152 mm cannon-howitzer D-20: description, photo

After the Great Patriotic War, Soviet designers were given the task of replacing the obsolete gun-howitzer ML-20 of 1937 with a more sophisticated one. Soon in Yekaterinburg, employees of the Special Design Bureau designed a new artillery towed gun. Today it is known as the 152 mm gun-howitzer D-20. Its serial production in 1955 engaged workers Volgograd plant number 221.

Beginning of design work

Soviet gunsmiths sought to create a "corps duplex" - an installation containing identical blocks of artillery systems. According to the designers, this should significantly reduce production costs and positively affect during operation or repair: artillery guns will always be provided with the necessary spare parts. The 152 mm D-20 howitzer, which at that time was listed as the D-72, was designed simultaneously with the D-74 gun of 122 mm caliber. As a result, after the design improvements, it was decided for the D-20 to use a slightly modernized carriage, as in the 122 mm howitzer.

What is a D-20 howitzer?

This artillery gun contains the following elements:

• One-piece pipe;
• Breezy;
• Clutch;
• Two - chamber muzzle brake.

152 mm cannon-howitzer D-20 is a field artillery gun, for which the properties of a cannon and howitzer are characteristic. Unlike a conventional gun, the length of the barrel of this gun is smaller, but with large elevation angles. The installation differs from the classical howitzer with the increased range of fire.

Device

152-mm gun-howitzer D-20 contains a semi-automatic vertical wedge gate, which refers to the mechanical type. Despite the fact that the same gun carriage is used in the D-20 and D-74, in both artillery pieces it has different diameters of the front cage and the profiles of the brake retraction spindle. In the D-20 it is hydraulic, equipped with a spring compressor. The filler for the brake was Stoel-M, which is also provided for the hydropneumatic driller. For the fastening of the brake cylinders, special barrel clips have been developed that roll back simultaneously with the barrel itself.

152-mm gun-howitzer mounted on welded box frames. With the help of sub-skating rinks, rolling of artillery guns is carried out for short distances. The main wheels used are trucks YAAZ.

Mechanisms

In the D-20, with a lifting mechanism designed for one sector, vertical guidance is provided from -5 to +63 degrees. The left part of the gun became the place for the screw turn mechanism. Guidance D-20 in the horizontal plane is designed for 58 degrees. The gun is equipped with a pneumatic balancing mechanism. It represents two identical columns and refers to the push type. As a support for the artillery gun used a special pallet, which is attached to the lower machine.

Ammunition for a cannon howitzer

This artillery cannon is charged:

• Nuclear projectiles 3ВБ3.
• Chemical.
• Shells containing arrow-like attacking elements.
• Incendiary.
• Cumulative-fragmentation.
• High-explosive fragmentation ОФ-32. The firing range of these munitions exceeds 17 km.

The D-20 cannon is the first Soviet artillery system that uses tactical nuclear munitions. Also, it is adapted for firing removed at this time from weapons chemical charges.

Tactical and technical characteristics

• The country of origin is the USSR.
• The type of gun refers to cannon-howitzers.
• Year of manufacture - 1950.
• The caliber of the D-20 is 152 mm.
• The barrel has a length of 5.2 m.
• The length of the entire cannon is 8.62 m.
• The width is 2.4 m.
• Combat calculation consists of ten people.
• The cannon weighs 5.64 tons.
• The D-20 is capable of performing six sighting shots for one minute.
• On the asphalt road, the gun is transported at a speed of 60 km / h.
• The D-20 is used by the armed forces of Algeria, Afghanistan, Hungary, Egypt, India, China, Nicaragua, Ethiopia and the CIS countries.

Conclusion

The artillery system D-20 for a long time was in service with more than thirty states. Installation was considered the first 152 mm gun, using a semi-automatic wedge gate. On the basis of the D-20, a number of modifications have been made. One of them was ACU "Acacia", which replaced the obsolete system D-20, which is now written off and is not in the arsenal of the Russian army.