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57x348SR cartridges for the S-60 anti aircraft gun.

pzgr40

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
At the end of WW2 the Sowjet union started with the design of an anti aircraft gun to replace the obsolete 37mm gun. This became the 57mm S-60 anti aircraft gun. It was introduced for service in 1950 in about all Warshaw pact coutries. The gun could also be used against lightly armoured targets.
An S-60 anti aircraft battery normally consisted of six guns, a radar and a fire control director. The effective range with a radar operated gun is 6.000 mtr (20.000 ft), with an optical sight 4.000 mtr (13000 ft). The radar aimed version made many casualties with US planes in Vietnam.
The ammunition is fed in clips with four cartridges and the rate of fire is 120 rpm.

The mechanized version of this gun was the ZSU-57-2, where two S-60 guns (now renamed S-68) were placed in a open turret, placed on a T54 tank chasis. In the turret 316 rounds of ammo were stored. The big disadvantage of the ZSU-57-2 however was that it was not radar guided and used an optical sight only, a big disadvantage against high speed jet aircraft. Therefore, by 1980 it was phased out and replaced by medium range anti aircraft missiles.

The naval version of this gun is the AK-725 AA gun, introduced in 1958. It was placed in single, double and quadriple mounts called ZIF-31 on many destroyers. On naval ships the gun(s) were belt fed.


On the top of the pictures, the cutaway model of a UOR-281 High explosive tracer shell. The shell body is made from mild steel and a tracer element is screwed into the base of the projectile. The projectile has an explosive charge of 154 grams A-IX-2, placed in the projectile as three pressed in cilinders of exlosives.The shell is fuzed with the MG-57 impact fuze with pyrotechnic self destruct.

The nose fuze MG-57consists of a fuze body where the spring suspended firing pin is placed in top. Below that the safety and arming mechanism is placed, below that the –brass- pyrotechnic self destruct mechanism. The base the fuze is closed by the detonator, screwed in the base. The safety and arming mechanism consists of a steel housing with a rotor. The rotor is a vertically placed disc with the duplex detonator, however rotated 30 degrees off-centerline, so the firing pin cannot reach the duplex detonator in any way. To rotate, the rotor has two small radial axis, placed half in the rotor housing, half in the center of the rotor disc, allowing the rotor to rotate the dupex detonator in the centerline.To prevent the rotor from arming (rotating) before firing, two radial placed safety’s are present, both short pins that protrude into the rotor for a few mm from opposite sides. The first pin is springloaded and swings outward when the shell is fired and the pin is swung outward by the centrifugal force. The pin on the opposite side has a grain of black powder placed behind it, preventing it from moving outward. Beside this pin with the powder grain, a longitiudal hole is drilled with a small firing pin at the base, a spring on top, followd by a cup with a firing cap. Beside the small firing pin two holes are drilled, one to the side to enable the flame to reach the safety, and one downward to ignite the pyrotechnic self detruct mechanism. At the center of the pyrotechnic self detruct mechanism a heat sensitive detonator is placed that reacts on either the flame of the self destruct mechanism, either the flame of the duplex detonator in the rotor.

Upon firing, the firing cap in the longitidal hole moves backward into the small firing pin and ignites. The flame of the firing cap travels through both holes and ignites the powder grain behind the radial safety pin, -allowing it to move outward if the powder grain has burned away- , and ignites the starting point of the pyrotechnic self destruct mechanism. The spring loaed radial safety pin also moved outward, and the rotor is released. Due to the centrifugal force, the heaviest part of the rotor swings outward, rotating the rotor from 30 degrees offline in to line. The fuze is now fully armed. Upon impact, the firing pin wil hit the duplx detonator, starting the exlosive chain. If no target is hit, the pyrotechnic delay will ignite the heat sensitive detonator in it’s center, starting the explosive chain.

Weight projectile 2,850 Kg
Weight bursting charge 154 grams
Vo: 1,000 mtrs/sec

On the bottom of the pictures, the cutaway model of a 57x348 SR UBR-281/281U armour piercing high explosive shell. The projectile is a steel shot with a hardened nose. On top of this nose a soft steel piercing cap is soldered, which prevents the hardened steel nose from shattering upon impact. A ballistic cap is crimped over the piercing cap for better aerodynamic performance. In the base of the projectle a hole is drilled in which an explosive charge of 13 grams A-IX-2 is pressed. The MD-10 delay base fuze is screwed into the base of the projectile. This fuze consists of a fuze body with Tracer element No.2 fitted to it’s base. In top of the fuze body the detonator is placed, conisting of a steel housing with –from bottom to top- the pyrotechnic delay element, the detonator, and the booster charge (red).
Inside the fuze body, the firing cap is placed inside the inertia weight, which has an added lead ring to the base to increase weight. Around the top half of this inertia weight a interrupted ring (safety sleeve) is placed which can not move back in safe condition. This prevents the firing cap from moving forward into the firing pin. The firing pin consists of a disc with the firing pin facing downward. A slanted hole is drilled through the disc, allowing the flame of the firing cap to pass through the disc. A spring is placed between the inertia weight and the firing pin disc, keeping both apart after firing, enshuring the fuze will not function when hitting small branches or foilage.

Functioning of the base fuze MD-10:
Upon firing, the interrupted ring moves backward due to inertia, moving over the inertia weight with the firing cap. The pressure spring between the inertia weight and the firing pindisc is the only thing left keeping the firing cap and firing pin away from one another. Upon impact, the assembly of inertia weight and safety sleeve moves forward due to desceleration, riding the spring and pushing the firing cap into the firing pin. The flame of the firing cap moves through the slanted hole into the small hole (appr 0.1mm dia.) of the delay element, igniting the black powder fuze that enshures a short delay, enabeling the projectile to pierce the armour before exploding inside the target. The flame of the delay element ignites the detonator, which ignites the booster charge (red), which ignites the 13 grams charge of A-IX-2.
The UBR-281 and -281U are loaded with the same projectile and differ only by details in case mouth and swage grooves.

Weight of the projectile: 2,82 Kg
Vo: 1.000 mtrs/sec
Colour, grey with black stenceling
Penetration;96 mm RHA at 1,000 m range or 106 mm at 500 m.

Shellcases are made from Silicon-brass, Brass, either steel. Shellcases made from silicon-brass have a “K” stamped in the base stamp. Silicon-brass can easly be recognized as it looks very yellowish and does not have the darker patina of normal Brass.
All cartridges have a powder charge of 1,180 kg smokeless powder, consisting of sticks 7mm in diameter and 11mm long. A bag of fine powder is placed in the base to enhure fast ignition of all powder in the shellcase.
A length of lead wire is placed in top of the shellcase for decoppering purposes. Upon firing, each shot leaves a residue copper in the lands and grooves of the barrel. When firing a shot the lead vapourizes and forms an hard alloy with the copper residue in the barrel. The next shot pushes the hard and brittle alloy out of the barrel, leaving it clean.

The 57mm S60 AAA is in use by the following countries:
Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bulgaria, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Czech republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Hungary, India, Iraq, Laos, Lybia, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Nicuaragua, Poland, Romania, Sahrawi Republic, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Free Syrain army, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Yemen.

Former users:
Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, China, Finland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kampuchea, Kyrgyzistan, Morroco, Mozambique, Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand, Vietnam, Zambia.

The ZSU-57-2 Mechanized AAA is in use by the following countries:
Algeria, Angola, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Hungary, Indonesia, North Korea, Mozambique, Sudan, Syria, Vietnam.

Forme users:
Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, East Germany, Iran, Iraq, Polans, Republika Srpska, Romania, Slovenia, Sowjet Union, North Vietnam, South Vietnam (captured) Yugoslavia.

On You tube one can find some interesting movies when looking for “S60 anti aircraft gun “ and “ZSU-57-2”;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJT42DQtG0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nHr7NIBsw4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdktM6evwVA

Regards, DJH
 

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  • Pict 04 - MG-57 nose fuze.jpg
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  • Pict 07 - 57mm S60 AAA.jpg
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Excelent job as always DJ, thank You.
Czech Republic officialy retired the S60 on 31st December 1994, in Slovakia the weapon was used for a bit longer.

Bob
 
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