45 mm/68 21-KM (45 mm)
Contents
Description
The 45 mm/68 21-KM is an upgraded variant of the 45 mm/46 21-K with a longer barrel and thus higher muzzle velocity.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
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Available ammunition
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Comparison with analogues
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Usage in battles
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Pros and cons
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History
The 21-KM's story begins in 1926 with a 37 mm anti-tank gun prototype made by Rheinmetall. The Soviet Union, needing an anti-tank gun but lacking the know-how to make one, turned to Germany and the two nations agreed in secret to have German companies develop Soviet artillery designs to bypass the armament restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. The result was the 37 mm anti-tank gun M1930 (1-K), the Soviet Union's first dedicated anti-tank weapon and an early proof of concept of what would become the PaK L/45. Shortly after the 1-K began production in the Soviet Union in March of 1932, V. Bering at Factory No. 8 created the 19-K 45 mm anti-tank gun M1932 which scaled up the gun barrel to 45 mm for the economical reason that the Soviets had it in stock. The 19-K would be developed into the 21-K as an anti-aircraft weapon for the Soviet Navy, but the gun would be superseded by the automatic 70-K as the main naval anti-aircraft gun in 1942. The production of the 21-K however continued and that same year the No. 172 Plant in Motovilikha made the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1942 (M-42) for the Red Army which was effectively a longer barrelled variant of the 19-K. The variant was also adopted by the Soviet Navy as the 21-KM and by this point, production completely switched to monobloc barrels from the original built-up gun barrels. Production ended in 1947 just like the 21-K itself.
Media
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See also
- 45 mm/46 21-K (45 mm): Original naval cannon
- 45 mm 20-K (45 mm): Tank variant
External links
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- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| USSR naval cannons | |
|---|---|
| 20 mm | ShVAK |
| 25 mm | 2M-3 |
| 30 mm | AK-230 · 30 mm/54 AK-630 · BP "Plamya" |
| 37 mm | 37 mm/67 70-K · V-11 |
| 45 mm | 45 mm/46 21-K · 45 mm/68 21-KM · 45 mm/89 SM-20-ZIF · 45 mm/89 SM-21-ZIF |
| 57 mm | AK-725 |
| 75 mm | 75 mm/50 Canet patt.1892 |
| 76 mm | 34-K · 39-K · 76 mm/60 AK-176M · AK-726 · D-56TS · F-34 · Lender AA gun, pattern 1914/15 |
| 85 mm | 85 mm/52 92-K · 85 mm/54.6 ZIS-C-53 · 90-K |
| 100 mm | 100 mm/56 B-34 · 100 mm/70 SM-5-1 · Minizini |
| 102 mm | Pattern 1911 |
| 120 mm | 120 mm/50 pattern 1905 |
| 130 mm | 130 mm/55 pattern 1913 · 130 mm/58 SM-2-1 · B-13 |
| 152 mm | 152 mm/57 B-38 |
| 180 mm | 180 mm/57 B-1-P · 180 mm/60 B-1-K |
| 305 mm | 12-inch/52 pattern 1907 · 305 mm/54 B-50 |
| Foreign: | |
| 40 mm | 2pdr QF Mk.IIc (Britain) · Skoda (Czechoslovakia) |
| 47 mm | 3 pdr QF Hotchkiss (Britain) |
| 76 mm | 76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (Italy) |
| 88 mm | SK C/30 (Germany) |
| 120 mm | 120 mm/50 Mk.4 Bofors M1924 (Sweden) · 120 mm/50 O.T.O. Mod.1933 (Italy) |
| 152 mm | 152/53 mm O.T.O. Mod.1929 (Italy) |
| 320 mm | 320 mm/44 Ansaldo model 1934 (Italy) |
