Information About

Zsu-57-2




  Caption ZSU-57-2 in Yad la-Shiryon museum, Israel
  origin Soviet Union
  type Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Gun
  is Vehicle yes
  Length 622 m
  Width 327 m
  Height 275 m
  Weight 28 t
  Suspension Torsion Bar
  Speed 50 km/h
  Vehicle Range 420 km
  Primary Armament 2 x 57 mm L/69 S-60 autocannons <br>316 rounds
  Armour 15 mm
  Engine Model V-54, V-12 water cooled Diesel
  Engine Power 520 hp (388 kW)
  Pw Ratio 186 hp/tonne
  Crew 6


The ZSU-57-2 was a Soviet Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Gun armed with two 57 mm Autocannon s. ZSU stands for ''Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' - anti-aircraft self-propelled mount.


HISTORY

The vehicle entered service in 1955 and remained in production until 1960 . The vehicle carried a S-68 cannon (developed by V. G. Grabin 's team in the NII-58; consists of two 57 mm L/69 S-60 Autocannon s) in a large open-topped Turret mounted on a modified T-54 tank chassis. The guns elevated from -5° to +85° at 20° per second, and the turret could traverse 360 degrees, at 30° per second.

The cannon was capable of firing up to 120 FRAG-T (Fragmentation-Tracer) or APC-T (Armour-Piercing Capped-Tracer) rounds per minute from each barrel, with a sustained rate of fire of around 70 rounds per minute per barrel. Maximum horizontal range reached 12,000 m (with maximum effective range is around 4 km / 2.5 mi) and maximum altitude 8,000 m (maximum effective altitude around 4250 m / 14,000 ft). 316 rounds of ammunition were carried in the vehicle. Empty shell casings and clips were emptied into a metal basket on the back of the turret via a conveyor. The Fire-control System was purely optical (no Radar ).

The ZSU-57-2 saw action for the first time in the Vietnam War , in use by Vietnam People's Army . Iran used ZSU-57-2s in the Iran-Iraq War . Like many other self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, it was often used against ground targets. The anti-aircraft performance of the ZSU-57-2, however, was quickly found to be unsatisfactory. Its fire controls were not good enough, the rate of fire not high enough and the turret traverse not fast enough to effectively intercept jet aircraft at low altitudes (it must be noted that its Western counterpart, the M42 Duster armed with the famous Bofors 40 Mm Gun , had similar problems). Eventually the ZSU-57-2 was replaced with the ZSU-23-4 Shilka , which had a radar and was armed with smaller Caliber , faster-firing 23 mm cannons.


OPERATORS


The vehicle was sold or given to:


  • )Chinese Type 80 air defense tank has the same turret as the ZSU-57-2 mounted on a different amphibious chassis.

  • ---) North Korea developed a ZSU-57-2 variant based on the Chinese Type 59 tank chassis.



EXTERNAL LINKS