76-mm divisional gun ZiS-3 , model 1942, Soviet divisional and anti-tank gun of the Second World War

76-mm divisional gun model 1942 (ZiS-3, GRAU index - 52-P-354U) - 76.2 mm Soviet divisional and anti-tank gun The chief designer is Vasily Gavrilovich Grabin, the main production plant is Artillery Plant No 92 in the city of Gorky. The ZiS-3 became the most massive Soviet artillery gun produced during the Great Patriotic War. In terms of simplicity, low weight and good fighting qualities, it was one of the best weapons of the Second World War. In the post-war period, the ZiS-3 was in service with the Soviet Army for a long time, and was also actively exported to a number of countries The development of the gun began in May 1941 at the initiative of V.G. Grabin without an official assignment from the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army (GAU) Structurally, the ZiS-3 is a superposition of the swinging part of the previous model of the F-22USV divisional gun on the light carriage of the 57-mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun. The significant recoil force was compensated for by a muzzle brake, which was absent in the F-22USV Also on the ZiS-3, an important drawback of the F-22USV was eliminated - the placement of the aiming handles on opposite sides of the gun barrel This allowed the crew numbers of four people to perform only their functions. The design of the new weapon was carried out in close cooperation with technologists; the design itself was immediately created for mass production. Operations were simplified and reduced (in particular, high-quality casting of large parts was actively introduced), technological equipment and requirements for the machine park were thought out, requirements for materials were reduced, their savings were introduced, unification and in-line production of units were envisaged. All this made it possible to obtain a weapon that was almost three times cheaper than the F-22USV, while no less effective The catastrophic start of the Great Patriotic War caused heavy losses of the available artillery. By the joint decision of Grabin and the management of plant No. 92, it was ZiS-3 that went into mass production. As a result, the military acceptance at the plant refused to accept “substandard“ guns, but this issue was positively resolved under the personal responsibility of Grabin In the battles of 1941, the ZiS-3 showed its advantage over the heavy and inconvenient for the gunner F-22USV. As a result, this allowed Grabin to present the ZiS-3 personally to Stalin and obtain official permission to manufacture the gun, which by that time was already being produced by the plant and was actively used in the army. At the beginning of February 1942, official tests were carried out, which were rather a formality and lasted only five days. According to their results, the ZiS-3 was put into service on February 12, 1942 with the official name “76-mm divisional gun mod. 1942 “. She entered the army in several modifications. The ZiS-3 is the world’s first artillery gun, which was assembled on a conveyor belt and the most massive gun of the Great Patriotic War - in total, from 1941 to 1945, almost 48,500 pieces were produced (about 14,500 more guns were mounted on the SU-76 self-propelled guns) The production of cannons began at factory # 92 in December 1941. A number of ZiS-3s (materiel for two artillery divisions) were sent for military trials at the end of 1941. Mass production of guns began in 1942 and was carried out mainly at the Gorky Plant No 92 These guns appeared in noticeable quantities in the troops in 1942, gradually ousting their predecessors - divisional guns mod. 1902/30, arr. 1936 (F-22) and arr. 1939 It is interesting that in the German troops the Soviet divisions were called “ratsh-boom“ - the sound of a projectile flying at supersonic speed was heard a little earlier than the sound of a shot reached. In 1943, this weapon became the main one in the divisional cannon artillery, as well as in the anti-tank destroyer regiments, which had 76-mm guns according to the state. In the Battle of Kursk, the ZiS-3, along with 45-mm anti-tank guns and 122-mm M-30 howitzers, formed the backbone of Soviet artillery. At the same time, the inadequacy of the armor-piercing action of the guns against new German tanks and self-propelled guns was manifested, to some extent mitigated by the introduction of sub-caliber shells into the ammunition load, and from the end of 1944 - cumulative shells. Later, until the end of the war, the ZiS-3 firmly retained the status of the main divisional gun, and since 1944 - due to the slowdown in the release of 45-mm cannons and the lack of 57-mm ZiS-2 cannons - this weapon de facto became the main anti-tank gun. Red Army. The captured cannons were also used by German and Finnish troops. In addition, the ZiS-3 was actively used by Soviet troops during the war with Japan 76-mm divisional gun mod. 1942, at the time of adoption, fully met all the requirements for a weapon of this class for mobility, firepower, simplicity in daily operation and manufactura