Murakhovsky: The Armata variant with a 152-mm cannon will destroy any tank in the world

152-mm howitzer-gun model 1937
(
ML-20
, GAU index -
52-G-544A
) - Soviet howitzer-gun during the Second World War.
This weapon was mass-produced from 1937 to 1946, was or is still in service with the armies of many countries around the world, and was used in almost all significant wars and armed conflicts of the mid and late 20th century. This weapon was armed with the most powerful Soviet self-propelled artillery units of the Great Patriotic War - SU-152 and ISU-152. According to some artillery experts, the ML-20 is one of the best designs of cannon artillery over the entire period of its existence. Even more restrained assessments recognize the outstanding role of the ML-20 in combat use and the development of Soviet artillery in the mid-20th century .

Content

• 1 History of creation
• 2 Design description
• 3 Production
• 4 Organizational and staffing structure
• 5 Combat use
• 6 ML-20 abroad
• 7 In service
• 8 Modifications
• 9 Self-propelled artillery mounts with ML-20
• 10 Project evaluation
• 11 Characteristics and properties of ammunition
• 12 Extant copies
• 13 Interesting fact
• 14 ML-20 in computer games
• 15 Notes
• 16 Literature
• 17 Links

History of creation

Of the heavy guns of the corps-army unit of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), the 152-mm siege gun of the 1910 model was inherited from the Russian army. This gun was designed by the French company Schneider for the Russian Empire and was used in the First World War and the Civil War. By the 1930s, it was clearly outdated and was subjected to two modernizations - in 1930 and 1934. Modernizations have significantly improved the characteristics of the gun mod. 1910, but, nevertheless, it did not fully satisfy the requirements of its time, mainly in terms of mobility, maximum elevation angle and aiming speed. In 1935-1936, the design bureau (KB) of plant No. 172 (Perm plant) in Motovilikha tried to continue modernizing the gun, but the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) did not support this work, and it was stopped. Design of a new weapon has begun]

.

The design bureau of plant No. 172 designed two howitzer guns - ML-15 and ML-20. A group of engineers led by the famous Soviet gunsmith designer F.F. Petrov worked on the design of the ML-20, and initially work on this weapon was carried out on an initiative basis, while the ML-15 was created on the instructions of the State Autonomous Army. Both guns had numerous borrowings from the 152-mm gun mod. 1910/34 - barrel with bolt, recoil devices. The ML-20 also had a common wheel travel, suspension and frame with this gun, while the ML-15 had these design elements developed anew]

.

In April 1936, the first sample of the ML-15 was sent for field testing, but failed and was sent for revision. In March 1937, the ML-15 entered repeated field tests, which passed without any comments. The ML-20 entered field testing on December 25, 1936, and the following year - for military testing. Based on the results of these tests, the ML-20, after eliminating the shortcomings, mainly related to the carriage, was recommended for adoption. On September 22, 1937, the ML-20 was put into service under the official name “152-mm howitzer-gun mod. 1937"

]
.
From today's point of view, the choice of ML-20 instead of ML-15 is difficult to explain. The author of publications in the field of domestic artillery A. B. Shirokorad believes that the ML-15 had clear advantages over the ML-20 - it was significantly lighter (600 kg in the stowed position, 500 kg in the combat position) and was more mobile (speed carts - up to 45 km/h). On the other hand, ML-15 had a more modern and complex carriage design]. Other sources claim that the choice was made for economic reasons - the technological equipment for the ML-20 was already ready]

.

Description of design

Diagram of a 152-mm howitzer-gun mod.
1937 (ML-20): a - barrel; b - breech with bolt; c — muzzle brake; d — recoil devices; d - shield cover; e — wheel travel; g - frame ML-20 was a howitzer-gun, that is, an artillery system in which howitzer properties prevail over cannon ones. The gun had a fairly modern design for its time, with a carriage with sliding frames and sprung wheels. The barrel was produced in two varieties - fastened and monoblock (some sources also mention a third option - with a free tube]). The ML-20 was equipped with a piston bolt, a spindle-type hydraulic recoil brake, a hydropneumatic knurler, and had separate cartridge loading. The bolt has a mechanism for forced extraction of the spent cartridge case when it is opened after a shot and a safety lock that locks the bolt after loading before the shot is fired. If for some reason it is necessary to unload the gun, you must first switch the safety switch to allow the bolt to open. To facilitate loading at large elevation angles, the ML-20 breech is equipped with a cartridge case retention mechanism. The descent is made by pressing the trigger on the trigger cord. The gun had a mutually locking mechanism that prevents the bolt from opening if the barrel is not properly connected to the recoil devices. To mitigate recoil on recoil devices and the carriage, the ML-20 was equipped with a powerful, massive slot-type muzzle brake. The knurl and recoiler contain 22 liters of liquid each, the pressure in the knurl is 45 atmospheres]]

.

A distinctive feature of the ML-20 is a unique combination of different elevation angles and initial projectile velocities, which are set by choosing one of thirteen propellant charges. As a result, the gun could be used both as a howitzer, firing along a mounted trajectory with a relatively low projectile speed, and as a cannon - along a flat trajectory with a high projectile speed. The gun was equipped with both a telescopic sight for direct fire and an artillery panorama for firing from closed positions]]

.

The carriage with sliding frames is equipped with a balancing mechanism and a shield cover. The wheels are metal with rubber tires (some early guns had wheels with spokes and rubber weights from a gun model 1910/34), leaf springs. The carriage of the gun was usually carried out on a carriage with the barrel in an extended position. The transition time from traveling to combat position was 8-10 minutes. Over short distances, the system could be transported with the barrel not pulled out at a speed of 4-5 km/h. The carriage of the ML-20 gun was recognized as normalized, received the designation 52-L-504A and was used in the modernization of the 122-mm A-19 gun]]. To transport the ML-20, heavy tracked artillery tractors "Voroshilovets" and "Comintern" were used, which were produced by the Kharkov Locomotive Plant - the developer and first manufacturer of the famous T-34 tank and were equipped with the same V-2 engine as the "thirty-four"

.

• 152 mm howitzer gun mod. 1937 (ML-20) in the artillery museum of Hämeenlinna, Finland. Left view

• 152 mm howitzer gun mod. 1937 (ML-20) in the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg. Rear right view. Note the upgraded wheel travel. These guns were used for the traditional noon shot

  .

• 152 mm howitzer gun mod. 1937 (ML-20) in the Batey ha-Osef Museum, Israel. Front view

• 152 mm howitzer gun mod. 1937 (ML-20) in the artillery museum of Hämeenlinna, Finland. Another view on the left

  Read also:  How to get a military ID: the concept and necessity of the document

Design and performance characteristics

From a gun arr. 1910/30 The eye howitzer received only the barrel; all other design elements were developed from scratch. First of all, it is worth noting the introduction of a characteristic muzzle brake; the slotted design with the reflection of the shock wave of powder gases back compensated for the rollback of the gun and gave the shot a unique sound, known to all artillerymen.

The valve is of a classic design, piston type. The chamber is bored out for more powerful shells. Loading was separate, first a projectile was inserted into the barrel, then a half-charge; at high elevation angles, the cartridge case was kept from falling out of the barrel by a special mechanism. This ensured a high combat rate of fire.

Performance characteristics of ML-20

To fire a shot, it was necessary to pull the trigger cord. It was possible to open the bolt only after firing, since a safety mechanism was installed in the design of the gun. After opening the bolt, the automatic mechanism ejected the cartridge case.

The gun had excellent fire maneuverability. The long barrel and howitzer aiming angles gave the projectile high speed and a flat, or, if necessary, mounted flight path.

Sights consisted of a Hertz panorama for canopy shooting and a telescopic sight for direct fire. The gun's ammunition included both traditional howitzer OFS and concrete-piercing shells, as well as shells designed to combat armored targets: naval semi-armor-piercing grenade mod. 1915/28 for example, or later sharp-headed and cumulative armor-piercing shells.

To increase the towing speed, the carriage was equipped with leaf springs, the wheel travel was represented by stamped discs with a solid rubber band.

This increased the towing speed to 20 km/h on the highway. For artillery of this caliber and weight, this is a fairly good indicator. During transportation, the gun barrel rolled back to its extreme position, which reduced its dimensions when moving.

The gun frames were sliding, this provided the gun with a quick transfer of fire to another target, and also greater stability when firing. To protect the crew during firing, the gun was equipped with a shield cover. In addition, for the first time for howitzer artillery, each gun was equipped with a counting mechanism - an adder. It was used to calculate shooting parameters.

Production

Production of ML-20 was carried out only at plant No. 172 in Perm from 1937 to 1946]. In addition to the production of towed guns, about 4,000 ML-20S barrels were produced for installation on the SU-152 and ISU-152 self-propelled artillery mounts (in total, 3,242 ISU-152 self-propelled guns and about 670 SU-152 self-propelled guns were built, the exact number varies in various sources). The successor to the ML-20 was the 152 mm D-20 gun-howitzer, which had been in serial production since 1956. This gun had identical ballistics to the ML-20.

Apparently, there was a significant decrease in production volumes of towed howitzer guns ML-20 in 1943-1946. was caused by two reasons. The first of these was the beginning of the production of heavy self-propelled guns SU-152 and ISU-152 - a significant proportion of the barrels produced then went into their arsenal. The second factor was the appearance of heavy tanks by the enemy, and as part of the program to increase the power of tank and anti-tank artillery of the Red Army, plant No. 172 was ordered to increase the production of 122-mm A-19 guns in line with the plan to produce ML-20 howitzer guns]

.

Organizational and staffing structure

Initially, the ML-20 was intended for corps artillery. Together with the 122-mm gun of the 1931/37 model (A-19), it formed the so-called “hull duplex”. In 1940-1941. there were three types of corps artillery regiments

:

• two divisions of ML-20 and one division of A-19 or 107 mm guns (24 howitzer guns);
• two divisions of ML-20 and two divisions of A-19 or 107 mm guns (24 howitzer guns);
• three ML-20 divisions (36 howitzer guns)].

Soon after the start of the Great Patriotic War, corps artillery was abolished along with rifle corps. It was revived again in the second half of the war. According to the staff, corps artillery regiments in the second half of the war had 122-mm cannons or 152-mm howitzers, however, some memoir sources indicate the use of ML-20 in them. It was believed that corps artillery should be equipped with more mobile guns than the ML-20. In 1943, the 152-mm D-1 howitzer was adopted, which became the basis of corps artillery, and the more powerful and less mobile ML-20 was finally transferred to army artillery]

.

Since 1943, the ML-20 has been used in artillery regiments of a larger organizational unit - the combined arms army. The combined arms army had an artillery regiment of 18 ML-20s. The Guards armies from the beginning of 1945 had an artillery brigade of 36 ML-20]

.

In addition to rifle and mechanized units, the ML-20 was in service with purely artillery brigades and reserve regiments of the Supreme High Command (RVGK). The RVGK cannon regiment had 24 ML-20s. Since 1943, artillery brigades of the RVGK have been formed; the cannon brigade had 36 ML-20s. RVGK cannon brigades could be part of larger artillery formations - breakthrough artillery divisions and cannon artillery divisions]

.

Links

• 152 mm howitzer mod. 1909/30 on the site of games of the series “Confrontation” (Sudden Strike)
• Availability of guns of different types in the western military districts as of June 1941
• Heavy howitzers of the Finnish army on JaegerPlatoon.Net (English)

Combat use

The ML-20 was used for firing from closed positions at the enemy’s dug-in and openly located manpower, his fortifications and obstacles, and important objects in his near rear. When the fuse of a high-explosive fragmentation grenade OF-540 weighing 43.56 kg is installed for fragmentation action, it causes damage with fragments along the front at 40 m and in depth up to 8 m]. Although the number of fragments and their scattering are significantly less than that of a howitzer grenade of the same caliber, the fragments themselves are more massive and are capable of penetrating armor up to 20-30 mm thick. Therefore, the barrage of the ML-20 battery with high-explosive fragmentation shells posed a great threat not only to the enemy’s manpower and fortifications, but also to his armored vehicles. The fragments pierced the armor of armored personnel carriers and the sides of light and medium tanks. In heavily armored vehicles they disabled chassis components, guns, and sights. Sometimes the shock from a close explosion of a shell was enough to break components and assemblies inside a tank or self-propelled gun with unpierced armor

.

For the first time, the ML-20 was used in small quantities during the battles on the Khalkhin Gol River, and the gun suffered no losses.] The gun was actively used in the Soviet-Finnish War, where it was also successfully used to destroy bunkers and bunkers on the Mannerheim Line (3-4 hits of 152-mm shells were required to confidently destroy the pillbox)]. Losses during the Soviet-Finnish war amounted to 22 guns of this type[10]. The ML-20 participated in all major operations of the Great Patriotic War, in particular, its participation in the Battle of Kursk is known, where the gun also played the unusual role of an anti-tank gun, being one of the few weapons capable of effectively fighting the new well-armored German tanks and self-propelled artillery units[11]. It is known that the first cannon shot on German territory in the second half of the Great Patriotic War was fired by the ML-20 howitzer gun No. 3922 on August 2, 1944[12]. After the end of the war, the weapon was in service with the Soviet army for a long time, transferred or sold to other countries to equip their armed forces, in whose armies it took part in various regional conflicts (in particular, the Arab-Israeli conflict). A small number of combat-ready ML-20s are available in the warehouses of the Russian army at present[13]

.

M-10 abroad

152 mm howitzer mod.
1938 M-10 in the Finnish Museum in Helsinki. Front view A significant number of guns of this type were captured by the Wehrmacht in 1941. The howitzer was adopted by the German army under the designation 15.2 cm sFH443(r)

. The Finnish army has captured 45 M-10 howitzers since 1941 and bought another 57 from Germany in 1944. In the Finnish army, they equipped 5 heavy artillery battalions that actively participated in battles (combat losses in the summer of 1944 amounted to 7 guns). The Finns rated this weapon very highly, noting as a disadvantage only its rather large mass. After the end of the war, the M-10 howitzer continued to be in service with the Finnish army until 2000, when all guns of this type were withdrawn from warehouses. In the 1980s, the Finns even considered the possibility of modernizing the gun, but eventually abandoned this idea in favor of purchasing 152-mm D-20 howitzer guns from the reserves of the former GDR army in a united Germany[17].

ML-20 abroad

152 mm howitzer gun mod.
1937 (ML-20) in the Poznan Citadel, Poland At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a significant number (several hundred) of ML-20s were captured by the Wehrmacht. The gun was adopted by the Wehrmacht as the 15, 2 cm KH.433/1(r)

) and was actively used in battles against the Red Army.
In February 1943, the Germans even launched mass production of shells for this weapon [14] .
In the post-war years, the ML-20 was exported to a number of countries in Asia and Africa, where it is still in service. It is known that such weapons exist in Syria[15] and Egypt (accordingly, this weapon took an active part in the Arab-Israeli wars). In turn, some of the Egyptian ML-20s were captured by the Israelis. One of these captured guns is on display at the Batey ha-Osef Museum. The ML-20 was also supplied to countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, for example, to Poland. In the memorial of the Poznan Citadel, this weapon is in the exhibition of museum weapons, and in the 1980s the Poles modernized the weapon, in particular, the wheel drive was replaced, the modernized guns received the designation mod. 1937/85[16]

The Finnish Artillery Museum in Hämeenlinna has an ML-20 howitzer gun on display. Finnish army in 1941-1944. captured 37 guns of this type and acquired 27 more in Germany as an ally. Captured ML-20s designated 152 H/37

Finnish artillerymen were used in both field and coastal artillery.
They really liked the gun, the only criticism was its large mass compared to other guns they had of a similar purpose and caliber, among which there were many examples from the First World War. The small number of available powerful tractors was the reason for the transfer of part of the ML-20 from field artillery to coastal artillery - in the latter, the requirements for mobility were much more modest. Two ML-20 guns were recaptured from the Finns by the Red Army [17] .
However, the weapon on display in Hämeenlinna has a very unusual origin - it was acquired in the early 1990s. from Germany from the reserves of the army of the former GDR. Interestingly, this purchase allowed the Finnish army to remove such “antique” guns as the 76-mm divisional guns of the 1902 model from active service. A certain number of ML-20s, after modernization, are in the reserve of the Finnish army to this day, however, in connection with the renewal of the artillery fleet, they are soon planned to be completely removed from service[17]

.

152 mm howitzer model 1909/30. abroad

152 mm howitzer mod. 1909/30 in the Artillery Museum, St. Petersburg.

In 1941-1942, the German army captured a number of these howitzers, which were adopted by the Wehrmacht under the symbol 15.2 cm sFH445(r

).
For captured Soviet guns, in February 1943, the Germans even launched the production of high-explosive fragmentation shells weighing 46 kg]. Most of these guns were used by the Germans in coastal defense .
The Finnish army captured 14 of these howitzers in the Winter War and another 85 guns in the initial period of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1941-44. The guns were actively used in combat (losses amounted to 14 howitzers in 1944). Finnish soldiers appreciated the simplicity, convenience and reliability of the gun, but noted that the gun was too heavy for horse traction, and mechanical traction was limited to low speed due to the lack of suspension. The howitzer was in service with the Finnish army (in training units) until the 1980s

.

The design of the howitzer was very simple, which made it possible to master this weapon well in combat units, where it was very popular. However, the maximum firing range of about 10 km for a hull gun was no longer sufficient even by the standards of the interwar period. The low transportation speed and insufficient firing angles (both horizontally and vertically), which were not eliminated during modernization, led to the gradual replacement of howitzers mod. 1910/30 to more modern guns of the same caliber and purpose M-10

.

However, the M-10 gun was much more complex in design and its production was launched with great difficulty (in the second half of 1941 its production ceased altogether), so by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, howitzers of the 1909/30 model. together with 152 mm howitzers 1910/30. were the most common six-inch howitzers in the Red Army. They were used throughout the war and only in 1943 they began to be replaced by the more modern 152 mm D-1 howitzers

.

In service

• USSR
• Algeria - 20 ML-20, as of 2007[18]
• Bulgaria - some, as of 2007[19]
• DPRK - a certain number, as of 2007[20]
• Cuba - some in coastal defense, as of 2007[21]
• Libya - 25 ML-20, as of 2007[22]
• Mongolia - some, as of 2007[23]
• Poland - 135 ML-20, as of 2007[24]
• Russia - 100 ML-20, as of 2007[13]
• Romania - 154 ML-20, as of 2007[25]
• Ukraine - 7 ML-20, as of 2007[26]

Operators[edit | edit code]

Modern operators[edit | edit code]

• Azerbaijan - 24 D-20, as of 2020[9]
• Angola - 4 D-20, as of 2020[10]. delivered in 1999 from Bulgaria[11]
• Armenia - 34 D-20, as of 2020[12]. 87 D-20 units as of 2020[13]
• Bulgaria - 24 D-20, as of 2020[14]
• Hungary - 18 D-20, as of 2020[15]
• Vietnam - a number of D-20, as of 2017[16]
• Iraq - a number of D-20s, as of 2017[17]
• Iran - 30 D-20, as of 2020[18]
• China - some (<2106) Type 66
  (D-20), as of 2020[19]
• Republic of the Congo - a number of D-20, as of 2018[20]
• Moldova - 31 D-20, as of 2020[21]
• Nicaragua - 30 D-20 in storage, as of 2017[22]
• NKR - 50 D-20, as of 2020[23]
• Syria - a number of D-20, as of 2017[24]
• Turkmenistan - 72 D-20, as of 2020[25]
• Ukraine - >130 D-20, as of 2020[26]
• Sri Lanka - 46 Type 66
  (D-20), as of 2020[27]

Other operators[edit | edit code]

• Peshmerga - some D-20, as of 2017[28]

Former operators[edit | edit code]

• Albania - Chinese Type 66
  were in service as of 1991-1992[29]
• Afghanistan - D-20 were in service as of 2004-2005[30]
• Belarus - 58 D-20 units as of 2010[31]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - a total of 30 guns, including 13 D-20 and 17 M84 "NORA-A"
  as of 2010[32]
• GDR - see data for Finland
• Yemen - 10 D-20 units as of 2010[33]
• Kazakhstan - 74 D-20 units were in service as of 2007[34]
• DPRK - a significant number of Chinese Type 66
  were in service as of 1991-1992[35]
• Myanmar - 35 units delivered in 2009 from the DPRK
• NKR - 53 D-20 guns were in service as of 2004-2005[36]
• Poland - 166 D-20 were in service as of 1991-1992[37]
• Romania - 84 D-20s were in service as of 1991-1992[38], as of 2010 the Romanian Army had 329 M1981
  (245 were in service)[39]
• Russia - 1075 D-20 units in storage as of 2016[40]
• Serbia - a total of 68 guns, including 18 D-20 and 50 M84 "NORA-A"
  were in service as of 2007[41]
• USSR - passed to the former republics of the USSR
• Finland - Former East German guns, known in Finland as 152 H 55
  were in service as of 2004-2005[42]
• Croatia - a total of 41 guns, including 20 D-20, 18 M84 "NORA-A"
  and 3 M84H as of 2010[43]
• Yugoslavia - M84 "NORA-A"
  (passed to successor countries)

Modifications

152 mm howitzer gun mod.
1937 (ML-20) in the museum of Hämeenlinna, Finland. View from the breech side. The gun did not change significantly during mass production. The gun barrel was produced in two versions - fastened and monoblock (some sources also mention a third option - with a free tube)]. Early samples of the gun had wheels with spokes and rubber weights from a 152-mm gun mod. 1910/34

.

The ML-20S version was produced for installation on self-propelled guns.

(GAU index -
52-PS-544S
), in which the length of the rifled part was 3467.1 mm, and the length of the barrel with a muzzle brake was 32.3 calibers / 4925 mm with a different arrangement of controls, more convenient for the gunner in cramped combat conditions self-propelled gun compartments [27]
.
There were several experimental versions of the ML-20 that did not go into production

:

• ML-20 with cap loading. In 1937, the GAU decided, for the sake of dubious savings, to convert medium-caliber guns to cap loading. In 1939, a prototype ML-20 was created with such loading, the tests of which were unsuccessful. It should be noted that savings on metal for cartridges are negated by the slower rate of fire and the heat in the gun chamber, which is absent with separate cartridge loading].
• ML-20SM
  is a modernized version of the version for self-propelled artillery units. With identical ballistics to the ML-20S, this gun did not have a muzzle brake. ML-20Sm. was installed on the experimental ISU-152 self-propelled gun of the 1945 model based on the IS-3 heavy tank, built in a single copy and now on display at the Armored Museum in Kubinka[27].
• BL-29
  . The gun was created at OKB-172 (“sharaga” of the NKVD) in 1946 and was an ML-20 with a cast breech and a wedge breech].
• ML-20 with a carriage and limber movement similar to the 130 mm M-46 cannon. In 1950, a prototype was created and tested].
• ML-20M
  is a modification of the gun for the coastal artillery of the Navy. They were distinguished by changes in the shield, the presence of special receiving devices for vertical and horizontal guidance systems, etc. An experimental series of three guns was manufactured in 1940, but the tests of the guns were unsuccessful, and they were not accepted for service. The manufactured guns were sent to the front, where they were lost[28]. After the war, the ML-20M index was given to guns that had undergone modernization.

Modifications[edit | edit code]

The D-20 is in service in at least 13 countries and was produced under license in China as the Type 66

(or the modernized
Type 66-1
).
The self-propelled gun based on it, known as the Type 83
, was first introduced in the mid-1980s.
Yugoslavia also manufactured the M84 NORA-A gun-howitzer, developed on the basis of the D-20, and Serbia, based on the 155-mm modification of the M84 NORA-A,
the Nora B-52 self-propelled gun on a four-axle wheeled chassis
FAP-2632
.

Russia[edit | edit code]

D-20M

or
“Khitin”
(GAU Index -
52-P-546M
) - a modernized version, equipped with an automatic rammer, increasing the rate of fire to 7-8 rounds/min. The modernization was carried out by the Titan Central Design Bureau. Offered for export.

China[edit | edit code]

• Type 66 (English)Russian - Chinese version of the D-20 produced under license. The modernized version is known as Type 66-1
  .[1] Type 83 is a self-propelled artillery unit created on the basis of artillery pieces from the
  Type 66
  , and is identical in design to the 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled gun.

Romania[edit | edit code]

• The A411
  is a howitzer developed by
  Arsenal Armatei
  , basically similar to the D-20.
  This option uses its own 152-mm ammunition, which (with a barrel length of 20.5 calibers) has a maximum range of 17.2 km (24 km with the OF-550 projectile). In the Romanian army, the A411
  is known as the
  152-mm towed gun-howitzer M1981
  (Romanian: Tun/Obuzier calibrul 152-mm tractat M1981).[1]

Also, Romania produced the 130 mm A412

(based on the artillery unit of the 130-mm Chinese version of the D-74 gun
type 59-1
) known under the designation
M1982
(or
M82
) and the 152-mm
A425
(based on Chinese technology) known under the designation
M1985
(or
M85
), in which a carriage was used from duplex D-74/D-20.[1]

Self-propelled artillery mounts with ML-20

ML-20 was installed on the following self-propelled guns:[29]

• SU-152. Self-propelled guns based on the KV-1s tank. Produced from February to December 1943. A total of 670 pieces were produced.
• ISU-152. Self-propelled guns based on the IS-1 tank. It was produced from November 1943 to 1946 (the exact end date of production is questionable). A total of 3242 units were produced.
• ISU-152 model 1945. An experimental self-propelled gun based on the IS-3 tank, built in a single copy.

Project evaluation

The ML-20 was, of course, a successful weapon, as evidenced by the length of its serial production and service. It was in the niche between classic field howitzers with a short barrel and long-barreled cannons of special power, greatly outperforming the former in firing range and the latter in mass (as a consequence of this, it had better mobility and lower cost). In practice, the first advantage led to the fact that the ML-20 was capable of striking the positions of the most common enemy howitzers, firing from distances inaccessible to those (For example, the most common German howitzer 15 cm sFH18 had a maximum firing range of 13.3 km)[30 ]. The result of the second advantage was a much larger number of ML-20s produced compared to the number of special-power guns produced, which were significantly more expensive. As an illustrative example, we can take the German high-power 15 cm K.18 cannon, weighing 12.5 tons and with a maximum firing range of 24.8 km, which was produced from 1940 to 1943 in the amount of 101 pieces[31], or a gun on a mortar carriage 17 cm K.Mrs.Laf (23.4 t, 29.6 km), considered by German historians to be the best in its class, which was produced in the amount of 338 pieces[32]. The lighter German guns 10.5 cm K.18 (5.6 t, 19.1 km) were more numerous - their production amounted to 2135 pieces, but the power of their high-explosive fragmentation projectile weighing 15 kg cannot be compared with 44 kg ML-20 projectile[33]

.

When comparing the ML-20 with its few analogues, the advantage of the Soviet gun is obvious. 155-mm French guns mod. 1917 and 1918 (as well as their American modification M1918M1) had a slightly longer firing range compared to the ML-20, but were 3.5 tons heavier, less mobile and had a more flat trajectory, since their elevation angle was limited to 40- 42°[34]. The Czech K4 howitzer (the Germans called it 15 cm sFH37(t)) was 2 tons lighter, but inferior in firing range to more than 2 kilometers. In addition, these guns were not widely used, since only 178 of them were produced[35]. The Germans repeatedly tried to create a weapon similar in characteristics to the ML-20, but failed. The 15 cm sFH40 howitzer did not go into mass production due to a number of design flaws; another sample, 15 cm sFH42, had a maximum firing range of 15,100 m and was produced in the amount of 46 pieces. In 1943 and 1944, the Wehrmacht announced competitions for the creation of a new 15-Sm. howitzers with a firing range of 18 km, but German designers failed to create a model suitable for mass production[36]. The English medium field 5.5-inch (140 mm caliber) gun, launched into production in 1941, had only a slight advantage over the 15 cm sFH18 in its firing range of 14 km and was inferior to the ML-20 both in this indicator and in fire maneuver capabilities[37]

.

The ML-20 had a huge range of ammunition, allowing it to solve a wide variety of problems. In addition to typical targets for artillery systems of this type, such as military columns, headquarters, warehouses, artillery positions, the ML-20 was successfully used to destroy long-term fire installations, including concrete ones, and in some cases with direct fire. The use of these guns in urban battles was very effective. Separately, it should be noted the use of the ML-20 for anti-tank purposes. Of course, the use of a weapon of this class against tanks should be considered as the most extreme measure, since for such purposes the ML-20 is too large (and therefore easily detected and hit), high cost and low aiming speed. At the same time, in a number of cases, for example, in the Battle of Kursk, when standard anti-tank weapons were ineffective against new heavily armored enemy tanks, the ML-20 was used for anti-tank warfare[11]. When comparing the armor penetration of the gun and the armor protection indicators of German armored vehicles [38], it can be noted that the ML-20 armor-piercing and concrete-piercing shells easily hit all medium tanks of the Wehrmacht when firing in any projection, the heavy “Tiger” was also hit when firing at ranges of about a kilometer or less in all projections, and when shooting at the side and beyond. The self-propelled gun "Ferdinand" was easily hit on the side. The “Panther” tank was easily hit on the side at all distances, at close ranges - even head-on (although there was a high probability of a ricochet before the appearance of blunt-nosed shells). When a high-explosive fragmentation shell hit a tank, the turret was torn off from medium tanks]; in heavy cases, it jammed due to the concussion (and there was a significant probability of destruction of the structural elements of the shoulder strap and displacement of the turret from the axis of rotation), weapons and surveillance devices failed, and the crew was injured

.

Among the disadvantages of the ML-20, one can note the large mass and limited carriage speed, which was due to the conservative design of the carriage. As the ML-15 experience showed, the gun could have been designed lighter and more mobile. To transport the gun, a fairly powerful tractor was required, the number of which was relatively small during the Great Patriotic War. The same drawback was noted by Finnish artillerymen[17]. Insufficiently high mobility led to the removal of the gun from the corps artillery to higher organizational levels in the hierarchy - to the army artillery or to the artillery of the RVGK. A relative disadvantage can be considered the use of a muzzle brake in the ML-20 design. Its presence caused the gun to be unmasked when firing, since the powder gases flowing from the muzzle after the projectile had ejected changed the direction of movement after passing through the muzzle brake and raised clouds of dust from the surface of the earth. This circumstance was especially significant when shooting at small elevation angles; to combat this undesirable phenomenon, wetting the underlying surface with water was sometimes used. On the other hand, the use of a muzzle brake at that time had already become common practice for guns of this class.

.

152 mm howitzers M-10 and D-1

The basis for the frequent mention of concrete-piercing shells for the KV-2 is apparently set out in the memoirs of G.K. Zhukov and his conversation, often quoted in the literature (as Chief of the General Staff) with the commander of the 5th Army, MI Potapov, on June 24, 1941:

Zhukov: How do our KB and others work? Do they penetrate the armor of German tanks and approximately how many tanks did the enemy lose on your front?... Potapov: There are 30 “large” KB tanks. All of them are without shells for 152 mm guns... Zhukov: 152-mm KB guns fire 09-30 shells, so order the immediate release of 09-30 armor-piercing shells. and put them to use. You will hit enemy tanks with might and main.

However, there is no mention here of the destructive effect of this type of ammunition on one's own equipment, nor any hints about the use of naval semi-armor-piercing shells.

The origin of another widespread myth about the shorter barrel of the M-YuT compared to the towed version of the M-10 has not yet been determined for sure by the author. It can be hypothesized that in a number of wartime photographs of the KV-2, its gun is strongly pushed inside the turret and the barrel looks short from the outside, which may have become the basis for the corresponding statement in some publications. This could well have been the consequences of firing a naval semi-armor-piercing projectile at full charge - the breaking of the recoil brake and knurling rods, the rolling of the barrel deep into the turret with its further tearing off the cradle. If there is at least some grain of truth in this assumption, then both myths also turn out to be related to each other.

In general, military-technical specialists and senior commanders, for example D.G. Pavlov, assessed the armament of the KB heavy tank with the 152-mm M-10 howitzer as excessive. The very heavy “large towers” ​​caused significant overload of the chassis and engine-transmission group of the vehicle. Even the KV-2 prototypes simply got stuck in deep snow during the Soviet-Finnish war. Turret rotation mechanism, borrowed from the T-28 medium tank. did a poor job even on the KV-1. On the KV-2 the situation was, naturally, even worse. The low-power electric motor of this mechanism often failed, and the manual drive required a lot of effort. When the tank rolled, turning the turret became impossible altogether.

As a result, the prevailing opinion was that for a vehicle of this class, either a long-barreled 107 mm gun or a 122 mm howitzer was desirable. This should have been enough to combat field-type fortifications and enemy armored vehicles. For the destruction of long-term reinforced concrete fortifications, a self-propelled gun with a six-inch gun was named preferable. Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the KV-2 was tested with a 107-mm ZIS-6 cannon, and N.V. Kurin, together with artillery designers from Uralmash, began to develop the KV-9. This subsequently had a significant impact on the history of the development of both assault tanks and medium self-propelled guns based on the T-34.

However, none of the projects and prototypes ever reached the mass production stage. Therefore, the production of the KV-2 was maintained, despite all the shortcomings of the machine. It was completed on July 1, 1941, and since its process is inertial, the tanks started before this date were accepted for acceptance some time later, which explains the discrepancies in publications regarding the completion of the KV-2.

At the Chelyabinsk plant (ChKZ) they did not even begin to organize the production of the KV-2, and in the catastrophic situation of 1941 it was decided that this was not necessary at all. When, with the first large-scale offensive operations, the need for a powerful mobile fire support vehicle again arose, all further work was focused on creating heavy assault self-propelled guns. However, for a short time, on the personal instructions of I.V. Stalin's idea of ​​an assault tank with a six-inch howitzer was again revived in the spring of 1943. But the M-10 had long been out of production by that time, and the launch of the SU-152 (and then ISU-152) series, armed with a more powerful 152-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20, made the reincarnation of the KV-2 unnecessary.

As a summary of this story, it can be noted that the choice of the M-10 for the main armament of the assault tank, made when carrying out an urgent army mission during the Soviet-Finnish War, determined to a certain extent the shortcomings of the KV-2, even if we ignore the numerous troubles with the engine and the transmission of the entire family of early Klimov Voroshilovs.

Production

The 152-mm howitzer was mass-produced by two factories - No. 172 in Motovilikha near Perm and No. 235 in Votkinsk from December 1939 to September 1941. A total of 1,522 guns were produced, not counting prototypes. In addition to the towed version, from January 1940 to June 1941, at least 213 model tank howitzers were also produced. 1938/40 (M-10T). There were two main reasons for the end of production shortly after the start of the Great Patriotic War.

The first of these is the loss of purpose: six-inch howitzers were removed from divisional artillery due to completely objective factors, and corps artillery simply ceased to exist as such. The rifle and tank corps were disbanded in August-September 1941 due to great difficulties in managing and acquiring materiel. The army artillery and artillery of the RVGK already had a 152-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20, with which the M-10 could not compete in its firing qualities, and its higher mobility due to its lower weight was not in demand there.

The second reason was the need to restore production of 45-mm anti-tank and 76-mm divisional guns, as well as to increase production volumes of 122-mm A-19 guns and 152-mm ML-20 howitzer guns. After the catastrophic losses of the summer of 1941, the Red Army was in dire need of all these artillery systems. Plant No. 235 in Votkinsk received an order to start producing forty-fives, and plant No. 172 in Motovilikha received a significantly increased plan for the number of A-19 and ML-20 to be delivered to the army. To do this, it was necessary to use all reserves, including those freed up due to the removal of 152-mm howitzers from production.

Regarding the lack of need for the M-10 in defensive operations of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, which is often mentioned in a number of publications, which allegedly served as the reason for stopping its production, we can only say that this thesis is incorrect in principle (this will be discussed below). Licenses for the production of the 152-mm M-10 howitzer were not sold to other countries, nor were they pirated anywhere.

Organizational and staffing structure

In 1940, a new 152-mm howitzer began to be supplied to the troops. The rifle division at that time had two artillery regiments - light and howitzer. The latter had a division of 152 mm howitzers. Thus, the RKKA rifle division, fully equipped at the pre-war level, consisted of 12 152 mm howitzers. In July 1941, the howitzer regiment was expelled from the staff of the rifle division. That is, almost all the rifle divisions went through almost the entire war without six-inch howitzers in their artillery regiments. The word “almost” is required in light of the small number of cases of “illegal” presence of 152-mm howitzers mod. 1909/30, comparable in weight in the stowed position to the standard 122-mm M-30 howitzer. Until the summer of 1941, a division with 12 152-mm howitzers was also available in the motorized and tank divisions of the Red Army. There were no 152 mm howitzers in the organizational structure of other divisions (cavalry, mountain rifle, etc.).

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As of June 1941, the corps artillery did not have 152 mm howitzers; systems of this caliber were represented by 152 mm ML-20 howitzer guns. After the re-organization of the rifle and tank corps, the six-inch howitzers were returned to their organizational structure. For these formations, an artillery regiment was provided, which included 16-20 guns. It was usually equipped with 107 mm or 122 mm guns. Six-inch systems (model 1909/30, M-10. ML-20, later D-1) went to them in addition to the batteries or division within the regiment armed with them. It was not uncommon for them not to be there at all.

In the artillery of the RVGK, 152-mm howitzers were initially part of a number of artillery regiments (48 guns). Due to losses of materiel and difficulties with propulsion and control, in 1942 the number of guns in the heavy howitzer regiments of the RVGK was reduced by exactly half. There was also a variant of the organizational structure of such a regiment with 20152 mm howitzers. Later, as the noted problems were overcome, heavy howitzer brigades (32 guns) began to be formed. These formations could be either separate or combined into larger artillery corps and breakthrough divisions. The M-10s that survived the initial period of the war continued to serve in these units and formations until the Victory.

Service and combat use

The main tasks facing the 152 mm howitzers were:

• destruction of both openly located and hidden enemy personnel;
• suppression and destruction of infantry fire weapons;
• destruction of field and long-term defensive structures;
• fight against enemy artillery and motorized vehicles.

If necessary, 152-mm howitzers could be used to combat tanks (both from indirect fire and direct fire), as well as to make passages in minefields and barbed wire obstacles in the absence of suitable means (for example, mortars). This practically corresponded to the tasks facing the 122-mm howitzers. But the most important difference was the possibility of destroying long-term reinforced concrete or powerful wood-earth fortifications, durable permanent buildings and similar purposes. This is precisely what explains the desire of the leadership of the AU of the Red Army to introduce six-inch caliber howitzers into the organizational structure of rifle divisions, since this significantly increased their combat capabilities when overcoming fortified areas, as well as in urban battles.

152-mm long-range howitzer ammunition has been produced by industry in large quantities since the modernization of howitzers of this caliber of the old design. They could also be used by the 152 mm ML-20 howitzer gun. Naturally, with the adoption of the M-10, another reason appeared to continue their production and improvement. In addition, there were significant stocks of old high-explosive grenades and shrapnel. Although the latter has largely lost its significance, in a number of cases it could still be effective when operating against openly located enemy manpower, and could also be used when installing a tube “on buckshot” in the self-defense of guns from massive attacks by infantry and cavalry.

As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had 2,642 thousand howitzer rounds of all types of 152 mm caliber, of which 611 thousand were lost after the start of the war until January 1, 1942. and 578 thousand units were spent in battles. As a result, the number of 152-mm howitzer rounds of all types decreased to 1166 thousand pieces. as of January 1, 1942. During 1942, consumption increased significantly (706.3 thousand units), but losses decreased by an order of magnitude (48 thousand units) and the industry was able to provide 152-mm howitzers in the army with the necessary amount of ammunition . By January 1, 1943, despite the lack of production of guns of this class, the number of rounds for them increased to 1,534 thousand. 8 Subsequently, the production of the latter only increased and, unlike a number of other artillery systems, six-inch howitzers did not experience “ammunition starvation.” However, according to A.V. Isaev, the enemy’s consumption of 150-mm howitzer shells turned out to be more than twice as much as the total fired by domestic 152-mm howitzers and 152-mm howitzer guns.

As for specialized means of propulsion, we again have to talk about their shortage for artillery of all levels. However, artillery units of the RVGK and rifle divisions can hardly be called highly mobile formations: the use of widespread national economic tractors (or their transport modifications) completely solved the problems with mechanical traction for the rather heavy M-10. For rifle divisions, the use of horse traction was also not excluded. The need for a fast and powerful tractor was important for more mobile tank and motorized divisions. Even there, in most cases, tractor traction was sufficient, especially since individual tractors and tractors were quite capable of towing an M-10 howitzer along a highway or dry dirt road at speeds of up to 30 km/h. On the highway, five-ton trucks could also cope with this task.

However, with the beginning of the war, the large mass of the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1938 turned out to be a significant drawback, since the production of national economic tractors and five-ton trucks was discontinued. Moreover, in connection with the advance of the Wehrmacht to the Volga in 1942, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant ceased operation. He was the manufacturer, in addition to the T-34 medium tanks, of the STZ-5-NATI transport tractors, which were extremely important for the Red Army.

To meet the army's needs for tractors and horses, their losses had to be replenished by mobilization from the national economy, with all the negative consequences. The GAZ-MM and ZIS-5 trucks could not tow the M-10, and for the lend-lease General Motors CCKW-353 and Studebaker US6 this was almost at the limit of possibility. As in the case of the M-30, the Yaroslavl Ya-12 tractor could be a good solution, but it went into production only in August 1943 and its production volumes were small.

But it is worth repeating that in general the situation with traction even in 1941 was not tragic, taking into account the above-mentioned mobilization potential of trucks, tractors and horse stock from the national economy. This is actually what the top army leadership was counting on. However, holding such an event in the chaos of the beginning of the war required competent management decisions on the part of all involved individuals and organizations. This did not happen, and as a result, the lack of the expected means of traction became one of the reasons for the catastrophic losses of the gun fleet, including the M-10 howitzers. But subsequently, up to massive deliveries of trucks from the USA. It was precisely this way that the reorganized and newly organized artillery units and formations of the Red Army were equipped with traction means.

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It is also difficult to characterize as bad the situation with observation equipment, technical reconnaissance, other accessories and the necessary literature for the correct use of six-inch howitzers. There were problems: in particular, domestic portable radio stations were criticized by the Red Army for their considerable weight and inconvenience in operation. Their number in units did not correspond to what was desired, so field telephones were widely used in the artillery. As a prototype of later mechanical fire control devices, the Red Army had so-called “artillery circles” made of celluloid, with the help of which problems of determining coordinates, angles and ranges on a topographic map were solved.

But the situation with personnel in the divisional artillery of the Red Army in 1941 can be called truly tragic. Once again we have to refer to the article “M-30 in historical retrospect” in order to avoid repeating how low the level of literacy of both privates, sergeants, and officers. In artillery this was truly intolerable, since it required a lot of knowledge and ability. It was also necessary to organize well-coordinated joint work of artillery reconnaissance, command and control posts and fire assets in order to respond as flexibly as possible to changing battle conditions. Moreover, artillery is not a self-sufficient branch of the military; its task is to provide assistance to rifle and tank units both in defense and on the offensive, and therefore close and skillful interaction with them is another important point in the training of artillery commanders. Unfortunately, at the divisional level in 1941, nothing like this was observed in the general mass, and exceptions were isolated.

When fired from indirect positions, the 152mm howitzer is a lethal and effective weapon against even modern armored vehicles, including main battle tanks. Large high-speed fragments of six-inch shells are capable of penetrating up to 30-40 mm of armor, and when enemy troops in combat and marching formations come under fire from these ammunition, they very quickly lose their combat effectiveness: manpower and light armored vehicles - forever, and well-protected vehicles lose coordination and mobility and the ability to fire, since chassis elements, antennas, viewing devices, and gun barrels are vulnerable to hits from massive and high-speed fragments.

One can only imagine what columns of tanks with thin side and horizontal armor and other Wehrmacht vehicles could have turned into if they had come under well-organized fire from the M-10 division. So there can be no talk of any “lack of need” in the defensive phase of battles here. The enemy actively used its artillery in the offensive, and 152-mm howitzers were a very suitable means for neutralizing it. As a last resort, the M-10 could be used as a powerful direct fire anti-tank gun. In addition, the Red Army often tried to counterattack the enemy in 1941, and here the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1938 had every chance to show itself. Only in those conditions it was a pipe dream precisely because of the low level of training of personnel. It took a lot of time for this dream to begin to come true.

To summarize, we can conclude that in 1941 the Red Army failed to reveal the great potential inherent in the design of the M-10. The main reason was the insufficient level of training of personnel of both the artillery and the entire Armed Forces of the USSR in general. The untimely optimism of placing M-Yu in divisional artillery (approximately equally associated with an overestimation of the capabilities of personnel and with problems in the field of traction), the abolition of corps artillery (a sad statement of the general state of affairs) and the presence at the army level, as well as in the artillery of the RVGK the ML-20 howitzer guns deprived the structurally perfect howitzer of its purpose. And the huge losses of guns of caliber from 45 to 152 mm became the last and one of the most significant objective reasons for the removal of the M-10 from production.

Against this background, the fate of captured M-10s in the Finnish army looks contrasting. The Finns captured 45 howitzers in 1941 and bought another 57 from the Germans, who used these guns under the designation 15.2 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 44ЗД. In Finnish service, the M-10 received the designation 152 N/38 and was actively used in battles in 1944; seven howitzers were lost. The artillerymen of the country of Suomi highly appreciated the combat and operational qualities of the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1938, noting, however, its large mass, which made towing difficult due to the small number of available powerful tractors. In the post-war period, this problem was solved, and until 2000, 152 N/38 were in service with the Finnish army. Even the possibility of modernizing them was considered, but the military chose to purchase D-20 guns from Germany, which had previously served in the National People's Army of the GDR.

A certain number of 152 mm howitzers mod. 1938 was in service with the Soviet Army until the early 1960s. Due to the lack of accurate information, the author estimates this number of M-10 guns to be from 250 to 400 guns. Some of them could well have “returned from German captivity” in May 1945, when all the material of the Wehrmacht was lost and became trophies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. In any case, for the sake of the dozen or two remaining units, it was clearly not worth providing information about the features of the six-inch “big sister” in the reissues of firing tables for the D-1 howitzer (up to 1957 inclusive). But in 1968 the corresponding tab was removed from them. It is worth noting that the presence of such a tab indicates slightly different ballistics of these guns. If it is identical, the firing tables directly indicate this in one brief sentence, as, for example, in the general firing tables for the 152-mm gun mod. 1910/34 and 152 mm ML-20 howitzer guns. But due to the similarity of ballistic properties, the first shooting tables for the D-1 were combined with a similar publication for the M-10.

A pair of M-10 howitzers served in the Peter and Paul Fortress as midday shot guns and, after being replaced by the ML-20 in 1992, were scrapped. As a result, at the time of writing this article, three surviving 152-mm howitzers mod. 1938 in Russia (two - on display at the St. Petersburg Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps, a memorial gun - in the town of Lokot, Bryansk Region), one each in Belarus (Brest) and in the USA (museum Aberdeen Proving Ground), as well as at least two in Finland (the military museum in Helsinki and the artillery museum in Hämeenlinna). In connection with the sale of decommissioned army property to non-military organizations and individuals, which is practiced in Western Europe, there may be other copies of the M-10 in the country of Suomi. In particular, there is unverified information about the presence of this artillery system in the collection of guns at one of the hotels.

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Foreign analogues

Heavy howitzers of 149-155 mm caliber were in the past and are now very widespread in many armies of the world. However, despite the obvious convergence of technical thought, there are also plenty of nuances in their design and application. The reason is that this range of calibers was used not only by howitzers, but also by long-range cannons, and also in the armed forces of some countries by short-barrelled infantry guns or mortars. Depending on the positioning of these three categories of artillery systems, the tactical and technical characteristics of their representatives can vary greatly.

When comparing the 152-mm howitzer mod. 1938 (M-10) with its direct analogues - the German 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18, the Italian Oyse da 149/19 Modello 37, the American 155 mm Howitzer Ml - it is clearly visible that the Soviet gun, with a slightly shorter maximum fire range, is significantly lighter. The main emphasis of the M-10 is on light weight and better mobility, while the s.FH.18 does not have wheel suspension, da 149/19 and M1, with a similar power of action of a high-explosive fragmentation grenade, have a better range with a greater (about 1 ,3 times) mass. This rather significant discrepancy was rooted in the specifics of Soviet artillery, namely, the presence of numerous 152-mm howitzer-cannon ML-20, intermediate in weight and firing range between howitzers and heavy guns of 149-155 mm caliber. Representatives of the latter are, for example, the Soviet 152-mm gun mod. 1935 (Br-2), German 15 cm schwere Kanone 18, Italian Cannone da 149/40 Modello35 or American 155 mm -Long Tor- (155mm Gun M1 -Long Tor").

As noted, being very successful according to the estimates of the Red Army, the Wehrmacht and the Finnish Army, the ML-20 simply made unnecessary the 152-mm howitzer, which was quite close in mass but significantly inferior in range. Although the latter was still much lighter than the ML-20, this was still not enough to use anything other than a national economic tractor or a powerful but slow-moving army tracked tractor to tow it off-road. This negated all the potential advantages of the M-10 in mobility due to its lower weight compared to the ML-20. It is worth noting that the German Wehrmacht, the Royal Italian Army and the US Army had fairly fast and powerful specialized tractors for heavy howitzers - this was reflected in the high level of development of the automobile and tractor industries of the respective countries. As a result, the desire to obtain the lightest possible system for divisional artillery (in the presence of an obelisk of glory in the face of the ML-20) led to a rather isolated place for the M-10 among its foreign counterparts. The Japanese Type 96 howitzer could be close to it, but a lighter projectile weighing 31 kg generally casts doubt on whether the Japanese model belongs to other guns of a similar caliber and the same purpose (although there was also heavy World War I-era ammunition weighing 39 kg for it , but with a significantly smaller maximum firing range).

Concluding the review of foreign artillery systems similar to the M-10, it is difficult not to mention the absence of serial French and British guns in their list. For obvious reasons, the French simply did not have time to bring their prototypes of 155 mm caliber to mass production. As for the British artillery, it followed its own path, very original and rather vague, which is surprising for the existing conservative British stereotype. Having as the starting point of development a completely ordinary 6-inch howitzer from the era of the First World War (which saw a lot of war in the Second World War too), the British designers decided to replace it with a howitzer gun with a radically new caliber, ballistic solution and ammunition. This is not the first time this has happened; just remember the history of the lightweight 25-pound division. But in this case, the deployment of the new system and ammunition had to be carried out during the course of the war, which from an economic point of view can hardly be called an optimal solution. As a result, a 5.5 inch Medium Field Gun of 140 mm caliber with cap loading was born, which in terms of range was somewhere in the middle between the American M1 howitzer and the Soviet ML-20, significantly inferior to them in terms of the power of a high-explosive fragmentation grenade. In addition, due to a number of “childhood diseases” of both the gun and its shells, the outdated six-inch howitzer continued to be equipped with units fighting in Burma.

Afterword

Concluding the article about the 152-mm M-10 howitzer, we can briefly summarize its history with the well-known phrase personnel are everything. The successful efforts of the development team led by F.F. Petrov were to a certain extent offset by the unpreparedness, first of all, of the personnel of all ranks of the pre-war Red Army to properly use the new weapon. This concerned both the senior leadership, who optimistically placed the M-10 in the divisional artillery, and the middle and junior command staff, who failed to competently manage such a powerful weapon in their hands. And for the tankers on the KV-2, this was also compounded by the crews’ ignorance of the materiel when firing a naval semi-armor-piercing projectile. Moreover, the author is not sure that the artillerymen themselves did not have this in 1941. But in the Finnish armed forces and in the post-war Soviet Army, where the knowledge and skills of the personnel were at a fairly high level, this system turned out to be both necessary and reliable. In the first case, when the “little sister” D-1,152-mm howitzer mod. 1938 was destined to also have a long service life.

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Characteristics and properties of ammunition

The ML-20 fired a full range of 152mm cannon and howitzer shells, including a variety of old Russian and foreign-made grenades[39]. After the Great Patriotic War, new types of ammunition were added to the range of projectiles listed below, for example, the 3OF25 high-explosive fragmentation projectile. The 53-BP-540 cumulative projectile penetrated at an angle of 90° - 250 mm, 60° - 220 mm, 30° - 120 mm[39]

.

Surviving copies

ML-20 is presented in the exhibitions of many military museums, and also serves as an element of a number of memorials. In Moscow it can be seen in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill and the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, in St. Petersburg - in the Museum of Artillery and Engineering Troops and the courtyard of the Naryshkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, in Perm - in the Museum of Motovilikha Plants. In Finland, this weapon is exhibited in the museum of Hämeenlinna, in Belarus - in the Brest Fortress at the artillery weapons site, in Poland - in the Poznan Citadel, in Israel - in the Batey ha-Osef Museum, in Ukraine - in the Kiev Museum of the Great Patriotic War, in Crimea (Sevastopol) - diorama "Sapun Mountain"[40], Zaporozhye - next to the memorial complex near the dam[41]. Shostka - near the city museum. Highway Pskov - Gdov, as a monument

.

ML-20 in computer games

Unlike tanks, a variety of artillery weapon models are found in a very limited number of computer games. One such game is the turn-based strategy game Panzer General III. In its edition “Scorched Earth”, where the action takes place on the Eastern Front, the player can equip Soviet artillery units with the ML-20 howitzer gun (in the game it is simply called 15.2 cm). There it is the most powerful and long-range Soviet towed gun, but its combat range is equal to the range of the 15 cm sFH18 mentioned above. In addition, the ML-20 becomes available to the player starting in mid-1943, which is also not true

.

The ML-20 can also be seen in Russian games, in particular in the real-time strategies Blitzkrieg, Stalingrad and Sudden Strike. It is worth noting that the reflection of the features of using the ML-20 in these games is far from reality

.

The multiplayer online game World of Tanks uses the SU-152 and ISU-152 anti-tank self-propelled guns with the ML-20S cannon.

.

Mark on history

ML-20 has a fairly successful design. Howitzer guns, despite some inconvenience and heavy design, showed themselves to be excellent universal weapons, but at the same time, in certain areas they were inferior to specialized guns.

This is precisely the reason for its removal from service. Modern howitzers are superior to the ML-20 in all respects, including the range of mounted fire, but at the same time, not a single howitzer can support the advance of rifle units at direct fire; the insufficient barrel length and correspondingly low range when firing at direct fire prevent this.

In addition to towed guns, the ML-20 was installed in self-propelled guns, which were based on tanks: KV-1, IS-1. These self-propelled guns, known under the name “Zveroboev,” showed themselves excellently in the fight against German armored vehicles; the armor of the vaunted “Tigers” and “Panthers” burst and crumbled from the impacts of the heavy 152 mm shells of these guns.

Interesting! In St. Petersburg, in the period 2002-2009, it was this weapon that was used daily

Notes

1. ↑ 1 2 3 4 Shirokorad A.
   B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. — P. 654-655.
2. Shunkov V.
   N. Red Army. — P. 123.
3. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Shunkov V.
   N. Red Army. — P. 124.
4. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shirokorad A.
   B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. — P. 655-656.
5. Zheltov I. G. et al
   . IS tanks. Combat use. — (Tankmaster, special issue 2004).
6. ↑ 1 2 3 4 Ivanov
   A. USSR artillery in World War II. — P. 4-6.
7. ↑ 1 2
   Shunkov V.N. Red Army. — P. 125.
8. M. Kolomiets
   . Battles near the Khalkhin Gol River // Front-line illustration, No. 2, 2002
9. Shirokorad A.
   B. Northern wars of Russia. - M.: AST, 2001. - P. 631-632. — 848 p.
10. Shirokorad A.
    B. Northern wars of Russia. - M.: AST, 2001. - P. 684. - 848 p.
11. ↑ 1 2 Svirin M., Kolomiets
    M. Kursk Bulge. - M.: ExPrint NV, 1998. - 80 p.
12. Story. Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Motovilikha plants
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
13. ↑ 12
    Military Balance 2007. - P. 196.
14. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 80.
15. Yurchin
    V.
    Syrian ground forces. Foreign Military Review, No. 9, 1997
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011.
16. Gun-howitzer ML-20 - 152-mm towed gun-howitzer mod. 1937. Pointclub.ru
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
17. ↑ 1 2 3
    ARTILLERY PART 6: Heavy Howitzers (150 mm - 155 mm) (English).
    Jaeger Platoon
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
18. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 218.
19. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 104.
20. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 358.
21. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 70.
22. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 234.
23. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 365.
24. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 134.
25. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 138.
26. The Military Balance 2007. - P. 177.
27. ↑ 1 2 Solyankin A. G., Pavlov M. V., Pavlov I. V., Zheltov I.
    G. Soviet heavy self-propelled artillery mounts 1941-1945. — P. 1111.
28. Shirokorad A.
    B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. — P. 1111.
29. Svirin M.
    N. Self-propelled guns of Stalin. History of the Soviet self-propelled guns 1919-1945. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. - 384 p. — (War and us. Soviet tanks). — 10,000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-699-20527-1, BBK 68.513 C24
30. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 348.
31. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 102.
32. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 103.
33. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 371.
34. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 105-106.
35. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 78.
36. Shirokorad A.
    B. God of War of the Third Reich. — P. 76-77.
37. BL 5.5-inch Gun Mk 3 on Carriage 5.5-inch Mks 1 - 2 (English). Nigelef.tripod.com
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
38. Chamberlain P., Doyle
    H. Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War II: A complete illustrated reference book of German battle tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled guns and half-tracks 1933-1945. - M.: AST, Astrel, 2002. - 271 p. — ISBN 5-17-018980-Х
39. ↑ 1 2 3 4 Shirokorad A.
    B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. — P. 656-661.
40. 152-mm howitzer-gun ML-20 mod. 1937 Gallery. Pomnite-nas.ru
    . Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
41. .. Archived from the original on August 18, 2011.

Literature

• Shirokorad A.
  B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery. - Mn.: Harvest, 2000. - 1156 p.: ill. With. — ISBN 985-433-703-0
• Shirokorad A.
  B. God of War of the Third Reich. - M.: AST, 2002. - 576 pp.: 32 l. ill. With. — ISBN 5-17-015302-3
• Ivanov
  A. USSR artillery in World War II. - St. Petersburg: Neva, 2003. - 64 p. — ISBN 5-7654-2731-6
• Shunkov V.
  N. Red Army. - M.: AST, 2008. - 352 p. — ISBN 978-5-17-037177-8
• Solyankin A. G., Pavlov M. V., Pavlov I. V., Zheltov I.
  G. Soviet heavy self-propelled artillery mounts 1941-1945. - M.: Eksprint, 2005. - 48 p. — ISBN 5-94038-080-8 Description of the ML-20S gun from the ISU-152 section of this brochure is available on Chobitka Vasily’s Armor website
• See also: article by A. Sorokin Self-propelled artillery unit ISU-152 on the Armor website of Chobitka Vasily