Fire shower. The most formidable multi-barreled weapon in Russia and the USA. The most powerful machine guns in the world

Revolving Battery Gun

The beginning of the quest to produce the fastest-firing weapons in the world can be considered the creation of a rapid-firing machine gun by Dr. Gatling in 1862. It was then that Richard Gatling patented the Revolving Battery Gun - multi-barreled machine gun with rotating barrels. The rate of fire of this gun ranged from 400 (in early models with manual drive) to 3000 rounds per minute (in later models with electric drive). Almost 150 years have passed since then, and the principles used in this machine gun remain unchanged.

The principle of a rotary machine gun, which was used in the Gatling machine gun, was also in demand in the 20th century.

XM 134, XM 214 and our answer

Some of the popular machine guns were the six-barreled XM 134 and XM 214, with calibers of 7.62 and 5.54 mm. Their rate of fire reached 10,000 rounds per minute. They had 30 kg of ammunition, which the machine gun could “spit out” in a minute of shooting, power was supplied to them via a cable, and the recoil of 110 kg did not allow them to be fired hand-held. Another similar “toy” was the 20 mm Vulcan aircraft gun, which weighed 136 kg and fired 6,000 rounds per minute.

But our analogue to imported models, the GSh-6-23M, with its rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, turned out to be twice lighter and more reliable, since it is not an electric motor, but the energy of powder gases that is used to rotate the barrels. Its recoil recoil is 5 tons and its recoil is 3.5 tons. This gun is designed to destroy ground and air targets, including cruise missiles. Installed on MiG-31, Su-24 aircraft. This particular gun is the fastest-firing gun in the world, although not the fastest-firing weapon overall.

Just a barrage of fire!

The next step in the world of rapid fire was the development of a rifle system with a combat rate of fire exceeding one million rounds per minute. Mike O Dwyer ( Mike O Dwyer) from the Australian company Metal Storm, a 36-barrel installation was invented in the late 1990s, which showed more than a million rounds per minute in test firing. Naturally, a million bullets were not fired, but nevertheless, the rate of fire record was recorded after 540 shots from this installation.

Work principles

Conventional mechanisms and charges cannot work at such a speed, so the installation from Metal Storm used special ammunition, which is a barrel in which bullets are placed sequentially, and between them is a flammable accelerating mixture. To fire a shot, an electronic ignition method is used, which makes it possible to achieve perfect accuracy of the delay between shots.

It is this installation from Metal Storm that is today the fastest-firing weapon in the world.

Svetlana Grushina, Samogo.Net

War may never change, but its tools have changed many times. Ever since humanity moved from spears and arrows to firearms, it never ceases to improve it every year. In this review, we invite you to consider the best representatives of the “weapons family”. We will talk about both large-caliber and light machine guns- new products and classic models, competing in rate of fire, power and lethality.

A single German HK 121 machine gun replaced the famous MG 3. No matter how good the “troika” was, everything ends sooner or later. The Bundeswehr needed a more powerful option to support its army, which was the creation of the weapons Heckler company& Koch. A competent layout, lethal power, a quick-change barrel, the ability to install on military equipment - what else is needed to make a machine gunner happy?

Caliber: 7.62x51 NATO

Weight: 10.8 (with bipod)

Length: 1165 mm

Barrel length: 550 mm

Power: Tape

Rate of fire: 640 - 800 rounds per minute

The Negev machine gun, produced by the Israeli concern Israel Military Industries, has proven itself to be a powerful and mobile support weapon. But its firing range and lethal effect for modern military conflicts it was clearly not enough. That is why the updated Negev NG7 entered service with the Israeli army, which corrected all the shortcomings of its predecessor.

Caliber: 7.62x51 NATO

Weight: 7.6 (with bipod)

Length: 1000 / 820

Barrel length: 508 mm

Power: Tape

Rate of fire: 850 – 1150 rounds per minute

FN MAG can rightfully be called the “Belgian horse” in the class small arms. The gunsmiths from Fabrique Nationale did their best, creating a truly good machine gun. A fairly simple and reliable design, combined with flexibility of use and adequate ammunition, has secured this machine gun a place in the weapons systems of over 50 countries, including Belgium itself, the UK, Australia, Canada, the USA, Sweden and many other countries.

Caliber: 7.62mm NATO

Weight: 11-13 kg with bipod (depending on modification), tripod weight 21 kg

Length: 1260 mm

Barrel length: 545 mm

Feeding: loose metal strip

Rate of fire: 650 - 950 rounds per minute

The single Pecheneg machine gun is intended to destroy enemy personnel and light equipment. It can also be used as an anti-aircraft gun. Thanks to its characteristics, it is rightfully considered one of the best examples single machine guns in the world.

"Pecheneg" is capable of firing about 650 rounds per minute without reducing combat characteristics. This increase in survivability made it possible to abandon the replacement barrel. However, the Pecheneg barrel, as before, remains quick-detachable.

Caliber: 7.62x54mm R

Weight without cartridges: 8.2 kg on bipod; 12.7 kg on a tripod machine

Length: 1155 mm

Barrel length: 658 mm

Power: 100 or 200 round belt

Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute

Most domestic and foreign experts agree that heavy machine gun"CORD" ( Large Caliber Weapon Dyagterevtsev) is the best of its kind.

In the armed forces, the KORD is called a “sniper machine gun” for its amazing accuracy and mobility, which is unusual for this type of weapon. With a caliber of 12.7 mm, its weight is only 25.5 kilograms (body). Also, “KORD” is highly valued for its ability to fire both from a bipod and from the hands at a speed of up to 750 rounds per minute.

Caliber: 12.7x108 mm

Weight: 25.5 kg (machine gun body) + 16 kg (6T7 machine) or 7 kg (6T19 machine)

Length: 1980 mm

Barrel length: no data

Power: 50 rounds belt

Rate of fire: 650-750 rounds/min

In 1920, while working as a mechanic at one of the factories, Shpitalny set out to make a high-speed machine gun. But at that time he did not have the necessary experience and lacked knowledge. After graduating from the institute, the young engineer began to implement his plan and soon presented a project for such a machine gun, which attracted attention with its exceptional courage in solving a number of complex design issues automatic weapons. When the project was ready, experienced weapons designer I. A. Komaritsky was seconded to help Shpitalny in finalizing the sample and speeding its production.

1930 The first sample of a high-speed aircraft machine gun was manufactured, created by Shpitalny with the participation of Komaritsky. It was the first in the world aviation system, which immediately put the USSR in first place in this area of ​​​​weapons.

The system used the principle of automation based on the removal of part of the powder gases. Gases passing through a closed chamber exert pressure on a piston connected directly to the rod, which sets the system in motion. This principle of automation was later used to create a number of successful designs.

The barrel bore is locked by tilting the bolt downwards. Trigger mechanism operates from a return spring. The trigger mechanism ensures only continuous fire. It is equipped with a flag-type fuse that locks the sear. The cartridges are fed from a metal link detachable tape. The mechanism for feeding the tape to the drum-type receiver is driven by the bolt frame. Extraction of the spent cartridge case is carried out by the bolt legs, and its reflection is carried out by a movable reflector connected to the bolt frame rod. The machine gun is equipped with spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt.

The high rate of fire in the ShKAS machine gun is achieved due to the short stroke of the moving parts of the automation and the combination of a number of reloading operations. To avoid dismantling the cartridge, its removal from the belt link is carried out in ten cycles of automatic operation, which is achieved through a screw groove on the gear casing. To soften the impacts of moving parts on the sear, during landing and after the end of the line, a buffer spring is installed.

For the ShKAS machine gun, under the leadership of N. M. Elizarov, cartridges were developed that had tracer, incendiary and combined action armor-piercing incendiary bullets capable of igniting gasoline tanks protected by armor. In these cartridges, to prevent the cartridge from being dismantled (dismantled) at a huge rate of fire of 30-50 rounds per second, the walls of the cartridge case are thickened, the fastening of the primer in the socket is strengthened, and a double ring crimp of the bullet is introduced in the barrel of the cartridge case. At the bottom of the cartridge case for ShKAS machine guns, in addition to the standard designations, the letter “Ш” was placed. The capsule is painted red. Otherwise, the coloring is standard for the corresponding types of bullets. Cartridges intended for infantry weapons could not be used in ShKAS machine guns. The cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun were the world's first aviation cartridges.

Despite all the advantages of the ShKAS system machine guns, their first releases, manufactured according to prototype drawings, had an insufficient service life - about 1500-2000 rounds.
* In March 1933 soviet government, giving an order for the first large batch of machine guns, suggested that the designers increase their survivability, bringing it to 5000 rounds.
* In April 1933, Shpitalny and Komaritsky presented a model that differed from its predecessor not only in better survivability, but also in some changes that had a positive effect on the simplicity of the machine gun design. In the new model, its main part - the box - was significantly changed; five new parts were introduced instead of thirteen abolished. These alterations entailed significant amount changes in dimensions and tolerances of mating parts
* In July 1933, production of machine guns began according to new drawings.
* On December 24, 1934, testing of the ShKAS machine gun with a twisted three-core return spring was completed. The previous recoil spring often failed, unable to withstand more than 2500-2800 rounds. We tried different types of steel, changed the diameter of the springs and the thickness of the wire, but nothing helped, and after a certain number of shots, the shooting had to be stopped to replace the spring. The original solution was found by Shpitalny, who proposed making the spring multi-core, twisted. Tests have shown that the survivability of a twisted three-core recoil spring is equal to 14,000 rounds.
* In 1935-1936 K.N. Rudnev, V.N. Polyubin and A.A. Tronenkov developed a mechanical pairing of ShKAS machine guns, in which the total rate of fire of the two machine guns was increased to 6000-6400 rounds per minute.
* On May 15, 1937, Shpitalny and Komaritsky completed the production of a prototype of the UltraShKAS machine gun. By using the principle of a moving barrel when moving forward, they achieved a rate of fire of 2800-3000 rounds per minute.

Installation options
The designers were tasked with adapting the ShKAS system machine gun for use at various points on the aircraft as a turret, synchronized and wing-mounted machine gun.

Turret and Wing variants
They were created at the beginning of 1934. The installation for the turret machine gun was developed by N.F. Tokarev, and in March 1934 it was put into service. Previous attempts to install ShKAS machine guns on old turrets intended for Degtyarev aircraft machine guns, a much weaker weapon, were unsuccessful due to the strong dispersion of bullets. The wing ShKAS machine gun was interchangeable with the turret one. The reloading handle in it is replaced by a cable mechanism, and the control handle is replaced by a feeder mechanism.

Synchronous option
Synchronization of the machine gun was carried out in 1936 by designers V.N. Salishchev, K.N. Rudnev and V.P. Kotov. Distinctive feature The design of the synchronous mechanism of this machine gun is to transfer all its main parts, with the exception of the firing pin and cocking lever, from the bolt to the receiver.
By 1936, machine guns of the ShKAS system occupied a dominant position in the weapon system of Soviet aviation.

Country: USSR, Russia
Type: Aviation machine gun
Designer: Shpitalny, Boris Gavriilovich, Komaritsky, Irinarkh Andreevich
Date of issue: 1930
In service: October 11, 1932-1945
Cartridge: 7.62 mm
Operating principle: Removal of powder gases
Rate of fire: 1800/1800/1650 rounds per minute
Initial bullet speed: 775-825/775-825/800-850 m/s
Weight (without magazine): 10.5/9.8/11.1 kg
Length: n/a
Barrel: n/a
Charging system: belt
Sight: n/a
Types: SHVAK
Issued: approximately 151,127

Cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun

Cartridge for the ShKAS machine gun with an ordinary light bullet produced by TPZ. The characteristic double crimp of the bullet along the height of the cartridge case neck is visible.	There are two known types of loose metal belts for the ShKAS machine gun: with and without stiffening ribs.
Sections of 7.62 mm cartridges. The cartridge case for the ShKAS machine gun (on the left), in contrast to the usual one (on the right), has thicker walls and a bottom partition.	Scheme of fastening a bullet in cartridges produced by Podolsk (1) and Tula (2) cartridge factories

Bullets for 7.62 mm ShKAS cartridges 1 - L, light; 2 - D, heavy long-range; 3 - B-30, armor-piercing; 4 - B-32, armor-piercing incendiary; 5 -T-30 (T-46), tracer; 6 - BT, armor-piercing-tracer, 7 - BZT, armor-piercing-incendiary-tracer; 8 - modernized BZT (ZB-46); 9 - ZP (PZ), sighting and incendiary

Samples of marking (stamping) of ShKAS cartridge cases Plant No. 46 was located in Kuntsevo (Moscow region). With the outbreak of the war, it was partially evacuated to the city of Novaya Lyalya, where it was later merged with plant No. 529

The main weight-dimensional and ballistic parameters of cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun correspond to the parameters of land rifle cartridges with the same types of bullets

Aviation machine gun ShKAS.

Developer: Shpitalny, Komaritsky
Country: USSR
Production of a prototype: 1930
Tests: 1932
Adopted into service: 1932

The first example of the Soviet rapid-firing aircraft machine gun ShKAS was manufactured in 1930. Already at the beginning of June 1932, Shpitalny, Komaritsky and Air Force representative Ponomarev demonstrated the machine gun to People's Commissar of Military Affairs K.E. Voroshilov. I. Glotov, a representative of the Armpultrest who was present, subsequently recalled:

“At the demonstration of the machine gun, explanations were given by Shpitalny and Komaritsky, as well as by Air Force representative Ponomarev. At the end of the demonstration of the machine gun, by prior agreement with the inventors, I was offered to test it at a local shooting range, to which Voroshilov gave his consent. With some understandable excitement, Komaritsky stood behind the machine gun, and the shooting, opened at the command of the People's Commissar of Defense, seemed to merge into one powerful barrage of shots... All the mechanisms of the ShKAS machine gun operated flawlessly when firing... This result of an unscheduled test of the machine gun aroused Voroshilov's approval. He congratulated the inventors on their success..."

Throughout 1931, the weapon was fine-tuned. Despite the obvious promise of this model, it turned out to be very complex and required significant efforts by designers and technologists aimed at optimizing technical solutions and increasing the survivability of the weapon. A whole engineering and design team was involved in fine-tuning the system: I. Pastukhov, P. Morozenko, I. Somov, S. Yartsev, M. Mamontov, K. Rudnev, G. Nikitin, A. Tronenkov and others.

On October 7, the Revolutionary Military Council approved the results field testing, and on October 7, 1932, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR approved the results of field tests of the machine gun and on October 11, 1932 adopted a resolution on its adoption under the name “7.62-mm aviation rapid-fire machine gun of the Shpitalny-Komaritsky system of the 1932 model - ShKAS” (Shpitalny-Komaritsky aviation rapid-fire).

The production of the machine gun, mastered by the Tula Arms Plant, was carried out using semi-handicraft methods due to the overly complex design of the weapon. The transition of the Soviet arms industry to the production of aviation automatic weapons with a high rate of fire required an increase in production culture, great accuracy in drawings, tolerance calculations, the use of especially high-quality steels and heat treatment of parts that determined the survivability and reliability of the automation. Domestic arms production, although they were at a fairly high technical level, still turned out to be unprepared for the manufacture of weapons of this class. The greatest difficulties arose in the selection of high-strength special steels for the most stressed parts and springs, as well as in the creation of a technology for their heat treatment. This explains the very low survivability of the first ShKAS machine guns, which at first amounted to an insignificant 1500-2000 rounds.

Simultaneously with the issuance of an order for the first large batch of machine guns in March 1933, the designers were asked to increase survivability to 5,000 rounds. In April 1933, a modified version of the machine gun was introduced, known under the internal factory designation KM-33 (design model 1933), which went into production in July. The transition from semi-handicraft to mass production occurred only at the beginning of 1934. Therefore, the machine gun is better known under the designation “7.62-mm aviation rapid-fire machine gun of the Shpitalny-Komaritsky system.” 1934 (ShKAS)." Finishing continued even after production began. A lot of work in this direction was carried out by a group of specialists under the leadership of the domestic weapons engineer P.I. Main.

ShKAS KM-33 early machine gun.

Problems had to be solved on the fly. As is known, coil springs at high cyclic speeds lose their elastic properties, becoming, in essence, a solid body. In the ShKAS machine gun, the return spring of the gas piston, which worked under similar conditions, quickly failed. I had to use a multi-strand spring, which significantly increased its durability. To facilitate the extraction of the cartridge case and prevent its breakage, Revelli grooves were introduced into the chamber chamber. When fired, part of the powder gases rushed into the grooves, reducing the adhesion force of the cartridge case to the walls of the chamber and thereby facilitating its extraction. Spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt were also introduced, which softened the impact of the moving system in the rear position and increased the speed of its return forward. To increase survivability, a sear buffer spring was introduced into the trigger mechanism.

The first versions of the ShKAS machine gun were wing and turret versions, mastered by industry in 1933-1934. Since 1935, a slightly modified version of the KM-35 went into production, which differed externally from earlier models in a shortened casing covering the barrel with a gas outlet tube, and the following year the final production version of the KM-36 with a number of inconspicuous externally technological improvements.

The first of the production aircraft to acquire this weapon was the I-16 type 4 fighter - it was equipped with wing-mounted machine guns with a cable reloading mechanism and a system of cables for descent.

Installation of the ShKAS machine gun in the wing of the I-16.

The Tur-8 open turret, developed by N.F. Tokarev, was put into service in the spring of 1934. In the turret version, a front sight vane (or front sight) post was attached to the muzzle of the barrel, a ring sight (rear sight) post was attached to the casing, and a holding handle was attached to the butt plate. There was a control handle with a trigger connected to the sear through a transfer lever. The safety lever locked the sear. The reloading handle served to move the moving system to the rearmost position and remained motionless during firing.

On March 28, 1935, Voroshilov wrote to Ordzhonikidze: “... in 1936, all serial production aircraft will be equipped with these machine guns.”

Later, with the creation of new types of aircraft, other versions of turret (blister) installations with a transparent screen were developed, for example, the upper turrets of the G.M. Mozharovsky and I.V. Venevidov MV-5 system (installed on the Su-2 aircraft) and MV-3 (SB, TB-3 aircraft). For the SB and DB-3 bombers, Mozharovsky and Venevidov under ShKAS developed a retractable lower hatch installation MV-2 with a periscope sight.

The upper turret of the TSS-1 and the lower turret of the MV-2 on the Ar-2 bomber.

In 1937, a synchronous version was adopted, developed at the Tula TsKB-14 by K.N. Rudnev, V.I. Salishchev, V.A. Galkin, V.P. Kotov, and in 1938 - the installation of a synchronous ShKAS developed by G.G. .Kurenkov, M.I.Vladimirsky, V.A.Galkin. The synchronizer, allowing firing through the propeller, reduced its rate to 1650 rounds/min. To compensate for the reduced rate of fire on the synchronized version of the ShKAS, a barrel lengthened by 150 mm was used, which somewhat improved the external ballistics of the bullet, increasing its initial speed. The design of the ShKAS synchronous machine gun differed from the original by transferring all the main parts, with the exception of the cocking lever and firing pin, from the bolt block to the receiver. At the same time, based on the extended synchronous ShKAS, two versions existed in parallel - with a cable loading mechanism and a manual one.

ShKAS Synchronous, extended with charging handle.

In 1941 it appeared latest version ShKAS with a barrel length 75 mm shorter than the synchronous one. The ShKAS model 1941 was intended exclusively for the wing mounting of Il-2 attack aircraft.

ShKAS in the IL-2 wing. Scheme.

At first, for firing from a machine gun, 7.62 mm caliber rifle cartridges were used with all types of bullets that existed at that time, intended for firing from carbines, rifles, and machine guns. However, during testing it turned out that they were not suitable for firing from ShKAS. The mechanisms of weapons with a high rate of fire (about 1800 rounds/min) remove the cartridge from the belt and send it into the chamber so quickly that the resulting inertial overloads can lead to the dismantling of the cartridge. The delays that occurred when firing ordinary cartridges from the ShKAS (dismantling and breaking the cartridge, the capsule falling out, the bullet falling into the cartridge case, the destruction of the capsule composition) were caused precisely by inertial overloads. Eliminating most of the above delays required disassembling the machine gun, which is naturally impossible during flight.

The imperfection of the cartridges endangered the life of the pilot and the performance of the combat mission. The beautifully designed weapon, as it turned out, surpassed the perfection of the cartridges it fired - quite a rare event in the history of weapons technology. A way out of this situation suggested itself: special aviation cartridges were needed. A team of designers headed by N.M. Elizarov took up their development. By the mid-30s, the work was completed and, as a result, 7.62 mm cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun appeared.

Ammunition for aircraft machine gun appearance practically no different from land rifle cartridges. At the same time, there are subtle but important differences in their design that reflect the specific use of ammunition in weapons with a high rate of fire.

To increase the strength of the bullet fastening in the case, cartridges with ordinary bullets “L” (light, model 1908) and “D” (heavy long-range model 1930, only for GAU), produced by TPZ, had a double crimp of the case neck according to height. For this purpose, the bullets in such cartridges are set deeper by 1.3 mm compared to a conventional cartridge mod. 1908. There are no grooves (flutes) on the bullets. The cartridges produced by PPZ had a reinforced double crimp on the edge of the cartridge case, which was produced using 4 dies. After the first crimp, the cartridge was rotated at a small angle and then crimped again at the same level. The length of the PPZ cartridges remained standard; light bullets could either have or not have a flute.

Compared to a conventional cartridge case, the cartridge cases for the ShKAS machine gun had greater thickness of the walls and bottom. This increased their strength and made it possible to significantly reduce the likelihood of transverse rupture of the cartridges when fired - a delay that is absolutely unavoidable in flight. Shells for ShKAS cartridges were made from both brass and bimetal (steel clad with tombak), and subsequently only from bimetal (at TPZ starting from 1935-1936, at PPZ - since 1938)

To prevent the capsule from moving in the socket, its annular core was often used; the capsule itself decreased in height. To preserve the mass of the shock composition while reducing the height of the capsule, the composition was pressed in using a shaped punch, which distributed the shock composition along the edges of the capsule. The capsule composition with foil was fixed in the capsule cap using specially selected durable varnishes.

In addition to cartridges with ordinary “L” and “D” bullets, cartridges with bullets were developed for the ShKAS machine gun special purpose. Their range was quite wide and included:
- cartridge with armor-piercing bullet B-30;
- cartridge with armor-piercing incendiary B-32;
— cartridges with T-30 and T-46 tracer bullets;
— cartridge with an armor-piercing tracer bullet BT;
— a cartridge with an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet BZT;
— cartridges with incendiary-targeting bullet ZP and PZ.

To distinguish 7.62-mm “Shkasovsky” cartridges from ordinary ones, since 1938 the letter “Ш” has been stamped on the cartridge flange.

For firing from the ShKAS machine gun, the cartridges were loaded into a loose metal strip, the links of which were connected to each other by the cartridges themselves. When firing, the belt links along with the cartridges were thrown out of the machine gun mount over the side of the aircraft or into a special pouch.

Cartridge links in a belt for the ShKAS machine gun.

Cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun, like others, were sealed in zinc and wooden boxes, on which it was applied special sign- inscription "SHKAS". Additionally, a sign in the form of a red or black propeller was applied.

The presence of a red propeller indicates that the cartridges are approved for firing through an aircraft propeller. In this case, the movement of the moving parts of the machine gun was coordinated with the rotation of the engine crankshaft through a special device - a synchronizer. To be allowed to fire through a screw, the cartridges were subjected to careful certification. The main parameter being tested was the so-called response time of the primer composition, which significantly determines the moment when the bullet leaves the weapon’s barrel. In addition, they were checked more strictly ballistic characteristics, tightness of cartridges, etc. A red propeller was applied to the closure of cartridges that successfully passed certification, while those that did not pass had a black propeller. Cartridges that had a sign in the form of a black propeller on the box were approved for firing from all aircraft machine guns, except synchronized ones.

In the 30s, 7.62 mm cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun were produced at the Tula (TPZ) and Podolsk (PPZ) cartridge factories.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The cartridge for the ShKAS machine gun with the L bullet acquired a standard length, while the strength of the bullet in the cartridge case was ensured due to a tighter compression of the bullet and was strictly controlled. The bullet may or may not have a flute. These cartridges were mainly used for target practice.

During the war, 7.62-mm rifle cartridges with special-purpose bullets were produced at enterprises working on orders from the Main Directorate of the Air Force (the main need for them was from aviation). Factories produced such cartridges only with “Shkasov” cartridges with thickened walls. In 1942, it turned out that cartridges with special bullets supplied to ground troops from these factories (orders through GAU) when used in infantry weapons(Maxim and DP machine guns, Mosin rifle) give delays - tight cartridge extractions were observed. To eliminate this shortcoming, cartridge cases shipped to the ground forces were coated with a special varnish.

The automatic action of the machine gun was due to the energy of the powder gases removed from the barrel. The machine gun was powered using a metal link detachable tape. The machine gun was equipped with spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt.

The main “highlight” of the ShKAS was the power supply system, which, in fact, made it possible to achieve such a high rate of fire - 1800 rounds/min. The cartridge was fed by a gear (drum) with 10 slots, rotating on a longitudinal axis inside a stationary casing. There are teeth on the axis and inner surface The casing was made with a screw groove. When the piston rod moved backward, its curved ridge pressed on the drive roller of the feed lever, which swung in a horizontal plane, and turned it to the left. The lever turned the gear with its finger. The cartridge, picked up by the gear, entered the rim of the sleeve into the screw groove. In one automation cycle, the gear rotated 1/10 of a turn, while the cartridge slid along the screw groove, was removed from the loose belt link and moved back.

Thus, the removal of the cartridge from the belt and its feeding occurred smoothly - the cartridge approached the receiving window of the receiver in a full turn, i.e. 10 shots. Here it was picked up by a lever feeder and pressed against the receiving window, holding it raised upward. This made it possible to reduce the length of the shutter stroke. Continuous operation of the feed mechanism, reducing the speed of movement of the belt and cartridge when feeding it to the dispensing line prevented their damage, destruction or distortion (however, the strength of the cartridge case and the bullet fastening in it for aviation cartridges still had to be increased). In addition, the described system made it possible to reduce the length of the weapon, which is important for placement on an aircraft. When loading the machine gun, it was necessary to release the gear, bring the cartridge belt to it and, using the folding loading handle, turn the gear, inserting 8-9 rounds into it, then turn on the feeder.

The ejection mechanism was no less ingeniously designed. His work was divided into two stages. When moving backward, the bolt frame rotated the reflector in the transverse plane. He pushed the cartridge case out of the bolt legs into the side socket of the receiver, where it was held by a spring-loaded cartridge case catcher. From here it was pushed through the sleeve outlet hole by the protrusion of the rod when moving forward.

Spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt were mounted in the buttplate. They not only softened the impact of the moving system in the rear position, but also increased the initial speed of its return forward. In combination with the short shutter stroke and the timing of reloading operations, this reduced the duration of the automation cycle and increased the rate of fire.

Operation diagram of the ShKAS machine gun.

The weight of the ShKAS machine gun was: turret version 10.5 kg; wing 9.8 kg; synchronous - 11.1 kg. The ballistics and rate of fire for the turret and wing variants are the same: with a bullet weight of 9.6 g and a charge of 3.2 g, the table initial speed is 825 m/s, and the rate is 1800 rounds/min. The synchronized version has a lower rate of fire - up to 1650 rounds/min. But the initial speed is slightly higher (850 m/s) due to longer length trunk

The turret version was installed on the Il-4, Pe-8, TB-4, TB-3 (on TUR-6), Er-2, DB-3, SB, U-2VS, R-5 and others. The wing version was installed on I-16 fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft, and the synchronous version was installed on I-16, I-153, LaGG-3, Yak-1, Yak-7 fighters and others.

Serial production of ShKAS machine guns was constantly growing. In 1933, 365 copies were produced, in 1934 - 2476, in 1935 - 3566, in 1937 - 13005, in 1938 - 19687, in 1940 - 34233, in 1943 - 29450, in 1944 - 36255 and in 1945 - 12455.

The ShKAS machine gun was an outstanding weapon in many respects, in fact, being the first domestic purely aviation machine gun, designed taking into account the requirements of its time. Continuous feed of the tape, multi-core recoil spring, frantic rate of fire - this was implemented in ShKAS for the first time.

The negative aspects of the ShKAS design include the very high labor intensity and complexity of the machine gun design. Another disadvantage is the inability to change the direction of feed of the tape. Due to the intricate movement pattern of the cartridge, feeding was carried out only from the bottom right, which, however, somewhat reduced the severity of this problem, compared to the classic cartridge feeding schemes purely from the left or purely from the right.

With the advent of ShKAS in the Soviet school of small arms, there was a departure from the concept of unifying weapons for all types of armed forces, which was advocated by the Soviet masters Fedorov and Degtyarev. Although ShKAS were sometimes used both as manual and anti-aircraft guns on various improvised machines, the high rate of fire made their survivability in the “land version” extremely low. Well, this was a natural price to pay for the outstanding qualities of this weapon.

Among its contemporaries, machine guns created in other countries, there were no weapons equal to the ShKAS in terms of rate of fire. Some examples of foreign machine guns, of course, achieved such parameters as those of the ShKAS, but only at the expense of reduced reliability.

Modifications:

ShKAS (t) - turret, first modification.

ShKAS (kr) - the wing-mounted ShKAS machine gun was interchangeable with the turret machine gun and had only those differences that were dictated by ease of use. The charging handle in it was replaced by a cable mechanism. Weight - 9.8 kg; with a bullet weight of 9.6 g and a charge of 3.2 g, the table initial speed is 825 m/s, and the rate is 1800 rounds/min. The wing version was installed on I-16 fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft.

ShKAS (s) - a synchronized version of the ShKAS machine gun was created in 1936 by designers V.N. Salishchev, K.N. Rudnev and V.P. Kotov. A distinctive feature of the design of the synchronous mechanism of this machine gun was the transfer of all its main parts, with the exception of the firing pin and cocking lever, from the bolt to the receiver. Weight - 11.1 kg, rate of fire - up to 1650 rounds/min, initial speed - 850 m/s.

Characteristics:

Caliber, mm: 7.62
Cartridge: 7.62 x 54 mm R
Operating principles: Removal of powder gases
Rate of fire
rounds/min: 1800 (ShKAS (s) - 1650)
Type of ammunition supply: tape
Weight (turret), kg: 10.5
Rate of fire, shots/min: 1800
Initial speed, m/s: 825

ShKAS turret machine gun on display at the museum.

ShKAS turret machine gun on display at the museum.

How was it born and developed, what role did it play? In the year of the 65th anniversary of the Victory, it is worth remembering this.

Fundamentally new

Boris Gavrilovich Shpitalny (1902–1972) distinguished himself as an inventor already in the 20s. In 1927 he graduated from the Moscow Mechanical Institute. M.V. Lomonosov in the then new specialty of aviation engineering, he worked at the Scientific Automotive Institute. Among his early applications for invention were “An adaptation to the feed mechanism of a machine gun for removing cartridges from a belt” (1927), “Single high-speed tank” (1928), “Automatic weapon” (1929). Shpitalny proposed the “super-machine gun” design in 1926. The rapid development of aviation, the increase in speed and maneuverability of combat aircraft and the difficulty of placing entire “machine gun batteries” on it required a sharp increase in the rate of fire of aircraft weapons.

However new system needed significant improvement - due to the author’s lack of experience working with weapons. Therefore, in 1928, to help Shpitalny, the Arms and Machine Gun Trust allocated Irinarkh Andreevich Komaritsky (1891–1971), an experienced Tula gunsmith, a participant in the modernization of the “three-line”, who worked at that time in the Council of Military Industry.

First, it was necessary to check the feasibility of the scheme itself, and in March 1930 the trust issued the corresponding task to the Design Bureau (PKB) of the Tula Arms Plant. To test the principle of operation of the machine gun under the code PPRPSH, Shpitalny and Komaritsky are sent to Tula. Already on May 10, 1930, at the TOZ shooting range, a full-scale sample of the “device of engineer Shpitalny’s system, mounted on a Degtyarev machine gun,” was tested. Prototype Shpitalny-Komaritsky machine gun was manufactured in Tula in October of the same year: interest in the new aviation weapons It was great and the work was carried out urgently.

February 13, 1932 Artillery Directorate The Red Army issued an order for the production of seven machine guns for testing. Already at the beginning of June 1932, Shpitalny, Komaritsky and Air Force representative Ponomarev demonstrated a machine gun to People's Commissar of Military Affairs K.E. Voroshilov. And on June 22, a resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR “On the work of engineer Shpitalny” appeared, in which the head of the Red Army Automatic Administration was asked to: “...a) complete all tests of the machine gun within a month and submit it for service by 15/VII; b) immediately issue an order to industry for 100 machine guns of the Shpitalny system with their production in 1932; c) within a month, together with the head of the Red Army Air Force, work out the issue of the plan for introducing Shpitalny machine guns on combat aircraft and submit it for approval by the RVSS.”

On October 7, the Revolutionary Military Council approved the results of field tests, and by a decree of October 11, 1932, it accepted the machine gun for service. However, another two years were spent on technological refinement and some simplification of the design. In addition, the survivability of the barrel at such a high rate of fire turned out to be in the range of 1500–2000 shots, so simultaneously with the issuance of an order for the first large batch of machine guns in March 1933, the designers were asked to increase the survivability to 5000 shots. In April 1933, a modified version of the machine gun was presented; it went into production in July. The transition from semi-handicraft to mass production occurred only at the beginning of 1934. Therefore, the machine gun is better known under the designation “7.62-mm aviation rapid-fire machine gun of the Shpitalny-Komaritsky system.” 1934 (ShKAS)." Finishing continued even after production began. A lot of work in this direction was carried out by a group of specialists under the leadership of the major gunsmith P.I. Main.

Machine gun and installations

ShKAS belonged to automatic weapon systems with a gas automatic engine and powered by cartridges from loose metal tape. The barrel bore was locked by tilting the bolt downwards and firing from the rear sear. An increase in the rate of fire was achieved by a high speed of movement of the mobile system (from 9 to 12 m/s) and a decrease in the length of its stroke. To do this, for example, the cartridge was held by the feeder at an upward angle before being fed into the chamber. The high rate of fire required a number of special solutions. Thus, the walls of the barrel chamber were equipped with longitudinal grooves extending beyond the front cut of the sleeve (“Reveli grooves”). When fired, part of the powder gases rushed into the grooves, reducing the adhesion force of the cartridge case to the walls of the chamber and thereby facilitating its extraction. The return spring is made of three cores. Spring buffers of the bolt frame and bolt softened the impact of the moving system in the rear position and increased the speed of its return forward. To increase survivability, a sear buffer spring was introduced into the trigger mechanism.

But the main highlight of ShKAS was the food system. At high speeds of the moving system, removing a cartridge from the belt and feeding it to the dispensing line in one automation cycle would inevitably lead to ruptured cartridges and bullets falling out. The cartridge was fed by a special gear (drum) with 10 slots, rotating inside a stationary casing. A screw groove was made on the gear axis and the inner surface of the casing. When the gear was turned, the cartridge of the rim sleeve slid along the screw groove so that it was removed from the belt and fed in 10 shots. The ejection mechanism was no less ingeniously designed, removing the cartridge case outside the weapon in two strokes.

ShKAS was a first in many respects. The aviation machine guns PV-1, DA and DA-2 that preceded it were ground-based Maxim and DP machine guns adapted for installation on aircraft, that is, they continued the experience of the First World War. Compared to the PV-1, for example, the ShKAS was shorter and 1.3 times lighter, more than doubling its rate of fire. The coaxial DA-2 ShKAS machine gun was 1.5 times faster in rate of fire, was twice as light and, again, more compact. Continuous feed of the belt made it possible to fully use the ammunition in flight without reloading for both fixed and mobile installations. Significantly increasing the firepower of the aircraft, ShKAS simultaneously “saving” space and weight in it. ShKAS became one of the first specially designed aviation machine guns, taking into account current development aviation and its prospects. Of the foreign machine guns of those years, the French “Darn” and the German MG.15 can be classified as specifically “aviation” machine guns. But this is the first time such a rate of fire has been achieved in serial single-barrel systems. For comparison: the French Darn gave 1100–1200 rounds per minute, the American Colt-Browning - 900, the German MG.17 - 1100. The 7.92-mm German MG.81 model of 1938 came closest to the ShKAS - in in the single version it weighed 6.5 kg and had a rate of fire of 1600 rounds/min; in the twin version (81Z) it weighed 13 kg and 3200 rounds/min, respectively.

ShKAS was used in three versions. The wing and turret versions of its installation were submitted for approval to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on February 17, 1934 and received approval. The first of the production aircraft to acquire this weapon was the I-16 fighter - it was equipped with wing machine guns. An open turret, developed by N. F. Tokarev, was put into service in the spring of 1934. Later, with the creation of aircraft with improved speed characteristics, other versions of turret (blister) installations with a transparent screen were developed, for example, the upper turrets of the system of G. M. Mozharovsky and I. V. Venevidov MV-5 (installed on the Su-2 aircraft) and MV -3 (SB, TB-3 aircraft). For the SB and DB-3 bombers, Mozharovsky and Venevidov under ShKAS developed a retractable lower hatch installation MV-2 with a periscope sight. In 1937, a synchronous version was adopted, developed in Tula TsKB-14 by K. N. Rudnev, V. I. Salishchev, V. A. Galkin, V. P. Kotov, and in 1938 - the installation of a synchronous ShKAS developed by G. G. Kurenkov, M. I. Vladimirsky, V. A. Galkin. The synchronizer, allowing firing through the propeller, reduced its rate to 1650 rounds/min, but slightly lengthening the bullet’s acceleration path increased its initial speed to 800–850 m/s.

The formation of the aviation machine gun complex was logically completed by the development, under the leadership of N. M. Elizarov, of variants of the 7.62-mm cartridge with the B-30 armor-piercing bullet, the B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullet (for hitting gas tanks protected by armor), the T-30 tracer (later T- 46), armor-piercing tracer BT, incendiary-targeting ZP or PZ. The cartridges for the aircraft machine gun looked almost no different from the “ground” ones, but their design had a number of differences associated with their use in high-speed weapons: the walls of the cartridge case and the fastening of the bullets were reinforced. To distinguish them, the ShKAS cartridges bore the letter “Ш” on the rim of the cartridge case. Cartridges marked with a red propeller profile were intended for firing from a synchronized machine gun and, accordingly, met more stringent requirements for the time from the puncture of the primer to the flight of the bullet through the plane of the propeller. When equipping belts for aircraft machine guns, cartridges with armor-piercing and armor-piercing incendiary bullets usually accounted for about half.

In production and service

Already on March 28, 1935, K. E. Voroshilov wrote to the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry G. K. Ordzhonikidze: “We are transferring pilot aircraft construction and mass production to ShKAS machine guns, and in 1936 all serial production aircraft will be produced only with these machine guns.” An interesting touch: if introduced in 1936 Chest sign for graduates of the military school of pilots and navigators, it contained silhouettes of an aerial bomb and a DA machine gun, then the sign of graduates of the school of pilots and navigators in 1938 - a bomb and a ShKAS machine gun. The production of ShKAS vehicles was continuously increasing: if in 1933, 365 of them were assembled using a semi-handicraft method, and in 1934 – 2476, in 1935 – 3566, then in 1937 – 13,005, in 1938 – 19,687. When in July 1939, the Tula Machine-Tool Plant (plant No. 66 NKV, later the Tula Machine-Building Plant) was separated from the Tula Arms Plant; it was given the production of the Maxim heavy machine gun and aviation ShKAS. In 1940, the production of ShKAS vehicles amounted to 34,233 units. ShKAS also became one of the first-born in the production of domestic automatic weapons on the principle of mass, continuous production.

For the first time ShKAS took part in air battles on Soviet fighters in November 1936 over Madrid. A year later, ShKAS-armed I-16s and I-15s fought Japanese aircraft over China. ShKAS proved themselves both in the battles at Khalkhin Gol and in the Soviet-Finnish War.

Performance characteristics of ShKAS

• 7.62x54R Cartridge
• 10.6 kg Machine gun body weight
• 935 mm Machine gun length
• 605 mm Length of the rifled part of the barrel
• 775-825 m/s Initial bullet speed
• 1800 rounds/min Rate of fire
• 0.29 kg Mass of a second salvo
• loose link tape Nutrition

In 1935–1937, K. N. Rudnev, V. N. Polyubin, A. A. Tropenkov worked on the so-called mechanical twin ShKAS (MSSh) - organically coupled ShKAS with a rate of fire of up to 6000–6400 rounds/min. The machine gun rods were equipped with gear racks and connected by a gear; as a result, the automation cycle included two shot cycles, and the maximum recoil force did not exceed its value with one shot. A. A. Mamontov, N. F. Tokarev, A. A. Volkov took part in finalizing the spark.

It must be said that during this period ShKAS had a very serious rival - in 1936 at the Kovrov plant No. 2 named after. Kirkizh created a machine gun of the I.V. Savin and A.K. Norov system with an oppositely moving barrel and bolt and a rate of fire of 2800–3000 rounds/min. On June 8, 1937, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars decided to issue an order for mass production of the 7.62-mm Savin-Norov (SN) machine gun.

Meanwhile, on May 15, 1937, Shpitalny and Komaritsky completed development of the “super-fast-firing” Ultra-ShKAS - the automation cycle time was further reduced by giving the barrel a forward movement after unlocking. By a resolution of the Defense Committee of May 13, 1939, the Ultra-ShKAS turret was adopted by the Air Force. Ultra-ShKAS and SN machine guns were used on fighter aircraft during the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940.

Enlargement of caliber

Work on large-caliber aircraft machine guns began even before the ShKAS was put into service. In 1931, in Kovrov, based on the DK machine gun, an experimental 12.7-mm machine gun with an increased rate of fire was produced, and the Design Bureau of the Tula Arms Plant was tasked with developing a 12.7-mm aircraft machine gun modeled on the Shpitalny machine gun. By May 28, 1932, the Tula PKB produced a 12.7-mm machine gun, created on the basis of the ShKAS by Semyon Vladimirovich Vladimirov (1895–1956). The machine gun was not a mechanically “enlarged” ShKAS - during development, the automation system was reconfigured (the gas chamber and piston rod were moved under the barrel), the gear rotation mechanism and the bolt with automatic release of the firing pin were improved.

In 1934, the “12.7-mm aviation machine gun of the Shpitalny and Vladimirov system, ShVAK” (Shpitalny - Vladimirov - aviation - large-caliber) was adopted. The power supply system, similar to the ShKAS, required the release of a 12.7-mm cartridge specifically for the ShVAK with the same bullets and powder charge as the cartridge of the “ground” DK machine gun, but with a protruding rim of the cartridge case. In connection with the organization of production of ShVAKs at plant No. 2, Vladimirov moved to Kovrov. Here, by replacing the barrel, he created a 20-mm ShVAK automatic cannon - this is how one of the first production samples of a bicaliber gun appeared. aviation weapons.

In 1935, Plant No. 2 produced 92 ShVAK machine guns and 7 experimental ShVAK cannons, and in 1936, when the 20-mm ShVAK cannon was put into mass production, 159 ShVAK machine guns and 300 cannons were produced. The 12.7 mm ShVAK was soon discontinued.

Shots for the ShVAK cannon were created on the basis of the same cartridge case, but since the cartridge case became cylindrical, small powder charge limited the power of the cartridge. True, for aircraft gun she was enough. The weight of the ShVAK was: in the wing version - 40 kg, in the turret version - 42 kg, and in the motor-gun version - 44.5 kg. ShVAK was installed on I-16, LaGG-3, Yak-1, Yak-7 fighters, Tu-2 and Pe-8 bombers, and MTB-2 patrol bomber aircraft. On the Pe-8 bomber, for example, two ShKAS were installed on the NEB-42 bow turret, ShVAK cannons on the KEB-42 aft turret and the TUM-5 top turret - and all these turrets had an electric drive. The ShVAK synchronous installation for the I-16 fighter was developed under the leadership of A.G. Rotenberg. The I-16 (I-16P) ShVAK received its first baptism of fire over Khalkhin Gol in 1939. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the 20-mm ShVAK and 7.62-mm ShKAS were the main and most massive weapons aircraft of the Red Army Air Force. In addition, ShKAS and ShVAK were installed on torpedo boats G-5 and D-3.

As for the large-caliber aircraft machine gun, in 1939 the 12.7-mm synchronous machine gun BS of the M.E. Berezin system was put into production, and already on April 22, 1941, its universal 12.7-mm UB was accepted.

In air and ground battles

Both ShKAS and ShVAK played their roles in air battles. Reserve Colonel N.I. Filippov, who served in the 171st Tula Aviation Fighter Regiment, recalled: “At the beginning of the war, our fighters were inferior in speed to the German ones, but still, thanks to the higher maneuverability of the vehicle itself and, most importantly, the high rate of fire of the ShKAS, we fought with dignity against the enemy... Of course, the 7.62-mm cartridge was rather weak - nothing can be said here, but the machine gun itself was well-made by the Tula people. But the ShVAKs - both the machine gun and the cannon, especially the cannon - with the same reliability as the ShKAS, had a more powerful cartridge... I shot down most of my opponents with them.”

A “ground” career was also planned for both ShVAKs and ShKASs in the 1930s. Thus, in Tula, the ShKAS motorcycle and automobile installations were developed, which remained experimental. In 1940, Plant No. 66 was ordered an experimental batch of Sokolov machine guns “with a universal head for ground firing from the ShKAS machine gun.” This was most likely an attempt to “recycle” normal-caliber aircraft machine guns, which were soon to be replaced by large-caliber ones - for example, for 1941, the ShKAS order plan was only 3,500 units. For 20-mm ShVAKs in Kovrov, at plant No. 2 in 1935, “universal” anti-aircraft anti-tank tripod installations were manufactured. But this work did not give a satisfactory result, especially since the 20-mm ShVAK cartridge was rather weak for an “anti-tank” cartridge. But in the first period of the Great Patriotic War, the ShVAK found use as a tank gun. The People's Commissariat of Armaments issued the order to modify the gun for installation on light tanks on July 5, 1941. The work was carried out by A.E. Nudelman at OKB-16, the gun was completed at OKB-15 at Shpitalny. On December 5, 1941, the ShVAK-tank, based on the wing-mounted ShVAK, was put into service. It received the designation TNSh (“tank Nudelman-Shpitalny”) and was installed on the T-60, T-40S, T-38 tanks.

At the same time, aircraft machine guns found application in the air defense system. July 8, 1941 State Committee The Defense Council adopted a resolution “On machine guns for air defense of the city of Moscow”: “1. Allow the NKAP to take from its reserves at aircraft factories 150 BT and BK machine guns and 250 ShKAS machine guns and equip them to protect 10 aircraft factories from air attack at the direction of the air defense. 2. Oblige the Air Force - Comrade Zhigarev to immediately deliver 1000 pieces to Moscow (by plane). machine guns at the disposal of the Moscow air defense. 3. Oblige the NKAP - Comrade Shakhurin to allocate 100 pcs. from its reserves. BK machine guns and 250 pcs. ShKAS machine guns and transfer them to the air defense of Moscow." Anti-aircraft installations The 7.62 mm ShKAS and 12.7 mm UB machine guns with ring sights were developed within a week by Mozharovsky, Venevidov and Afanasyev. Also in 1941, ShVAKs on pedestal mounts were used as anti-aircraft weapons on the Kovrov Bolshevik armored train.