The GAZ-AAA (4M) was a self-propelled anti-aircraft truck developed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1938, based on the

GAZ-AAA The GAZ-AAA was a Soviet truck produced by GAZ. From 1936 to 1943, 37,373 units were built. Like the GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM, it was largely based on the Ford Model AA truck. The Red Army commonly used these trucks as anti-aircraft units, mounting ...

truck platform.

History

In 1928,

Fedor Tokarev Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev (; – 6 March 1968) was a Russian weapons designer and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1937 to 1950. Career Outside the former Soviet Union he is best known as the designer of the Maxim–Tokarev ligh ...

developed a quad mount for the 7.62×54mmR

PM M1910 The Pulyemyot Maksima M1910 (), or PM M1910, is a heavy machine gun based on the Maxim gun, that was used by the Imperial Russian Army, Navy and Air Service during World War I, then by the Red, White and Green armies during the Russian Civil Wa ...

machine gun for use as a light anti-aircraft weapon, which was adopted in 1938 as the 7.62mm M.1931 4M ZPU. The 4M ZPU was mounted on a

truck to create a mobile AA weapon. While effective against low-flying targets due to the high rate of fire, this setup was only used as a stop-gap measure until more dedicated anti-aircraft weapons could be developed and fielded.

Specifications (7.62 mm M.1931 4M ZPU)

*Crew 3 (Commander, Gunner & Loader) *Elevation: -10° to +85° *Traverse: 360° *Gun Sight: Ring *Gun Mount: Rotating metal frame *Weight: 460 kg *Rate of Fire: 2.400 r.p.m. *Maximum Ceiling: 1.400 m *Maximum Ground Range: 1.600 m

Variants

Later versions of the anti-aircraft truck equipped the

12.7×108mm 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

DShK The DShK M1938 (Cyrillic: ДШК, for ) is a Soviet heavy machine gun. The weapon may be vehicle mounted or used on a tripod or wheeled carriage as a heavy infantry machine gun. The DShK's name is derived from its original designer, Vasily Degtya ...

machine gun. The quad-Maxim mount was also used on the 4x2

GAZ-MM The GAZ-MM is a Soviet light truck produced at the Gorki Auto Plant from 1938 to 1947, and then at the Ulyanovsky Auto Plant up to 1956. The truck was a modernized and improved variant of the GAZ-AA that used the more powerful engine from the GA ...

and GAZ-60 half-tracks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4M (artillery) Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s