VYa-23 (23 mm)

Description

The 23 mm VYa-23 (short for Volkov-Yartsev 23) is a Soviet aircraft autocannon used mainly in the Ilyushin 2 series of attack aircraft. It was developed in 1940 with the purpose of piercing through German armour.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• IL-2 (1942)
• ▀IL-2 (1942)
• IL-2M (1943)
• IL-2M type 3
• IL-2M "Avenger"
• IL-8 (1944)
• IL-10
• Su-6
• Su-6 (AM-42) (Modification)

General info

The VYa-23 has a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, considered high for its time and for its calibre. Thanks to its calibre, it can pierce through the roof of most tanks from the top, making it capable of disabling or destroying most light tanks and self propelled anti-air vehicles. However, the development of the VYa was not continued due to its low anti-tank capacity. For this purpose, the IL-2 would be fit with the 37 mm NS-37.

Available ammunition

• Default: FI-T · AP-I
• Universal: FI · FI-T · AP-I
• Armoured targets: AP-I · AP-I · AP-I · FI-T

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	46	42	29	19	12	8
Universal	46	42	29	19	12	8
Armoured targets	46	42	29	19	12	8

Comparison with analogues

The VYa 23 is one of the best Soviet anti-tank cannons. Although other autocannons from the Soviet Union have similar calibres and are more prevalent, they do not share similar penetration. The Soviet SH-37, NS-37, and NS-45 cannons have a higher penetration with similar damage at the cost of a lower rate of fire. Only two automatic cannons, the German 30 mm MK-103 and 15 mm MG151, surpass the VYa both in terms of penetration and in rate of fire.

Usage in battles

In ground mixed battles, it can be used to support tanks by destroying motors or fuel tanks as well as destroy light tanks and SPAAs. In air realistic battles, it can easily destroy light pillboxes by aiming to the top of them making them a great threat to the enemy, as well as any soft ground targets (AA emplacement, artillery position, MG nest).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate of fire
• Good penetration
• Good damage to light and open-topped tanks
• High damage against planes

Cons:

• Can run out of ammo very quickly
• Can get jammed easily

History

The Spanish Civil War showed the Soviet Union that machine gun armed aircraft were no longer sufficient in the ongoing development race for aerial combat. This resulted in the 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun being succeeded by the 20 mm ShVAK cannon. However, the 20 mm cartridge developed for that cannon was found to be underwhelming as well. The Soviets soon requested for a new cartridge in the 23 mm calibre that had enough power to enable the aircraft to engage ground targets. The development of the 23 mm cannon was led by OKB-14, OKB-16, and TsKB-14.

A VYa cannon on display.

TsKB-14 in Tula would design the TKB-201 cannon in 06 May 1940. Developed by A.A. Volkov and S.A. Yartsev, it was essentially a scaled-up Berezin machine gun. First tested in German Bf 110 fighters before being installed in IL-2s, TsKB-14's TKB-201 cannon competed against OKB-16's MP-6 cannon design and ultimately won out for being able to better manage the 23 mm cartridge's recoil. In May 1941, the TKB-201 would be accepted as the VYa cannon (after the designers Volkov and Yartsev). The weapon would see mass production from 1942 to 1947, primarily for the role as the main armament of the IL-2 Sturmovik attack aircraft and the succeeding IL-10.

The VYa cannon also piqued the interest of the Soviet Navy, which valued its higher rate of fire than their 25 mm 84-K guns. In 1944, OKB-43 was assigned to develop single, twin, and quad barrel mounts for the VYa. These mounts, known as U-23 (single), 2-U-23 (twin) and 4-U-23 (quad), were all evaluated in 1944. 2-U-23 and 4-U-23 was sufficient enough to warrant adoption and installation on Soviet motor torpedo boats. These VYa naval cannons would see combat up until the end of the Soviet Union before being immediately removed from service due to being ineffective for their intended role.

The VYa autocannon's cartridge would continue to see use in the post war era as well in weapons such as the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun.

Media

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

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Airpages. n.d. "VYa-23: An aviation cannon of system Volkov-Yartcev." Aviation of Word War II. Accessed December 27, 2021. Webpage (Archive)
• DiGiulian, Tony and Vladimir Yakubov. 2017. "23 mm/71.7 (0.91") VYa." NavWeaps. Last modified February 27, 2017. Webpage (Archive)
• Heinz, Thomas. 2000. "VYa 23mm cannon." Russian Aviation Museum. Last modified May 07, 2000. Webpage (Archive)
• Koll, Christian. 2009. Soviet Cannon: A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Guns and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7MM to 57 MM. Austria: self-published.