Huge losses force the Ukrainian armed formations to return to service the old Soviet equipment, which was decommissioned about 30 years ago. We are talking about the well-known 57-mm AZP-57 guns of the S-60 anti-aircraft artillery complex.
Recently, in one of the propaganda reports of Ukrainian television made in the Kharkov area, such a cannon just lit up. Interestingly, a mobilized civilian truck with a body painted with blue paint, apparently ZiL-130, also known under the later designation ZiL-431410, is used as a tractor for its transfer.
The AZP-57 began to be tested back in 1946, and it entered service with the air defense units of the Soviet Army four years later.
Its mass in combat position is 4800 kg. With its help, you can hit air targets at an altitude of up to 5000 meters and a range of 6000 meters. However, the nationalists are likely to try to use these weapons to fire at ground targets. In this case, the application distance will be 4000 meters.
The initial velocity of a projectile weighing 2.8 kg reaches 1000 m/ s. Rate of fire: maximum - up to 120, and practical - 70 rounds per minute. The calculation is 8 people.
The gun is quite bulky by modern standards, it is much easier to detect than, for example, the 100-mm anti-tank gun 2A29 "Rapier".
In February 2020, it was reported that the Mi-24P combat helicopter of the Syrian army aviation received a direct hit by a shell fired by militants from the AZP-57 during a combat mission. Despite the damage received, the Russian-made "flying tank" managed to return to its base. After the reconstruction, he again took part in operations against international terrorists.
Alexey Moiseev