Samples of military equipment and weapons from the Second World War. Armored vehicles of the Great Patriotic War: statistics and analysis. Which tank do you think is the best?

-When I saw the Russians, I was surprised. How did the Russians get from the Volga to Berlin in such primitive machines? When I saw them and the horses, I thought this couldn't be true. The Germans were technically advanced and their artillery was very much inferior to Russian technology. Do you know why? Everything with us must be accurate. But snow and mud do not help accuracy. When I was captured, I had a Sturmgever, a modern weapon, but it failed after three shots - sand got in... - Günter Kühne, Wehrmacht soldier

Any war is a clash not only of troops, but also of the industrial and economic systems of the warring parties. This question must be remembered when trying to evaluate the merits of certain types of military equipment, as well as the successes of troops achieved using this equipment. When assessing the success or failure of a combat vehicle, one must clearly remember not only its technical characteristics, but also the costs that were invested in its production, the number of units produced, and so on. Simply put, an integrated approach is important.
That is why the assessment of a single tank or aircraft and loud statements about the “best” model of war must be critically assessed every time. It is possible to create an invincible tank, but issues of quality almost always conflict with issues of ease of manufacture and mass availability of such equipment. There is no point in creating an invincible tank if the industry cannot organize its mass production, and the cost of the tank will be the same as that of an aircraft carrier. The balance between the combat qualities of the equipment and the ability to quickly establish large-scale production is important.

In this regard, it is of interest how this balance was maintained by the warring powers at different levels of the military-industrial system of the state. How much and what kind of military equipment was produced, and how this affected the results of the war. This article attempts to collect statistical data on the production of armored vehicles by Germany and the USSR during the Second World War and the immediate pre-war period.

Statistics.

The data obtained are summarized in a table, which requires some explanation.

1. Approximate numbers are highlighted in red. They mainly concern two types - captured French equipment, as well as the number of self-propelled guns produced on the chassis of German armored personnel carriers. The first is due to the impossibility of establishing exactly how many trophies were actually used by the Germans in the army. The second is due to the fact that the production of self-propelled guns on an armored personnel carrier chassis was often carried out by retrofitting already produced armored personnel carriers without heavy weapons, by installing a gun with a machine on the armored personnel carrier chassis.

2. The table contains information about all guns, tanks and armored vehicles. For example, in the line “assault guns” the German self-propelled guns sd.kfz.250/8 and sd.kfz.251/9 are taken into account, which are armored personnel carrier chassis with an installed short-barreled 75 cm caliber gun. The corresponding number of linear armored personnel carriers is excluded from the line “armored personnel carriers” and so on.

3. Soviet self-propelled guns did not have a narrow specialization, and could fight both tanks and support infantry. However, they are classified into different categories. For example, the closest to the German assault guns, as conceived by the designers, were the Soviet breakthrough self-propelled guns SU/ISU-122/152, as well as the infantry support self-propelled guns Su-76. And self-propelled guns such as the Su-85 and Su-100 had a pronounced anti-tank character and were classified as “tank destroyers.”

4. The “self-propelled artillery” category includes guns designed primarily for firing from closed positions beyond the direct line of sight of targets, including rocket-propelled mortars on armored chassis. On the Soviet side, only the BM-8-24 MLRS on the T-60 and T-40 chassis fell into this category.

5. Statistics include all production from 1932 to May 9, 1945. It was this technique, one way or another, that constituted the potential of the warring parties and was used in the war. The technology of earlier production was outdated by the beginning of the Second World War and is not of serious importance.

USSR

The data obtained fit well into the well-known historical situation. The production of armored vehicles in the USSR was launched on an incredible, massive scale, which was fully consistent with the aspirations of the Soviet side - preparation for a war of survival in vast areas from the Arctic to the Caucasus. To a certain extent, for the sake of mass production, the quality and debugging of military equipment was sacrificed. It is known that the equipment of Soviet tanks with high-quality communications equipment, optics and interior decoration was significantly worse than that of the Germans.

The obvious imbalance of the weapons system is striking. For the sake of tank production, entire classes of armored vehicles are missing - armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns, control vehicles, etc. Not least of all, this situation is determined by the desire of the USSR to overcome a serious gap in the main types of weapons, inherited after the collapse of the Republic of Ingushetia and the civil war. Attention was focused on saturating the troops with the main striking force - tanks, while support vehicles were ignored. This is logical - it is stupid to invest effort in the design of bridge laying vehicles and ARVs in conditions where the production of the main weapons - tanks - has not been streamlined.

Ammunition transporter TP-26

At the same time, the USSR realized the inferiority of such a weapon system, and already on the eve of the Second World War they were actively designing a wide variety of support equipment. These include armored personnel carriers, self-propelled artillery, repair and recovery vehicles, bridge layers, etc. Most of this equipment did not have time to be introduced into production before the start of the Second World War, and already during the war its development had to be stopped. All this could not but affect the level of losses during the fighting. For example, the lack of armored personnel carriers had a negative impact on infantry losses and their mobility. Making multi-kilometer foot marches, the infantrymen lost strength and part of their combat effectiveness even before contact with the enemy.

Experienced armored personnel carrier TR-4

Gaps in the weapons system were partially filled by Allied supplies. It is no coincidence that the USSR supplied armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns and self-propelled guns on the chassis of American armored personnel carriers. The total number of such vehicles was about 8,500, which is not much less than the number of tanks received - 12,300.

Germany

The German side followed a completely different path. Having been defeated in WWII, Germany did not lose its design school and did not lose its technological superiority. Let us remember that in the USSR there was nothing to lose; tanks were not produced in the Russian Empire. Therefore, the Germans did not need to overcome the path from an agricultural state to an industrial one in a wild hurry.

Having begun preparations for war, the Germans were well aware that they could defeat numerous and economically powerful opponents in the form of Great Britain and France, and then the USSR, only by ensuring qualitative superiority, which the Germans traditionally do excellently anyway. But the issue of mass participation for Germany was not so acute - relying on the blitzkrieg strategy and the quality of weapons gave a chance to achieve victory with small forces. The first attempts confirmed the success of the chosen course. Although not without problems, the Germans managed to defeat Poland, then France, and so on. The spatial scope of the fighting in the center of compact Europe was quite consistent with the number of tank forces that the Germans had at their disposal. Obviously, these victories further convinced the German command of the correctness of the chosen strategy.

Actually, this is why the Germans initially paid the closest attention to the balance of their weapons system. Here we see a variety of types of armored vehicles - ZSU, ammunition transporters, forward observer vehicles, ARVs. All this made it possible to build a well-functioning mechanism for waging war, which went like a steamroller throughout Europe. Such close attention to support technology, which also contributes to achieving victory, can only be admired.

Actually, the first shoots of future defeat were laid in this weapon system. The Germans are Germans in everything. Quality and reliability! But as mentioned above, quality and mass production almost always come into conflict. And one day the Germans started a war where everything was different - they attacked the USSR.

Already in the first year of the war, the blitzkrieg mechanism failed. The Russian expanses were absolutely indifferent to the perfectly debugged, but scarce German technology. A different scope was required here. And although the Red Army suffered defeat after defeat, it became difficult for the Germans to maneuver with the modest forces they had. Losses in the protracted conflict grew, and already in 1942 it became obvious that it was impossible to produce high-quality German equipment in the quantities necessary to make up for losses. Or rather, it is impossible in the same mode of operation of the economy. We had to start mobilizing the economy. However, these actions were very late - it was necessary to prepare for the current situation before the attack.

Technique

When assessing the potential of the parties, it is necessary to clearly separate equipment by purpose. The decisive influence on the outcome of the battle is primarily exerted by “battlefield” vehicles - equipment engaged in the destruction of the enemy by direct fire in the forward echelons of troops. These are tanks and self-propelled guns. It should be recognized that in this category the USSR had absolute superiority, producing 2.6 times more military equipment.

Light tanks with machine gun armament, as well as wedges, are placed in a separate category. Formally being tanks, they were of very low combat value for 1941. Neither the German Pz. I, neither the Soviet T-37 and T-38 dare to be included in the same rank with the formidable T-34 and even light BT or T-26. The enthusiasm for such technology in the USSR should be considered not a very successful experiment.

Self-propelled artillery is listed separately. The difference between this category of armored vehicles and assault guns, tank destroyers and other self-propelled guns is the ability to fire from closed positions. Destruction of troops by direct fire is, for them, an exception to the rule rather than a typical task. In essence, these are ordinary field howitzers or MLRS mounted on armored vehicle chassis. Currently, this practice has become the norm; as a rule, any artillery gun has a towed (for example, the 152-mm MSTA-B howitzer) and a self-propelled version (MSTA-S). At that time this was a novelty, and the Germans were among the first to implement the idea of ​​self-propelled artillery covered with armor. The USSR limited itself to only experiments in this area, and the self-propelled guns built using howitzers were used not as classical artillery, but as breakthrough weapons. At the same time, 64 BM-8-24 rocket systems were produced on the T-40 and T-60 chassis. There is information that the troops were satisfied with them, and it is not clear why their mass production was not organized.

MLRS BM-8-24 on a light tank chassis

The next category is general-arms armored vehicles, whose task is to support first-line equipment, but are not intended to destroy targets on the battlefield. This category includes armored personnel carriers and self-propelled guns on armored chassis, and armored vehicles. It is important to understand that such vehicles, by design, are not intended to fight in the same formation as tanks and infantry, although they should be located behind them in close proximity. It is mistakenly believed that an armored personnel carrier is a battlefield vehicle. In fact, armored personnel carriers were originally intended to transport infantry in the front line and protect them from artillery shell fragments at the initial lines of attack. On the battlefield, armored personnel carriers, armed with a machine gun and protected by thin armor, could not help either infantry or tanks. Their large silhouette makes them a great and easy target. If in reality they entered into battle, it was forced. Vehicles of this category influence the outcome of the battle indirectly - saving the lives and strength of the infantry. Their importance in battle is significantly lower than that of tanks, although they are also necessary. In this category, the USSR practically did not produce its own equipment, and only by the middle of the war acquired a small number of vehicles supplied under Lend-Lease.

The temptation to classify armored personnel carriers as battlefield equipment is fueled by the presence of very weak tanks in the ranks of the Red Army, for example, the T-60. Thin armor, primitive equipment, weak gun - why is the German armored personnel carrier worse? Why is a tank with such weak performance characteristics a battlefield vehicle, but an armored personnel carrier is not? First of all, a tank is a specialized vehicle, the main task of which is precisely the destruction of targets on the battlefield, which cannot be said about an armored personnel carrier. Even though their armor is similar, the tank’s low, squat silhouette, its mobility, and the ability to fire from a cannon clearly speak of its purpose. An armored personnel carrier is precisely a transporter, and not a means of destroying the enemy. However, those German armored personnel carriers that received specialized weapons, for example, 75 cm or 3.7 cm anti-tank guns, are taken into account in the table in the corresponding rows - anti-tank self-propelled guns. This is fair, since this armored personnel carrier was eventually made into a vehicle designed to destroy the enemy on the battlefield, albeit with weak armor and a high, clearly visible silhouette of a transporter.

As for armored vehicles, they were mainly intended for reconnaissance and security. The USSR produced a huge number of vehicles of this class, and the combat capabilities of a number of models came very close to those of light tanks. However, this applies primarily to pre-war equipment. It seems that the effort and money spent on their production could have been spent for better use. For example, if some of them were intended to transport infantry, like conventional armored personnel carriers.

The next category is special vehicles without weapons. Their task is to provide troops, and armor is needed primarily for protection from random fragments and bullets. Their presence in battle formations should be short-term; they do not have to constantly accompany the advancing troops. Their task is to solve specific problems in time and in the right place, moving forward from the rear, avoiding contact with the enemy if possible.

The Germans produced about 700 repair and recovery vehicles, plus about 200 were converted from previously produced equipment. In the USSR, similar vehicles were created only on the basis of the T-26 and were produced in the amount of 183 units. It is difficult to fully assess the potential of the repair forces of the parties, since the matter was not limited to ARVs alone. Having felt the need for this type of equipment, both Germany and the USSR were engaged in handicraft conversion of outdated and partially faulty tanks into tow trucks and tractors. The Red Army had quite a lot of such vehicles with dismantled turrets based on T-34, KV and IS tanks. It is not possible to establish their exact number, since they were all manufactured in combat units of the army, and not in factories. In the German army, despite the presence of specialized ARVs, they also produced similar homemade vehicles, and their number is also unknown.

The Germans intended ammunition transporters primarily to supply advanced artillery units. In the Red Army, the same problem was solved by ordinary trucks, the security of which, of course, was lower.

Forward observer vehicles were also mainly needed by artillerymen. In the modern army, their analogues are the vehicles of senior battery officers and mobile reconnaissance posts of the PRP. However, in those years the USSR did not produce such machines.

In terms of bridge layers, their presence in the Red Army may be surprising. However, it was the USSR that before the war produced 65 of these vehicles based on the T-26 tank under the designation ST-26. The Germans produced several such vehicles based on the Pz IV, Pz II and Pz I. However, neither the Soviet ST-26 nor the German bridge layers had any influence on the course of the war.

Bridge tank ST-26

Finally, the Germans produced quite a lot of such specific machines as demolition charge stackers. The most widespread of these machines, “Goliath,” was a remote-controlled disposable wedge. This type of machine is difficult to classify into any category, as their tasks are so unique. The USSR did not produce such machines.

conclusions

When analyzing the impact of weapons release on the consequences of war, two factors must be taken into account - the balance of the weapons system and the balance of equipment in terms of quality/quantity ratio.

The balance of the German army's weapons system is extremely commendable. In the pre-war period, the USSR was unable to create anything like this, although the need for this was recognized by the leadership. The lack of auxiliary equipment had a negative impact on the combat capabilities of the Red Army, primarily in the mobility of support units and infantry. Of all the wide range of auxiliary equipment, it is worth regretting the absence of armored personnel carriers and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the Red Army. The absence of such exotic vehicles as remote demolition charges and artillery observer vehicles could be endured without tears. As for ARVs, their role was quite successfully performed by tractors based on tanks with weapons removed, but there are still no armored ammunition transporters in the army, and the troops generally cope with this task with the help of conventional trucks.

The production of armored personnel carriers in Germany should be considered justified. Knowing the cost of military equipment, it is not difficult to calculate that the production of the entire fleet of armored personnel carriers cost the Germans approximately 450 million marks. For this money, the Germans could build about 4000 Pz. IV or 3000 Pz.V. Obviously, such a number of tanks would not greatly affect the outcome of the war.

As for the USSR, its leadership, overcoming the technological gap from Western countries, correctly assessed the importance of tanks as the main striking force of the troops. The emphasis on improving and developing tanks ultimately gave the USSR an advantage over the German army directly on the battlefield. Despite the high utility of support equipment, the decisive role in the outcome of battles was played by battlefield vehicles, which had the highest development priority in the Soviet army. A large number of support vehicles ultimately did not help Germany win the war, although they certainly saved a considerable number of lives of German soldiers.

But the balance between quality and quantity ultimately turned out to be not in Germany’s favor. The traditional tendency of the Germans to strive to achieve the ideal in everything, even where this should be neglected, played a cruel joke. In preparation for war with the USSR, it was necessary to pay close attention to the mass production of equipment. Even the most advanced combat vehicles in small numbers are not capable of turning the tide of events. The gap between the combat capabilities of Soviet and German technology was not so large that German qualitative superiority could play a decisive role. But the quantitative superiority of the USSR turned out to be capable of not only making up for the losses of the first period of the war, but also influencing the course of the war as a whole. The ubiquitous T-34s, supplemented by small Su-76s and T-60s, were everywhere, while the Germans from the very beginning of the Second World War did not have enough equipment to saturate the huge front.

Speaking about the quantitative superiority of the USSR, it is impossible to avoid discussing the traditional template “filled with corpses.” Having discovered such a striking superiority of the Red Army in technology, it is difficult to resist the temptation to put forward the thesis that we fought with numbers, and not with skill. Such statements must be stopped immediately. No one, even the most talented commander, will give up quantitative superiority over the enemy, even if he can fight with many times fewer troops. Quantitative superiority gives the commander the greatest opportunity to plan a battle and does not at all mean an inability to fight with small numbers. If you have a lot of troops, this does not mean that you will immediately enthusiastically throw them into a frontal attack, in the hope that they will crush the enemy with their mass. Whatever quantitative superiority there is, it is not infinite. Ensuring your troops can operate in greater numbers is the most important task of industry and the state. And the Germans understood this very well, having squeezed everything they could out of their economy in 1943-45 in an attempt to achieve at least not superiority, but parity with the USSR. They did not do it the best way, but the Soviet side did it excellently. Which became one of the many bricks in the foundation of victory.

P.S.
The author does not consider this work exhaustive and final. Perhaps there will be specialists who can significantly supplement the information presented. Any reader can familiarize themselves with the collected statistics in detail by downloading the full version of the statistical table presented in this article from the link below.
https://yadi.sk/i/WWxqmJlOucUdP

References:
A.G. Solyankin, M.V. Pavlov, I.V. Pavlov, I.G. Zheltov “Domestic armored vehicles. XX century." (in 4 volumes)
V. Oswald. "Complete catalog of military vehicles and tanks of Germany 1900 - 1982."
P. Chamberlain, H. Doyle, “Encyclopedia of German tanks of the Second World War.”

Modern war will be a war of engines. Motors on the ground, motors in the air, motors on the water and underwater. Under these conditions, the one who has more engines and a larger power reserve will win.
Joseph Stalin
At a meeting of the Main Military Council, January 13, 1941.

During the years of the pre-war five-year plans, Soviet designers created new models of small arms, artillery, mortars and aircraft. More and more advanced destroyers, cruisers, and patrol ships entered service, and special attention was also paid to the development of the submarine fleet.

As a result, before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR had a fairly modern system of weapons and military equipment, and in some tactical and technical characteristics it even surpassed German weapons analogues. Therefore, the main reasons for the defeats of the Soviet troops in the initial period of the war cannot be attributed to miscalculations in the technical equipment of the troops.

TANKS
As of June 22, 1941, the Red Army had 25,621 tanks.
The most popular were the light T-26s, of which there were almost 10 thousand vehicles, and representatives of the BT family - there were about 7.5 thousand of them. A significant proportion were wedges and small amphibious tanks - a total of almost 6 thousand were in service with the Soviet troops. modifications T-27, T-37, T-38 and T-40.
The most modern KV and T-34 tanks at that time numbered about 1.85 thousand units.

KV-1 tanks

Heavy tank KV-1

The KV-1 entered service in 1939 and was mass-produced from March 1940 to August 1942. The tank's mass was up to 47.5 tons, which made it much heavier than existing German tanks. He was armed with a 76 mm cannon.
Some experts consider the KV-1 to be a landmark vehicle for global tank building, which had a significant impact on the development of heavy tanks in other countries.

The Soviet tank had a so-called classic layout - the division of the armored hull from bow to stern successively into a control compartment, a combat compartment and an engine compartment. It also received an independent torsion bar suspension, all-round anti-ballistic protection, a diesel engine and one relatively powerful gun. Previously, these elements were found separately on other tanks, but in the KV-1 they were brought together for the first time.
The first combat use of the KV-1 dates back to the Soviet-Finnish War: a prototype of the tank was used on December 17, 1939 during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line.
In 1940-1942, 2,769 tanks were produced. Until 1943, when the German Tiger appeared, the KV was the most powerful tank of the war. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he received the nickname “ghost” from the Germans. Standard shells from the Wehrmacht's 37mm anti-tank gun did not penetrate its armor.

Tank T-34

Medium tank T-34
In May 1938, the Automotive and Tank Directorate of the Red Army invited plant No. 183 (now the Kharkov Transport Engineering Plant named after V. A. Malyshev) to create a new tracked tank. Under the leadership of Mikhail Koshkin, the A-32 model was created. The work proceeded in parallel with the creation of the BT-20, an improved modification of the already mass-produced BT-7 tank.

Prototypes of the A-32 and BT-20 were ready in May 1939; based on the results of their tests in December 1939, the A-32 received a new name - T-34 - and was put into service with the condition of modifying the tank: bringing the main armor to 45 millimeters, improve visibility, install a 76-mm cannon and additional machine guns.
In total, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 1066 T-34s were manufactured. After June 22, 1941, production of this type was launched at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, Uralmash in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), plant No. 174 in Omsk and Uralvagonzavod (Nizhny Tagil ).

In 1944, serial production of the T-34-85 modification began with a new turret, reinforced armor and an 85-mm gun. The tank has also proven itself well due to its ease of production and maintenance.
In total, more than 84 thousand T-34 tanks were manufactured. This model took part not only in the Great Patriotic War, it was in many armed conflicts in Europe, Asia and Africa in the 1950-1980s. The last documented case of combat use of T-34s in Europe was their use during the war in Yugoslavia.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet aviation was armed with many types of combat aircraft. In 1940 and the first half of 1941, almost 2.8 thousand modern vehicles entered the troops: Yak-1, MiG-3, LaGG-3, Pe-2, Il-2.
There were also I-15 bis, I-16 and I-153 fighters, TB-3, DB-3, SB (ANT-40) bombers, multi-purpose R-5 and U-2 (Po-2).
The new aircraft of the Red Army Air Force were not inferior to the Luftwaffe aircraft in combat capabilities, and even surpassed them in a number of indicators.

Sturmovik Il-2

Sturmovik Il-2
The Il-2 armored attack aircraft is the most popular combat aircraft in the world. In total, more than 36 thousand cars were produced. He was called the “flying tank,” the Wehrmacht leadership called him “the Black Death” and “Iron Gustav.” German pilots nicknamed the Il-2 “concrete plane” for its high combat survivability.

The first combat units that were armed with these vehicles were created just before the war. Attack aircraft units were successfully used against enemy mechanized and armored units. At the beginning of the war, the Il-2 was practically the only aircraft that, given the superiority of German aviation, fought the enemy in the air. He played a big role in containing the enemy in 1941.
During the war years, several modifications of the aircraft were created. The Il-2 and its further development, the Il-10 attack aircraft, were actively used in all major battles of the Great Patriotic War and in the Soviet-Japanese War.
The maximum horizontal speed of the aircraft at the ground was 388 km/h, and at an altitude of 2000 m – 407 km/h. The ascent time to a height of 1000 m is 2.4 minutes, and the turn time at this height is 48-49 seconds. At the same time, in one combat turn, the attack aircraft gained a height of 400 meters.

MiG-3 fighter

MiG-3 night fighter
The design team, headed by A. I. Mikoyan and M. I. Gurevich, worked hard in 1939 on a fighter for combat at high altitudes. In the spring of 1940, a prototype was built, which received the MiG-1 brand (Mikoyan and Gurevich, the first). Subsequently, its modernized version received the name MiG-3.

Despite the significant take-off weight (3350 kg), the speed of the production MiG-3 at the ground exceeded 500 km/h, and at an altitude of 7 thousand meters it reached 640 km/h. This was the highest speed achieved at that time on production aircraft. Due to the high ceiling and high speed at an altitude of over 5 thousand meters, the MiG-3 was effectively used as a reconnaissance aircraft, as well as an air defense fighter. However, poor horizontal maneuverability and relatively weak weapons did not allow it to become a full-fledged front-line fighter.
According to the estimates of the famous ace Alexander Pokryshkin, while inferior in the horizontal direction, the MiG-3 was significantly superior to the German Me109 in vertical maneuver, which could serve as the key to victory in a clash with fascist fighters. However, only top-class pilots could successfully fly the MiG-3 in vertical turns and at extreme overloads.

FLEET
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet fleet had a total of 3 battleships and 7 cruisers, 54 leaders and destroyers, 212 submarines, 287 torpedo boats and many other ships.

The pre-war shipbuilding program provided for the creation of a “large fleet”, the basis of which would be large surface ships - battleships and cruisers. In accordance with it, in 1939-1940, battleships of the "Soviet Union" type and heavy cruisers "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol" were laid down, and the unfinished cruiser "Petropavlovsk" was purchased from Germany, but plans for a radical renewal of the fleet were not destined to come true.
In the pre-war years, Soviet sailors received new light cruisers of the Kirov class, leaders of destroyers of projects 1 and 38, destroyers of project 7 and other ships. The construction of submarines and torpedo boats was booming.
Many ships were completed during the war, some of them never took part in the battles. These include, for example, the Project 68 Chapaev cruisers and the Project 30 Ognevoy destroyers.
The main types of surface ships of the pre-war period:
light cruisers of the "Kirov" type,
leaders of the "Leningrad" and "Minsk" types,
destroyers of the "Wrathful" and "Soobrazitelny" type,
minesweepers of the "Fugas" type,
torpedo boats "G-5",
sea ​​hunters "MO-4".
The main types of submarines of the pre-war period:
small submarines of the "M" type ("Malyutka"),
medium submarines of the "Shch" ("Pike") and "S" ("Medium") types,
underwater minelayers type "L" ("Leninets"),
large submarines of types "K" ("Cruiser") and "D" ("Decembrist").

Kirov-class cruisers

Kirov-class cruisers
Light cruisers of the Kirov class became the first Soviet surface ships of this class, not counting the three Svetlana cruisers laid down under Nicholas II. Project 26, according to which the Kirov was built, was finally approved in the fall of 1934 and developed the ideas of the Italian light cruisers of the Condotieri family.

The first pair of cruisers, Kirov and Voroshilov, were laid down in 1935. They entered service in 1938 and 1940. The second pair, "Maxim Gorky" and "Molotov", were built according to a modified design and joined the Soviet fleet in 1940-1941. Two more cruisers were laid down in the Far East; before the end of the Great Patriotic War, only one of them, the Kalinin, was put into operation. Far Eastern cruisers also differed from their predecessors.
The total displacement of the Kirov-class cruisers ranged from approximately 9450-9550 tons for the first pair to almost 10,000 tons for the last. These ships could reach speeds of 35 knots or more. Their main armament was nine 180mm B-1-P guns mounted in three-gun turrets. On the first four cruisers, anti-aircraft weapons were represented by six B-34 100 mm caliber mounts, 45 mm 21-K and 12.7 mm machine guns. In addition, the Kirovs carried torpedoes, mines and depth charges, and seaplanes.
"Kirov" and "Maxim Gorky" spent almost the entire war supporting the defenders of Leningrad with gunfire. "Voroshilov" and "Molotov", built in Nikolaev, participated in fleet operations on the Black Sea. All of them survived the Great Patriotic War - they were destined for a long service. Kirov was the last to leave the fleet in 1974.

Submarine "Pike"

Pike-class submarines
"Pikes" became the most popular Soviet submarines of the Great Patriotic War, not counting "Malyutoks".

Construction of the first series of four submarines began in the Baltic in 1930; the Pike entered service in 1933-1934.
These were medium-class submarines with an underwater displacement of about 700 tons, and their armament consisted of six 533-mm torpedo tubes and a 45-mm 21-K cannon.
The project was successful, and by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, more than 70 Shchukas were in service (a total of 86 submarines were built in six series).
Submarines of the Shch type were actively used in all naval theaters of war. Of the 44 Shchuk that fought, 31 were lost. The enemy lost almost 30 ships from their actions.

Despite a number of shortcomings, the “Pikes” were distinguished by their comparative cheapness, maneuverability and survivability. From series to series - a total of six series of these submarines were created - they improved their seaworthiness and other parameters. In 1940, two Shch-class submarines were the first in the Soviet fleet to receive equipment that made it possible to fire torpedoes without leaking air (which often unmasked the attacking submarine).
Although only two Shchukas of the latest X-bis series entered service after the war, these submarines remained in the fleet for a long time and were decommissioned in the late 1950s.

ARTILLERY
According to Soviet data, on the eve of the Great Patriotic War the army had almost 67.5 thousand guns and mortars.

It is believed that Soviet field artillery was even superior to German in terms of combat qualities. However, it was poorly equipped with mechanized traction: agricultural tractors were used as tractors, and up to half of the implements were transported using horses.
The army was armed with many types of artillery pieces and mortars. Anti-aircraft artillery consisted of guns of 25, 37, 76 and 85 millimeters; howitzer - modifications of caliber 122, 152, 203 and 305 millimeters. The main anti-tank gun was the 45mm model 1937, the regimental gun was the 76mm model 1927, and the divisional gun was the 76mm model 1939.

An anti-tank gun fires at the enemy in the battles for Vitebsk

Model 1937 45mm anti-tank gun
This gun became one of the most famous representatives of Soviet artillery of the Great Patriotic War. It was developed under the leadership of Mikhail Loginov based on the 1932 45 mm gun.

The main combat qualities of the 45-millimeter included maneuverability, rate of fire (15 rounds per minute) and armor penetration.
By the beginning of the war, the army had more than 16.6 thousand guns of the 1937 model. In total, over 37.3 thousand of these guns were produced, and production was curtailed only by 1944, despite the presence of more modern models of the ZiS-2 and the similar caliber M-42.

Salvo "Katyusha"

Katyusha rocket artillery combat vehicle
The day before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the BM-13 rocket artillery combat vehicle, later called “Katyusha,” was adopted by the Red Army. It became one of the world's first multiple launch rocket systems.

The first combat use took place on July 14, 1941 near the railway station in the city of Orsha (Belarus). A battery under the command of Captain Ivan Flerov destroyed a concentration of German military equipment at the Orsha railway junction with volley fire.
Due to its high efficiency of use and ease of production, by the autumn of 1941 the BM-13 was widely used at the front, having a significant impact on the course of hostilities.
The system made it possible to fire a salvo with the entire charge (16 missiles) in 7-10 seconds. There were also modifications with an increased number of guides and other versions of the missiles.
During the war, about 4 thousand BM-13s were lost. In total, about 7 thousand units of this type were manufactured, and Katyushas were discontinued only after the war - in October 1946.

WEAPON
Despite the widespread introduction of tanks and aircraft and the strengthening of artillery, infantry weapons remained the most widespread. According to some estimates, if in the First World War losses from small arms did not exceed 30% of the total, then in the Second World War they increased to 30-50%.
Before the Great Patriotic War, the supply of rifles, carbines and machine guns to the troops was growing, but the Red Army was significantly inferior to the Wehrmacht in terms of the number of automatic weapons such as submachine guns.

Snipers Rosa Shanina, Alexandra Ekimova and Lidiya Vdovina (from left to right). 3rd Belorussian Front

Mosin rifle
The 7.62 mm Mosin rifle, adopted for service in 1891, remained the main weapon of the Red Army infantryman. In total, about 37 million of these rifles were produced.

Modifications of the 1891/1930 model had to fight during the most difficult months of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to its low cost and reliability, the weapon outperformed its young self-loading rivals.
The latest version of the “three-line” was the 1944 model carbine, distinguished by the presence of a permanent needle bayonet. The rifle became even shorter, the technology was simplified, and combat maneuverability increased - with a shorter carbine it is easier to conduct close combat in thickets, trenches, and fortifications.
In addition, it was Mosin’s design that formed the basis for the sniper rifle, which was put into service in 1931 and became the first Soviet rifle specifically designed for “sharp shooting and primarily destroying enemy command personnel.”

Soviet and American soldiers. Meeting on the Elbe, 1945

PPSh
The 7.62 mm Shpagin submachine gun was adopted for service in 1941.

This legendary weapon has become part of the image of a victorious soldier - it can be seen in the most famous monuments. The PPSh-41 fell in love with the soldiers, receiving from them the affectionate and respectful nickname “daddy.” It fired in almost any weather conditions and was relatively inexpensive.
By the end of the war, about 55% of the fighters were armed with PPSh. In total, about 6 million pieces were produced.

The exhibition of weapons, military equipment and fortifications of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War presents a fairly complete collection of Soviet armored vehicles from the war period, British and American armored vehicles supplied to the Soviet Union in 1941 - 1945 under Lend-Lease, as well as armored vehicles of our main opponents in years of war - Germany and Japan.

During the Second World War, armored forces, as shown by the experience of their combat use, played a decisive role in battles, performing a wide range of tasks in all types of combat, both independently and together with other branches of the military. They grew both quantitatively and qualitatively, rightfully becoming the main striking force of the armies of various states. During the six years of World War II, about 350,000 armored combat vehicles took part in battles on both sides: tanks, self-propelled artillery units (SPG), armored vehicles (AV) and armored personnel carriers (APC).

Soviet military thought in the pre-war years assigned an important role to tanks. They were intended to be used in all types of combat operations. As part of rifle formations, they were intended to break through the tactical defense zone as a means of direct infantry support (INS), operating in close cooperation with other branches of the military. Most of the tanks were in service with tank and mechanized formations, which had the task of developing success in operational depth after breaking through the defense.

During the first five-year plans, the necessary production base for the mass production of tanks was created in the Soviet Union. Already in 1931, the factories provided the Red Army with 740 vehicles. For comparison: in 1930, the troops received only 170 tanks, and in 1932 - 3,121 vehicles, including 1,032 T-26 light tanks, 396 BT-2 light fast tanks and 1,693 T-27 tankettes. No other country built such a number of tanks at that time. And this pace was practically maintained until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

In 1931 - 1941, 42 samples of various types of tanks were created in the USSR, of which 20 samples were accepted for service and put into mass production: T-27 tankettes; light infantry escort tanks T-26; light wheeled-tracked high-speed tanks of mechanized formations BT-5/BT-7; light reconnaissance amphibious tanks T-37/T-38/T-40; T-28 medium tanks for direct infantry support; heavy tanks provide additional high-quality reinforcement when breaking through fortified T-35 zones. At the same time, attempts were made in the Soviet Union to create self-propelled artillery units. However, it was not possible to fully develop and put into mass production the self-propelled guns.

In total, 29,262 tanks of all types were manufactured in the Soviet Union over these ten years. In the 1930s in our country, when developing light tanks, preference was given to wheeled-tracked vehicles, which then formed the basis of the Red Army's tank fleet.

The fighting during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939 showed that tanks with bulletproof armor were already outdated. Soviet tank crews and technical specialists who visited Spain came to the conclusion that it was necessary to increase the thickness of the frontal armor of the hull and turret to 60 mm. Then the tank will not be afraid of anti-tank guns, which have begun to be equipped with the ground forces of various countries. For such a relatively heavy vehicle, as tests have shown, a purely tracked propulsion system was optimal. This conclusion of Soviet designers formed the basis for the creation of the new T-34 medium tank, which rightfully won the glory of the best tank in the world during the Great Patriotic War.

At the turn of the 1930s - 1940s, domestic tank builders developed a clear idea of ​​the prospects for the development of armored vehicles. In the Soviet Union, various measures were taken to strengthen the Armed Forces. As a result, the Red Army received new medium (T-34) and heavy (KV-1 and KV-2) tanks, which had ballistic armor, powerful weapons and high mobility. In terms of combat qualities, they were superior to foreign models and fully met modern requirements.

The development of tanks, engines, and weapons in the USSR was carried out by design teams under the leadership of N.N. Kozyreva (T-27), N.N. Barykova (T-26 and T-28), A.O. Firsova (BT), N.A. Astrova (T-37), O.M. Ivanova (T-35), M.I. Koshkin and A.A. Morozova (T-34), Zh.Ya. Kotin (KV and IS-2), M.F. Balzhi (IS-3), I.Ya. Trashutin and K. Chelpan (V-2 diesel engine), V.G. Grabin (tank guns, V.A. Degtyarev (tank machine guns), E.I. Marona and V.A. Agntsev (tank sights).

By 1941, mass production of tanks was organized in the USSR, meeting all the requirements of that time. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, and then during the war, tanks were produced by about two dozen factories in the country: the Leningrad Kirov Plant, the Moscow Plant named after. S. Ordzhonikidze, Kharkov Locomotive Plant, Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Gorky Plant "Krasnoe Sormovo", Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant ("Tankograd"), Ural Tank Plant in Nizhny Tagil, etc.

Massive supplies of armored vehicles made it possible to begin organizing mechanized corps in the Red Army in the mid-1930s, which was 5-6 years ahead of the emergence of similar formations in the armed forces of Germany and other countries. Already in 1934, a new branch of troops was created in the Red Army - armored forces (since December 1942 - armored and mechanized troops), which to this day are the main striking force of the Ground Forces. At the same time, the 5th, 7th, 11th and 57th special mechanized corps were deployed, transformed into tank corps in August 1938. However, the armored forces were in the process of reorganization. In 1939, these formations were disbanded due to an incorrect assessment of the combat experience of using tanks in Spain. In May 1940, the Red Army's armored forces consisted of: one T-35 tank brigade; three T-28 brigades; 16 BT tank brigades; 22 T-26 tank brigades; three motorized armored brigades; two separate tank regiments; one training tank regiment and one training battalion of motorized armored units. Their total number was 111,228 people. The ground forces also included six motorized divisions. Each of them had one tank regiment. In total, the motorized division had 258 light tanks.

The study of combat experience in the use of armored and mechanized troops during the outbreak of World War II allowed Soviet military specialists to develop a scientifically based theory of the combat use of tank and mechanized formations and units, both in combined arms combat and in independent actions. This theory was further developed during the Great Patriotic War.

The fighting that took place near the river. Khalkhin Gol units and formations of the Red Army clearly proved that much can be achieved by the active use of mobile tank formations. Powerful tank formations were widely used by Germany during the first period of World War II. All this proved that it was urgently necessary to return to the creation of large armored formations. Therefore, in 1940, the restoration of 9 mechanized corps, 18 tank and 8 mechanized divisions began in the Red Army, and in February - March 1941, the formation of another 21 mechanized corps began. To fully staff the new mechanized corps, 16,600 tanks of only new types were required, and in total - about 32,000 tanks.

On June 13, 1941, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General N.F. Vatutin in the “Certificate on the deployment of the Armed Forces of the USSR in case of war in the West” noted: “In total, there are 303 divisions in the USSR: rifle divisions - 198, tank divisions - 61, motorized divisions - 31...” Thus, instead of the previous 42 tank divisions, brigades and six motorized divisions in the Red Army a week before the start of the war, there were 92 tank and motorized divisions. However, as a result of such a rapid reorganization of the troops, less than half of the formed corps fully received the necessary weapons and military equipment. In tank units, there was an acute shortage of tank commanders and technical specialists, since the commanders who came from rifle and cavalry formations did not have practical experience in the combat use of tank forces and the operation of armored vehicles.

As of June 1, 1941, the tank fleet of the Soviet ground forces consisted of 23,106 tanks, including 18,690 combat-ready. In the five western border districts - Leningradsky, Baltic Special, Western Special, Kiev Special and Odessa - as of June 22, 1941, there were 12,989 tanks, of which 10,746 were combat-ready and 2,243 required repairs. Of the total number of vehicles, about 87% were light tanks T-26 and BT. Relatively new models there were light T-40 with machine gun armament, medium T-34 (1105 units), heavy KV-1 and KV-2 (549 units).

In the battles of the first period of the Great Patriotic War with the shock groups of the Wehrmacht, parts of the Red Army lost a large amount of their military equipment. In 1941 alone, during the Baltic defensive operation (June 22 - July 9), 2,523 tanks were lost; in Belorusskaya (June 22 - July 9) - 4799 cars; in Western Ukraine (June 22 - July 6) - 4381 tanks. Replacing losses became one of the main tasks of Soviet tank builders.

During the war, the relative number of light tanks in the active army continuously decreased, although in 1941-1942 their production increased in quantitative terms. This was explained by the need to supply the troops with the largest possible number of combat vehicles in a short time, and it was relatively simple to organize the production of light tanks.

At the same time, their modernization was carried out, and first of all, strengthening of the armor.

In the fall of 1941, the T-60 light tank was created, and in 1942, the T-70. Their introduction into serial production was facilitated by the low cost of production, thanks to the use of automotive units, as well as the simplicity of the design. But the war showed that light tanks were not effective enough on the battlefield due to the weakness of their weapons and armor. Therefore, from the end of 1942, their production decreased markedly, and in the late autumn of 1943 it was discontinued.

The freed production capacity was used to produce light self-propelled guns SU-76, created on the basis of the T-70. Medium tanks T-34 took part in hostilities from the first days. They had an undoubted superiority over the German Pz tanks. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV. German specialists had to urgently modernize their machines.

In the spring of 1942, the Pz tank appeared on the Eastern Front. Krfw. IV modification F2 with a new 75 mm cannon and reinforced armor. In a duel, it outperformed the T-34, but was inferior to it in maneuverability and maneuverability. In response, Soviet designers strengthened the T-34's gun and the thickness of the turret's frontal armor. By the summer of 1943, the Germans equipped tank units with new tanks and self-propelled artillery units (Pz. Krfw. V "Panther"; Pz. Krfw.VI "Tiger"; self-propelled guns "Ferdinand", etc.) with more powerful armor protection, fire from 75 of them - and 88-mm long-barreled guns hit our armored vehicles from a distance of 1000 meters or more.

The new Soviet tanks T-34-85 and IS-2, armed with 85 mm and 122 mm guns (respectively), by the beginning of 1944 were able to restore the advantage of Soviet armored vehicles in armor protection and firepower. All this taken together allowed the Soviet Union to gain an unconditional advantage over Germany, both in the quality of armored vehicles and in the number of models produced.

In addition, starting in 1943, the Red Army began to receive a large number of self-propelled artillery units. The need for them became apparent in the first months of hostilities, and already in the summer of 1941 at the Moscow Automobile Plant named after. I.V. Stalin hastily mounted a 57-mm ZIS-2 anti-tank gun of the 1941 model on semi-armored T-20 Komsomolets artillery tractors. These self-propelled units received the designation ZIS-30.

On October 23, 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to begin work on the creation of two types of self-propelled guns: light ones - for direct fire support of infantry and medium ones, armored like the T-34 medium tank - to support and escort tanks in battle. Tank builders for a light self-propelled gun equipped with a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon used the base of the T-70 tank. This machine was well developed and relatively easy to manufacture. It was also taken into account that the supply of light tanks to the front was gradually declining. Then they appeared: the medium self-propelled gun SU-122 - a 122 mm howitzer based on the T-34 tank and the heavy SU-152 - a 152 mm howitzer gun based on the KV-1S tank. In 1943, the Supreme High Command decided to transfer self-propelled artillery units from the GAU to the jurisdiction of the Commander of Armored and Mechanized Forces. This contributed to a sharp increase in the quality of self-propelled guns and an increase in their production. In the same year, 1943, the formation of self-propelled artillery regiments for tank, mechanized and cavalry corps began. During the offensive, light self-propelled guns accompanied the infantry, medium and heavy self-propelled guns fought against enemy tanks, assault guns, and anti-tank artillery, and destroyed defensive structures.

The role of self-propelled guns has increased in conditions of widespread use by the enemy of the Panther and Tiger tanks. To combat them, Soviet troops received SU-85 and SU-100 vehicles.

The 100-mm gun mounted on the SU-100 self-propelled guns was superior to the 88-mm guns of German tanks and self-propelled guns in terms of the power of armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells, and was not inferior to them in rate of fire. During the war, self-propelled artillery mounts showed themselves to be highly effective formidable weapons and, at the suggestion of tankers, the designers developed self-propelled guns based on heavy IS-2 tanks, and the ammunition load of the heavy self-propelled guns ISU-122 and ISU-152 received armor-piercing shells, which made it possible, at the final stage of the war , hit almost all types of German tanks and self-propelled guns. Light self-propelled guns were developed at the design bureau under the leadership of S.A. Ginzburg (SU-76); L.L. Terentyev and M.N. Shchukin (SU-76 M); medium - in the design bureau under the leadership of N.V. Kurina, L.I. Gorlitsky, A.N. Balashova, V.N. Sidorenko (SU-122, SU-85, SU-100); heavy - in the design bureau under the leadership of Zh.Ya. Kotina, S.N. Makhonina, L.S. Troyanova, S.P. Gurenko, F.F. Petrova (SU-152, ISU-152, ISU-122).

In January 1943, the formation of tank armies of a homogeneous composition began in the Red Army - the 1st and 2nd tank armies appeared, and by the summer of that year the Red Army already had five tank armies, which consisted of two tank and one mechanized corps. Now armored and mechanized troops included: tank armies, tank and mechanized corps, tank and mechanized brigades and regiments.

During the war, Soviet armored vehicles were not inferior to those of the Wehrmacht, and often surpassed them both qualitatively and quantitatively. Already in 1942, the USSR produced 24,504 tanks and self-propelled guns, i.e. four times more than what German industry produced in the same year (5953 tanks and self-propelled guns). Considering the failures of the first period of the war, this was a real feat of Soviet tank builders.

Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service Zh.Ya. Kotin noted that an invaluable feature of the Soviet school of tank building played a huge role in this - the maximum possible simplicity of design, the desire for the complex only if the same effect cannot be achieved by simple means.

The number of Soviet tanks participating in operations was constantly increasing: 780 tanks took part in the Battle of Moscow (1941–1942), 979 in the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943), 5200 in the Belarusian Strategic Offensive Operation (1944), and 5200 in the Berlin Operation (1945) - 6250 tanks and self-propelled guns. According to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Army General A.I. Antonov, “...the second half of the war was marked by the predominance of our tanks and self-propelled artillery on the battlefields. This allowed us to carry out operational maneuvers of enormous scope, encircle large enemy groups, and pursue them until they are completely destroyed.”

In total, in 1941 - 1945, the Soviet tank industry gave the front 103,170 tanks and self-propelled guns (the latter - 22,500, of which medium - more than 2,000, and heavy - more than 4,200), of which light tanks accounted for 18.8%, medium - 70.4% (T-34 with a 76-mm cannon 36,331, and with an 85-mm cannon - another 17,898 tanks) and heavy - 10.8%.

During the battles, about 430,000 combat vehicles were returned to service after being repaired in the field or in the factory, that is, each industrial tank was repaired and restored on average more than four times.

Along with the mass production of armored vehicles during the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army received tanks and self-propelled guns from Great Britain, Canada and the United States under Lend-Lease. Transportation of armored vehicles was carried out mainly along three routes: northern - through the Atlantic and the Barents Sea, southern - through the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and Iran, eastern - through the Pacific Ocean. The first transport with tanks arrived in the USSR from Great Britain in September 1941. And by the beginning of 1942, the Red Army received 750 British and 180 American tanks. Many of them were used in the Battle of Moscow in the winter of 1941 - 1942. In total, during the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union, according to Western sources, 3805 tanks were shipped to Great Britain, including 2394 Valentine, 1084 Matilda, 301 Churchill, 20 Tetrarch, 6 Cromwell. To these should be added 25 Valentine bridge tanks. Canada provided the USSR with 1,388 Valentine tanks. In the USA, 7172 tanks were loaded onto ships under Lend-Lease, including 1676 light MZA1, 7 light M5 and M24, 1386 medium MZAZ, 4102 medium M4A2, one M26, as well as 707 anti-tank self-propelled guns (mainly M10 and M18), 1100 anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (M15, M16 and M 17), and 6666 armored personnel carriers. However, not all of these vehicles took part in the fighting. Thus, under the attacks of the German fleet and aviation, along with the ships of the Arctic convoys, 860 American and 615 British tanks were sent to the seabed. With a fairly high degree of certainty, we can say that during the four years of the war, 18,566 units of armored vehicles were delivered to the USSR, of which: 10,395 tanks, 6,242 armored personnel carriers, 1,802 self-propelled guns and 127 armored vehicles, which were used in units, formations and training units of the Red Army.

During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet tank crews showed examples of the effective use of armored weapons, although the enemy was strong and had very powerful military equipment. The Motherland duly noted the feat of Soviet tank crews: in their ranks there were 1,150 Heroes of the Soviet Union (including 16 twice Heroes), and more than 250,000 were awarded orders and medals. On July 1, 1946, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the professional holiday “Tankman’s Day” was established to commemorate the great merits of armored and mechanized forces in defeating the enemy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as for the merits of tank builders in equipping the country’s Armed Forces with armored vehicles. It is deeply symbolic that the legendary T-34 tank was often installed on the pedestals of monuments in honor of the liberation of Soviet cities from Nazi captivity, and many of the Soviet tanks of that time took their place of honor in many domestic museums.

In its modern form, armored forces represent the main striking force of the Ground Forces, being a powerful means of armed warfare, designed to solve the most important tasks in various types of combat operations. The importance of tank forces as one of the main branches of the Ground Forces will remain in the near foreseeable future. At the same time, the tank will retain its role as the leading universal combat weapon of the Ground Forces. In the post-war years, numerous modern models of tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and airborne combat vehicles, which embodied the latest achievements of domestic science and technology, entered service with the armored forces.

The German army, our main enemy during the Great Patriotic War, had very powerful armored forces (Panzerwaffe). By the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was prohibited from having tank troops and producing armored vehicles. However, in violation of its terms, already at the end of the 1920s, the Germans began to secretly carry out work in the field of tank building, and with Hitler coming to power in January 1933, all restrictions of the Versailles Treaty were discarded, and the creation of a mass army began at an accelerated pace in Germany. A special place in it was reserved for tanks.

The initiator of the construction of armored forces and the theorist of their use in war was General G. Guderian. According to his views, tanks were to be used en masse as part of large mechanized strike formations in cooperation with other branches of the military, primarily with aviation. Having broken through the enemy defenses, and without waiting for the infantry, the tanks must enter the operational space, destroy the rear, disrupting communications and paralyzing the work of the enemy headquarters. He listed the advantages of tanks in the following order: mobility, weapons, armor and communications.

The German Panzerwaffe became the basis of the “blitzkrieg” during the Second World War, constituting the main striking force of the Ground Forces of the Third Reich. The Wehrmacht abandoned the division of tanks by purpose - into infantry and cruising. Tanks, assembled into large formations, were supposed to perform any functions if necessary: ​​both infantry escort tanks and success development tanks. Although the complete abandonment of relatively small tank units intended for close interaction with infantry formations and units also cannot be considered successful. The Wehrmacht switched (similarly to the Red Army) to dividing tanks into light, medium and heavy. But if in the USSR such a criterion was only the mass of the tank, then in Germany tanks for a long time were divided into classes, both by weight and by armament. For example, originally the Pz tank. Krfw. The IV was considered a heavy fighting vehicle based on its armament - a 75 mm cannon - and was considered such until the summer of 1943.

All tanks entering service with the Wehrmacht received the letter abbreviation Pz. Krfw. (short for Panzegkampfwagen - armored fighting vehicle) and serial number. Modifications were designated by letters of the Latin alphabet and the abbreviation Ausf. – (abbr. Аusfuhrung - model, variant). Command tanks were designated Pz.Bf.Wg. (Panzerbefehlswagen). Simultaneously with this type of designation, an end-to-end system was used for all Wehrmacht vehicles. According to the end-to-end system, most of the Wehrmacht's armored vehicles (with some exceptions) received the designation Sd. Kfz. (abbr. Sonderkraftfahrzeug - special purpose vehicle) and serial number.

Self-propelled artillery units, considered as a means of strengthening infantry and tanks on the battlefield, were designated differently, since the Wehrmacht and SS troops had a large number of their classes and types. Assault guns had their own designation system, self-propelled howitzers, self-propelled howitzers and anti-tank guns had their own. At the same time, the official designation of almost any self-propelled gun, as a rule, also included information about the tank chassis on the basis of which it was created. Like tanks, most self-propelled artillery units also had end-to-end indexes with serial numbers in the Sd system. Kfz. The classification of self-propelled artillery units of the Wehrmacht varied according to several main classes: assault guns (Sturmgeschutz; StuG); assault howitzers (Sturmhaubitze; StuH); self-propelled carriages and chassis (Selbstfahrlafetten; Sf.); assault infantry guns (Sturminfanteriengeschutz; StuIG); assault tanks (Sturmpanzer; StuPz.); tank destroyers/self-propelled anti-tank guns (Panzerjager, Pz.Jg; Jagdpanzer Jgd.Pz); howitzer self-propelled guns (Panzerhaubitze; Pz.N); anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (Flakpanzer, Fl.Pz). The confusion with classification and designations was aggravated by the fact that machines of one of the types, after modernization and changes in their design, acquired completely different properties, the so-called. 75 mm StuG assault gun. III, which, after mounting a 75 mm long-barreled gun, actually turned into a tank destroyer, but continued to be listed as an assault gun. The Marder self-propelled anti-tank guns also underwent changes in designation; instead of the original “Pak Slf” (self-propelled anti-tank gun), they began to be called “Panzerjager” (tank destroyer).

The first serial German tank was the light Pz. Krfw. I, entered the army in 1934. The following year, the second light tank Pz appeared. Krfw. II. These vehicles were tested in combat conditions during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939.

The creation of medium tanks in Germany was delayed due to unsettled tactical and technical requirements for them, although some companies began developing a prototype with a 75-mm cannon back in 1934. Guderian considered it necessary to have two types of medium tanks: the main one (Pz. Krfw. III) with a 37 mm gun and a support tank with a 75 mm short-barreled gun (Pz. Krfw. IV). Production of Pz tanks. Krfw. III and Pz. Krfw. IV began only in 1938.

After the capture of the Czech Republic, in March 1939, the Wehrmacht received more than 400 modern Czech tanks LT-35 (Pz. Krfw. 35 (t)). In addition, the German tank forces were significantly strengthened by the LT-38 (Pz.Krfw. 38(t)) tanks produced in occupied Moravia, but under German orders, which had higher combat characteristics than the Pz tanks. Krfw. I and Pz. Krfw. II.

On September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht tank fleet in combat, training units and bases consisted of 3,195 vehicles. There were about 2800 of them in the active army.

German losses in armored vehicles during the Polish campaign were small (198 destroyed and 361 damaged) and were quickly replaced by industry. Following the results of the September (1939) battles, Guderian demanded that the armor and firepower of tanks be strengthened and the production of Pz increased. Krfw. Ш and Рz. Krfw. IV. By the beginning of the campaign in France (May 10, 1940), 5 German tank corps had 2,580 tanks. British and French tanks were superior to enemy models in terms of armor and armament, but German tank forces had higher training and combat experience, and were also better controlled. They were used en masse, while the Allies fought tank battles in small groups, sometimes without close interaction either with each other or with the infantry. Victory went to the German strike forces.

To attack the Soviet Union, the German command, consisting of 17 tank divisions, concentrated 3,582 tanks and self-propelled guns. These included 1698 light tanks: 180 Рz. Krfw. I; 746 Rz. Krfw. II; 149 Rz. 35(t); 623 Rz. 38(t) and 1404 medium tanks: 965 Рz. Krfw. III; 439 Rz. Krfw. IV, as well as 250 assault guns. The troops had another 230 command tanks that did not have cannon armament. The battles on the Soviet-German front revealed a number of technical shortcomings of German tanks. Their cross-country ability and mobility on the ground turned out to be low. In terms of armament and armor, they were significantly inferior to the Soviet T-34 and KV. It became clear to the Wehrmacht command that the troops needed stronger vehicles. While the development of new medium and heavy tanks was underway, the rearmament of the Pz began. Krfw. IV (a long-barreled 75-mm cannon was installed with simultaneous reinforcement of its armor). This temporarily put it on par with Soviet tanks in terms of armament and armor. But according to other data, the T-34 retained its superiority.

Even at the height of World War II, the Germans did not immediately begin to speed up the production of military equipment, but only when the specter of defeat loomed before them. At the same time, during the fighting, the material part of the German tank forces was continuously improved qualitatively and grew quantitatively. Since 1943, the Germans began to massively use the Pz medium tank on the battlefield. Krfw. V "Panther" and heavy Pz. Krfw. VI "Tiger". These new Wehrmacht tanks had better developed weapons, but their disadvantage was, first of all, their large mass. Thick armor did not save Wehrmacht vehicles from shells from Soviet guns mounted on T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks and SU-100 and ISU-122 self-propelled guns. To gain superiority over the Soviet IS-2 tank, a new heavy tank Pz.Krfw was created in 1944. VI B "Royal Tiger". It was the heaviest production tank of World War II. During the war, German industry began to produce self-propelled artillery systems for various purposes in increasing quantities. As the Wehrmacht transitioned to defensive operations, the proportion of self-propelled artillery compared to tanks increased. In 1943, the production of self-propelled guns exceeded the production of tanks, and in the last months of the war it exceeded it three times. At various times, approximately 65 to 80% of the Wehrmacht's armored vehicles were located on the Soviet-German front.

If German armored vehicles, created in the period 1934 - 1940, were mainly distinguished by high reliability, simplicity and ease of maintenance and operation, and ease of operation, then the equipment created during the war could no longer boast of such indicators. Haste and haste during the development and launch of production of the Pz.Krfw.V “Panther”, Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf.E “Tiger” and Pz.Krfw.VI Ausf tanks. B (“Royal Tiger”) had a negative impact on their reliability and performance characteristics, especially the Panther and Royal Tiger tanks. In addition, the Wehrmacht also used captured armored vehicles, but in rather limited quantities. Captured tanks, as a rule, were outdated and did not represent much value for the front (except for the Czechoslovak model LT-38). The Wehrmacht used them in secondary theaters of war, for occupation forces and counter-partisans, as well as for training tank crews.

Captured equipment was also used for conversion into self-propelled artillery units, armored personnel carriers for delivering ammunition, etc. All the factories of the European states occupied by the Germans also worked for the German Wehrmacht. Two large factories in the Czech Republic, Skoda (Pilsen) and SKD (Prague), renamed VMM, produced tanks and self-propelled guns of their own design until the end of the war. In total, Czech factories produced more than 6,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. Tank factories in France were involved mainly in converting captured French tanks, repairing them, or manufacturing some spare parts for them, but not a single new tank or self-propelled gun was assembled there. In Austria, annexed to the Third Reich during the Anschluss of 1938, the Niebelungwerke tank assembly plant (Steyr-Daimler-Puch) was created in St. Valentine during the Second World War. Its products were included in the total production of German factories. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, its territory was partially occupied by German troops. Some tank factories in northern Italy, for example the Fiat-Ansaldo company (Turin), continued to produce tanks and self-propelled guns for German formations operating in Italy. In 1943 - 1945 they produced more than 400 vehicles. In total, from September 1939 to March 1945, German industry produced about 46,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, with the latter accounting for more than 22,100 units. In addition to these vehicles, during the Second World War, Germany also produced tracked, wheeled and half-track armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, and tractor-transporters.

The first English Mk V tanks arrived in Japan in 1918, followed by Mk A tanks and French Renault FT 17 tanks in 1921. In 1925, two tank companies were formed from these vehicles. The Japanese began their own tank building only in 1927, when several prototypes of multi-turret tanks weighing about 20 tons were created. During these same years, British Vickers-6-ton tanks and the Carden-Loyd MkVI wedge, and French Renault NC1 tanks were purchased (the latter were in service under the designation "Otsu" until 1940). On their basis, Japanese firms began developing wedges and light tanks.

In 1931-1936, the Type 89 medium tank was produced in small series. This designation of military equipment was adopted in the armed forces based on the Japanese chronology, according to which the Japanese year 2589 corresponded to 1929 of the Gregorian calendar. In 1933, the Japanese leadership and military command decided to mechanize the Japanese army and issued corresponding orders to industry. At first, Japanese designers preferred wedges. The first of these was the Type 92 (1932), followed by the Type 94 midget tank (1934) and the Type 97 Te-ke small tank (1937). In total, more than 1000 wedges were built before 1937. However, further production of this class of vehicles ceased due to their low combat qualities, although it was in Japan that the wedge design reached its greatest development.

Since the mid-1930s, the Japanese tank industry has completely switched to the development of light and medium vehicles. In 1935, the most popular light tank, the Ha-Go, was created, and in 1937, the medium-sized Chi-Ha tank was created. The latter, until the end of World War II, was the main model of Japanese armored forces. In 1937, the rate of tank production increased due to deliveries to the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. At the same time, the “Ha-go” and “Chi-ha” machines were being modernized. In the mid-1930s, the command of the Japanese army first showed interest in producing amphibious tanks, which were necessary for carrying out amphibious operations in a future war. At this time, samples of amphibious tanks are being developed.

Japanese tank building in the 1920s and 1930s was characterized by a careful study of foreign experience; passion for wedges; concentrating efforts on creating light and medium tanks to arm the Kwantung Army in China, as well as, starting in 1933, using diesel engines in tanks. Japanese tanks were tested in combat during combat operations in the 1930s and early 1940s in the Far East against Chinese and Mongolian troops, as well as units of the Red Army. The experience gained in the combat use of tanks forced Japanese designers, first of all, to look for ways to increase their firepower and enhance armor protection. In total, in 1931 - 1939, Japanese industry produced 2020 tanks. 16 samples were developed, including 7 serial ones.

With the outbreak of the war in Europe, tank production in Japan picked up pace: in 1940, 1023 vehicles were produced, in 1941 - 1024. Given the island position of the country, the Japanese military leadership did not seek to build up its tanks and troops. A troop training manual published in 1935 noted: “The main purpose of tanks is combat in close cooperation with infantry.” From a tactical point of view, tanks were considered only as a means of supporting infantry and were reduced to small units. Their main tasks were considered to be: fighting fire points and field artillery and making passages for infantry in obstacles. Tanks could be sent on “close raids” beyond the front line of the enemy’s defense to a depth of no more than 600 m. At the same time, having disrupted his defense system, they had to return to their infantry and support their attack. The most maneuverable type of combat operations were “deep raids” together with cavalry, motorized infantry on vehicles, sappers and field artillery. In defense, tanks were used to carry out frequent counterattacks (mostly at night) or to fire from ambush. Fighting enemy tanks was allowed only when absolutely necessary. In November 1941, according to the operational plan of the headquarters, the main forces of the fleet and aviation were involved in the capture of the Philippine Islands, Malaya, Burma and other territories, and 11 infantry divisions and only 9 tank regiments were allocated from the ground forces.

By December 1941, the Japanese army's tank fleet consisted of about 2,000 vehicles: mostly light Ha-Go tanks and wedges, and several hundred medium Chi-Ha tanks. Since 1940, the main tanks “Ha-go” and “Chi-ha” have been modernized. As a result, the Ke-nu light tank and the Chi-he medium tank were built in noticeable quantities during the war. In 1942, designers created the Ka-mi amphibious tank, which experts consider the best example in the history of Japanese tank building. But its release was extremely limited. In the same year, to combat Allied tanks and support their troops, the Japanese army sent self-propelled artillery units in limited quantities.

Japanese tanks had weak weapons and armor, satisfactory mobility, and were also not reliable enough and did not have good means of observation and communication. In terms of armament, protection and other characteristics, these vehicles lagged behind those of other warring countries. Therefore, by the end of the war, Japanese instructions already considered tanks as one of the most effective anti-tank weapons, and tanks were often dug into the ground in defense. The main feature of Japanese tank building was the widespread use of diesel engines. During the war, Japanese tank building experienced a constant shortage of raw materials (steel) and skilled labor. Tank production in Japan reached its maximum level in 1942 and then began to fall. In total, Japanese industry produced 2,377 tanks and 147 self-propelled guns between 1942 and 1945.

The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War is persistently working to identify and collect material evidence of the heroic and tragic past. With each subsequent year after the war, it becomes more and more difficult to complete the work of completing our collections with new models of armored vehicles. Currently, the museum has tanks and other armored vehicles of domestic production from the pre-war, war and post-war periods of production. This makes it possible to reveal the main stages of domestic tank building, to show the intense work of workers, engineers, designers, technologists, production organizers, and all home front workers in achieving Victory in incredibly difficult conditions.

The collection of armored vehicles of the USSR, Great Britain, USA, Germany and Japan has been created by museum staff since 1990. Great assistance in this work was provided by the Main Armored Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the leadership of the Border Troops of the FSB of Russia, military-patriotic public associations, search groups, and veteran tank crew organizations. The museum is recreating missing examples of armored vehicles by constructing mock-ups of them from surviving fragments found by search teams. In this way, the model of the KV-1 heavy tank and models of Japanese tanks were recreated. A number of exhibits were restored by specialists from the 38th Research Testing Institute of Armored Vehicles of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation before being placed at the weapons exhibition.

The second selection of test drives with Ivan Zinkevich, this time with equipment exclusively from the period of the Great Patriotic War (including the IS-3 tank).

Tank "Panther" Ausf. G/Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

In this issue, Ivan Zenkevich will talk about the famous Panther tank, which is essentially a German modification of the T-34 tank. This particular specimen is the only Panther tank in the world with its original propulsion system.

Armored personnel carrier OT-810

The father of the OT-810 was the German Hanomag Sd Kfz 251; after the war, the Czechoslovaks created their own modernized Sd Kfz 251, which was used until 1995.

Tank Mouse / Panzerkampfwagen VIII "Maus"

This tank is the apotheosis of German tank building; the engine system was based on three engines: one gasoline engine turned a generator, and the generated current went to electric motors driving the 188-ton vehicle.

Mortar Karl Gerat "Adam"

The German military industry produced a total of six such large mortars, weighing 126 tons, 600 mm, at a distance of 7 km. the projectile flies for 49 seconds, its weight is 2 tons, and the initial speed is 225 m/s.

Tank T-30

This tank is the progenitor of modern infantry fighting vehicles, MTLBs and other light combat vehicles. Initially, this was a modernized T-40 tank, deprived of the ability to cross rivers and lakes.

Tank T-34

Tank T-34-76 Soviet medium tank, a symbol tank, a tank whose name will live forever on the pages of history textbooks and in the memory of our descendants. The simple and reliable design of this tank has become a model for comparison and imitation. See the end of the video about the unique and heroic fate of the tank (from the video).

Armored car BA-3

The hull of this BA-3 was completely welded, which was an advanced innovation at the time. The combat vehicle was created on the basis of the Soviet GAZ-AA truck; the weapons were a lightweight turret and a cannon from the T-26 tank and a machine gun.

SU-100

It was this SU-100 that was filmed in the film "". The SU-100 was developed in response to the appearance of the new German heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther"

Panzer IV tank

The German medium tank, which became the most popular tank of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, was mass-produced in several versions from 1937 to 1945. This example (on video) of Panzer IV managed to fight in the 5th Guards Tank Brigade.

Tank LT vz.38/ Pz. Kpfw.38

This tank was developed for the Czechoslovak army in the mid-30s. Many European countries were interested in the tank, but in 1939 Germany monopolized all interest in its favor. It entered service with the Wehrmacht under the new name Pz. The Kpfw.38 became a good vehicle for supporting infantry and reconnaissance.

TANK KV-2

This tank is an example of the first self-propelled artillery unit with a powerful 152-mm howitzer; it was created to destroy fortified enemy defense lines and was actively used in the Finnish War of 1939-1940. This copy is assembled on the basis of the IS-2 tank, since the original KV-2 has not survived to this day.

Tank T-26

The T-26 is essentially an exact licensed copy of the 6-ton Vickers tank. Soviet designers improved this tank as best they could, but by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it had already begun to become obsolete.

Tank T-38

This tank is a modernization of the earlier T-37 amphibious tank. The T-38 is essentially a steel floating boat, everything in it is adapted for swimming - both the propeller with the rudder and the streamlined hull.

Tank T-60

Small in size, with good armor and a simple gasoline car engine, this tank was intended to support infantry and reconnaissance. At the beginning of the war, it was not difficult to organize the production of this useful and necessary machine.

Tank MS 1

The small escort tank, the first serial Soviet tank of its own design, was based on the French FT-17 tank. There is only one such tank on the move in the world.

A pickup truck based on the "Lorry", this vehicle was found at the battlefields in the "Vyazma Cauldron", it was almost completely destroyed by a shell explosion.

Tank T-70

It was designed in just six months at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of Nikolai Ostrov, and it was produced from 1941 to 1943. A good tank for starting a war, it was very reliable and quite heavily armed, much less noisy than diesel tanks, they were often used in reconnaissance.

Tank BT-7

Test drive of the BT-7 high-speed tank at the Stalin Line museum (Minsk). The vehicle from the review was pulled out of the river, where the crew drove it after the battles so that it would not fall to the enemy; decades later, the tank was lifted from the river and brought to working condition.

Katyusha BM-13 (ZIL-157)

Despite the fact that the Katyusha review is not from the war, you will be told many interesting features of this type of jet weapon.

Tank IS-2

The IS-2 heavy breakthrough tank was created as a counterweight to the German "Tigers" and "Panthers", the IS-2 crews were formed exclusively from officers, and the 122 mm gun could destroy any enemy tank at a distance of up to 3 kilometers, the armor reached 120 mm.

TANK IS-3

The last tank created during the Great Patriotic War, fully developed during its years, but put into production only in May 1945. For its time, it was an advanced combat vehicle that combined powerful armor, reliable chassis and powerful weapons. The most massive and heaviest tank of the Soviet Union.

GAZ AA

This car was produced from 1932 to 1950, the legendary semi-truck created on the basis of the Ford AA truck. In the Soviet Union, the design of this car was further simplified and reduced to a minimum - if necessary, the lorry could be disassembled in a few hours down to the screw. Despite its low weight, the lorry had excellent cross-country ability and carrying capacity.

ZIS 42

Already the first months of the Great Patriotic War showed that the Red Army really lacked fast and passable artillery tractors, and such a tractor was developed. ZIS 42 was created on the basis of the ZIS-5V truck. Of more than 6,000 of these unique cars, only one remained, restored by enthusiasts.

Willys MB

During the war, more than 50 thousand Willys were delivered from the USSR to the USA.

GAZ MM

A modernized “lorry”, instead of two headlights there is one, instead of wooden doors there are canvas substitutes, an angular but still elegant design.

GAZ-67

Despite the similarity with the Willys, this front-line vehicle was completely designed in the USSR; it could be repaired using only 3 wrenches.

ZIS-5

A truck without rear view windows, without brake lights, that runs on any fuel.

Studebaker "Katyusha" (Studebaker) BM-13M

Studebakers have proven themselves to be the best on front-line roads, and rocket launchers began to fire more accurately thanks to the heavier and denser landing of this truck.

M4 Sherman "Sherman"

The workhorse of the Allies, this tank was supplied under Lend-Lease to the USSR from the winter of 1943, it fought on all fronts of the Second World War - from the Pacific Ocean to Belarus.

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Osinnikov Roman

1. Introduction
2. Aviation
3. Tanks and self-propelled guns
4. Armored vehicles
5. Other military equipment

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Slide captions:

Military equipment of the Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945. Goal: get acquainted with various materials about the Great Patriotic War; find out what military equipment helped our people win. Completed by: Valera Dudanov, 4th grade student Supervisor: Larisa Grigorievna Matyashchuk

Armored vehicles Other military equipment Tanks and self-propelled guns Aviation

Sturmovik Il - 16

Sturmovik Il - 2 Sturmovik Il - 10

Pe-8 Bomber Pe-2 Bomber

Bomber Tu-2

Fighter Yak-3 Yak-7 Yak-9

La-5 fighter La-7 fighter

Tank ISU - 152

Tank ISU - 122

Tank SU - 85

Tank SU - 122

Tank SU - 152

Tank T - 34

Armored car BA-10 Armored car BA-64

BM-31 rocket artillery combat vehicle

BM-8-36 rocket artillery combat vehicle

Rocket artillery combat vehicle BM-8-24

Rocket artillery combat vehicle BM-13N

BM-13 rocket artillery combat vehicle

2. http://1941-1945.net.ru/ 3. http://goup32441.narod.ru 4. http://www.bosonogoe.ru/blog/good/page92/

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Military equipment of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

Plan.

1. Introduction

2. Aviation

3. Tanks and self-propelled guns

4. Armored vehicles

5. Other military equipment

Introduction

The victory over fascist Germany and its allies was achieved through the joint efforts of the states of the anti-fascist coalition, the peoples who fought against the occupiers and their accomplices. But the Soviet Union played a decisive role in this armed conflict. It was the Soviet country that was the most active and consistent fighter against the fascist invaders who sought to enslave the peoples of the whole world.

On the territory of the Soviet Union, a significant number of national military formations with a total strength of 550 thousand people were formed, about 960 thousand rifles, carbines and machine guns, more than 40.5 thousand machine guns, 16.5 thousand guns and mortars were donated to them. , over 2300 aircraft, more than 1100 tanks and self-propelled guns. Considerable assistance was also provided in the training of national command personnel.

The results and consequences of the Great Patriotic War are enormous in scale and historical significance. It was not “military happiness”, not accidents that led the Red Army to a brilliant victory. Throughout the war, the Soviet economy successfully coped with providing the front with the necessary weapons and ammunition.

Soviet industry in 1942 - 1944. produced over 2 thousand tanks monthly, while German industry reached a maximum of 1,450 tanks only in May 1944; The number of field artillery guns in the Soviet Union was more than 2 times, and mortars 5 times more than in Germany. The secret of this “economic miracle” lies in the fact that, in fulfilling the intense plans of the military economy, the workers, peasants, and intelligentsia showed massive labor heroism. Following the slogan “Everything for the front! Everything for Victory!”, regardless of any hardships, home front workers did everything to give the army the perfect weapons, clothe, shoe and feed the soldiers, ensure the uninterrupted operation of transport and the entire national economy. The Soviet military industry surpassed the fascist German one not only in quantity, but also in the quality of the main types of weapons and equipment. Soviet scientists and designers radically improved many technological processes and tirelessly created and improved military equipment and weapons. For example, the T-34 medium tank, which has undergone several modifications, is rightfully considered the best tank of the Great Patriotic War.

Mass heroism, unprecedented perseverance, courage and dedication, selfless devotion to the Motherland of the Soviet people at the front, behind enemy lines, the labor feats of workers, peasants and intelligentsia were the most important factor in achieving our Victory. History has never known such examples of mass heroism and labor enthusiasm.

One can name thousands of glorious Soviet soldiers who accomplished remarkable feats in the name of the Motherland, in the name of Victory over the enemy. The immortal feat of the infantrymen A.K. was repeated more than 300 times during the Great Patriotic War. Pankratov V.V. Vasilkovsky and A.M. Matrosova. The names of Yu.V. are inscribed in golden letters in the military chronicle of the Soviet Fatherland. Smirnova, A.P. Maresyev, paratrooper K.F. Olshansky, Panfilov heroes and many, many others. The names of D.M. became a symbol of unbending will and perseverance in the struggle. Karbyshev and M. Jalil. The names M.A. are widely known. Egorova and M.V. Kantaria, who hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag. More than 7 million people who fought on the war fronts were awarded orders and medals. 11,358 people were awarded the highest degree of military distinction - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Having watched various films about the war, and heard in the media about the approaching 65th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, I became interested in what kind of military equipment helped our people defeat Nazi Germany.

Aviation

In the creative competition of design bureaus that developed new fighters in the late thirties, the team led by A.S. Yakovlev achieved great success. The experimental I-26 fighter he created passed excellent tests and was branded Yak-1 was accepted into mass production. In terms of its aerobatic and combat qualities, the Yak-1 was among the best front-line fighters.

During the Great Patriotic War it was modified several times. On its basis, more advanced fighters Yak-1M and Yak-3 were created. Yak-1M - single-seat fighter, development of the Yak-1. Created in 1943 in two copies: prototype No. 1 and a backup. The Yak-1M was the lightest and most maneuverable fighter in the world for its time.

Designers: Lavochkin, Gorbunov, Gudkov - LaGG

The introduction of the aircraft did not go smoothly, since the aircraft and its drawings were still quite “raw”, not finalized for serial production. It was not possible to establish continuous production. With the release of production aircraft and their arrival at military units, wishes and demands began to be received to strengthen armament and increase the capacity of tanks. Increasing the capacity of gas tanks made it possible to increase the flight range from 660 to 1000 km. Automatic slats were installed, but the series used more conventional aircraft. Factories, having produced about 100 LaGG-1 vehicles, began to build its version - LaGG-3. All this was accomplished to the best of our ability, but the plane became heavier and its flight performance decreased. In addition, winter camouflage - a rough surface of the paint - worsened the aerodynamics of the aircraft (and the dark cherry-colored prototype was polished to a shine, for which it was called “piano” or “radiola”). The overall weight culture in the LaGG and La aircraft was lower than in the Yak aircraft, where it was brought to perfection. But the survivability of the LaGG (and then La) design was exceptional. LaGG-3 was one of the main front-line fighters in the first period of the war. In 1941-1943. factories built over 6.5 thousand LaGG aircraft.

It was a cantilever low-wing aircraft with smooth contours and a retractable landing gear with a tail wheel; it was unique among fighters of the time because it had an all-wood construction, with the exception of its metal frame and fabric-covered control surfaces; The fuselage, tail and wings had a wooden load-bearing structure, to which diagonal strips of plywood were attached using phenol-formaldehyde rubber.

More than 6,500 LaGG-3 aircraft were built, with later versions having a retractable tailwheel and the ability to carry jettisonable fuel tanks. Armament included a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub, two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns, and underwing mounts for unguided rockets or light bombs.

The armament of the serial LaGG-3 consisted of one ShVAK cannon, one or two BS and two ShKAS, and 6 RS-82 shells were also suspended. There were also production aircraft with a 37-mm Shpitalny Sh-37 (1942) and Nudelman NS-37 (1943) cannon. The LaGG-3 with the Sh-37 cannon was called a “tank destroyer.”

In the mid-30s, there was, perhaps, no fighter that would have enjoyed such wide popularity in aviation circles as the I-16 (TsKB-12), designed by the team headed by N.N. Polikarpov.

In appearance and flight performance I-16 was sharply different from most of his serial contemporaries.

The I-16 was created as a high-speed fighter, which simultaneously pursued the goal of achieving maximum maneuverability for air combat. For this purpose, the center of gravity in flight was combined with the center of pressure at approximately 31% of the MAR. There was an opinion that in this case the aircraft would be more maneuverable. In fact, it turned out that the I-16 became practically insufficiently stable, especially during gliding, it required a lot of attention from the pilot, and reacted to the slightest movement of the handle. And along with this, there was, perhaps, no aircraft that would have made such a great impression on its contemporaries with its high-speed qualities. The small I-16 embodied the idea of ​​a high-speed aircraft, which also performed aerobatic maneuvers very effectively, and compared favorably with any biplanes. After each modification, the speed, ceiling and armament of the aircraft increased.

The armament of the 1939 I-16 consisted of two cannons and two machine guns. The aircraft of the first series received a baptism of fire in battles with the Nazis in the skies of Spain. Using subsequent production vehicles with missile launchers, our pilots defeated the Japanese militarists at Khalkhin Gol. I-16s took part in battles with Nazi aviation in the first period of the Great Patriotic War. Heroes of the Soviet Union G. P. Kravchenko, S. I. Gritsevets, A. V. Vorozheikin, V. F. Safonov and other pilots fought on these fighters and won many victories twice.

I-16 type 24 took part in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. I-16, adapted for dive bombing/

One of the most formidable combat aircraft of World War II, the Ilyushin Il-2 was produced in huge quantities. Soviet sources give the figure as 36,163 aircraft. A characteristic feature of the two-seat TsKB-55 or BSh-2 aircraft, developed in 1938 by Sergei Ilyushin and his Central Design Bureau, was the armored shell, which was integral with the fuselage structure and protected the crew, engine, radiators and fuel tank. The aircraft was perfectly suited to its designated role as an attack aircraft, as it was well protected when attacking from low altitudes, but it was abandoned in favor of a lighter single-seat model - the TsKB-57 aircraft, which had an AM-38 engine with a power of 1268 kW (1700 hp). s.), a raised, well-streamlined canopy, two 20 mm cannons instead of two of the four wing-mounted machine guns, and underwing missile launchers. The first prototype took off on October 12, 1940.

Serial copies designated IL-2, in general they were similar to the TsKB-57 model, but had a modified windshield and a shortened fairing at the rear of the cockpit canopy. The single-seat version of the Il-2 quickly proved itself to be a highly effective weapon. However, losses during 1941-42. due to the lack of escort fighters, they were very large. In February 1942, it was decided to return to the two-seat version of the Il-2 in accordance with Ilyushin's original concept. The Il-2M aircraft had a gunner in the rear cockpit under the general canopy. Two of these aircraft were flight tested in March, and production aircraft appeared in September 1942. A new version of the Il-2 Type 3 (or Il-2m3) aircraft first appeared in Stalingrad in early 1943.

Il-2 aircraft were used by the USSR Navy for anti-ship operations; in addition, specialized Il-2T torpedo bombers were developed. On land, this aircraft was used, if necessary, for reconnaissance and setting up smoke screens.

In the final year of World War II, Il-2 aircraft were used by Polish and Czechoslovak units flying alongside Soviet units. These attack aircraft remained in service with the USSR Air Force for several post-war years and for a slightly longer time in other countries of Eastern Europe.

To provide a replacement for the Il-2 attack aircraft, two different prototype aircraft were developed in 1943. The Il-8 variant, while maintaining a close resemblance to the Il-2, was equipped with a more powerful AM-42 engine, had a new wing, horizontal tail and landing gear, combined with the fuselage of the late-production Il-2 aircraft. It was flight tested in April 1944, but was abandoned in favor of the Il-10, which was a completely new development with an all-metal design and improved aerodynamic shape. Mass production began in August 1944, and evaluation in active regiments two months later. This aircraft first came into use in February 1945, and by the spring its production had reached its peak. Before the German surrender, many regiments were re-equipped with these attack aircraft; a significant number of them took part in short but large-scale actions against the Japanese invaders in Manchuria and Korea during August 1945.

During the Great Patriotic War Pe-2 was the most popular Soviet bomber. These aircraft took part in battles on all fronts and were used by land and naval aviation as bombers, fighters, and reconnaissance aircraft.

In our country, the first dive bomber was Ar-2 A.A. Arkhangelsky, which represented a modernization of the Security Council. The Ar-2 bomber was developed almost in parallel with the future Pe-2, but was put into mass production faster, since it was based on a well-developed aircraft. However, the SB design was already quite outdated, so there were practically no prospects for further development of the Ar-2. A little later, the St. Petersburg N.N. aircraft was produced in a small series (five pieces). Polikarpov, superior to the Ar-2 in armament and flight characteristics. Since numerous accidents occurred during flight tests, work was stopped after extensive development of this machine.

During the testing of the "hundredth" several accidents occurred. The right engine of Stefanovsky’s plane failed, and he barely landed the plane on the maintenance site, miraculously “jumping” over the hangar and the trestles stacked near it. The second plane, the “backup”, on which A.M. Khripkov and P.I. Perevalov were flying, also suffered an accident. After takeoff, a fire broke out on it, and the pilot, blinded by the smoke, landed on the first landing site he came across, crushing the people there.

Despite these accidents, the aircraft showed high flight characteristics and it was decided to build it in series. An experimental "weaving" was demonstrated at the May Day parade in 1940. State tests of the "weaving" ended on May 10, 1940, and on June 23 the aircraft was accepted for mass production. The production aircraft had some differences. The most noticeable external change was the forward movement of the cockpit. Behind the pilot, slightly to the right, was the navigator's seat. The lower part of the nose was glazed, which made it possible to aim during bombing. The navigator had a rear-firing ShKAS machine gun on a pivot mount. Behind the back

Serial production of the Pe-2 unfolded very quickly. In the spring of 1941, these vehicles began to arrive in combat units. On May 1, 1941, the Pe-2 regiment (95th Colonel S.A. Pestov) flew over Red Square in parade formation. These vehicles were “appropriated” by F.P. Polynov’s 13th Air Division, which, having independently studied them, successfully used them in battles on the territory of Belarus.

Unfortunately, by the beginning of hostilities the machine was still poorly mastered by the pilots. The comparative complexity of the aircraft, the dive-bombing tactics that were fundamentally new for Soviet pilots, the lack of twin-control aircraft, and design defects, in particular insufficient landing gear damping and poor fuselage sealing, which increased the fire hazard, all played a role here. Subsequently, it was also noted that takeoff and landing on the Pe-2 is much more difficult than on the domestic SB or DB-3, or the American Douglas A-20 Boston. In addition, the pilots of the rapidly growing Soviet Air Force were inexperienced. For example, in the Leningrad district, more than half of the flight personnel graduated from aviation schools in the fall of 1940 and had very few flight hours.

Despite these difficulties, units armed with the Pe-2 fought successfully already in the first months of the Great Patriotic War.

On the afternoon of June 22, 1941, 17 Pe-2 aircraft of the 5th Bomber Aviation Regiment bombed the Galati Bridge over the Prut River. This fast and quite maneuverable aircraft could operate during the day in conditions of enemy air superiority. So, on October 5, 1941, the crew of St. Lieutenant Gorslikhin took on nine German Bf 109 fighters and shot down three of them.

On January 12, 1942, V.M. Petlyakov died in a plane crash. The Pe-2 plane on which the designer was flying was caught in heavy snow on the way to Moscow, lost orientation and crashed into a hill near Arzamas. The place of chief designer was briefly taken by A.M. Izakson, and then he was replaced by A.I. Putilov.

The front was in dire need of modern bombers.

Since the autumn of 1941, the Pe-2 was already actively used on all fronts, as well as in the naval aviation of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. The formation of new units was carried out at an accelerated pace. For this, the most experienced pilots were attracted, including test pilots from the Air Force Research Institute, from whom a separate regiment of Pe-2 aircraft (410th) was formed. During the counter-offensive near Moscow, Pe-2s already accounted for approximately a quarter of the bombers concentrated for the operation. However, the number of bombers produced remained insufficient. In the 8th Air Army at Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, out of 179 bombers, there were only 14 Pe-2s and one Pe-3, i.e. about 8%.

Pe-2 regiments were often transferred from place to place, using them in the most dangerous areas. At Stalingrad, the 150th regiment of Colonel I.S. Polbin (later general, commander of the air corps) became famous. This regiment performed the most important tasks. Having mastered dive bombing well, the pilots launched powerful strikes against the enemy during the day. For example, near the Morozovsky farm, a large gas storage facility was destroyed. When the Germans organized an “air bridge” to Stalingrad, dive bombers took part in the destruction of German transport aircraft at airfields. On December 30, 1942, six Pe-2s of the 150th regiment burned 20 German three-engine Junkers Ju52/3m aircraft in Tormosin. In the winter of 1942–1943, a dive bomber from the Baltic Fleet Air Force bombed the bridge across Narva, dramatically complicating the supply of German troops near Leningrad (the bridge took a month to restore).

During the battles, the tactics of Soviet dive bombers also changed. At the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, strike groups of 30-70 aircraft were already used instead of the previous “threes” and “nines”. The famous Polbinsk “pinwheel” was born here - a giant inclined wheel of dozens of dive bombers covering each other from the tail and taking turns delivering well-aimed blows. In conditions of street fighting, the Pe-2 operated from low altitudes with extreme precision.

However, there was still a shortage of experienced pilots. Bombs were dropped mainly from level flight; young pilots were poor instrument fliers.

In 1943, V.M. Myasishchev, also a former “enemy of the people”, and later a famous Soviet aircraft designer, creator of heavy strategic bombers, was appointed head of the design bureau. He was faced with the task of modernizing the Pe-2 in relation to new conditions at the front.

Enemy aviation developed rapidly. In the fall of 1941, the first Messerschmitt Bf.109F fighters appeared on the Soviet-German front. The situation required bringing the characteristics of the Pe-2 into line with the capabilities of new enemy aircraft. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the maximum speed of the Pe-2 produced in 1942 even decreased slightly compared to pre-war aircraft. This was also affected by the additional weight due to more powerful weapons and armor, and deterioration in the quality of assembly (the factories were mainly staffed by women and teenagers, who, despite all their efforts, lacked the dexterity of regular workers). Poor quality sealing of aircraft, poor fit of skin sheets, etc. were noted.

Since 1943, Pe-2s have taken first place in the number of vehicles of this type in bomber aviation. In 1944, Pe-2s took part in almost all major offensive operations of the Soviet Army. In February, 9 Pe-2s destroyed the bridge across the Dnieper near Rogachov with direct hits. The Germans, pressed to the shore, were destroyed by Soviet troops. At the beginning of the Korsun-Shevchenko operation, the 202nd Air Division launched powerful attacks on airfields in Uman and Khristinovka. In March 1944, Pe-2s of the 36th regiment destroyed German crossings on the Dniester River. Dive bombers also proved to be very effective in the mountainous conditions of the Carpathians. 548 Pe-2s took part in aviation training before the offensive in Belarus. On June 29, 1944, Pe-2s destroyed the bridge across the Berezina, the only way out of the Belarusian “cauldron.”

Naval aviation widely used the Pe-2 against enemy ships. True, the short range and relatively weak instrumentation of the aircraft hampered this, but in the conditions of the Baltic and Black Seas, these aircraft operated quite successfully - with the participation of dive bombers, the German cruiser Niobe and a number of large transports were sunk.

In 1944, the average bombing accuracy increased by 11% compared to 1943. The already well-developed Pe-2 made a significant contribution here.

We could not do without these bombers at the final stage of the war. They operated throughout Eastern Europe, accompanying the advance of Soviet troops. Pe-2s played a major role in the assault on Konigsberg and the Pillau naval base. A total of 743 Pe-2 and Tu-2 dive bombers took part in the Berlin operation. For example, on April 30, 1945, one of the targets of the Pe-2 was the Gestapo building in Berlin. Apparently, the last combat flight of the Pe-2 in Europe took place on May 7, 1945. Soviet pilots destroyed the runway at the Sirava airfield, from where German planes were planning to fly to Sweden.

Pe-2s also took part in a short campaign in the Far East. In particular, dive bombers of the 34th Bomber Regiment, during attacks on the ports of Racine and Seishin in Korea, sank three transports and two tankers and damaged five more transports.

Production of the Pe-2 ceased in the winter of 1945-1946.

The Pe-2, the main aircraft of Soviet bomber aviation, played an outstanding role in achieving victory in the Great Patriotic War. This aircraft was used as a bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and fighter (it was not used only as a torpedo bomber). Pe-2s fought on all fronts and in naval aviation of all fleets. In the hands of Soviet pilots, the Pe-2 fully revealed its inherent capabilities. Speed, maneuverability, powerful weapons plus strength, reliability and survivability were its hallmarks. The Pe-2 was popular among pilots, who often preferred this aircraft to foreign ones. From the first to the last day of the Great Patriotic War, “Pawn” served faithfully.

Airplane Petlyakov Pe-8 was the only heavy four-engine bomber in the USSR during World War II.

In October 1940, the diesel engine was chosen as the standard power plant. During the bombing of Berlin in August 1941, it turned out that they were also unreliable. It was decided to stop using diesel engines. By that time, the designation TB-7 had been changed to Pe-8, and by the end of serial production in October 1941, a total of 79 of these aircraft had been built; by the end of 1942, approximately 48 of the total number of aircraft were equipped with ASh-82FN engines. One aircraft with AM-35A engines made a magnificent flight with intermediate stops from Moscow to Washington and back from May 19 to June 13, 1942. The surviving aircraft were intensively used in 1942-43. for close-in support, and from February 1943 to deliver 5,000 kg bombs for precision attack on special targets. After the war, in 1952, two Pe-8s played a key role in the founding of the Arctic station, making non-stop flights with a range of 5,000 km (3,107 miles).

Making an airplane Tu-2 (front-line bomber) began at the end of 1939 by a design team led by A.N. Tupolev. In January 1941, an experimental aircraft, designated "103", entered testing. In May of the same year, tests began on its improved version "103U", which was distinguished by stronger defensive weapons, a modified arrangement of the crew, which consisted of a pilot, a navigator (could, if necessary, be a gunner), a gunner-radio operator and a gunner. The aircraft was equipped with AM-37 high-altitude engines. During testing, the "103" and "103U" aircraft showed outstanding flight qualities. In terms of speed at medium and high altitudes, flight range, bomb load and the power of defensive weapons, they were significantly superior to the Pe-2. At altitudes of more than 6 km, they flew faster than almost all production fighters, both Soviet and German, second only to the domestic MiG-3 fighter.

In July 1941, it was decided to launch the "103U" into series. However, in the conditions of the outbreak of war and the large-scale evacuation of aviation enterprises, it was not possible to organize the production of AM-37 engines. Therefore, the designers had to remake the plane for other engines. They were the M-82 by A.D. Shvedkov, which had just begun to be mass-produced. Aircraft of this type have been used on the front since 1944. Production of this type of bomber continued for several years after the war, until they were replaced by jet bombers. A total of 2,547 aircraft were built.

Picked up from a front-line airfield, 18 red-star Yak-3 fighters met 30 enemy fighters over the battlefield on a July day in 1944. In a fast-paced, fierce battle, the Soviet pilots won a complete victory. They shot down 15 Nazi planes and lost only one. The battle once again confirmed the high skill of our pilots and the excellent qualities of the new Soviet fighter.

Airplane Yak-3 created a team headed by A.S. Yakovlev in 1943, developing the Yak-1M fighter, which had already proven itself in battle. The Yak-3 differed from its predecessor by a smaller wing (its area was 14.85 square meters instead of 17.15) with the same fuselage dimensions and a number of aerodynamic and design improvements. It was one of the lightest fighters in the world in the first half of the forties

Taking into account the experience of combat use of the Yak-7 fighter, the comments and suggestions of the pilots, A.S. Yakovlev made a number of significant changes to the vehicle.

Essentially, it was a new aircraft, although during its construction the factories needed to make very minor changes to production technology and equipment. Therefore, they were able to quickly master the modernized version of the fighter, called the Yak-9. Since 1943, the Yak-9 has essentially become the main air combat aircraft. It was the most popular type of front-line fighter aircraft in our Air Force during the Great Patriotic War. In speed, maneuverability, flight range and armament, the Yak-9 surpassed all serial fighters of Nazi Germany. At combat altitudes (2300-4300 m), the fighter developed speeds of 570 and 600 km/h, respectively. To gain 5 thousand m, 5 minutes were enough for him. The maximum ceiling reached 11 km, which made it possible to use the Yak-9 in the country’s air defense system to intercept and destroy high-altitude enemy aircraft.

During the war, the design bureau created several modifications of the Yak-9. They differed from the main type mainly in their weapons and fuel supply.

The team of the design bureau, headed by S.A. Lavochkin, in December 1941 completed the modification of the LaGG-Z fighter, which was being mass-produced, for the ASh-82 radial engine. The alterations were relatively minor; the dimensions and design of the aircraft were preserved, but due to the larger midsection of the new engine, a second, non-functional skin was added to the sides of the fuselage.

Already in September 1942, fighter regiments equipped with vehicles La-5 , participated in the battle of Stalingrad and achieved major successes. The battles showed that the new Soviet fighter had serious advantages over fascist aircraft of the same class.

The efficiency of completing a large volume of development work during the testing of the La-5 was largely determined by the close interaction of S.A. Lavochkin’s design bureau with the Air Force Research Institute, LII, CIAM and A.D. Shvetsov’s design bureau. Thanks to this, it was possible to quickly resolve many issues related mainly to the layout of the power plant, and bring the La-5 to production before another fighter appeared on the assembly line instead of the LaGG.

Production of the La-5 quickly increased, and already in the fall of 1942, the first aviation regiments armed with this fighter appeared near Stalingrad. It must be said that the La-5 was not the only option for converting the LaGG-Z to the M-82 engine. Back in the summer of 1941. a similar modification was carried out in Moscow under the leadership of M.I. Gudkov (the plane was called Gu-82). This aircraft received a good review from the Air Force Research Institute. The subsequent evacuation and, apparently, underestimation at that moment of the importance of such work greatly delayed the testing and development of this fighter.

As for the La-5, it quickly gained recognition. High horizontal flight speeds, good rate of climb and acceleration, combined with better vertical maneuverability than LaGG-Z, determined a sharp qualitative leap in the transition from LaGG-Z to La-5. The air-cooled motor had greater survivability than the liquid-cooled motor, and at the same time was a kind of protection for the pilot from fire from the front hemisphere. Using this property, the pilots flying the La-5 boldly launched frontal attacks, imposing advantageous battle tactics on the enemy.

But all the advantages of the La-5 at the front did not immediately appear. At first, due to a number of “childhood diseases,” his fighting qualities were significantly reduced. Of course, during the transition to serial production, the flight performance of the La-5, compared to its prototype, deteriorated somewhat, but not as significantly as that of other Soviet fighters. Thus, the speed at low and medium altitudes decreased by only 7-11 km/h, the rate of climb remained almost unchanged, and the turn time, thanks to the installation of slats, even decreased from 25 to 22.6 s. However, it was difficult to realize the fighter's maximum capabilities in combat. Overheating of the engine limited the time for using maximum power, the oil system needed improvement, the air temperature in the cockpit reached 55-60°C, the emergency release system of the canopy and the quality of the plexiglass needed improvement. In 1943, 5047 La-5 fighters were produced.

From the first days of their appearance at front-line airfields, La-5 fighters proved themselves to be excellent in battles with the Nazi invaders. The pilots liked the maneuverability of the La-5, its ease of control, powerful weapons, tenacious star-shaped engine, which provided good protection from fire from the front, and fairly high speed. Our pilots won many brilliant victories using these machines.

The design team of S.A. Lavochkin persistently improved the machine, which had justified itself. At the end of 1943, its modification, La-7, was released.

The La-7, which entered mass production in the last year of the war, became one of the main front-line fighters. On this plane, I.N. Kozhedub, awarded three gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, won most of his victories.

Tanks and self-propelled guns

Tank T-60 was created in 1941 as a result of a deep modernization of the T-40 tank, carried out under the leadership of N.A. Astrov in the conditions of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. Compared to the T-40, it had enhanced armor protection and more powerful weapons - a 20-mm cannon instead of a heavy machine gun. This production tank was the first to use a device for heating engine coolant in winter. Modernization achieved an improvement in the main combat characteristics while simplifying the design of the tank, but at the same time the combat capabilities were narrowed - buoyancy was eliminated. Like the T-40 tank, the T-60 chassis uses four rubberized road wheels on board, three support rollers, a front drive wheel and a rear idler wheel. Individual torsion bar suspension.

However, in conditions of a shortage of tanks, the main advantage of the T-60 was its ease of production in automobile factories with the widespread use of automotive components and mechanisms. The tank was produced simultaneously at four factories. In just a short period of time, 6045 T-60 tanks were produced, which played an important role in the battles of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War.

Self-propelled gun ISU-152

The heavy self-propelled artillery unit ISU-122 was armed with a 122-mm field gun of the 1937 model, adapted for installation in the control unit. And when the design team headed by F. F. Petrov created a 122-mm tank gun of the 1944 model, it was also installed on the ISU-122. The vehicle with the new gun was called ISU-122S. The 1937 model gun had a piston breech, while the 1944 model gun had a semi-automatic wedge breech. In addition, it was equipped with a muzzle brake. All this made it possible to increase the rate of fire from 2.2 to 3 rounds per minute. The armor-piercing projectile of both systems weighed 25 kg and had an initial speed of 800 m/s. The ammunition consisted of separately loaded rounds.

The vertical aiming angles of the guns were slightly different: on the ISU-122 they ranged from -4° to +15°, and on the ISU-122S - from -2° to +20°. The horizontal aiming angles were the same - 11° in each direction. The combat weight of the ISU-122 was 46 tons.

The ISU-152 self-propelled gun based on the IS-2 tank was no different from the ISU-122 except for the artillery system. It was equipped with a 152-mm howitzer gun, model 1937, with a piston bolt, the rate of fire of which was 2.3 rounds per minute.

The crew of the ISU-122, like the ISU-152, consisted of a commander, gunner, loader, locker and driver. The hexagonal conning tower is fully protected by armor. The gun mounted on the machine (on the ISU-122S with a mask) is shifted to the starboard side. In the fighting compartment, in addition to weapons and ammunition, there were fuel and oil tanks. The driver sat in front to the left of the gun and had his own observation devices. The commander's cupola was missing. The commander conducted observation through a periscope in the roof of the wheelhouse.

Self-propelled gun ISU-122

As soon as the IS-1 heavy tank came into service at the end of 1943, they decided to create a fully armored self-propelled gun on its basis. At first, this encountered some difficulties: after all, the IS-1 had a body noticeably narrower than the KV-1s, on the basis of which the SU-152 heavy self-propelled gun with a 152-mm howitzer gun was created in 1943. However, the efforts of the designers of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant and artillerymen under the leadership of F. F. Petrov were crowned with success. By the end of 1943, 35 self-propelled guns armed with a 152-mm howitzer gun had been produced.

The ISU-152 was distinguished by powerful armor protection and artillery system, and good driving performance. The presence of panoramic and telescopic sights made it possible to fire both direct fire and from closed firing positions. The simplicity of its design and operation contributed to its rapid mastery by crews, which was of utmost importance in wartime. This vehicle, armed with a 152 mm howitzer cannon, was mass-produced from the end of 1943. Its mass was 46 tons, its armor thickness was 90 mm, and its crew consisted of 5 people. Diesel with a capacity of 520 hp. With. accelerated the car to 40 km/h.

Subsequently, on the basis of the ISU-152 self-propelled gun chassis, several more heavy self-propelled guns were developed, on which high-power guns of 122 and 130 mm calibers were installed. The weight of the ISU-130 was 47 tons, the thickness of the armor was 90 mm, the crew consisted of 4 people. Diesel engine with a power of 520 hp. With. provided a speed of 40 km/h. The 130-mm cannon mounted on the self-propelled gun was a modification of the naval gun, adapted for installation in the conning tower of the vehicle. To reduce gas contamination in the fighting compartment, it was equipped with a system for purging the barrel with compressed air from five cylinders. The ISU-130 passed front-line tests, but was not accepted for service.

The heavy self-propelled artillery unit ISU-122 was armed with a 122-mm field gun

Heavy Soviet self-propelled artillery systems played a huge role in achieving victory. They performed well during street battles in Berlin and during the assault on the powerful fortifications of Koenigsberg.

In the 50s, ISU self-propelled guns, which remained in service with the Soviet Army, underwent modernization, like the IS-2 tanks. In total, Soviet industry produced more than 2,400 ISU-122 and more than 2,800 ISU-152.

In 1945, based on the IS-3 tank, another model of a heavy self-propelled gun was designed, which received the same name as the vehicle developed in 1943 - ISU-152. The peculiarity of this vehicle was that the general frontal sheet was given a rational angle of inclination, and the lower side sheets of the hull had reverse angles of inclination. The combat and control departments were combined. The mechanic was located in the conning tower and monitored through a periscope viewing device. A target designation system specially created for this vehicle connected the commander with the gunner and driver. However, despite many advantages, the large angle of inclination of the walls of the cabin, the significant amount of rollback of the howitzer gun barrel and the combination of compartments significantly complicated the work of the crew. Therefore, the ISU-152 model of 1945 was not accepted for service. The car was made in a single copy.

Self-propelled gun SU-152

In the fall of 1942, at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant, designers led by L. S. Troyanov created, on the basis of the KB-1s heavy tank, the SU-152 (KV-14) self-propelled gun, designed for firing at troop concentrations, long-term strongholds and armored targets.

Regarding its creation, there is a modest mention in the “History of the Great Patriotic War”: “On the instructions of the State Defense Committee, at the Kirov plant in Chelyabinsk, within 25 days (a unique period in the history of world tank building!), a prototype of the SU- self-propelled artillery mount was designed and manufactured. 152, which went into production in February 1943.”

The SU-152 self-propelled guns received their baptism of fire at the Kursk Bulge. Their appearance on the battlefield was a complete surprise for the German tank crews. These self-propelled guns performed well in single combat with the German Tigers, Panthers and Elephants. Their armor-piercing shells pierced the armor of enemy vehicles and tore off their turrets. For this, front-line soldiers lovingly called heavy self-propelled guns “St. John’s worts.” The experience gained in the design of the first Soviet heavy self-propelled guns was subsequently used to create similar fire weapons based on heavy IS tanks.

Self-propelled gun SU-122

On October 19, 1942, the State Defense Committee decided to create self-propelled artillery units - light ones with 37 mm and 76 mm guns and medium ones with a 122 mm gun.

Production of the SU-122 continued at Uralmashzavod from December 1942 to August 1943. During this time, the plant produced 638 self-propelled units of this type.

In parallel with the development of drawings for a serial self-propelled gun, work began on its radical improvement back in January 1943.

As for the serial SU-122, the formation of self-propelled artillery regiments with the same type of vehicles began in April 1943. This regiment had 16 SU-122 self-propelled guns, which continued to be used to accompany infantry and tanks until the beginning of 1944. However, this use of it was not effective enough due to the low initial velocity of the projectile - 515 m/s - and, consequently, the low flatness of its trajectory. The new self-propelled artillery unit SU-85, which entered the troops in much larger quantities since August 1943, quickly supplanted its predecessor on the battlefield.

Self-propelled gun SU-85

Experience with the use of SU-122 installations has shown that their rate of fire is too low to perform escort and fire support tasks for tanks, infantry and cavalry. The troops needed an installation armed with a faster rate of fire.

SU-85 self-propelled guns entered service with individual self-propelled artillery regiments (16 units in each regiment) and were widely used in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.

The IS-1 heavy tank was developed at the design bureau of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant in the second half of 1942 under the leadership of Zh. Ya. Kotin. The KV-13 was taken as the basis, on the basis of which two experimental versions of the new heavy vehicle IS-1 and IS-2 were manufactured. The difference between them was in their armament: the IS-1 had a 76-mm cannon, and the IS-2 had a 122-mm howitzer gun. The first prototypes of IS tanks had a five-wheel chassis, made similar to the chassis of the KV-13 tank, from which the hull outlines and general layout of the vehicle were also borrowed.

Almost simultaneously with the IS-1, production of the more powerfully armed model IS-2 (object 240) began. The newly created 122-mm D-25T tank gun (originally with a piston bolt) with an initial projectile speed of 781 m/s made it possible to hit all main types of German tanks at all combat distances. On a trial basis, an 85-mm high-power cannon with an initial projectile speed of 1050 m/s and a 100-mm S-34 cannon were installed on the IS tank.

Under the brand name IS-2, the tank entered mass production in October 1943, which was launched at the beginning of 1944.

In 1944, the IS-2 was modernized.

IS-2 tanks entered service with separate heavy tank regiments, which were given the name “Guards” during their formation. At the beginning of 1945, several separate guards heavy tank brigades were formed, including three heavy tank regiments each. The IS-2 was first used in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation, and then participated in all operations of the final period of the Great Patriotic War.

The last tank created during the Great Patriotic War was the heavy IS-3 (object 703). It was developed in 1944–1945 at pilot plant No. 100 in Chelyabinsk under the leadership of lead designer M. F. Balzhi. Serial production began in May 1945, during which 1,170 combat vehicles were produced.

IS-3 tanks, contrary to popular belief, were not used in combat operations of the Second World War, but on September 7, 1945, one tank regiment, which was armed with these combat vehicles, took part in the parade of Red Army units in Berlin in honor of the victory over Japan, and the IS-3 made a strong impression on the Western allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition.

Tank KV

In accordance with the resolution of the USSR Defense Committee, at the end of 1938, the Kirov plant in Leningrad began designing a new heavy tank with projectile-proof armor, called SMK (“Sergei Mironovich Kirov”). The development of another heavy tank, called the T-100, was carried out by the Leningrad Experimental Engineering Plant named after Kirov (No. 185).

In August 1939, the SMK and KB tanks were manufactured in metal. At the end of September, both tanks took part in the display of new models of armored vehicles at the NIBT Test Site in Kubinka, near Moscow, and on December 19, the KB heavy tank was adopted by the Red Army.

The KB tank showed its best side, but it quickly became clear that the 76-mm L-11 gun was weak for fighting pillboxes. Therefore, in a short time, they developed and built the KV-2 tank with an enlarged turret, armed with a 152-mm M-10 howitzer. By March 5, 1940, three KV-2s were sent to the front.

In fact, serial production of the KV-1 and KV-2 tanks began in February 1940 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant.

However, under the blockade it was impossible to continue producing tanks. Therefore, from July to December, the evacuation of the Kirov plant from Leningrad to Chelyabinsk was carried out in several stages. On October 6, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was renamed the Kirov Plant of the People's Commissariat of Tanks and Industry - ChKZ, which became the only manufacturing plant of heavy tanks until the end of the Great Patriotic War.

A tank of the same class as the KB - the Tiger - appeared with the Germans only at the end of 1942. And then fate played a second cruel joke on KB: it instantly became outdated. KB was simply powerless against the Tiger with its “long arm” - an 88-mm cannon with a barrel length of 56 calibers. "Tiger" could hit KB at distances prohibitive for the latter.

The appearance of the KV-85 allowed the situation to be somewhat smoothed out. But these vehicles were developed late, only a few were produced, and they were unable to make a significant contribution to the fight against German heavy tanks. A more serious opponent for the Tigers could be the KV-122 - a serial KV-85, experimentally armed with a 122-mm D-25T cannon. But at this time, the first tanks of the IS series had already begun to leave the ChKZ workshops. These vehicles, which at first glance continued the KB line, were completely new tanks, which in their combat qualities far surpassed the enemy’s heavy tanks.

During the period from 1940 to 1943, the Leningrad Kirov and Chelyabinsk Kirov plants produced 4,775 KB tanks of all modifications. They were in service with tank brigades of a mixed organization, and then were consolidated into separate breakthrough tank regiments. KB heavy tanks took part in the fighting of the Great Patriotic War until its final stage.

Tank T-34

The first prototype of the T-34 was manufactured by Plant No. 183 in January 1940, the second in February. In the same month, factory tests began, which were interrupted on March 12, when both cars left for Moscow. On March 17, in the Kremlin, on Ivanovskaya Square, tanks were demonstrated to J.V. Stalin. After the show, the cars went further - along the route Minsk - Kyiv - Kharkov.

The first three production vehicles in November - December 1940 were subjected to intensive testing by shooting and running along the route Kharkov - Kubinka - Smolensk - Kyiv - Kharkov. The tests were carried out by officers.

It should be noted that each manufacturer made some changes and additions to the tank design in accordance with its technological capabilities, so tanks from different factories had their own characteristic appearance.

Minesweeper tanks and bridge laying tanks were produced in small quantities. A command version of the "thirty-four" was also produced, the distinctive feature of which was the presence of the RSB-1 radio station.

T-34-76 tanks were in service with tank units of the Red Army throughout the Great Patriotic War and took part in almost all combat operations, including the storming of Berlin. In addition to the Red Army, T-34 medium tanks were in service with the Polish Army, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Czechoslovak Corps, which fought against Nazi Germany.

Armored vehicles

Armored car BA-10

In 1938, the Red Army adopted the BA-10 medium armored car, developed a year earlier at the Izhora plant by a group of designers headed by such famous specialists as A. A. Lipgart, O. V. Dybov and V. A. Grachev.

The armored car was made according to the classic layout with a front-mounted engine, front steering wheels and two rear drive axles. The BA-10 crew consisted of 4 people: commander, driver, gunner and machine gunner.

Since 1939, production of the modernized BA-10M model began, which differed from the base vehicle by enhanced armor protection of the frontal projection, improved steering, external location of gas tanks and a new radio station. In small quantities, BA-10zhd railway armored vehicles with a combat weight of 5 were produced for armored train units. 8 t.

The baptism of fire for the BA-10 and BA-10M took place in 1939 during the armed conflict near the Khalkhin Gol River. They made up the bulk of the fleet of armored cars 7, 8 and 9 and motorized armored brigades. Their successful use was facilitated by the steppe terrain. Later, BA 10 armored vehicles took part in the liberation campaign and the Finnish-Soviet war. During the Great Patriotic War, they were used by the troops until 1944, and in some units until the end of the war. They have proven themselves well as a means of reconnaissance and combat security, and when used correctly, they successfully fought against enemy tanks.

In 1940, a number of BA-20 and BA-10 armored vehicles were captured by the Finns and subsequently they were actively used in the Finnish army. 22 BA 20 units were put into service, with some vehicles used as trainers until the early 1950s. There were fewer BA-10 armored cars; the Finns replaced their native 36.7-kilowatt engines with 62.5-kilowatt (85 hp) eight-cylinder V-shaped Ford V8 engines. The Finns sold three cars to the Swedes, who tested them for further use as control machines. In the Swedish army, the BA-10 was designated m/31F.

The Germans also used captured BA-10s, captured and restored vehicles, which entered service with some infantry units of the police forces and training units.

Armored car BA-64

In the pre-war period, the Gorky Automobile Plant was the main supplier of chassis for light machine-gun armored vehicles FAI, FAI-M, BA-20 and their modifications. The main disadvantage of these vehicles was their low cross-country ability, and their armored hulls did not have high protective properties.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found employees of the Gorky Automobile Plant mastering the production of the GAZ-64, a light all-terrain army vehicle developed under the leadership of lead designer V.A. Grachev in early 1941.

Taking into account the experience gained in the 30s in creating two-axle and three-axle chassis for armored vehicles, the Gorky residents decided to produce a light machine-gun armored car based on the GAZ-64 for the active army.

The plant management supported Grachev's initiative and design work began on July 17, 1941. The layout of the vehicle was led by engineer F.A. Lependin, and G.M. Wasserman was appointed lead designer. The designed armored vehicle, both in appearance and in combat capabilities, was sharply different from previous vehicles of this class. The designers had to take into account new tactical and technical requirements for armored cars, which arose based on an analysis of combat experience. The vehicles were to be used for reconnaissance, for command and control of troops during battle, in the fight against airborne troops, for escorting convoys, and also for air defense of tanks on the march. Also, the factory workers’ acquaintance with the German captured armored car Sd Kfz 221, which was delivered to GAZ on September 7 for detailed study, also had a certain influence on the design of the new vehicle.

Despite the fact that designers Yu.N. Sorochkin, B.T. Komarevsky, V.F. Samoilov and others had to design an armored hull for the first time, they, taking into account the experience of their predecessors, successfully completed the task. All armor plates (of different thicknesses) were located at an angle, which significantly increased the resistance of the welded hull when hit by armor-piercing bullets and large fragments.

The BA-64 was the first domestic armored vehicle with all drive wheels, thanks to which it successfully overcame slopes of over 30°, fords up to 0.9 m deep and slippery slopes with a slope of up to 18° on hard ground.

The car not only walked well on arable land and sand, but also moved off confidently from such soils after stopping. A characteristic feature of the hull - large overhangs in front and behind - made it easier for the BA-64 to overcome ditches, holes and craters. The survivability of the armored car was increased by bullet-resistant GK tires (sponge tube).

Production of the BA-64B, which began in the spring of 1943, continued until 1946. In 1944, despite its main drawback - low firepower - BA-64 armored vehicles were successfully used during landing operations, reconnaissance raids, and for escorting and combat protection of infantry units.

Other military equipment

BM-8-36 rocket artillery combat vehicle

In parallel with the creation and launch into mass production of BM-13 combat vehicles and M-13 projectiles, work was carried out to adapt the RS-82 air-to-air missiles for use in field rocket artillery. This work was completed on August 2, 1941, with the adoption of the 82-mm M-8 rocket into service. During the war, the M-8 projectile was modified several times in order to increase its target power and flight range.

In order to reduce the time needed to create the installation, the designers, along with the creation of new components, widely used the components of the BM-13 installation that had already been mastered in production, for example, the base, and as guides they used “flute” type guides produced by order of the Air Force.

Taking into account the experience in the production of BM-13 installations, when creating a new installation, special attention was paid to ensuring the parallelism of the guides and the strength of their fastening in order to reduce the dispersion of projectiles when firing.

The new unit was adopted by the Red Army on August 6, 1941 under the designation BM-8-36 and put into mass production at the Moscow Kompressor and Krasnaya Presnya plants. By the beginning of September 1941, 72 installations of this type were manufactured, and by November - 270 installations.

The BM-13-36 installation has proven itself to be a reliable weapon with a very powerful salvo. Its significant drawback was the unsatisfactory off-road capability of the ZIS-6 chassis. During the war, this deficiency was largely eliminated due to.

BM-8-24 rocket artillery combat vehicle

The chassis of the three-axle ZIS-6 truck used to create the BM-8-36 combat vehicle, although it had high maneuverability on roads of various profiles and surfaces, was unsuitable for driving on swampy rough terrain and on dirt roads, especially during muddy times in the fall and spring. In addition, when conducting combat operations in a rapidly changing environment, combat vehicles often found themselves under enemy artillery and machine gun fire, as a result of which the crews suffered significant losses.

For these reasons, already in August 1941, the design bureau of the Kompressor plant considered the issue of creating a BM-8 launcher on the chassis of the T-40 light tank. The development of this installation was carried out quickly and was successfully completed by October 13, 1941. The new installation, called BM-8-24, had an artillery unit equipped with aiming mechanisms and sighting devices with guides for launching 24 M-8 rockets.

The artillery unit was mounted on the roof of the T-40 tank. All necessary electrical wiring and fire control devices were located in the fighting compartment of the tank. After the T-40 tank was replaced in production by the T-60 tank, its chassis was suitably modernized for use as the chassis of the BM-8-24 installation.

The BM-8-24 launcher was mass-produced at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War and was distinguished by its high maneuverability, increased horizontal firing angle and relatively low height, which made it easier to camouflage on the ground.

M-30 launcher

On July 5, 1942, on the Western Front, near the city of Belyov, the 68th and 69th Guards mortar regiments of four divisions, armed with new launchers for launching heavy high-explosive missiles M-30, fired salvos for the first time at enemy fortified points.

The M-30 projectile was intended to suppress and destroy hidden fire weapons and manpower, as well as destroy enemy field defenses.

The launcher was an inclined frame made of steel angle profiles, on which four cappings with M-30 missiles were placed in one row. Firing was carried out by applying an electric current pulse to the projectile through wires from a conventional sapper demolition machine. The machine served a group of launchers through a special “crab” distribution device.

Already when creating the M-30 projectile, it was clear to the designers that its flight range did not fully meet the needs of the troops. Therefore, at the end of 1942, the new heavy high-explosive missile M-31 was adopted by the Red Army. This projectile, weighing 20 kg more than the M-30 projectile, surpassed its predecessor in flight range (4325 m instead of 2800 m).

M-31 shells were also launched from the M-30 launcher, but this installation was also modernized in the spring of 1943, as a result of which double-row stacking of shells on the frame became possible. Thus, 8 projectiles were launched from each such launcher instead of 4.

M-30 launchers were in service with the guards mortar divisions that were formed from mid-1942, each of which had three brigades of four divisions. The brigade's salvo amounted to 1,152 shells weighing over 106 tons. In total, the division had 864 launchers, which could simultaneously fire 3456 M-30 shells - 320 tons of metal and fire!

BM-13N rocket artillery combat vehicle

Due to the fact that the production of BM-13 launchers was urgently launched at several enterprises with different production capabilities, more or less significant changes were made to the design of the installation, due to the production technology adopted at these enterprises.

In addition, at the stage of mass production of the launcher, the designers made a number of changes to its design. The most important of them was the replacement of the “spark” type guide used on the first samples with a more advanced “beam” type guide.

Thus, the troops used up to ten varieties of the BM-13 launcher, which made it difficult to train personnel of guards mortar units and had a negative impact on the operation of military equipment.

For these reasons, a unified (normalized) launcher BM-13N was developed and put into service in April 1943. When creating the installation, the designers critically analyzed all the parts and assemblies, trying to improve the manufacturability of their production and reduce the cost. All installation nodes received independent indexes and became, essentially, universal. A new unit was introduced into the design of the installation - a subframe. The subframe made it possible to assemble the entire artillery part of the launcher (as a single unit) on it, and not on the chassis, as was previously the case. Once assembled, the artillery unit was relatively easily mounted on the chassis of any make of car with minimal modification to the latter. The created design made it possible to reduce the labor intensity, manufacturing time and cost of launchers. The weight of the artillery unit was reduced by 250 kg, the cost by more than 20 percent.

The combat and operational qualities of the installation were significantly improved. Due to the introduction of armor for the gas tank, gas pipeline, side and rear walls of the driver's cabin, the survivability of the launchers in combat was increased. The firing sector was increased, and the stability of the launcher in the stowed position was increased. Improved lifting and turning mechanisms made it possible to increase the speed of pointing the installation at the target.

The development of the BM-13 serial combat vehicle was finally completed with the creation of this launcher. In this form she fought until the end of the war.

BM-13 rocket artillery combat vehicle

After the adoption of 82-mm air-to-air missiles RS-82 (1937) and 132-mm air-to-ground missiles RS-132 (1938), the Main Artillery Directorate set the developer shells - the Jet Research Institute - the task of creating a multiple launch rocket field system based on RS-132 shells. The updated tactical and technical specifications were issued to the institute in June 1938.

In accordance with this task, by the summer of 1939 the institute had developed a new 132-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile, which later received the official name M-13. Compared to the aircraft RS-132, this projectile has a longer flight range (8470 m) and a significantly more powerful warhead (4.9 kg). The increase in range was achieved by increasing the amount of rocket fuel. To accommodate a larger missile charge and explosive, it was necessary to lengthen the missile and head parts of the rocket by 48 cm. The M-13 projectile has slightly better aerodynamic characteristics than the RS-132, which made it possible to obtain higher accuracy.

A self-propelled multi-charge launcher was also developed for the projectile. Field tests of the installation carried out between December 1938 and February 1939 showed that it did not fully meet the requirements. Its design made it possible to launch rockets only perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and jets of hot gases damaged the elements of the installation and the vehicle. Safety was also not ensured when controlling fire from the cab of vehicles. The launcher swayed strongly, which worsened the accuracy of the rockets.

Loading the launcher from the front of the rails was inconvenient and time-consuming. The ZIS-5 vehicle had limited cross-country ability.

During the tests, an important feature of salvo firing of rocket projectiles was revealed: when several projectiles explode simultaneously in a limited area from different directions, shock waves act, the addition of which, that is, counter strikes, significantly increases the destructive effect of each projectile.

Based on the results of field tests completed in November 1939, the institute was ordered five launchers for military testing. Another installation was ordered by the Ordnance Department of the Navy for use in the coastal defense system.

Thus, in the conditions of the Second World War that had already begun, the leadership of the Main Artillery Directorate was clearly in no hurry to adopt rocket artillery: the institute, which did not have sufficient production capacity, produced the ordered six launchers only by the fall of 1940, and only in January 1941.

The situation changed dramatically after on June 21, 1941, at a review of Red Army weapons, the installation was presented to the leaders of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Soviet government. On the same day, literally a few hours before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a decision was made to urgently launch mass production of M-13 missiles and a launcher, officially named BM-13 (combat vehicle 13).

The production of BM-13 units was organized at the Voronezh plant named after. Comintern and at the Moscow Kompressor plant. One of the main enterprises for the production of rockets was the Moscow plant named after. Vladimir Ilyich.

The first battery of field rocket artillery, sent to the front on the night of July 1–2, 1941, under the command of Captain I.A. Flerov, was armed with seven installations manufactured by the Jet Research Institute. With its first salvo at 15:15 on July 14, 1941, the battery wiped out the Orsha railway junction along with the German trains with troops and military equipment located there.

The exceptional efficiency of the battery of captain I.A. Flerov and seven more such batteries formed after her contributed to the rapid increase in the rate of production of jet weapons. By the fall of 1941, 45 three-battery divisions with four launchers per battery were operating at the fronts. For their armament in 1941, 593 BM-13 installations were manufactured. At the same time, enemy manpower and military equipment were destroyed over an area of ​​over 100 hectares. Officially, the regiments were called Guards Mortar Regiments of the Reserve Artillery of the Supreme High Command.

Literature

1.Military equipment, equipment and weapons of 1941-1945