The AK-726 (abbr. of ) is a twin
naval gun
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. T ...
, which was developed in 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 ...
and is still in service in various navies.
History
In 1954 the Soviet Union began development of a naval gun which could be used against both air and sea targets. The gun was developed by the development office (later
Arsenal Design Bureau
Arsenal Design Bureau () is an engineering company active in the fields of space technology, ship artillery and civilian machine building. The company was founded in 1711 and is located in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Federation. Its full nam ...
) under the direction of Pyotr Tyurin. The first tests began in 1958. From 1960, the guns were begun to be installed on ships and tested. In 1962 the first gun was installed on the cruiser. A second was installed on the destroyer. The system was officially launched on June 24, 1964. The guns were exported to various
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
states over time. Due to the small caliber and lack of effectiveness they were soon replaced by the
.
Construction
The gun has two barrels of
caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...
. The projectiles are hand-loaded into an elevator from the ammunition chamber to the gun. The weapon has an
automatic charging system. Both barrels fire simultaneously. This would achieve a theoretical
rate of fire
Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...
of about 100 rounds per minute, but is unsustainable. The barrels must be cooled a few minutes after 40 to 45 rounds of continuous fire. The cooling system is connected to the vessel's main water line.
The fire control is carried out either automatically via a
fire-control radar
A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are someti ...
type ''Turel'' (,
NATO code: ''Hawk Screech''),
semi-automatically with the ''Prisma'' optical sight, or manually. The gun can be used against air, sea or land targets. There are two different types of
high-explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...
ammunition available;
contact and
proximity fuzes.
Platforms
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References
{{reflist, 30em
Naval guns of the Soviet Union
Naval anti-aircraft guns