The ZPU (, meaning "anti-aircraft machine gun mount") is a family of towed
anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
based on the
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, ...
14.5×114mm
The 14.5×114mm (.57 calibre) is a heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact, modern Russia, and other countries.
It was originally developed for the PTRS and PTRD anti-tank rifles, ...
KPV heavy machine gun
The KPV-14.5 heavy machine gun (KPV is an initialism for Krupnokaliberniy Pulemyot Vladimirova (Large-caliber Machine gun Vladimirov), in Russian as Крупнокалиберный Пулемёт Владимирова, or КПВ) is a Soviet de ...
. It entered service with 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 ...
in 1949 and is used by over 50 countries worldwide.
Quadruple (ZPU-4), double- (ZPU-2 and ZU-2) and single-barreled (ZPU-1) versions of the weapon exist.
Precursor
![Quad Maxim AAMG 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Quad_Maxim_AAMG_2.JPG)
The first dedicated Soviet mount for anti-aircraft machine guns was developed around 1928 by
Fedor Tokarev
Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev (russian: Фёдор Васи́льевич То́карев; 2 June 1871 4 June in old Russian calendarref name=rFedor Tokarev – Brief History Tokarev.com. Retrieved on 2014-02-16. – 6 March 1968) was a Russian we ...
and was adopted for service in 1931. It was a base for mounting up to four 7.62 mm
PM M1910
The Pulemyot Maxima PM1910 (PM M1910) (Russian: Пулемёт Максима образца 1910 года, ''Pulemyot Maxima obraztsa 1910 goda'' – "Maxim's machine gun Model 1910") is a Heavy machine gun that was used by the Imperial Russian ...
(Russian Maxim) guns. This was also called a ZPU, although the name М-4 was also assigned to it. It served the Soviet armed forces in all major conflicts until 1945.
12.7 mm
DShK
The DShK 1938 ( Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped bu ...
1938 was used an anti-aircraft weapon it was mounted on pintle and tripod mounts, and on a triple mount on the GAZ-AA truck. Late in the war, it was mounted on the cupolas of
IS-2
The IS-2 (russian: ИС-2, sometimes romanized as JS-2The series name is an abbreviation of the name Joseph Stalin (russian: Иосиф Сталин); IS-2 is a direct transliteration of the Russian abbreviation, while JS-2 is an abbreviation of ...
tanks and
ISU-152
The ISU-152 (russian: Самоходная установка на базе танка ИС с орудием калибра 152мм, ИСУ-152, Samokhodnaya Ustanovka na baze tanka IS s orudiyem kalibra 152mm, meaning " IS tank based self-prope ...
self-propelled guns. As an infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley which unfolded into a tripod for anti-aircraft use.
Description
Development of the ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 began in 1945, with development of the ZPU-1 starting in 1947. All three were accepted into service in 1949. Improved optical predicting gunsights were developed for the system in the 1950s.
All weapons in the ZPU series have air-cooled quick-change barrels and can fire a variety of ammunition including API (B32), API (BS41), API-T (BZT) and I-T (ZP) projectiles. Each barrel has a maximum rate of fire of around 600 rounds per minute, though this is practically limited to about 150 rounds per minute.
The quad-barrel ZPU-4 uses a four-wheel carriage similar to that once used by the obsolete
25 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun M1940. In firing position, the weapon is lowered onto firing jacks. It can be brought in and out of action in about 15 to 20 seconds, and can be fired with the wheels in the traveling position if needed.
The double-barrel ZPU-2 was built in two different versions; the early model has large mud guards and two wheels that are removed in the firing position, and the late model has wheels that fold and are raised from the ground in the firing position.
ZPU-2 turned out to be too heavy for the
Airborne Troops
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in a ...
, so a new UZPU-2 (later redesignated as ZU-2) was developed from ZPU-1.
The single-barrel ZPU-1 is carried on a two-wheeled carriage and can be broken down into several 80-kilogram pieces for transport over rough ground.
Versions of the weapon are built in China, North Korea and Romania.
History
![ZPU-2 Lutsk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/ZPU-2_Lutsk.jpg)
The series was used during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
by Chinese and
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
n forces, and was later considered to be the most dangerous opposition to U.S.
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. Later it was used by
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and the
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس ...
in the
Western Sahara War
The Western Sahara War ( ar, حرب الصحراء الغربية, french: Guerre du Sahara occidental, es, Guerra del Sahara Occidental) was an armed struggle between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (an ...
. It was also used by
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i forces during
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
and again in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 1974 the Cyprus National Guard artillery batteries used their ZPU-2s against the Turkish air force.
In the Russian military, it was replaced by the newer and more powerful
ZU-23
The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13.
Developm ...
23 mm twin automatic anti-aircraft gun.
During the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
, the
Lebanese militias mounted the ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 on various vehicles, such as
M113 armored personnel carriers, to create self-propelled support vehicles.
The ZPU has seen widespread use by both sides in the
Libyan Civil War
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
,
Syrian Civil War, and
Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen:
*Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948
*Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60
*North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70
*Aden Emergency, 1963–67
*South Yemen#Di ...
, being often mounted on
technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data
* Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
pickup trucks. The weapon is credited for bringing down several
Syrian Air Force
)
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 16 October
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War
* Six-Day War
* Yom Kippur War
...
helicopters.
In North Korea, ZPU systems have been modified to be able to be directed by a MR-104 "Drum Tilt", where the guns are shown to be fired without personnel manning them.
Ammunition
* API (BS.41):
Full metal jacket bullet
A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usual ...
round with a
tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: WC) is a chemical compound (specifically, a carbide) containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into ...
core. Projectile weight is and
muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
is 1000 metres per second (3,281 ft/s). Armor-penetration at is of
RHA at 90 degrees.
* API-T (BZT): Full metal jacket round with a steel core. Projectile weight is and muzzle velocity is 1,005 m/s (3,297 ft/s). Tracer burns to at least .
* I-T (ZP): "Instantaneous Incendiary" bullet with internal fuze, incendiary in tip, tracer container in base. Projectile weight is .
Rounds are also produced by
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, China, Egypt, Poland, and Romania.
Variants
![Ajdabiya technical - Flickr - Al Jazeera English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Ajdabiya_technical_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg)
* ZPU-4
** Type 56: Chinese-built version.
** MR-4: Romanian-built version with a two-wheel carriage designed locally.
** PKM-4: Polish designation for an imported Soviet ZPU-4
* ZPU-2
** Type 58: Chinese-built version.
** PKM-2: Polish-built version.
* ZU-2
* ZPU-1
** Type 75 and Type 75-1: Chinese built-versions.
* BTR-40A SPAAG: A
BTR-40
The BTR-40 (БТР, from Бронетранспортёр, or '' Bronetransporter'', literally "armoured transporter† is a Soviet non-amphibious, wheeled armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. It is often referred to as the ''So ...
APC with a ZPU-2 gun mounted in the rear. Entered service in 1950.
* BTR-152A SPAAG: A
BTR-152
The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet Union, Soviet armored personnel carrier (БТР, from Бронетранспортер/''BTR (vehicle), Bronetransporter'', literally "armored transporter"), built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 uti ...
with a ZPU-2 mounted in the rear. Entered service in 1952.
Specifications
Operators
Peshmerga
The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...
*
* 336
* – 100 (40 ZPU-4 and 60 ZPU-2)
[Military Balance 2017]
*
* ''Type-56''
*
*
*
* – 15
*
* - 18
* - 18
*
*
*
* - 12
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* - 4+
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* – 2
*
*
* – 50
* – 40
*
*
* – 50
* – 12
*
* – 19
*
*
*
* – 36
*
*
*
*
People's Defense Units
The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democr ...
(YPG): ZPU-4
* – ZPU-2
*
*
* – ZPU-2 and ZPU-4
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* – 21
* – 38
*
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
*
*
* – ZPU-1, ZPU-2 and ZPU-4
*
*
* – 36
See also
*
Zastava M55
The Zastava M55, also designated 20/3-mm-M55, is a Yugoslavian/Serbian 20mm triple-barreled automatic anti-aircraft gun developed in 1955 and produced by Crvena Zastava (now Zastava Arms company) in Kragujevac, Serbia, for Yugoslav People's Army ...
*
ZU-23-2
The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13.
Developm ...
References
* ''Jane's Land Based Air Defence 2005–2006''. .
*
*
External links
ZPU-1 single barrel anti-aircraft gun data sheet* http://en.rcamuseum.com/our-collection/zpu-4-anti-aircraft-gun-14-yugo
Video: ZPU-1 (single-barreled 14.5) being fired in AfghanistanVideo: ZPU-2 (14.5) being fired in Syriafrom a
technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data
* Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zpu
14.5×114mm machine guns
Anti-aircraft guns of the Soviet Union
Anti-aircraft weapons of Russia
Autocannon
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1949
Weapons of the People's Republic of China