20-K (45 mm)

Description

The 45 mm 20-K is a Soviet tank cannon, equipped on a number of rank I tanks. It is a decent gun for its rank, and can still be useful in uptiers due to its high-penetrating APCR shell.

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

• BR-240: APHEBC - This should be the main ammo type that you use, as it deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
• BR-240P: APCR - This shell should only be used against more heavily armoured targets that the BR-240 cannot penetrate.
• BR-240SP: APBC - It is recommended to avoid this kind of shell as it is inferior in most aspects compared to the BR-240P ammo.
• O-243: HE - Carry only very few of these. They are useless against anything other than unarmoured AA vehicles.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BR-240	APHEBC	70	67	58	47	39	32
BR-240P	APCR	94	87	64	43	29	20
BR-240SP	APBC	73	70	60	50	41	34
O-240	HE	4	4	4	4	4	4

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-240	APHEBC	760	1.43	1.2	9	29.26	48°	63°	71°
BR-240P	APCR	985	0.85	-	-	-	66°	70°	72°
BR-240SP	APBC	757	1.43	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
O-240	HE	335	2.14	0.1	0.4	118	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

The 45 mm 20-K is a decent gun for its rank. In downtiers, it is a very effective and lethal weapon, and can take out most tanks with 1-2 shots. However, in uptiers, it will be more difficult to take out tanks because of the relatively small calibre. However, this doesn't mean that you are useless. The APCR round is capable of penetrating most rank II vehicles, however the post-penetration damage is poor due to the lack of an explosive filler.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent penetration
• Short reload time
• Has access to APCR with 104 mm of penetration at point-blank
• Shells have a medium-high velocity, makes aiming easier

Cons:

• Due to the small calibre, post-penetration effects are bad
• APHEBC rounds will have trouble

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

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

See also

• Germany - 50 mm KwK L/42
• USA - 37 mm M6
• Great Britain - 57 mm OQF 6-pounder Mk.III

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)

Sweden tank cannons
20 mm	Akan m/47D · Pvlvkan m/40
37 mm	kan m/38
40 mm	akan m/70B
57 mm	Pvkan m/43
75 mm	kan m/02 · kan m/41 · kan Strv 74 · lvkan m/37 A · pvkan m/43
84 mm	kan Strv 81
90 mm	kan Ikv 91
105 mm	kan Bofors · kan Ikv · kan m/44 · kan Strv 101 · L74
120 mm	automatkanon · CTG · kan Strv 121 · kan Strv 122
150 mm	fsthaub m/02
155 mm	kan m/60
	Foreign:
35 mm	Bushmaster 3 (USA)
73 mm	2A28 (USSR)
75 mm	M3 (USA)
88 mm	KwK43 (Germany)
105 mm	L/50 (Belgium) · L7A3 (Germany)
125 mm	2A46M-1 (USSR)
155 mm	CN98 (South Korea)
	Finland
37 mm	Psv.K/36
114 mm	Psv.H/18
	Foreign:
30 mm	Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
75 mm	KwK40 L48 (Germany)
76 mm	D-56TS (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · L-10 (USSR)
77 mm	OQF Mk.II (Britain)
84 mm	20pdr OQF Mk.I (Britain)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
100 mm	D-10T (USSR) · D-10T2S (USSR)
105 mm	L/50 (Belgium)
120 mm	Rh120 L/44 (Germany) · Rh120 L/55 (Germany)
125 mm	2A46 (USSR)