DShK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DShK | |
|---|---|
 DShK 1938 in Batey ha-Osef museum, Israel. |
|
| Type | heavy machine gun |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Soviet Union |
| Wars | WW2 |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1938 |
| Variants | DShKM |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 34 kg (gun only) 157 kg on wheeled mounting |
| Length | 1625 mm |
| Barrel length | 1070 mm |
|
|
|
| Cartridge | 12.7 x 109 mm |
| Caliber | 12.7 |
| Action | gas |
| Rate of fire | 600 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 850 m/s |
| Feed system | belt 50 rounds |
The DShK 1938 (ДШК, for Дегтярёва Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova Shpagina Krupnokaliberniy, 'Degtyarev-Shpagin Large-Calibre') is a Soviet heavy anti-aircraft machine gun firing 12.7×107 mm Soviet cartridges, also used at some times as a heavy machine gun for infantry use, in which case it was frequently seen on a two-wheeled mounting with a single-sheet armour-plate gun shield.
It took its name from the weapons designers Vasily Degtyarev, who designed the original weapon, and Georgi Shpagin, who improved the feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dushka, from the abbreviation.
[edit] History
The requirement for a heavy AA machine gun appeared in 1929. The first such gun, the Degtyarev, Krupnocalibernyi (DK, Degtyarev, Large calibre), was built in 1930 and this gun was produced in small quantities from 1933 to 1935.
The gun was fed from a drum magazine of only thirty rounds, and had a poor rate of fire. Shpagin developed a belt feed mechanism to fit to the DK giving rise, in 1938, to the adoption of the gun as the DShK 1938. This became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun in World War II.
The DShK 1938 was used in several roles. As an anti-aircraft weapon it was mounted on pintle and tripod mounts, and on a triple mount on the GAZ-AA truck. Late in the war, it was mounted on the cupolas of IS-2 tanks and ISU-152 self-propelled guns. As an Infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley, similar to that developed by Sokolov for the 1910 Maxim gun. It was also mounted in vehicle turrets, for example, in the T-40 light amphibious tank.
In 1946, the DShK 1938/46 or DShKM (M for modernised) version was introduced.
In addition to the Soviet Union and Russia, the DShK has been manufactured by a number of countries, including China, Pakistan and Romania. It has largely been phased out in favour of the more modern "NSV" and "Kord" designs.
As an example of its fire power, the DShK family can engage a wide variety of targets, including armor vehicles, as proven in both Iraqi wars.
There is a reference, contained in the following link
[1], about an M1a2 tank, Bumper # B-24, part of TF-1-64 AR, hit in its EAPU (external auxiliary power unit) by what the analysts believed was 12.7 mm fire, the same caliber of the Type NSV or DShK machinegun[2]. This Abrams was damaged at the gates of Baghdad International Airport on April 4 2003, just an hour before an intensive counter-attack by Republican Guard Units took place there.
The machinegun could have been mounted on light infantry vehicles, such as the BRDM wheeled APC (armoured personnel carrier) family or in tanks like T-62s or T-55s. Even a T-72 Asad Babil mounting an NSV may have done the damage.
The BRDM-2 is fitted with an even higher caliber weapon (14.5 mm), the KPV heavy machine gun, which has the same armour-piercing capabilities of the NSV/DShK. The M1 caught fire in the main engine, and was later stripped of parts in a maintenance area.
[edit] See also
- The Browning M2 machine gun is the American counterpart of the DShK.
[edit] External links
- DShK and DShKM at guns.ru.
| Soviet infantry weapons of World War II |
|---|
| Side-arms |
| TT-33 | Nagant M1895 |
| Rifles & carbines |
| AVS36 | SVT40 | Mosin-Nagant |
| Submachine guns |
| PPD-40 | PPSh-41 | PPS-43 |
| Grenades |
| F1 | RGD-33 | RG-41 | RG-42 | RPG-43 |
| Machine guns & other larger weapons |
| M1910 Maxim | DS-39 | DP | SG-43 Gorunov | DShK | PTRD | PTRS ROKS-2/ROKS-3 |
