45 mm/89 SM-21-ZIF (45 mm)

SM-21-ZIF on MPK Pr.201K

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• MPK Pr.201K

General info

The 45mm/89 SM-21-ZIF is a postwar Soviet 45 mm naval autocannon mounting. It uses the same cannon as the SM-20-ZIF mount, but in a single mount rather than a quadruple mount. The simplest comparison to make is with the Swedish 40 mm Bofors gun: a hard-hitting, high velocity autocannon with a mediocre rate of fire.

Available ammunition

The SM-21-ZIF has one ammunition belt choice: alternating 45 mm HEF and HEF-T*. The tracer round, besides helping you aim, contains slightly more explosive filler: 54 grams A-IX-2 for the non-tracer round versus 60 grams A-IX-2 for the tracer round. Both rounds have a considerable amount of explosive power and have an excellent muzzle velocity of 1,080 m/s.

Comparison with analogues

Bofors (40 mm) (Family): The ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm L/60 loses out to the SM-21-ZIF in terms of muzzle velocity and explosive power. However, the L/60 gun has a better rate of fire and access to AP ammunition. This allows it to engage targets with armour that are too strong for the SM-21-ZIF to damage effectively, such as the SF40 Light. Overall, they have the same practical effectiveness against light targets, but the SM-21-ZIF can generally be considered superior for most use cases.

On the other hand, the Bofors 40 mm L/70 (as found on Hugin, for example) can generally be considered to be in the same class as, or even superior to, the SM-21-ZIF. Advantages of the L/70 gun include access to HE-VT ammunition, higher rate of fire, and overall having more explosive mass in both of its ammunition choices. The ZIF has comparable explosive effect with slightly higher velocity and is less prone to overheating, as well as being found at a much lower Battle Rating.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful high-explosive shells
• Excellent muzzle velocity
• Takes a long time to overheat

Cons:

• Somewhat low rate of fire
• No protection for gun crew or gun module
• No armour-piercing ammunition

History

This weapon was first designed in 1946 and was used in a number of experimental mountings made during 1946-50. The first was the SM-21 single gun mount made in 1947-48 and tested in 1949. This was found to be deficient in many areas and was cancelled. The requirements were then rewritten and a new design was produced accordingly. A prototype was completed by the end of 1950 and tested in 1951. This proved more successful and the mount was accepted into service in 1954. Additional designs for the SM-16 stabilized twin mount, the SM-17 unstablized twin mount plus others using this gun did not go into production.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• 45 mm/89 SM-20-ZIF (45 mm)

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 · 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)