AK-725 (57 mm)

AK-725 (57 mm) on Pr.206-M

Description

The 57 mm AK-725 is a Soviet naval cannon.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• MPK Pr.204
• Pr.206-M

General info

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Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		100 m	1,000 m	2,000 m	3,000 m	4,000 m	5,000 m
BR-281U	APCBC	147	119	100	87	77	70
OR-281U	HEF-I	5	5	5	5	5	5

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-281U	APCBC	1,000	2.8	1.2	20.0	20.02	48°	63°	71°
OR-281U	HEF-I	1,000	2.8	0.3	0.1	235.6	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate of fire
• HE shells are good for taking out small and medium size boats

Cons:

• Prone to overheating
• Long cooldown time after overheating
• Long reload time

History

The problems with the 57 mm ZIF-31 and ZIF-71 mountings prompted the Navy in 1956 to issue a request for a completely new weapon system in this caliber. The prototype was constructed in 1959 and by 1960 was going through proofing tests. One of the problems noted during these tests was that the barrels had short lives, so new and improved barrels were designed which increased barrel life to over 750 rounds. The mount was officially accepted into service in 1964 as the AK-725.

The AK-725 had twin water cooled ZIF-74 barrels, which were modified to use belt ammunition, thus allowing for longer firing periods before reloading. Compared to the ZIF-71, this new weapon could fire bursts twice as long and had 80% less cooling time between bursts. Each belt contains 550 rounds and the first round needs to be manually chambered. The AK-725 was controlled by the ESP-72 fire control system, which was itself controlled by the MP-103 Bars radar. In an emergency, the turret can be used manually via a simple optical gunsight. This mount was in production from 1961 to 1988.

This weapon was not considered to be effective against anti-ship missiles, as was evidenced by a training accident in 1987 when a missile drone accidentally targeted the Small Missile Ship Musson. Musson was firing its AK-725 mount right up until the moment of impact, but was unable to hit the missile. The ship was destroyed by the resulting fire, with 39 crewmen killed.

The barrel was of monobloc construction with vertical blade type breech. Recoil operated with water-cooled barrels. Both barrels were mounted on a common cradle. The turret itself is unarmored but was hermetically sealed with 6 mm (0.24 in) thick aluminum sides.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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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)