After World War II, Soviet designers were tasked with replacing the obsolete 1937 ML-20 howitzer gun with a more advanced one. Soon in Yekaterinburg, employees of the Special Design Bureau designed a new towed artillery gun. Today it is known as the D-20 152-mm howitzer gun. In 1955, workers of the Volgograd plant No. 221 took up its serial production.
The beginning of design work
Soviet gunsmiths sought to create a “corps duplex” - a unit containing the same blocks of artillery systems. According to the designers, this should have significantly reduced production costs and had a positive effect during operation or repair: artillery guns will always be equipped with the necessary spare parts. The 152 mm D-20 howitzer gun, which at that time was listed as D-72, was designed simultaneously with the 122 mm D-74 gun. As a result, after design improvements, it was decided for the D-20 to use a slightly modernized carriage, as in the 122-mm howitzer.
What is a D-20 howitzer?
This artillery gun contains the following elements:
- monoblock pipe;
- breech;
- coupling;
- two-chamber muzzle brake.
The 152 mm D-20 howitzer gun is a field artillery gun that is characterized by the properties of a gun and howitzer. Unlike a conventional gun, the barrel length of this gun is less, but with large elevation angles. The installation differs from the classic howitzer in increased firing range.
Device
The 152 mm D-20 howitzer gun contains a semi-automatic vertical wedge bolt, which is a mechanical type. Despite the fact that the same carriage is used in the D-20 and D-74, in both artillery guns it has different diameters of the front cage and the profiles of the spindle of the brake recoil. In the D-20 it is hydraulic, equipped with a spring compressor. The brake filler was steol-M, which is also provided for the hydropneumatic recuperator. For the fastening of brake cylinders, special barrel clips have been developed that roll back simultaneously with the barrel itself.
The 152-mm howitzer gun is mounted on welded box frames. With the help of under-skating rinks, artillery guns are rolled over short distances. The main wheels used are YaAZ trucks.
The mechanisms
In the D-20, with the help of a lifting mechanism designed for one sector, a vertical aiming is provided from -5 to +63 degrees. The left side of the gun became a place for a screw rotary mechanism. The aiming of D-20 in the horizontal plane is calculated at 58 degrees. The gun is equipped with a pneumatic balancing mechanism. It represents two identical columns and belongs to the push type. As a support for the artillery, a special pallet is used, which is attached to the lower machine.
Ammunition for howitzer guns
This artillery gun is charging:
- 3VB3 nuclear projectiles.
- Chemical.
- Shells containing arrow-shaped striking elements.
- Incendiary.
- Cumulative fragmentation.
- High-explosive fragmentation of-32. The firing range of these ammunition exceeds 17 km.
The D-20 cannon is the first Soviet artillery system that uses tactical nuclear weapons. It is also adapted for firing chemical charges shot at the moment.
The performance characteristics
- Country of origin - USSR.
- The type of gun belongs to howitzers.
- Year of release - 1950.
- The caliber D-20 is 152 mm.
- The trunk has a length of 5.2 m.
- The length of the entire gun is 8.62 m.
- Width - 2.4 m.
- The battle crew consists of ten people.
- The gun weighs 5.64 tons.
- D-20 in one minute is able to perform six aimed shots.
- On an asphalt road, the gun is transported at a speed of 60 km / h.
- D-20 is used by the armed forces of Algeria, Afghanistan, Hungary, Egypt, India, China, Nicaragua, Ethiopia and the CIS countries.
