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The Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (Волков-Ярцев ВЯ-23) is a
A powerful new 23×152mm cartridge was specifically developed for the VYa. The same caliber was later used also in the post-war towed ZU-23 and self-propelled
A LaGG-3 in Japan
/ref> In spite of the large round, the VYa-23 proved to be a disappointment in its intended anti-tank role. Light German tanks could be defeated from the side or rear only, with front armor of all tanks impervious. Medium tanks could be defeated if hit into the top of the turret or the engine compartment from under 400 m (1,300 ft) in a greater than 40-degree dive—a very difficult maneuver in Il-2 even under the most ideal conditions compounded by the difficulty of aiming at a small target.
A LaGG-3 in Japan
31 May 2004
a VYa-23 pulled from a swamp in Karelia (video)
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Autocannons of the Soviet Union Aircraft guns of the Soviet Union 23 mm artillery KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1941
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 (bul ...
, used on Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
aircraft 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Development
In 1940, A.A. Volkov and S.A. Yartsev created anautocannon
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 (bul ...
, called TKB-201 for the new 23 mm round. It was intended to be the primary weapon of the Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft. The original intention was to create a gun capable of penetrating German tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...
armour.
Due to unavailability of Il-2, the first airborne testing was performed using a Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...
heavy fighter sold by Germany in 1940. After testing on Il-2 in 1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...
, TKB-201 was accepted into service as VYa-23. A total of 64,655 VYa-23 were built.
Description
The VYa-23 is a gas-operated belt-fed autocannon with a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute - a high rate of fire for the caliber at the time. The gun was 2.140 metres long, and weighed 68 kg. Its main disadvantages are powerful recoil and very abrupt functioning of the firing and reloading mechanisms which decreased service life and often caused jamming that could not be fixed in mid-air. According to a US intelligence report, the VYa-23 used an upscaled version of the Berezin UB mechanism.Ammunition
A powerful new 23×152mm cartridge was specifically developed for the VYa. The same caliber was later used also in the post-war towed ZU-23 and self-propelled ZSU-23-4
The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system ( SPAAG).
Etymology
The acronym "ZSU" stands for ''Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (russian: Зенитная Самоходная Ус ...
23mm AA guns. However, the ammunition for this later AA gun has a different powder charge and primer, and is thus not interchangeable."Williams, Anthony G: An introduction to collecting 23-28mm cartridges. http://www.quarryhs.co.uk/collecting%2023-28mm.htm The ammunition is externally easily recognizable: VYa ammunition has brass cases, while post-war AA ammunition has steel cases.
The ammunition for VYa included fragmentation-incendiary, fragmentation-incendiary-tracer, and armor-piercing-incendiary rounds. The total weight and filling of HE rounds were more than twice that of the 20 mm ammunition used by the ShVAK
The ShVAK ( ru , ШВАК: Шпитальный-Владимиров Авиационный Крупнокалиберный, Shpitalnyi-Vladimirov Aviatsionnyi Krupnokalibernyi, "Shpitalny-Vladimirov Aviation Large-calibre") was a 20 mm autocan ...
and Berezin B-20
The Berezin B-20 (Березин Б-20) was a 20 mm caliber autocannon used by Soviet aircraft in World War II.
Development
The B-20 was created by Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin in 1944 by converting his 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun to ...
cannons. The armor-piercing round could penetrate 25 mm (1 in) of armor at 400 m (1,300 ft). The main characteristics of VYa ammunition according to Christian Koll's Russian Ammunition site"Russian Ammunition Page, http://www.russianammo.org are listed in the table below:
Production
A total of 64,655 VYa-23 were produced.Shirokograd, p. 115 Soviet archives give the following known production numbers by year: * 1942 — 13,420 * 1943 — 16,430 * 1944 — 22,820 * 1945 — 873 * 1946 — 2,002 * 1947 — 1,247Service
The VYa-23 cannon was mounted on Il-2 and Il-10 ground attack aircraft, on LaGG-3 and Yak-9 fighter aircraft, and on the experimentalMikoyan-Gurevich DIS
The Mikoyan-Gurevich DIS (russian: Дальний истребитель сопровождения/ ''Dalnij Istrebitel' Soprovozhdenya'' – "long-range escort fighter") was a prototype Soviet heavy fighter of World War II, envisioned to serv ...
long range fighter aircraft./ref> In spite of the large round, the VYa-23 proved to be a disappointment in its intended anti-tank role. Light German tanks could be defeated from the side or rear only, with front armor of all tanks impervious. Medium tanks could be defeated if hit into the top of the turret or the engine compartment from under 400 m (1,300 ft) in a greater than 40-degree dive—a very difficult maneuver in Il-2 even under the most ideal conditions compounded by the difficulty of aiming at a small target.
See also
Related developments: * Nudelman-Suranov NS-23, the VYa-23's successor which replaced it on the IL-10 and in other applications Similar weapons: * 2A14 cannons in ZU-23 *ShVAK cannon
The ShVAK ( ru , ШВАК: Шпитальный-Владимиров Авиационный Крупнокалиберный, Shpitalnyi-Vladimirov Aviatsionnyi Krupnokalibernyi, "Shpitalny-Vladimirov Aviation Large-calibre") was a 20 mm autocann ...
* MG FF cannon
* MG 151 cannon
The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a German 15 mm aircraft-mounted autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. Its 20mm variant, the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, was widely used on German Luftwaffe fighters, night fighters, figh ...
* Hispano HS.404
The HS.404 is an autocannon originally designed and produced by Spanish/French company Hispano-Suiza in the mid-1930s. It was widely used as an aircraft, naval and land-based weapon by French, British, American and other military services, par ...
cannon
* Berezin B-20
The Berezin B-20 (Березин Б-20) was a 20 mm caliber autocannon used by Soviet aircraft in World War II.
Development
The B-20 was created by Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin in 1944 by converting his 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun to ...
cannon
References
;Notes ;Bibliography * Широкоград А.Б. (2001) ''История авиационного вооружения'' Харвест (Shirokograd 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, 1952A LaGG-3 in Japan
31 May 2004
External links
a VYa-23 pulled from a swamp in Karelia (video)
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Autocannons of the Soviet Union Aircraft guns of the Soviet Union 23 mm artillery KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1941