is 850 meters per second. The mass of the cartridge is 53 kg, the projectile is 32 kg. Ammunition 180 rounds. Horizontal firing range - over 20 kilometers

"Monster" and "Tumbler": on the left - a universal "tumbler gun" 406 caliber. On the right - a double-barreled ship's gun with a muzzle brake - a promising development of the Nizhny Novgorod Federal State Unitary Enterprise Central Research Institute "Burevestnik"

From the 17th century to 1941, battleships were considered the main striking force at sea, and large-caliber guns were considered the main weapons. However, the most grandiose naval war in the history of mankind is the campaign on pacific ocean 1941-1945 - passed without fights of battleships. Its outcome was decided by aircraft carrier and base aviation, and battleships were used exclusively to support landing forces. Since 1945, the era of fundamentally new weapons systems began - guided missiles, jet aircraft and atomic bombs.

Why does a ship need a gun

Aircraft carriers became the main striking force of the leading maritime powers, while anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense remained for large surface ships of other classes. However, rockets failed to completely oust artillery from the fleet. Large-caliber artillery mounts are good because they can fire both conventional and guided projectiles, which, in terms of their capabilities, are close to guided missiles. Ordinary artillery shells are not subject to passive and active interference, and are less dependent on meteorological conditions. Naval guns have a significantly higher rate of fire, more ammunition on board, and a much lower cost. It is much more difficult to intercept an artillery shell by means of air defense than a cruise missile. A well-designed large-caliber advanced gun mount is much more versatile than any type of missile. This is probably why work on heavy ship installations is carried out in an atmosphere of deep secrecy, even more so than when creating anti-ship missiles.

At the bow of the ship

Nevertheless, the artillery gun on a modern ship is an auxiliary weapon, and only one place is left for it on the bow of the ship. Multi-gun turrets of the main caliber have sunk into the past along with the last battleships. Today, the most powerful Western naval installation is the universal 127-mm single-gun turret Mk 45, developed by the American company FMC and designed to destroy surface, ground and air targets.

The world current record for salvo power belongs to the Soviet AK-130 gun mount: 3000 kg / min. The weight of a volley of the destroyer "Modern", armed with two such installations, is 6012 kg / min. This is more than, for example, the battlecruiser of the First World War "Von der Tann" (5920 kg / min) or the modern Peruvian cruiser "Almirante Grau" (5520 kg / min).

Bigger caliber

It would seem that such a powerful and at the same time light installation completely satisfies the need of sailors for a universal gun for firing at surface, ground and air targets. However, the 127 mm caliber turned out to be small for firing at coastal targets and for nuclear weapons. To sink even a small merchant ship with a displacement of about 10,000 tons, at least two dozen hits of 127-mm high-explosive shells are required. Certain difficulties arose in the creation of cluster munitions, active-reactive and guided projectiles. Finally, the dispersion of small-caliber projectiles at a long firing range is significantly higher than that of heavier large-caliber projectiles.

Therefore, at the very end of the 1960s in the United States, in the strictest secrecy, work began on the 203-mm Mk 71 single-turret mount. It was created by the American company FMC Corporation Northern Ordnance Division. It was the world's first fully automated installation of this caliber. It was run by one person. The installation could provide a rate of 12 rds / min and fire at this rate for 6 minutes. In total, 75 shots of six were ready to fire. different types. Shooting was carried out with separate-sleeve loading shots.

The tests of the Mk 71 were successful, and the 203-mm gun was in service with the DD 945 until the end of the 1970s. However, the Mk 71 installation did not enter mass production - due to the "inexpediency of introducing new 203-mm caliber guns." The real reason is kept secret.

naval howitzer

In 2002, the Germans placed a turret mount from the world's best 155-mm PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer on a Hamburg-type frigate. Naturally, this mount could not be a standard weapon for the Navy and was used for research purposes when creating large-caliber ship mounts. To turn the PzH 2000 into a naval weapon, it was necessary to develop a fundamentally new ammunition supply system and fire control system, change the guidance drives, etc. The work has not yet left the research stage.

Our response to Chamberlain

At the end of 1957, factory tests of the twin 100-mm SM-52 turret gun mount, created at TsKB-34, began in the USSR. The rate of fire of one machine gun was 40 rounds per minute at an initial speed of 1000 m / s and a firing range of 24 km, equipped with a radar fire control system. According to the ship program for 1956-1965, the SM-52 was supposed to be installed on cruisers of project 67, 70 and 71, air defense ships of project 81 and patrol ships of projects 47 and 49.

Alas, both the listed ships and all naval guns of caliber over 76 mm fell victim to Khrushchev. Work on them was stopped for almost 10 years and resumed only after the resignation of the Secretary General.

On June 29, 1967, the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued on the start of work on the A-217 single-gun automatic 130-mm turret mount. In the Arsenal Design Bureau, she received the factory index ZIF-92 (Frunze plant).

The prototype passed field tests at Rzhevka near Leningrad, but it was not possible to obtain the specified rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute. In addition, the weight of the installation exceeded the calculated one by almost 10 tons, which did not allow it to be installed on Project 1135 ships, and as a result, work on the ZIF-92 was stopped. Barrel ballistics, ammunition, and most of the ZIF-92 design were used to create the A-218 (ZIF-94) two-gun mount.

The gun mount was controlled by the Lev-218 (MR-184) system, which included a dual-band target tracking radar, a thermal imager, a laser rangefinder, equipment for selecting moving targets and jamming protection.

Shooting was carried out with unitary cartridges. The ammunition was placed in three drums, which made it possible to have three ready to fire. different kind ammunition. In 1985, the ZIF-94 installation was put into service under the symbol AK-130 (A-218). In addition to the destroyers of project 956, A-218 was installed on cruisers of project 1144 (except for the Admiral Ushakov), as well as project 1164 and the BOD Admiral Chabanenko.

A comparison of the characteristics of the gun shows, but our designers were guided by the same 127-mm American gun mount Mk 45. With the same firing range with a conventional projectile, the pace of the AK-130 is 2.5 times higher. True, and the weight is 4.5 times more.

In the second half of the 1980s, the design bureau "Arsenal" began the development of a 130-mm single-turret A-192M "Armata". Ballistic data and rate of fire new installation compared to the AK-130, they remained unchanged, but the weight decreased to 24 tons. The fire control of the installation was to be carried out by the new Puma radar system. The ammunition should have included at least two guided projectiles. It was planned to equip the new destroyers of the Anchar project and other ships with the A-192M installations. However, with the collapse of the USSR, all work was suspended.

At present, work on the A-192M has been continued, since it is she who will be armed with new frigates of project 22350 for Russian fleet, the head of which - "Admiral Gorshkov" - was laid down in 2006 at the production association "Severnaya Verf".

roly-poly cannon

At the end of 1983, a project of a truly fantastic weapon was developed in the USSR. Imagine a ship with a 4.9 m high and about half a meter thick pipe sticking out vertically in its bow, almost like a chimney on steamboats of the 19th and 20th centuries. But suddenly the pipe bends and flies out of it with a roar ... anything! No I am not joking. For example, an aircraft or a cruise missile attacks our ship, and the installation fires an anti-aircraft guided projectile. Somewhere over the horizon, an enemy ship was detected, and a cruise missile flies out of the tube at a range of up to 250 km. A submarine appeared, and a projectile flies out of the pipe, which, after splashing down, becomes a depth charge with a nuclear warhead. It is required to support the landing force with fire - and 110-kg shells are already flying at a distance of 42 km. But here the enemy sat down near the shore in concrete forts or strong stone buildings. 406-mm super-powerful high-explosive shells weighing 1.2 tons are immediately used at a distance of up to 10 km.

The installation had a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute for guided missiles and 15-20 rounds per minute for shells. Changing the type of ammunition took no more than 4 seconds. The weight of the installation with a single-tier shell cellar was 32 tons, and with a two-tier one - 60 tons. The calculation of the installation was 4-5 people. Similar 406-mm guns could easily be installed even on small ships with a displacement of 2-3 thousand tons. But the first ship with such an installation was to be the Project 956 destroyer.

What is the "highlight" of this gun? Its main feature is the limitation of the angle of descent to +300, which made it possible to deepen the axis of the trunnions below the deck by 500 mm and exclude the tower from the design. The swinging part is placed under the combat table and passes through the dome embrasure.

Due to the low (howitzer) ballistics, the thickness of the barrel walls is reduced. Lined barrel with muzzle brake. Loading is carried out at an elevation angle of +900 directly from the cellar by an "elevator-rammer" located coaxially with the rotating part.

A shot consists of an ammunition (projectile or rocket) and a pallet in which a propellant charge is placed. The pallet for all types of ammunition is the same. It moves along with the ammunition along the bore and separates after leaving the bore. All operations on filing and resending are performed automatically.

The project of the super-universal gun was very interesting and original, but the Navy command had a different opinion: the 406 mm caliber was not provided for by the standards of the Russian fleet.

flower guns

In the mid-1970s, the design of the 203-mm Pion-M ship installation began on the basis of the oscillating part of the 203-mm gun 2A44 self-propelled guns Pion. It was the Soviet response to the Mk 71. The amount of ammunition ready for firing was the same for both systems - 75 rounds of separate-sleeve loading. However, in terms of rate of fire, the Pion outperformed the Mk 71. The Pion-M fire control system was a modification of the Lev system for the AK-130. Compared to the 130 mm caliber, 203 mm active-reactive, cluster and guided projectiles had incomparably greater capabilities. For example, the size of the funnel of a high-explosive projectile from the AK-130 was 1.6 m, while that of the Pion-M was 3.2 m. The Pion-M active-rocket projectile had a range of 50 km. Finally, both the USSR and the USA, no matter how hard they fought, failed to create 130-mm and 127-mm nuclear weapons. The limiting caliber from the 1960s to this day remains 152 mm. In 1976-1979, several reasoned "justifications" for the advantages of the 203-mm gun were sent to the leadership of the Navy. Nevertheless, "Pion-M" did not enter service.

Russian sea monster

But here's a picture of a 152-mm double-barreled naval gun with a muzzle brake called 152 mm Russian Naval Monster appeared on the Internet. The double-barrel scheme made it possible to significantly reduce the weight and size characteristics of the installation and increase the rate of fire.

This gun mount was designed on the basis of the new self-propelled guns "Coalition SV" currently being developed by the Nizhny Novgorod Federal State Unitary Enterprise Central Research Institute "Burevestnik". The double-barrel system has the same automation for both barrels. The barrels are loaded at the same time, and they shoot sequentially. This is done to increase the rate of fire while reducing weight.

I note that back in the 1960s, the designers V.P. Gryazev and A.G. Shipunov designed a ship installation with two double-barreled 57-mm machine guns with a rate of fire of 1000 rounds per minute. A 152-mm double-barreled shotgun could become an effective ship weapon in the first half of the 21st century.

The universal radar-controlled single-barreled 127-mm artillery mount Mk 42 was put into service in the late 50s as a successor to semi-automatic mounts: a twin 127-mm artillery mount with a barrel length of 38 caliber Mk 32 during the Second World War and a 127-mm single-barreled artillery mount with a barrel length of 54 caliber Mk 39 of the first post-war years. The Mk 42 is capable of a much higher rate of fire and is equipped with an automatic ammunition system with two drums, each of which holds 20 ready-to-fire rounds. Controlled by electro-hydraulic actuators, Mk 42 can be used in both local and automatic control options. The calculation for the Mk 42 Mod 7/8 is 14 people, of which four are actually on the installation. More than 150 gun mounts of this type are used by the US, Australian, Japanese, Spanish and West German navies. The entire series of US guns was modified to the Mk 42 Mod 10 standard with the addition of a kit. The same equipment is suitable for the lighter version of the Mk 42 Mod 9, which was created for the Knox-class frigates. The retrofit equipment has solid-state electronics, requires 10 percent fewer crews, and only two are on site, reducing the entire crew to 12 people. The 127-mm barrel of the Mk 42 installation is designated Mk 18. A projectile with a semi-active laser homing head is under procurement for them and later Mk 45 installations. The projectile has a length of 1.548 m, a mass of 47.4 kg and is similar in concept to the Copperhead projectile US Army for the 155 mm howitzer.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the artillery installation Mk 42

• Caliber, mm: 127;
• Number of barrels: one;
• Weight, t: 65.8 (Mod 7/8), 57.65 (Mod 9) and 63.9 (Mod 10);
• Elevation angle, degrees: from minus 5... to +80;
• Muzzle velocity, m/s: 810;
• Projectile weight, kg: 31,8;
• Maximum rate of fire, rds / min.: 20;
• Range of effective fire, km: 23.8 (for surface (ground) targets), 14.8 (for air targets).

The aviation technology that appeared towards the end of the Second World War left no doubt about one simple fact: the existing anti-aircraft weapons were already outdated. In the very near future, all existing anti-aircraft guns will not only lose their effectiveness, but will also become practically useless. Something completely new was required. However, before the creation of full-fledged anti-aircraft missiles, there was a lot of time left, and it was necessary to protect the airspace now. The increase in aircraft flight altitudes led the military of several countries to a kind of "passion" for anti-aircraft guns of especially large caliber. For example, in the late forties and early fifties in the USSR, designers worked on a project for a KM-52 gun of 152 mm caliber.

At the same time, in the UK, the development of anti-aircraft systems also went in the direction of increasing the caliber. Before 1950, two development projects were carried out under the names Longhand and Ratefixer. The goal of both programs was to increase the caliber of anti-aircraft guns and at the same time increase the rate of fire. Ideally, the guns of these projects should have been some kind of hybrids of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns and small-caliber rapid-fire assault rifles. The task was not easy, but the British engineers coped with it. As a result of the Longhand program, the 94 mm Mk6 gun, also known as the Gun X4, was created. The Ratefire program led to the creation of four 94 mm guns at once, designated by the letters C, K, CK and CN. Until 1949, when the Ratefire was closed, the rate of fire of the guns could be increased to 75 rounds per minute. Gun X4 was adopted and used until the end of the 50s. The products of the Ratefire program, in turn, did not go to the troops. The result of the project was only a large amount of materials related to the research side of the design of such artillery systems.

All these developments were planned to be used in a new, more monstrous project. In 1950, RARDE (Royal Armament Research & Development Establishment - Royal Office for Research and Development of Arms) chose as a developer new system well-known firm Vickers. The initial terms of reference talked about the creation of a rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun of 127 mm (5 inches) caliber with a water-cooled barrel during firing and with two drum magazines for 14 rounds each. The automation of the gun was supposed to work at the expense of an external source of electricity, and a swept-back feathered ammunition was offered as a projectile. The fire control of the new gun, according to the assignment, was to be carried out by one person. Information about the location of the target and the necessary lead was given to him by a separate radar and computer. To facilitate development, Vickers received all the necessary documentation for the Ratefire project.

The project was named QF 127/58 SBT X1 Green Mace ("Green Mace").

Photo 2.

The task set for Vickers was very difficult, so RARDE was allowed to first make a smaller caliber gun and work out all the nuances of a full-fledged gun on it. The smaller caliber of the test gun was in fact larger than that of the Longhand and Ratefire programs - 4.2 inches (102 millimeters). The construction of an experimental "small-caliber" gun under the designation 102mm QF 127/58 SBT X1 ended in the 54th year. The eight-meter barrel of this gun, together with recoil devices, two barrel-shaped magazines, guidance systems, an operator's cabin and other systems, eventually pulled almost 25 tons. Of course, such a monster needed some kind of special chassis. A special six-wheeled towed trailer was chosen as this. All units of the experimental gun were installed on it. It should be noted that the trailer could only fit a tool with a mounting system, magazines and an operator's cab. The latter was a booth similar to the cabin of modern truck cranes. Since aiming the gun, reloading and pumping water to cool the barrel were carried out using electric motors, separate machines with an electric generator and a supply of shells had to be introduced into the complex. And that's not counting the radar station needed to detect targets and point the gun at them.

Photo 3.

Photo 4.

The 102-mm anti-aircraft miracle went to the training ground in the same 1954. After a short trial firing to test the recoil devices and the cooling system, full-fledged checks of the automation began. Using the capabilities of the electric drive of the loading system, the testers gradually raised the rate of fire. By the end of the year, he managed to bring it to a record value of 96 rounds per minute. It should be noted that this is a “clean” rate of fire, and not a practical one. The fact is that the reloading mechanics could give out these same 96 shots, but two “barrels” with 14 shells each, by definition, could not provide a volley of at least half a minute long with a maximum rate of fire. As for the replacement of magazines, on the experimental 102-mm gun of the Green Mace project, this was done using a crane and took about 10-15 minutes. It was planned that after working out the systems of the gun itself, means would be developed fast recharge. In addition to the record rate of fire, the gun had the following characteristics: a 10.43-kilogram sub-caliber feathered projectile left the barrel at a speed of more than 1200 m / s and flew to a height of up to 7620 meters. Rather, at this height, acceptable accuracy and reliability of defeat were ensured. At high altitudes, due to the aerodynamic stabilization of the projectile, the effectiveness of the destruction fell noticeably.

Photo 5.

By the spring of the 55th, tests of an experimental 102-mm gun were over and the Vickers company began to create a full-fledged 127-mm gun. And here the most interesting begins. The Green Mace project is not particularly well-known anyway, and as for its later stages, there are more rumors and assumptions than concrete facts. It is only known that the plans of the designers included two versions of the "Green Mace" - smooth-bore and rifled. According to some sources, the QF 127/58 SBT X1 gun was built and even had time to start testing. Other sources, in turn, claim some problems during development, due to which a prototype 127-mm gun could not be built. Approximate characteristics of a "full-size" gun are given, but there are still no exact data. One way or another, all sources agree on one thing. In 1957, taking into account the unsatisfactory performance of the Green Mace project in terms of reach and accuracy, the British military department stopped work on high-speed high-caliber anti-aircraft artillery. At that time, the global development trend air defense there was a transition to anti-aircraft missiles and the Green Mace, without even finishing the tests, risked becoming a complete anachronism.

As if trying to save an interesting project from such a "shame", RARDE closed it in 1957. Before the adoption of the first version of the anti-aircraft missile system Bloodhound was less than a year away.

Photo 6.

Photo 7.

Here is a blogger strangernn asks the following question: what did the French want to achieve with their 127-mm Green Mace rapid fire, and where were the Swedes, lagging behind in their pacifism, hurrying with a 120-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun? And he answers: How could the French pass by the opportunity to luxuriously stand on the same rake as the trendsetters in anti-aircraft artillery, who ate all the dogs in the area on them during the Second World War (the Germans were also experts, but they were not allowed at that moment)? Well, they stood on them, having built and tested in 1948-1953 the Canon SFAC antiaerien de 105 gun.

Why did all Europeans consistently do this? Yes, all for the same - to shoot down jet planes. With their heights and projectile speeds, even more were needed, the volume of space to be sown with projectiles increased many times over. And given the appearance of nuclear weapons, even a single aircraft had to be shot down with a guarantee. Here we tried... True, the French chose a less uncompromising caliber of guns, only 105 mm, but otherwise ... Otherwise, you can’t really get anywhere: two drum magazines for 10 shots (and the 11th position in the feed path) - 22 shots (Probably 23 all The first shell should be in the barrel), which could be fired in a little less than one minute (the technical rate of fire is 30 rounds per minute). This, after all, is 3-4 times more than the most trained calculation will be able to do. And in terms of the battery - already close to the required.

Photo 8.

But, the same thing happened as with other projects of rapid-fire large-caliber anti-aircraft guns: having calculated the cost of such guns, and adding to this the cost of hundreds and thousands of shells with radio fuses, the military realized that very expensive guided missiles, in fact, are not so and expensive, and even more than that, taking into account their range (the gun fired only 17 kilometers along the horizon and up to 9500 in height) - just the same, even very cheap. And they tried to forget about rapid-fire anti-aircraft large-caliber artillery, like a bad dream.»

Photo 9.

Photo 10.

Photo 11.

InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

The gun was developed on the basis of an aircraft gun and put into service in 1942. It was installed on torpedo boats. Ammunition - magazine for 30 ammunition. TTX guns: caliber - 37 mm; barrel length - 1.6 m; weight - 97 kg; ammunition weight - 1.3 kg; projectile weight - 610 g; charge mass - 150 g; starting speed– 610 m/s; rate of fire - 125 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 8 km.

3″/23.5 Mk-9 naval gun on a submarine

Ship gun 3″/23.5. Mk-11 on a destroyer

The gun was put into service in 1913 as anti-aircraft gun destroyers and submarines. It was produced in 6 modifications: Mk-4 and Mk-14 as anti-aircraft guns; Mk-7/9/11/13 - as a ship. During the war, the gun was used on obsolete destroyers, hunters and auxiliary ships. Until the middle of the war, 969 guns were used on destroyers alone, of which 80 were delivered to the UK under Lend-Lease along with ships. TTX guns: caliber - 76.2 mm; barrel length - 1.8 m; gun weight - from 241 to 340 kg; ammunition weight - 13 kg; projectile weight - 5.9 kg; projectile length - 255 mm; charge mass - 560 g; initial speed - 503 m / s; rate of fire - 9 rounds per minute; firing range - 9.2 km; barrel recoil length - 480 mm.

Ship gun 3″/50 Mk-5/6

The gun was put into service in 1902, was intended to fight torpedo boats and was produced in 5 modifications: Mk-2/3/5/6/8. The gun was installed on battleships, cruisers and destroyers, and modifications of the Mk-4/5/6/7 could be used on submarines. By the beginning of the war, at least 350 guns remained in service, which were reinstalled on coastal defense ships and auxiliary ships. TTX guns: caliber - 76.2 mm; installation weight - 3.1 - 4 tons; barrel length - 3.8 m; weight of the barrel with the shutter - 901 - 1034 kg; ammunition weight - 13 kg; projectile weight - 5.9 kg; initial speed - 823 m / s; rate of fire - 15 - 20 rounds per minute; firing range - 13.3 km; barrel recoil length - mm; barrel survivability - 4300 shots.

Ship gun 3″/50 Mk-10/20

Ship gun 3″/50 Mk-22

Modifications Mk-10/17/18/19/20/21/22 3 ″ / 50 guns had a dual purpose: ship and anti-aircraft. The first modification of the gun was put into service in 1915, the last in 1944. The guns were installed as secondary weapons on old battleships, and as the main weapons on destroyers, patrol frigates, hunters, as well as on various military and auxiliary vessels. Submarines were equipped with Mk-17, Mk-18 and Mk-21 guns. During the war, 14 thousand guns were fired. TTX guns: caliber - 76 mm; installation weight - from 3.1 to 4.3 tons; gun weight - 798 - 946 kg; barrel length - 3.8 m; ammunition weight - 13 kg; projectile weight - 5.9 kg; projectile length - 309 mm; charge mass - 1.6 kg; initial speed - 823 m / s; rate of fire - 15 - 20 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 13 km; barrel survivability - 4300 shots; calculation 7 people.

Ship gun 4″/50

The gun was produced in 4 modifications (Mk-7/8/9/10). The first modification was adopted in 1898, the last - in 1914. The guns were installed as secondary weapons on monitors of the Arkansas type, on submarines, destroyers, patrol boats and auxiliary vessels. The gun was mounted in one and two-gun installations. By the beginning of the war, at least 1,300 guns were in service. During the war, 424 guns were transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain, 60 to the Netherlands, 21 to Norway. TTX guns: caliber - 102 mm; barrel length - 5 m; installation weight - from 4.5 to 9.4 tons; gun weight - 2.8 tons; ammunition weight - 28.3 - 29.4 kg; projectile weight - 14.9 kg; projectile length - 401 mm; charge mass - 6.8 kg; initial speed - 762 - 884 m / s; rate of fire - 8 - 9 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 14.6 km; barrel survivability - 400 - 500 shots.

Ship gun 5″/51

Ship gun 5″/51

The gun was put into service in 1911 and was used to equip battleships, cruisers, submarines and other military vessels. The gun was produced in five modifications: Mk-7/8/9/14/15. Modification Mk-9 was installed on submarines. The guns removed from large ships were used to arm merchant ships and served in coastal defense. By the beginning of the war, 421 guns were in service, 29 of which were transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain for coastal defense. TTX guns: caliber - 127 mm; installation weight - from 10 to 12 tons; gun weight - 5 tons; barrel length - 6.4 m; barrel length - 6.4 m; projectile weight - 23 - 25 kg; projectile length - from 432 to 526 mm; charge mass - from 7 to 11 kg; rate of fire - 8 - 9 rounds per minute; initial speed - from 792 to 960 m / s; maximum firing range - 18.4 km; barrel survivability - 700 shots.

5″/38 Mk-12 naval gun in Mk-30 single-gun turrets

Two-gun mount Mk-28

The 5″ / 38 Mk-12 dual-purpose ship gun was developed on the basis of the 5″ / 51 Mk-9 and put into service in 1934. It was installed in one and two-gun installations - open, with a shield or in towers. The gun had a separate, manual loading. It was installed both on large warships and on auxiliary and merchant ships (3,298 guns in single-gun mounts). The gun was also used in the UK (6 twin gun mounts) and Brazil (24 single gun mounts). A total of 8,555 guns were fired, incl. 2,774 in twin mounts. TTX guns: caliber - 127 mm; barrel weight without shutter - 1.8 t; the mass of a single-barrel open installation is 13-15 tons, a closed one is 18-20 tons, a two-gun one is 34-77 tons; barrel length - 4.8 m; ammunition weight - 53 - 55 kg, projectile length - 527 mm; projectile weight - 25 kg; muzzle velocity - 762 - 790 m / s; rate of fire - 15 - 22 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 16 km; barrel survivability - 4600 shots.

Ship gun 5″/54 Mk-16

The gun was put into service in 1945 and was essentially an elongated version of the 5″/38 gun. The guns were mounted on aircraft carriers and destroyers in single and twin turrets. A total of 83 guns were fired. TTX guns: caliber - 127 mm; barrel length - 5.8 m; tower weight - 33.5 tons; barrel weight without shutter - 2.4 t; projectile weight - 31 kg; projectile length - 660 mm; initial speed - 808 m / s; rate of fire - 15-18 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 23 km; barrel survivability - 3000 shots.

Naval gun 6″/47 Mk-16

The gun was put into service in 1937 and was installed on light cruisers in three-gun turrets. A total of 483 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 152 mm; barrel length - 7.2 m; barrel weight - 4.3 tons; tower weight - from 154 to 176 tons; gun weight - 6.6 tons; ammunition weight - 130 kg; projectile weight - from 42 to 59 kg; projectile length - 686 mm; charge mass - 15 kg; initial speed - from 678 to 812 m / s; rate of fire - 8-10 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 23.9 km; gun barrel recoil - 530 mm; barrel survivability - 1050 shots; calculation - 55 people.

Ship gun 6″/53 in various versions

The gun was put into service in 1923 and was installed on light cruisers and submarines in single and twin mounts and turrets. The gun was produced in 7 modifications: Mk-12-18. Of these, the Mk-13 was used in casemate installations, Mk-15 and Mk-17 - on submarines, Mk-16 - in two-gun installations. A total of 142 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 152 mm; barrel length - 8 m; barrel weight - 10.3 tons, single-gun turret - 19 tons, two-gun turret - 52 tons; gun weight - 10 tons; ammunition weight - 105 kg; projectile weight - 47.6 kg; projectile length - 580 mm; charge mass - 20 kg; initial speed - 914 m / s; rate of fire - 6-7 rounds per minute; firing range - 23 km; barrel survivability - 400 - 700 shots.

Naval gun 8″/45 Mk-6

The gun was put into service in 1906 and was used as a secondary armament of battleships, mounted in two-gun turrets. After the disarmament of the ships, about 20 guns were used in coastal defense or were installed on railway platforms. TTX guns: caliber - 203 mm; barrel length - 9.1 m; weight of a two-gun turret - 150 tons; weight of the three-gun turret - 1400 tons; gun weight - 19 tons; projectile weight - 118 kg; charge mass - 44.7 kg; initial speed - from 838 m / s; rate of fire 2 rounds per minute; firing range - 32 km.

Ship gun 8″/55

The guns were put into service in 1925-1939. and were produced in 6 variants: Mk-9/11/12/13/14/15. The gun was installed as the main caliber of heavy cruisers and early aircraft carriers in two or three gun turrets. A total of 354 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 203 mm; barrel length - 11 m; barrel weight - 17-30 tons; weight of a two-gun turret - 190-250 tons; weight of a three-gun turret - from 250 to 450; projectile weight - 118 - 152 kg; projectile length - 864 - 914 mm; rate of fire - 4 rounds per minute; initial speed - 760 - 850 m / s; firing range - 27 - 29 km; barrel survivability - 715 - 780 shots.

Naval gun 12″/50 Mk-7

The gun was put into service in 1912 and was installed on the battleships Wyoming and Arkansas in two-gun turrets. By the beginning of the war, 48 guns were used, incl. 24 on Argentina's Rivadavia-class battleships. TTX guns: caliber - 305 mm; barrel length - 15 m; tower weight - 498 tons; gun weight - 56 kg; projectile weight - from 335 to 394 kg; projectile length - 1.1 m; charge mass - 152 kg; initial speed - from 884 to 914 m / s; rate of fire 3 rounds per minute; firing range - 22 km; barrel survivability - 290 shots.

Naval gun 12″/50 Mk-8

The gun was put into service in 1944 and was installed on Alaska-class cruisers in three-gun turrets. A total of 18 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 304.8 mm; barrel length - 15.2 m; tower weight - 937 tons; the mass of the barrel with the shutter - 55.2 tons; projectile weight - 517 kg; projectile length - 1.3 m; initial speed - 762 m / s; rate of fire - 3 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 35 km; barrel survivability - 344 shots.

Ship gun 14″/45

In 1933, upgraded guns from 14″/45 Mk-1/3/5 model 1910 to Mk-8/9/10 model 1928 were installed on the New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania-class battleships. They were installed in two and three-gun turrets. A total of 64 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 356 mm; barrel length - 16 m; weight of a two-gun turret - 541-628 tons, three-gun - 725 - 760 tons; projectile weight - 578 - 680 kg; projectile length - 1.2 m; charge mass - 165 kg; initial speed - from 792 m / s; rate of fire - 2 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 39 km.

Ship gun 14″/50

The gun was put into service in 1918 and was installed on battleships of the "New Mexico" and "Tennessee" type in three-gun turrets. During 1930-1935. guns have been upgraded. A total of 72 guns were built. TTX guns: caliber - 360 mm; barrel length - 17.8 m; tower weight - from 897 to 958 tons; weight of the table with the shutter - 81.4 tons; projectile weight - from 578 to 680 kg; projectile length - 1.4 m; initial speed - from 823 to 861 m / s; rate of fire - 2 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 39 km; barrel survivability - 250 shots.

Ship gun 16″/45 Mk-5

For ships of the Colorado type, the 16 ″ / 45 Mk-1 gun was built, which was put into service in 1921. In 1935 - 1938. the guns were modernized and released in two versions - Mk-5 and Mk-8. The guns were mounted in twin turrets. A total of 40 guns were built. TTX weapons: caliber - 406 mm; length - 18.2 m; weight of a two-gun turret - 890 - 930 tons; gun weight with bolt - 107 tons; projectile weight - from 0.8 to 1 t; projectile length - 1.6 m; charge mass - 247 kg; initial speed - 768 - 803 m / s; rate of fire - 3 shots in 2 minutes; maximum firing range - 36 km; barrel survivability - 320 shots.

Naval gun 16″/45 Mk-6

The gun was put into service in 1941 to equip battleships of the "North Carolin" and "South Dakota" type in three-gun turrets. In total, about 120 guns were made. TTX guns: caliber - 406 mm; barrel length - 16.3 m; tower weight - from 1400 to 1460 tons; weight of the barrel with the shutter - 141 tons; projectile weight from 862 to 1200 kg; charge mass - 242 kg; projectile length - 1.8 m; initial speed - from 701 to 803 m / s; rate of fire - 2 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 36.7 km; barrel survivability - 395 shots; calculation of the tower - 170 people.

Naval gun 16″/50 Mk-7

The guns were developed in 1939 and put into service in 1943 to equip the Iowa-class battleships with three-gun turrets. Each barrel of the tower could be guided independently of the others. Fire control was carried out with the help of radar. The guns were also built for the Montana-class battleships, which were cancelled. A total of 96 guns were made. TTX guns: caliber - 406 mm; barrel length - 20.7 m; tower weight - from 1701 to 1735 tons; weight of the barrel with the shutter - 121 tons; projectile weight - from 862 to 1225 kg; charge mass - 300 kg; explosive mass - from 40 to 69 kg; projectile length - 1.6 m; initial speed - from 762 to 862 m / s; rate of fire - 2 rounds per minute; maximum firing range - 38 km; barrel survivability - 290 shots; calculation of the tower - 94 people.

Naval artillery has come a long way over the millennia - from the catapult of rowboats to the main battery of dreadnoughts, but even in the third millennium it still retains its significance. Its future is now connected with new technologies and "smart" ammunition.

A serious blow to the further improvement of naval artillery after the Second World War was dealt by the rapid development missile weapons. In 1967, in a matter of minutes, the Israeli destroyer Eilat was easily sunk by two Egyptian missile boats ( Soviet-made class "Komar"). It became a worldwide sensation and caused excessive euphoria among politicians and admirals. It seemed like a few more years artillery pieces can only be used for holiday fireworks. In addition, a few years earlier, the then Soviet leader Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev put an end to several types of Soviet ships at once, which had artillery as their main means. By Khrushchev's decision in the 1950s, all work on naval guns with a caliber of more than 76 millimeters was stopped, and for almost two decades naval artillery systems of medium and large caliber were not developed in Russia.

However, local conflicts of the 1950s and 1960s showed that it was too early to write off the guns ashore. For example, during the Korean War, the 406-mm guns of the Iowa-class battleships became the most effective of all the artillery systems used by the American troops. The high combat potential of these guns also manifested itself during the years of the Vietnam War, and foreign experts compared the fire of the New Jersey battleship with the power of bombing 50 aircraft at the same time. The command of the US Navy, evaluating the actions of its steel giants, considered that their ability to operate in almost any weather conditions, high accuracy and efficiency of fire against protected targets put the battleship in first place in comparison with field artillery, bomber and attack aircraft. And in 1975 in the United States, after an 11-year break in the construction of destroyers, the fleet includes the first ship of this class, but of a new generation. Spruences, whose main caliber included two 127-mm Mk45 single-gun mounts with a firing range of about 24 kilometers, became an important milestone in world military shipbuilding and marked the beginning new era naval artillery. Moreover, in the same year, the British (also after a long, 22-year break) handed over to their fleet the destroyer Sheffield, armed with a Vickers 114-mm automated gun mount Mk8. The installation had a firing range of 20 kilometers, a rate of fire of 25 rds / min and could open fire 15 seconds after receiving the command. But it is largely thanks to the Spruance and Sheffield, paradoxically, that the most powerful naval guns and the best destroyers of the last quarter of the 20th century appeared: the Soviet 130-mm AK-130 systems and Project 956 ships.

Six tons of metal per minute

At the end of the 1960s, the Leningrad Arsenal Design Bureau was entrusted with a responsible task: to create a new 130-mm naval turret gun mount, specifications which would be 3-5 times higher than any foreign counterparts in terms of rate of fire and the number of shots ready for automatic firing, and even with the possibility of changing the type of ammunition during quick firing.

There was someone to compete with. For example, the Americans, realizing the huge potential of rocket weapons, nevertheless did not stop work on naval artillery and in 1955 adopted the 127-mm single-gun automatic installation Mk42. The mass of the tower is 63 tons, the guns are 2.5 tons, the projectile is 31.75 kilograms, and the total shot is 48.5 kilograms. The gun was aimed horizontally from -180° to 180° (40°/s), and vertically from -7° to 85° (25°/s). The practical rate of fire is 20 rounds per minute, the maximum range of fire against an air target is 14.4 kilometers, along the surface and along the coast - 21.9 kilometers. For firing, 40 shells were constantly ready, laid in two drums with two-way automatic feed, the initial velocity of the projectile was 808 m / s. And in 1971, it was replaced by an improved Mk45 artillery system - of the same caliber, but with much the best performance. The mass of the turret was reduced through the use of reinforced aluminum, and the supply of ammunition was carried out from a drum-type magazine for 20 unitary shots.

A particularly difficult task for Soviet gunsmiths was the development of a rational scheme for feeding the gun mount with ammunition. Firstly, it was necessary to reduce to a minimum the number of reloads of ammunition during its automatic supply from the turret compartment to the line of fire. And secondly, it was necessary to ensure the safety of ammunition during movement. This problem was solved by creating for the first time in artillery practice a unitary cartridge of 130 mm caliber - earlier than the Americans made a similar cartridge. And the whole system turned out to be unique: its originality is confirmed by 77 copyright certificates for inventions.

This complex and the A-218 gun included in it are still superior in their characteristics to all existing foreign ship gun mounts of a similar caliber. And when the lead destroyer of Project 956, the first ship armed with a new weapon, entered the expanses of the World Ocean, Western naval experts were shocked. Still: the four barrels of the destroyer, called "Modern", fired more than 6 tons of shells into the enemy per minute (!) - a record that some battleships could envy and which neither American nor European designers can still approach.

Fire control in the AK-130 is carried out using the MR-184 "Lev" fire control radar as part of a dual-band target tracking radar, television, laser rangefinder and equipment for selecting moving targets and jamming protection. The Lion can receive target designation from general shipborne detection systems, accurately measure the movement parameters of air, sea and coastal targets, develop pointing angles for two gun mounts, automatically correct firing at a sea target by bursts, and also perform automatic tracking of a fired projectile. The main projectile - high-explosive fragmentation with three types of fuses - is capable of penetrating 30-mm homogeneous armor at a 45° angle and explode behind it, dealing maximum damage to the target. Air targets are destroyed by ZS-44 projectiles with a DVM-60M1 remote fuse and ZS-44R projectiles with an AR-32 radar fuse, which ensures hitting a target with a miss of up to 8 meters when firing at anti-ship missiles and up to 15 meters when firing at aircraft.

In addition, the AK-130 has an automatic system for reloading ammunition from the artillery cellar to the turret compartment of the installation: it provides the complex with the ability to fire continuously at a rate of up to 60 rds / min, up to the complete emptying of its cellars. And without any participation of the calculation. This is the robot gun.

Tsar cannon of the 20th century

The eighties of the last century became a kind of renaissance of naval artillery. Particularly active work on this topic was carried out in the USSR. The designers, inspired by the success in creating automatic gun mounts of 100 and 130 mm caliber, decided to aim for something more. And in 1983-1984, a draft of a 406-mm shipborne smooth-bore gun was prepared, which was simultaneously designed to launch surface-to-surface and surface-to-air guided missiles. In addition, this “Tsar Cannon” was also supposed to fire feathered shells and depth charges, including nuclear ones. At the same time, the gun mount (turretless type), due to its relatively small dimensions and weight - the weight of the installation with a single-tier cellar was only 32 tons - could be placed on surface ships with a displacement of 2000 tons, that is, even on guards.

The tower was excluded from the design of the ship's gun mount due to the deepening of the axis of the trunnions below the deck by 0.5 meters. True, this limited the elevation angle to a range of 30° to 90°. The walls of the barrel were reduced through the use of howitzer ballistics. The balancing of the swinging part, located under the combat table and passing through the embrasure of the dome, was carried out using a pneumatic balancing mechanism.

Loading the gun (only at an elevation angle of 90°) immediately from the cellar using an elevator-rammer installed from the main rotating part. Moreover, a quick change in the type of ammunition was allowed - in just 4 seconds and without first firing the shots located on the supply and refilling routes. The shot itself consisted of a projectile (rocket) and a pallet with a propellant charge, which was the same for all types of ammunition. All operations on filing and resending were performed automatically.

The estimated firing range of 110-kilogram projectiles is 42 kilometers, powerful 1200-kilogram ammunition is up to 10 kilometers, and guided missiles could hit a target at ranges up to 250 kilometers. The rate of fire for shells is 15-20 rds / min, for rockets - 10 rds / min. The combat crew of the installation was only 4-5 people. However, despite the uniqueness of the new gun, the command's resolution was laconically negative: "The caliber of 406 millimeters is not provided for by the standards of the Russian Navy."

Either a projectile or a rocket

The further development of naval artillery was hampered by an objective reason: a traditional projectile is, strictly speaking, a "barrel" that must be thrown as far as possible. But after all, the powder charge is limited in mass and strength, so the designers found an original way out - they created a rocket projectile that combines the advantages of an ordinary projectile, which is almost impossible to shoot down, and a rocket, the jet engine of which allows it to fly long range.

The Americans were the first to massively use such a projectile in naval artillery - in the 127-mm Mk45 gun mount, the drum-type magazine of which could take 10 separate-loading shots with Dedai guided missiles instead of 20 conventional unitary shots. The new ammunition was first tested on the destroyer Briscoe in 1981. They had a shot weight of 48.87 kilograms with a mass of the projectile itself of 29 kilograms and a firing range of up to 36.5 kilometers (almost one and a half times more than a conventional projectile). Targeting was provided by illumination by a laser beam from a ship or helicopter. The projectile was adopted in the anti-ship version, although its anti-aircraft version was also tested.

But increasing the range of the projectile is only half the battle. Indeed, at long ranges, the deviation can be very significant, up to a hundred or two meters. So, it is necessary to adjust the trajectory of the flight of the ammunition. How? And the way it is implemented on intercontinental ballistic missiles: The Americans installed a combined unit of an inertial navigation system and a GPS signal receiver on the projectile. True, I had to work to make the navigation unit resistant to huge overloads, because the projectile experiences up to 12,000 g when leaving the gun barrel!

On September 24, 2003, a similar projectile - BTERM, created by ATK specialists, during a test at the White Sands test site, covered 98 kilometers in less than three minutes and fell into a circle with a diameter of 20 meters. In flight, a projectile fired from a standard 127 mm Mk45 gun corrected its trajectory according to nine NAVSTAR satellites. The maximum estimated firing range of such a projectile is 116 kilometers.

Interestingly, as the warhead of the ERGM missile projectile (weighing 50 kilograms), developed by another company (Raytheon), it was decided to use a cluster munition with 72 XM80 submunitions designed to destroy personnel and unarmored targets. Such a projectile cannot hit armored vehicles, and the American Marines did not like it very much. “This is a good tandem - a 127-mm naval gun and a guided projectile, but still it does not yet give us the necessary power, so for now we can only hope for our 155-mm howitzers, which, however, still need to be delivered to shore," one of the generals said.

The similarity of the new projectile with the ICBM gives the nature of the operation of its propulsion system and the type of flight path: the jet engine simply accelerates the projectile and brings it to the appropriate height, from which it seems to be planning on the target, correcting the trajectory using the navigation system and control planes.

However, in 2008 both programs, BTERM and ERGM, were closed due to their cost swelling. Indeed, for example, the ERGM projectile has increased in the purchase price from $45,000 to $191,000, although, for comparison, the M712 Copperhead army guided projectile costs only $30,000. But similar works are now being conducted in the United States and in other countries.

Gatling system in a new way

When, in 1862, the American homeopathic doctor Richard Gatling patented a multi-barrel system with a rotating block of barrels, few could have imagined that it would serve even into the new millennium. But it was precisely such an artillery system that could withstand the most serious enemy of surface ships - jet aircraft and anti-ship missiles. Among these "multi-barrels" the most famous are the American "Phalanx" and the Russian AK-630.

The first 20-mm Mk15 Phalanx complexes entered service with the US Navy in April 1980. The "America" ​​aircraft carrier became the "pilot" carrier, after which this system in en masse all surface ships of the American fleet began to arm themselves, starting with frigates. The complex includes: the Mk16 combat module, the Mk339 remote control panel for the combat module and the Mk340 remote control panel for remote control of the complex from a remote post.

The Phalanx is a "closed-loop weapon system": its control system performs both target tracking and tracking/correction of projectile paths. Thus, the steel swarm, as it were, follows the target and eventually hits it.

The complex is completely autonomous, its guidance system as part of the detection radar and tracking station antennas are placed under a radio-transparent “hood”. The combat part of the installation is the Vulcan automatic rapid-fire cannon, created according to the Gatling scheme. A block of six barrels is mounted on a rotor driven by a 20-horsepower T48 electric motor, and the barrels are not parallel, but obliquely - at an angle of 0.75 °, that is, the barrel block seems to “expand” towards the breech.

The gun is powered without a link, the supply of ammunition is carried out from a cylindrical magazine, which is located directly under the cannon block and is connected to the gun with two metal bands attached to the front lower part of the magazine on the right. The shots in the store are located between the radial partitions, on the "rails", and with the help of a central rotor in the form of an Archimedean screw are gradually fed into the conveyor for firing. Reloading the store takes no more than half an hour. During the tests, it was found that the Phalanx can operate continuously without cooling for up to 30 minutes.

Usually on US Navy ships, the standby mode for the Phalanx complex means that it is turned on and automatically performs surveillance in a certain sector in order to detect "hostile" air and occasionally small surface targets. At the same time, having detected the target, the fire control system produces (also in automatic mode) the generation of target designation data and transmits them to the combat module for firing, pointing it at the target. According to American sailors, due to the lack of a “friend or foe” interrogator complex in the FCS, it is aimed for a short time at all targets that fall into the field of view - even at their own planes leaving the aircraft carrier or landing on it.

“He looks like a blind pit bull and requires constant monitoring of the work by the operator,” one of the sailors serving him from the Enterprise aircraft carrier described the Phalanx ZAK. So the decision to open fire is still made by a person, and the SLA of the complex monitors the effectiveness of the fire and, if necessary, issues new data for firing. The fire is fired until the target disappears from the field of view of the FCS radar or until the operator stops firing himself.

The Russian analogue of the Phalanx is today the AK-630M complex (there is also a lightweight version of the AK-306, as well as a twin gun mount AK-630M-2 "Duet", developed on the basis of a similar system "Roy" using stealth technology). The maximum rate of fire of the AK-630M is about 5,000 rounds per minute, and for the Duet with two machine guns, it rises to 10,000 rounds per minute! Such a queue literally cuts the metal of the rocket or the hull of the ship, like a knife in butter, which is why our installations were called “metal cutters”. But Russian gunsmiths also have the Kortik and Palma complexes, where 30-mm quick-firing guns and launchers supersonic anti-aircraft guided missiles: missiles hit a target at a long range, and guns “finish off” an enemy that has broken through at close range.

The gun goes back under the water

At a time when submarines could not yet be under water for a long time and there were not enough torpedoes on board (and they did not have a homing system), artillery pieces became an indispensable attribute of a submarine. In a number of countries they even created "underwater monitors", the main weapons of which were not torpedoes, but large-caliber guns. With the development of rocket-torpedo weapons, guns on submarines were no longer needed. But now they seem to be back there again.

The idea of ​​equipping submarines with a mast-lifting device with a 30-mm automatic gun mount installed on it was proposed by a consortium of German companies as part of HDW, GABLER Maschinenbau and the Mauser Werke Oberndorf division of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH.

The developers had to solve a whole range of tasks in order for the new weapon to meet the basic requirements of the admirals. In particular, the caliber should have been approximately 25-30 millimeters, the gun should have been remotely controlled by an operator located in a rugged case, and have low recoil. In addition, the gun had to be able to shoot underwater, at periscope depth, and have high firing accuracy (for a submarine, low ammunition consumption is a very important condition).
The project, which received the designation Murena, involved placing the 30-mm Mauser RMK 30x230 automatic gun in a special container with a diameter of 0.8 meters, located in the fence of the cabin of the submarine and extended beyond its dimensions by almost 4.5 meters with the help of a lifting mast devices. After that, the hydraulically driven rod-cylinder, as it were, “squeezed out” the gun from the container, and after a couple of moments it was ready to fire.

The uniqueness of the RMK 20x230 cannon, which was originally created for the European Tiger attack helicopter, is that it does not have a recoil and uses shots with a burning cartridge case, in which the projectile is almost completely sunk. In addition, the cannon is of a revolving type, has a drum for four shots, fed into the drum chamber not from the back, but from the front. This led to a substantial reduction in the breech of the weapon and, accordingly, reduced its total mass. Plus, the linkless supply of ammunition, and a special electric drive is used to ensure gun guidance and loading. Rate of fire - 300 rds / min, firing is carried out in bursts of 3-4 rounds. Shots are specially marked according to the type of projectile, which allows the shooter to quickly change ammunition depending on the nature of the target being fired.

Energy Throw

And yet, a powder shot is already yesterday, today at best. Tomorrow belongs to ship guns, created on completely different principles: in some, the projectile will be sent to the target by the power of an electromagnetic pulse, while in others, the role of the projectile will be completely played by a laser beam.

What is the beauty of the electromagnetic gun, or, as it is also called, the railgun? Visually assessing the potential power of such weapons can be quite simple: just take a disk with the American blockbuster "Eraser", where the hero of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Macedonian, with two hands, famously "wets" with the help of electromagnetic assault rifles terrorists and traitors who were going to sell a batch of just these same rifles to the Russian (well, what else, you ask) mafia. However, hand-held electromagnetic weapons are still a topic for science fiction writers, but a large electromagnetic gun will soon, most likely, be able to push powder artillery on a ship deck.

The principle of operation of the railgun looks like this: a diesel generator charges a group of capacitors, which, at the command “Fire!” they feed a current of millions of amperes into the barrel on two parallel plates-rails, thus creating a powerful magnetic field around them. The chain is closed with the help of an insert, which is located directly behind the projectile and, as it were, pushes it magnetic field forward.

The first test of an electromagnetic gun was carried out in January 2008: American designers managed to achieve a record shot energy on the world's largest railgun - more than 10.64 MJ. It's like the kinetic energy of a large dump truck rushing at a speed of 100 km / h and loaded to the eyeballs. And although this amounted to only 33% of the maximum power of the gun, the three-kilogram projectile was able to accelerate to a speed of 2.52 km / s!

When engineers build a real ship installation on the basis of this prototype, it will be able to eject a projectile with an energy of 64 MJ: the initial velocity of the projectile will be up to 6 km / s, and its speed at the moment it hits the target will be about 1.7 km / s. The rate of fire of such a system can be from 6 to 12 rds / min, and the maximum range is up to 250 miles, or about 460 kilometers (if the US Navy requires a range of at least 200 miles - 370 kilometers). This is 12 times more than the American 127 mm Mk45 guns with the Daedalus rocket and 406 mm Mk7 guns of the Iowa-class battleships with a standard charge. The priority carrier for the railgun is promising American destroyers and cruisers.

The second weapon is a shipborne version of the laser gun, or rather, a family of laser combat systems, including even a high-energy laser system for submarines. True, only as a means of self-defense against small targets, aircraft and missiles. Replacement of torpedoes and missiles on the submarine will not appear soon. Yes, and work on a laser gun for self-defense began actively only after the terrorist attack on the American destroyer URO "Cole", which was blown up by a fire engine (although work on the creation of a laser for combating missiles has been carried out since 1971 and it was the fleet that was the first to create a megawatt laser class - MIRACL).

But now this topic is officially spelled out in the concept of developing advanced naval weapons systems “Strike from the sea”, and several years ago work began on integrating a high-energy laser into the Falanks complex: a laser installation should replace a cannon block, and an energy one will be located on the site of the store. block. The reload time of the laser gun is 10 seconds. An option is also being worked out using a low-energy laser to combat anti-ship missiles equipped with homing heads.

It is likely that we will see both the railgun on super destroyers and the laser gun on submarines in 10-15 years.

Illustrations by Mikhail Dmitriev