45 mm/68 21-KM (45 mm)

Description

The 21-KM is an upgraded variant of the 21-K (45 mm) with a longer barrel and thus higher muzzle velocity.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• BMO
• MBK-161 late
• MO-4

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 37mm anti-gun prototype made by Rheinmetall. The Soviet Union, needing an anti-gun but lacking the know-how to make one, turned Germany and the two nations agreed in secret to have German companies develop Soviet artillery designs to bypass the Treaty of Versailles armament restrictions. The result was the 37mm 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 45mm anti-tank gun M1932 which scaled up the gun barrel to 45mm 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 The 19-K would be developed into the 21-K as an anti-aircraft weapon for the Soviet Navy, but the gun would be superseded by the automatic 70-K as the main naval anti-aircraft gun in 1942.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 45mm anti-tank gun M1942 (M-42) for the Red Army which was effectively a longer barrelled variant of the 19-K. The longer barrelled 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

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

• 21-K (45 mm): Original naval cannon
• 20-K (45 mm): Tank variant

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

USSR naval cannons
20 mm	ShVAK
25 mm	2M-3
30 mm	AK-230 · 30 mm/54 AK-630 · 30 mm/54 AK-630M · 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
356 mm	14-inch/52 pattern 1913 (356 mm)
	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)