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The 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) (Russian: 37-мм автоматическая зенитная пушка образца 1939 года (61-К)) is a Soviet 37 mm calibre anti-aircraft gun developed during the late 1930s and used during World War II. The land-based version was replaced in Soviet service by the AZP S-60 during the 1950s. Guns of this type were successfully used throughout the Eastern Front against dive bombers and other low- and medium-altitude targets. It also had some usefulness against lightly armoured ground targets.

37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)
61-K in Saint Petersburg Artillery Museum.
Type	Anti-aircraft gun Autocannon
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War II First Indochina War Korean War Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Portuguese Colonial War Somali Civil War South African Border War Lebanese Civil War Syrian Civil War[1] Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Production history
Produced	1937–1945 (USSR)
No. built	20,000 (USSR)
Specifications
Mass	2,100 kg (4,600 lb)
Barrel length	2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) L/67[2]
Crew	8[3]
Shell	37 × 252 mmSR[4][5]
Shell weight	730 g (1.61 lb) Frag-T 770 g (1.70 lb) AP-T
Caliber	37 mm (1.5 in)
Recoil	Hydro-spring[3]
Carriage	Four-wheeled with twin outriggers
Elevation	−5° to 85°
Traverse	360°[2]
Rate of fire	160-170 rpm
Muzzle velocity	880 m/s (2,900 ft/s)
Effective firing range	4 km (13,000 ft) (effective ceiling)
Maximum firing range	5 km (16,000 ft) (maximum ceiling)[2]

Development

The Soviet Navy purchased a number of Bofors 25 mm Model 1933 guns in 1935, trials of the weapon were successful and it was decided to develop a 45 mm version of the weapon designated the 49-K. The development under the guidance of leading Soviet designers M. N. Loginov, I. A. Lyamin and L. V. Lyuliev was successful, but the army thought that the 45 mm calibre was a little too large for an automatic field weapon. In January 1938 the Artillery Factory Number 8 in Sverdlovsk was ordered to develop a 37 mm weapon based on the same design. The task was fulfilled by the chief designer of the factory, Mikhail Loginov, and his assistant Lev Loktev. Firing trials of the new 61-K were conducted in October 1938.

Competitive firing trials were conducted in 1940 between the 61-K and the Bofors 40 mm/56. There were no substantial differences found between them.

Land version

The weapon was initially installed as a single-barrel weapon on a four-wheeled ZU-7 carriage, and was soon ready for service. An initial order for 900 units was placed. The gun was operated by a crew of eight men. A total of 200 rounds of ammunition were carried which were fed into the gun in five-round clips. Total Soviet production was around 20,000 units, ending in 1945. However, it has also been produced in Poland, China and North Korea.

Armour penetration of the armour-piercing (AP) rounds is reported as 37 millimetres of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) at 60°at 500 metres range and 28 millimetres of RHA at 90° at 1,500 metres range.

Naval version

The naval mounting was produced as the 70K, and had entered service before the German invasion of the Soviet Union replacing the semi-automatic 45 mm/46 21-K on many ships. It was fitted in large numbers to Soviet ships during the Second World War, including the T301 class minesweeper. The V70K was produced until 1955, with a total of 3,113 built.

One drawback was that the 70K required a barrel change after every 100 rounds fired. To improve on this, a twin-barrel water cooled mount, the V-11 (called "W-11" in East Germany and Poland because of different Cyrillic transliteration), entered service in 1946, and was in production until 1957. A total of 1,872 V-11 mounts were built.

After this an 85-calibre 100 mm (3.9 in) anti-aircraft mounts long version, the 45 mm/85, was developed and accepted into service in 1954, it was deployed in twin and quad turrets on a number of classes of vessels, including the Neustrashimyy, Kildin and Kotlin class destroyers. However it was later replaced with the ZIF-31 twin 57 mm mounting.

The 37 mm twin mounting was exported to China where it was manufactured and used extensively, as the "Type 65". A turret based version was produced from the late 1980s called the "Type 76" or H/PJA 76.

ZSU-37

The ZSU-37 was developed late in the Second World War, it was a single 37 mm gun mounted in a large open turret on the chassis of the SU-76 self-propelled gun .

Specifications

Designation	M1939	70K (naval)	V-11-M (naval)	45 mm (naval)
Barrels	1	1	2	4 or 2
Calibre	37 mm (1.45 in)
Barrel length	2.73 m (9 ft)	2.3 m (7.54 ft)	2.3 m (7.54 ft)	3.8 m (12.46 ft)
Muzzle velocity	880 m/s (2,887 ft/s)			900 m/s (2,953 ft/s)
Weight	2,100 kg (4,630 lbs)	1,750 kg (3,858 lbs)	3,450 kg (7,606 lbs)	?
Length	5.5 m (18 ft)	3.8 m (12.46 ft)	3.8 m (12.46 ft)	6 m (19.68 ft)
Width	1.79 m (5.87 ft)	2.2 m (7.21 ft)	2.75 m (9 ft)
Height	2.11 m (7 ft)	2.2 m (7.21 ft)	1.8 m (6 ft)
Elevation	+85 to −5 degrees	+85 to −10 degrees	+85 to −10 degrees	+90 to 0 degrees
Elevation speed	?	15 degrees / sec	13 degrees / sec	?
Traverse speed	?	20 degrees / sec	17 degrees / sec	?
Rate of fire per barrel
(cyclic)	160 to 170 rpm	160 to 170 rpm	160 to 170 rpm	135 to 160 rpm
(practical)	80 rpm		320 rpm[6] for all 2 barrels	100 rpm
Maximum range (surface)	9,500 m (5.90 mi)			?
Practical range (surface)	4,000 m (2.48 mi)			9,000 m
Maximum range (air)	6,700 m (21,981 ft)			?
Practical range (air)	3,000 m (9,842 ft)			6,000 m
Crew	8	6	3	4

• Recoil length: 150 to 175 mm

Ammunition

The cannon fires 37×252SR shells. The shells use brass cases lined with waxed paper and use KV-2U percussion primers. A small piece of lead-tin wire is included in the case to act as a de-coppering agent, to counteract the buildup of copper from the driving bands of the projectiles.[7] The Ammunition is produced in a number of countries including China, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan and Yugoslavia. The projectiles themselves are identical to those fired by the NS-37 aircraft cannon. The explosive shells are fitted with point detonating fuzes making them unsuitable for engaging fast moving or small targets.

Type	Frag-T	Frag-T	AP-T	HVAP	HE
Calibre	37 mm	37 mm	37 mm	37 mm	45 mm
Country	Russia
Name	OR-167	OR-167N	BR-167	BR-167P	?
Fuze	MG-8 PD or MG-37 PD	B-37 PD or MG-37 PD	n/a	n/a	?
Round	1.43 kg (3.15 lbs)	1.43 kg (3.15 lbs)	1.47 kg (3.24 lbs)	?
Projectile	732 g (1.43 lbs)	735 g (1.43 lbs)	770 g (1.62 lbs)	620 g (1.36 lbs)	1.5 kg (3.30 lbs)
Explosive	35 g (1.23 oz) of A-IX-2	40 g (1.41 oz) of A-IX-2 or A-1Kh-2	n/a	n/a	?
Muzzle velocity	880 m/s (2,887 ft/s)			960 m/s (3,150 ft/s)	900 m/s (2,953 ft/s)
Armour penetration	?	?	47 mm @ 500 m (1.85 in @ 547 yds) 37 mm @ 1,000 m (1.45 in @ 1,093 yds)	57 mm @ 1000 m (2.24 in @ 1,093 yds)	?

Variants

• Norinco (Chinese)

• • Type 55 – copy of the single barreled 37 mm M1939
  • Type 63 – twin 37 mm guns with vertical stabilization mounted on a T-34 chassis.
  • Type 65 – copy of the twin barreled 37 mm.
  • Type 74 – upgraded version of the Type 65 with a greater rate of fire.
  • Type 74SD – Type 74 with servo system removed for operation with Type 800 laser course director system.
  • Type 79-III – upgraded version of the Type 74 with electro-optical director, and powered traverse and elevation.
  • Type 76 – Naval version of the twin 37 mm.
  • P793 – Advanced twin-barrel version, with electro-optical predicting sight and higher rate of fire and lengthened barrels giving a higher muzzle velocity (1,000 m/s). Operated by a crew of 5 or 6.
• North Korea
  • Self-propelled version

Comparison of anti-aircraft guns

Country	Gun model	RPM	Projectile weight	Weight of fire
Soviet Union	37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)	80[3]	.73 kg (1.6 lb)[6]	58.4 kg (129 lb)
Nazi Germany	3.7 cm SK C/30	30	.74 kg (1.6 lb)[8]	22.2 kg (49 lb)
France	Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925	15–21	.72 kg (1.6 lb)[9]	10.8–15.12 kg (23.8–33.3 lb)
Italy	Cannone-Mitragliera da 37/54 (Breda)	60–120	.82 kg (1.8 lb)[10]	49.2–98.4 kg (108–217 lb)
United States	37 mm Gun M1	90[11]	.61 kg (1.3 lb)	54.9 kg (121 lb)
Nazi Germany	3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43	150	.64 kg (1.4 lb)[12]	96 kg (212 lb)
United Kingdom	QF 2-pounder naval gun	115	.91 kg (2.0 lb)[13]	104.6 kg (231 lb)
Sweden	Bofors 40 mm gun	120	.9 kg (2.0 lb)[14]	108 kg (238 lb)

Users

Current operators

Former operators

This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2010)

See also

• Weapons of the Laotian Civil War
• Weapons of the Lebanese Civil War

Notes

References

• International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2021). The Military Balance 2021. Vol. 121. Routledge. ISBN 9781032012278.
• International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2016). The Military Balance 2016. Vol. 116. Routlegde. ISBN 9781857438352.
• Janes, Ammunition Handbook 2003–2004
• Janes, Land Based Air Defense 2005–2006
• Shunkov V. N. – The Weapons of the Red Army, Mn. Harvest, 1999 (Шунков В. Н. – Оружие Красной Армии. — Мн.: Харвест, 1999.) ISBN 985-433-469-4
• Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 377. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.

На других языках

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[de] Automatische 37-mm-Flugabwehrkanone M1939 (61-K)

Die 37-mm-Flak M1939 war eine Flugabwehrkanone des Kalibers 37 mm aus sowjetischer Produktion. Die russische Bezeichnung lautet 37-мм автоматическая зенитная пушка образца 1939 года (61-К) .mw-parser-output .Latn{font-family:"Akzidenz Grotesk","Arial","Avant Garde Gothic","Calibri","Futura","Geneva","Gill Sans","Helvetica","Lucida Grande","Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande","Stone Sans","Tahoma","Trebuchet","Univers","Verdana"}37-mm awtomatitscheskaja senitnaja puschka obrasza 1939 goda (61-K) und bedeutet „automatische 37-mm-Flugabwehrkanone Modell 1939 (61-K)“.

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- [en] 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)

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[it] 37 mm M1939 (61-K)

Il 37 M1939 (61-K), denominato ufficialmente in russo 37-мм автоматическая зенитная пушка образца 1939 года (61-К),[1] era un cannone automatico antiaereo sviluppato alla fine degli anni trenta ed usato durante la seconda guerra mondiale. La versione terrestre fu sostituita nell'Armata rossa dal ZSU-57-2 negli anni cinquanta. Questi cannoni furono usati con successo su tutto il fronte orientale contro i bombardieri in picchiata ed altri velivoli a media e bassa quota. L'arma era efficace anche contro veicoli blindati leggeri. I serventi dei cannoni da 37 mm abbatterono 14.657 aerei dell'Asse,[2] con una media di 905 colpi a velivolo abbattuto.[2]

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[ru] 37-мм автоматическая зенитная пушка образца 1939 года (61-К)

37-мм автомати́ческая зени́тная пу́шка образца́ 1939 го́да (61-К) (индекс ГРАУ — 52-П-167) — советская зенитная пушка периода Великой Отечественной войны. Разработана на основе шведской 40-мм пушки Bofors[1]. Главный конструктор — М. Н. Логинов. Являлось первой советской автоматической зенитной пушкой, запущенной в крупносерийное производство. На базе 61-К было создано семейство корабельных зенитных орудий, эта пушка устанавливалась на первые советские серийные самоходные зенитные установки на гусеничном шасси ЗСУ-37. 37-мм зенитные пушки 61-К активно использовались в течение всей Великой Отечественной войны, в течение долгого времени состояли на вооружении Советской Армии. Помимо борьбы со штурмовиками, истребителями-бомбардировщиками и пикирующими бомбардировщиками, 61-К в 1941 году использовались и как противотанковые орудия. В послевоенное время многие орудия были поставлены за рубеж и в составе иностранных армий приняли участие в различных послевоенных конфликтах. На вооружении армий многих государств 61-К находятся и по сей день.

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