The 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3) (russian: 100-мм полевая пушка обр. 1944 г. (БС-3)) was a

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, ...

100 mm

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

and field gun.

History

Development

The BS-3 was based on the B-34 naval gun. The development team was led by V. G. Grabin.

World War II

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 ...

the Soviet Army employed the gun in the light artillery brigades of tank armies (20 pieces along with 48

ZiS-3 The 76-mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3) (russian: 76-мм дивизионная пушка обр. 1942 г. (ЗиС-3)) (GRAU index: 52-P-354U) was a Soviet 76.2 mm divisional field gun used during World War II. ''ZiS'' was a factory design ...

) and by corps artillery. In the Second World War the BS-3 was successfully used as a powerful anti-tank gun. It was capable of defeating any contemporary tank at long range, excluding the Tiger Ausf B: to destroy that heavy tank the gun needed to shoot at less than 1600 m from the target. The gun was capable of defeating the turret of Tiger II at a range of 800–1000 meters. The gun was also used as a field gun. Though in this role it was less powerful than the 122 mm A-19, as it fired a smaller round, the BS-3 was more mobile and had a higher rate of fire.

Post World War II

The BS-3 remained in service into the 1950s. As of 1955 it was getting replaced in Soviet service by the

T-12 antitank gun 2A19 or T-12 was a revolutionary Soviet 100-mm anti-tank gun. It was the first (anti-) tank gun to adopt a smoothbore barrel, and to introduce modern armor piercing shot, like the APFSDS. It uses long projectiles that are more powerful than it ...

and the

85 mm antitank gun D-48 The 85-mm antitank gun D-48 (russian: 85-мм противотанковая пушка Д-48) was a Soviet 85-mm calibre anti-tank gun used after World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3). Distinguis ...

. A number of BS-3 pieces are still stored in

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

arsenals. In 2012, at least 12 BS-3 guns were still active with the

18th Machine Gun Artillery Division The 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division is a division of the Russian Ground Forces stationed in the Sakhalin Oblast with administration over the Kuril Islands. It is currently deployed to Eastern Ukraine. First formation It was first formed as ...

, located on the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

, used as anti-ship and anti-landing guns. The BS-3 was also sold to a number of other countries and in some of these countries the gun is still in service.

Russo-Ukrainian War

During the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

(2014-present) both sides employed towed anti-tank guns. The use of the 100 mm Rapira is well known, but the Ukrainian Army also used the older BS-3. There are records of three Ukrainian BS-3's getting destroyed when Russia launched the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Up till October 2022 there were no signs of Russia deploying the BS-3 in Ukraine.

Ammunition data

*Ammunition ** AP: BR-412 ** APBC: BR-412B, BR-412D ** HE/Fragmentation * Projectile weight ** AP/APBC: 15.88 kg (35 lbs) ** HE/Fragmentation: 15.6 kg (34.39 lbs) * Armor penetration (BR-412B, 30° degrees) ** 500 m : 190 mm
(547 yds : 6.29 in) ** 1000 m : 170 mm
(1,093 yds : 6 in)

Operators

Notes

References

* Shunkov V. N. - ''The Weapons of the Red Army'', Mn. Harvest, 1999 (Шунков В. Н. - ''Оружие Красной Армии.'' — Мн.: Харвест, 1999.) * Christopher F. Foss, ''Artillery of the World''

External links

Armor penetration table
{{SovArtyGPW Field artillery of the Cold War World War II artillery of the Soviet Union World War II anti-tank guns Anti-tank guns of the Soviet Union 100 mm artillery Arsenal Plant (Saint Petersburg) products Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944