45 mm/89 SM-20-ZIF (45 mm)

SM-20-ZIF on Spokoinyy

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Blagorodnyy
• Neustrashimy
• Shcherbakov
• Spokoinyy

General info

The 45 mm/89 SM-20-ZIF weapon system is a unique multi-purpose system mounted on the Spokoinyy and Neustrashimy Cold War destroyers. It is essentially the up-calibred equivalent to the 40 mm Bofors autocannon seen in the vast majority of American vessels and modern German vessels and the 2pdr QF autocannons mounted on British vessels. The enhanced platform it is mounted on gives a substantial upgrade to targeting speeds. They are unique 45 mm multi-purpose systems that excel at AA duties and destruction of light armour.

Available ammunition

The SM-20-ZIF has access to a single set of ammunition: HEF and HEF-T*. While HEF only, these rounds prove a significant challenge for lightly armoured targets. The fast rate of fire (~120 RPM per cannon, ~480 RPM per turret) poses a significant threat for anyone in range. It not only can cripple external modules like funnels, turrets, bridge and the like but it will reduce the crew count at an impressively fast rate at close ranges. It does not have access to AP-T or HE-VT like its 40 mm counterparts.

• Universal: HEF · HEF-T*

Penetration statistics
Shell	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	100 m	1,000 m	2,000 m	3,000 m	4,000 m	5,000 m
HEF	4	4	4	4	4	4
HEF-T	4	4	4	4	4	4

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEF	1,080	1.41	0	0.1	83.16	79°	80°	81°
HEF-T	1,080	1.41	0	0.1	92.4	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

40 mm/70 MEL58 - Despite the fact the SM-20-ZIF has a higher calibre, the uses and performance per gun are not significantly different. Both share a fairly similar rate of fire (~120 RPM vs ~300 RPM) in proportion to calibre. However, when both are set on their respective mounts, a clear difference in performance emerges, especially when comparing their respective platforms. The SM-20-ZIF are mounted in a quad-cannon turret with 4 turrets per ship while the MEL58 are mounted in a double-cannon turret with 2 turrets per ship. This results in a cumulative fire rate of 1,920 RPM for SM-20-ZIF while the MEL58 can fire 1,200 RPM. The SM-20-ZIF nearly doubles the amount of RPM. While it is harder to aim and to perform against aircraft due to the lack of HE-VT*, the amount of rounds the SM-20-ZIF can put in the air makes the chances of hitting the target more likely than using HE-VT*, as well as being cover a far wider area instead of a focused spot in the air.

2pdr QF Mk.VIII - It is pretty much straight forward that the SM-20-ZIF has overall better performance as a Cold War weapon system compared to a WW2 weapon system. While this is true, the fact it the 2pdr can carry and use AP ammunition compared to the HEF restricted belt makes a significant change in uses as the 2pdr is able to pierce thicker armour at the cost of explosive filler.

Bofors L/60 Mark 2 - While all the Bofors generally stay the same (with exception of the MEL58 that has an increased fire rate), the Mark 2 is the closest counterpart to the SM-20-ZIF as this is a quad mount. Performance-wise, nothing that hasn't been discussed before in terms of ammunition, targeting and rate of fire. While close to what the SM-20-ZIF is able to achieve (~150 RPM per gun, ~2,400 RPM mounted in 4 turrets), the higher calibre makes a tough competitor against the Mark 2 series only as it is a quad mount.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The 45mm SM-20-ZIF is an early Cold War era Soviet naval anti-aircraft gun, developed from 1946 to 1952. These quadruple 45mm guns were designed to provide a greater range and firepower than World War 2-era Soviet anti-aircraft guns. The SM-20-ZIF proved to be a quantum leap in anti-aircraft firepower, and in turn, became quickly obsolete itself.

The SM-20-ZIF was normally employed using central fire control systems fed by the Fut-B radar. Alternatively, local fire control was available by means of a collimator sight. The maximum target speed was 300 m/s, making these gun mounts of limited use against supersonic targets. The alternating firing sequence increased dispersion, which was valued in an anti-aircraft weapon. This proved to increase chances to hit with manual control but was disadvantageous with central fire control at longer ranges.

The SM-20-ZIF was used on several Soviet early Cold War era destroyer designs such as Project 41 Neustrashimy and Project 56 Spokoinyy, with more than 100 gun mounts entering service. The introduction of supersonic aircraft and anti-ship missiles saw the introduction of the AK-230 close-in weapon system. This design proved to be more compact and also more effective as a defensive weapon. The twin 57mm AK-725 introduced less than a decade after the SM-20-ZIF is of similar size and weight, but is more effective against both surface and aerial targets.

In 1952, a ZIF-68 quad mount was developed to replace the V-11 autocannon mounts on the upcoming Project 68bis-ZIF light cruisers. In 1954 the mount was tested and by 1955 thirty mounts were built. These were nearly identical to SM-20-ZIF but used direct current electrical motors for compatibility with the final batch of Project 68bis-ZIF cruisers. Seven cruisers were supposed to receive the ZIF-68 mount, but in 1959 all were canceled, and the mounts were placed in storage as they were too big to install in destroyers or similar warships.

Media

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See also

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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 · 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
	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)