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The ShVAK ( ru , ШВАК: Шпитальный-Владимиров Авиационный Крупнокалиберный, Shpitalnyi-Vladimirov Aviatsionnyi Krupnokalibernyi, "Shpitalny-Vladimirov Aviation Large-calibre") was a 20 mm
autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
used by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was designed by
Boris Shpitalniy Boris Gavriilovich Shpitalny (russian: Борис Гавриилович Шпитальный; – 6 February 1972) was a Soviet designer of aircraft guns and cannons and one of the first people awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor. Ca ...
and
Semyon Vladimirov Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew ( Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated as Shimon. In Greek it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Symeon. Meaning The name is derived from Simeon, so ...
and entered production in 1936. ShVAK were installed in many models of Soviet aircraft. The TNSh was a version of the gun produced for light tanks ( ru , ТНШ: Tankovyi Nudel’man-Shpitalnyi). ShVAK shares the name with its 12.7 mm
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light machine gun, light, medium machine gun, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require weapon mount, mountin ...
predecessor.


Development and production


12.7x108mm ShVAK

The development of the 12.7 mm ShVAK was in response to a Soviet government decree passed on 9 February 1931, directing domestic manufacturers to produce an aircraft machine gun for the 12.7×108mm cartridge that had been introduced a couple of years prior for the DK machine gun. Tula designer S.V. Vladimirov answered the call by producing basically an enlarged version of the
ShKAS The ShKAS (Shpitalny-Komaritski Aviatsionny Skorostrelny, Shpitalny-Komaritski rapid fire for aircraft; Russian: ШКАС - Шпитального-Комарицкого Авиационный Скорострельный) is a 7.62 mm calibre ...
, with a 1246 mm long barrel and a total length of 1726 mm. The first prototype was ready for trials on May 28, 1932. The testing process was fairly drawn out, but the 12.7 mm ShVAK was nominally adopted into service in 1934.Shirokorad, pp. 74-75 Series production officially started in 1935 at the INZ-2 factory in
Kovrov Kovrov (russian: Ковро́в) is a city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Oka. Kovrov's population as of the 2021 Census was 132,417, down from 145,214 recorded in the 2010 Censu ...
, but production soon fell well behind schedule because the ShVAK receiver was fairly complex to manufacture. According to Soviet records, out of the 410 12.7 mm ShVAKs planned for aircraft in 1935, only 86 were completed; for the tank version, 40 had been planned but only 6 were delivered that same year. A 1952 Western intelligence report indicates that only "a few" ShVAKs were produced in the 12.7 mm caliber. A further problem complicating the adoption of the gun was that the 12.7 mm ShVAK ended up not using the 12.7×108mm
rimless A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing ...
cartridge used by the DK machine gun, but rather—because it was an adaptation of the ShKAS mechanism—it required its own rimmed 12.7 mm cases.Борцов А.Ю. "Пятилинейный", ''Мастер-ружье'
issue 110, May 2006
pp. 56-62
Production of the rimmed 12.7 mm ammunition ceased in 1939, when it was decided that the
Berezin UB The Berezin UB (russian: УБ - Универсальный Березина) (''Berezin's Universal'') was a 12.7 mm caliber Soviet aircraft machine gun widely used during World War II. Development In 1937, Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin bega ...
was preferable because it could share ammunition with the DShK.


20×99mmR ShVAK

The 20 mm ShVAK was designed sometime between 1935 and 1936 and series production began in 1936. A few months later, production of the 12.7 mm version ceased.Shirokorad, p. 75 Similarly to its predecessors, the 20 mm ShVAK was a gas-operated gun, belt-fed by disintegrating link ammunition. Depending on the intended mount, the ShVAKs were marked with "MP" for the tank version (total gun length 2122 mm; weight 44.5 kg), "KP" for the wing-mounted version (1679 mm total length; 40 kg), "TP" for flexible mounts (1726  mm length; 42 kg), and "SP" for synchronized installations. The "bird-cage" feed system in the 20 mm ShVAK was an improved version of the ShKAS. It could hold 11 rounds and had an even smoother operation. As with the ShKAS, the purpose of the feed cage was to gradually delink the rounds, avoiding any belt lurch. The Berthier-type gas regulator had four holes (of 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 6 mm) allowing for different rates of fire to be selected. The most significant design difference from the ShKAS was that the gas cylinder was moved under the barrel in the ShVAK, giving it a more compact assembly.Chinn, p. 85 The end of the barrel was threaded, and this thread was used to screw on a blast-reduction tube of a length that depended on the installation requirements:Chinn, p. 82 The 1952 Western intelligence report said of the 20 mm ShVAK: "in relation to its power, the gun is very light and extremely compact" and that it "has a range comparable to our M3 cannon, although their short barrel version is 16 pounds lighter". It was however considered "relatively difficult to produce" in American factories, because it was constructed from relatively soft parts (not heat-treated) that were then filed down. This choice of materials was assumed to be motivated by the desire to allow parts to "deform and bend well in advance of fracture" enabling a safer operation at a high rate of fire, but having the tradeoff of shorter overall lifespan of the gun. Soviet archives indicate the 20-mm ShVAK was produced in large numbers during World War II:Shirokorad, p. 77 * 1942 — 34,601 produced * 1943 — 26,499 * 1944 — 25,633 * 1945 — 13,433 * 1946 — 754 After the war, the ShVAK was supplanted by the Berezin B-20, which offered similar performance but weighed significantly less.


Installations

Three
Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ...
aircraft, all produced in January 1939, were armed with the propeller-synchronized version of the 12.7 mm ShVAK; this short series was given the I-16 Type 16 designation. The three fighter planes successfully passed the factory trials and were delivered to the VVS for military trials. The cancelled
Yatsenko I-28 The Yatsenko I-28 was a 1930s Soviet single-seat fighter designed by Vladmir Yatsenko and first flown in 1939. The I-28 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of mixed construction powered by a Tumansky M-87 The Tumansky M-87 was a Soviet ai ...
was also planned to use the 12.7 mm ShVAK in a synchronized pair, but the few prototypes which flew in the summer of 1939 did so without armament because a synchronizer for their engine had not been developed. The 20 mm ShVAK was installed in the wings, in the nose, or in a synchronized mounting in the following fighters:
Polikarpov I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' (Russian ''Чайка'', "Seagull") was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mon ...
P and I-16,
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter-interceptor used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Departme ...
,
Yakovlev Yak-1 The Yakovlev Yak-1 (russian: Яковлев Як-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.Angelucci and Matricardi 197 ...
,
Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and light ...
,
Yak-7 The Yakovlev Yak-7 (russian: Яковлев Як-7) was developed from the earlier Yak-1 fighter, initially as a trainer but converted into a fighter. As both a fighter and later reverting to its original training role, the Yak-7 proved to be a ...
, and
Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (russian: Яковлев Як-9) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and succ ...
,
LaGG-3 The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Sov ...
, Lavochkin La-5 and
La-7 The Lavochkin La-7 (russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the la ...
, the
Petlyakov Pe-3 The Petlyakov Pe-3 was the long-range heavy fighter version of the successful Petlyakov Pe-2 high-speed dive bomber used by the Soviet Union during World War II. Its design and use followed a comparable path to those taken by the German Luftwaf ...
night fighter and on Soviet-modified
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
aircraft. It was also installed on the wings of the
Tupolev Tu-2 The Tupolev Tu-2 (development names ANT-58 and 103; NATO reporting name Bat) was a twin-engine Soviet high-speed daylight and frontline (SDB and FB) bomber aircraft of World War II vintage. The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for a hig ...
bomber and some ground attack versions of the
Petlyakov Pe-2 The Petlyakov Pe-2 (russian: Петляков Пе-2) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, a ...
bomber also had it installed in a fixed mounting. Some early versions of the
Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...
ground attack aircraft also carried it, but superseded in that aircraft by the 23 mm
Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 The Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (Волков-Ярцев ВЯ-23) is a autocannon, used on Soviet aircraft during World War II. Development In 1940, A.A. Volkov and S.A. Yartsev created an autocannon, called TKB-201 for the new 23 mm round. I ...
. The flexible-mount ShVAK was used in the
Petlyakov Pe-8 The Petlyakov Pe-8 (russian: Петляков Пе-8) was a Soviet heavy bomber designed before World War II, and the only four-engine bomber the USSR built during the war. Produced in limited numbers, it was used to bomb Berlin in August 1941. ...
and
Yermolayev Yer-2 The Yermolayev Yer-2 (russian: Ермолаев Ер-2) was a long-range Soviet medium bomber used during World War II. It was developed from the Bartini Stal-7 prototype airliner before the war. It was used to bomb Berlin from airbases in Esto ...
bombers. The tank version was installed on the T-38 and
T-60 The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. During this period, 6,292 units were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank and saw action during World War II. The K ...
light tanks.


Ammunition

ShVAK ammunition consisted of a mix of fragmentation-incendiary and
armor-piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many wars ...
-incendiary rounds. There were problems with ammunition development as well. There were cases of premature cook-off of the ammunition in the barrel. The problem was first addressed in 1936 by changing the fuse from the MG-3 model to the MG-201 model, but the problem was not eliminated until the introduction of the K-6 fuse in 1938, which reliably prevented projectiles from arming until they were 30 to 50 cm out of the barrel.Shirokorad, pp. 76-77


See also

* Berezin B-20 *
Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 The Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (Волков-Ярцев ВЯ-23) is a autocannon, used on Soviet aircraft during World War II. Development In 1940, A.A. Volkov and S.A. Yartsev created an autocannon, called TKB-201 for the new 23 mm round. I ...
*
Revolver cannon A revolver cannon is a type of autocannon, commonly used as an aircraft gun. It uses a cylinder with multiple chambers, like those of a revolver handgun, to speed up the loading-firing-ejection cycle. Some examples are also power-driven, to fur ...
*
List of firearms This is an extensive list of small arms—including pistols, revolvers, submachine guns, shotguns, battle rifles, assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, personal defense weapons, carbines, designated marksman rifles, flamethrowers, multipl ...
*
List of Russian weaponry The following is a list of modern Russian small arms and light weapons which were in service in 2016: Handguns Revolvers Pistols Special purpose Submachine guns Special purpose Shotguns Rifles Bolt-action Semi-a ...
* List of common World War II weapons


References

* Широкорад А.Б. (2001) ''История авиационного вооружения'' Харвест (Shirokorad A.B. (2001) ''Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia'' Harvest. ) (''History of aircraft armament'') * * Chinn, George M. The Machine Gun, Vol II, Part VII. US Department of the Navy, 1952


External links


20mm TNSh Tank Gun
at battlefield.ru

* http://www.municion.org/20mm/20x99R.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Shvak Cannon Autocannons of the Soviet Union Aircraft guns of the Soviet Union 20 mm artillery KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Military equipment introduced in the 1930s