Many people remember the old bearded anecdote about the would-be artillerymen, who really wanted to shoot in Moscow from their grandfather's cannon? Only now the caliber of the projectile was slightly larger than the caliber of the barrel. So the godfather decided to hammer the shell with a sledgehammer. The result is predictable.
Remember the end of this anecdote? «Well, godfather, if after the shot we have such destruction in the barn, then imagine, what is happening in Moscow now?». And I remembered this anecdote because, that the statement about the share of a joke in each joke is valid here. At least, the mortar family really had such «electrical appliances».
they, who is interested in the history of mortar development, already knew, that today we will talk about the most powerful mortars ever produced. ABOUT «Condenser» and «Transformer», which is better known by the name «Oka». Weapons, which even today amazes with its terrible power and size.
At the beginning of the article, it is necessary to explain the reasons why such weapons were needed at all.. Especially, that from the height of today's knowledge, for many readers, the very desire for large calibers is not entirely clear.
Probably, it will sound strange, but they (readers) Today, without even knowing about it, express that point of view, which was the main reason for the closure of projects of heavy-duty mortars. Why do we need large calibers, if there is a lighter weapon — missiles? Nikita Khrushchev rubs his hands…
In fact, there is more than enough logic here. And even Khrushchev is not very busy. However - in order.
First, let's go back to that time, when the development of super-powerful weapons had just begun. I.e, by the middle of the last century. Humanity has already in practice understood and realized the power of atomic weapons. Although, to be honest, the authors could not find confirmation or refutation of the statement, what «Capacitor» and «Transformer» created specifically for shooting «atomic mines».
Quite possible, that this idea appeared later. Already during the tests or a little later. Anyway, work on these monsters (but we have no other word) began BEFORE, how atomic weapons moved from promising developments to the category of weapons specifically.
so, atomic weapons became weapons and quickly ceased to be a political factor, but became a strategic factor.
Yes, it had to be delivered to enemy territory with something. Given the dimensions of the first atomic bombs, the only delivery method was by air. Benefit heavy (strategic) bombers could lift such ammunition without difficulty.
However, the constant improvement of atomic weapons has led to a reduction in the size of such bombs.. Now it is possible to create bombs of low power and relatively small dimensions. represent, what opportunities opened up for the military leaders?
Let's take a situation, which was typical of World War II. Two opposing groups of forces, equal in strength. But the opponent «buried in the ground», created powerful engineering structures, minefields and defense in depth. What to do?
And then low-power nuclear weapons come to the aid of the commander. Bomb c 500-1000 kilograms in weight will completely change the balance of power. doubtfully, that when such a bomb is used, eg, by the location of the brigade or division, this unit will retain its combat capability. Of course, won't save.
Yes, the damaging factors of nuclear weapons then were not particularly interested in the military. Their study was just beginning. The main thing was — complete a combat mission. However, as always.
Who first came up with the idea to create a weapon, capable of delivering a small atomic charge to an enemy location, even today unknown. Therefore, we will proceed from the primacy in the creation of nuclear weapons.
Not that America is ahead of the rest, after all, we were mainly in the role of catch-up in matters of murder. What personally, in our opinion, is more than a compliment to the Soviet Union.
Anyway, the use of bombers on the positions of the rapid reaction forces was inappropriate and even dangerous. Fighters and air defense have not been canceled, and, respectively, landing on its territory of an atomic "present" too.
American designers began to look for delivery options. Taking into account their own capabilities, industry capabilities and customer requirements. As is often the case, Americans did not «reinvent the wheel». They had at their disposal the documentation of several super-large-caliber guns at once..
AT 1952 year, in the course of research and development in the United States, the atomic gun T-131 with caliber 280 mm.
The design of this gun was started in 1949 year on the basis of an experienced 280-mm cannon of special power. AT 1950 year, a prototype was manufactured under the M65 index, which was put into service after testing. All were released 20 such weapons.
Here it is necessary to make a small digression., concerning American, and Soviet weapons. We use both names on purpose.. The thing is, that during the cold war, And we, and the Americans kept secret their own developments in every possible way. M65 is known today as T131, «Transformer» as «Oka». The time was like this.
T131 cannons entered service 6 formed artillery battalions. By 3 guns per battalion and 2 the guns were used for testing. 5 battalions were sent to Europe at the disposal of the command 7 American army. To 1955 years T131 were the only ground guns, capable of firing nuclear weapons. The battalions are disbanded in 1963 year after program closure.
A little about the tactical and technical characteristics of the guns.
Caliber: 280 mm
barrel length: 12,74 m
The mass in the stowed position: 78 308 kg, in firing position — 42 582 kg
Length in combat position: 11,709 m
Width: 2,743 m
angle HV: 0/+55 degrees
Ugol GN: from -7,5 to +7,5 degrees.
Transportable weapon. Transportation speed up to 55 km / h on the highway. Clearance 914 mm.
so, 25 May 1953 years in the desert of Nevada fired the first round of a semi-stationary «Atomic Annie» M65. Already by the name you understand, that it was the first atomic shot from an artillery system. Shot, 25 seconds of waiting, atomic «mushroom»…
Probably, it is worth recalling about ammunition. The first US nuclear missile was the T124. The weight — 364,2 kg, caliber — 280 mm, initial speed at swing charge 628 m / s. Range 24 km, minimum range — 15 km. CEP at max range — 130 m. Nuclear charge W-9. Power 15 CT. Per year (from April 1952 to November 1953 gg.) fabricated 80 shells. Removed from service in 1957 year.
The T124 was replaced by the T315 shell. The weight — 272 kg, caliber 280 mm, nuclear warhead W-19. Power 15-20 CT. starting speed 722 m / s. Range up to 30,2 km. released 80 shells.
And what about us? And we, as always: "Catch up and overtake!».
In time it turns out just like that. And this is caused by a completely different approach to the very concept of design. We proceeded from the task of precisely destroying the enemy in a deeply echeloned and equipped defense. And in this case, the mortar is more effective. Although, from the height of today's knowledge, talking about efficiency when using nuclear weapons is somewhat difficult. But let's repeat, It was 60 years ago.
Our reconnaissance worked on "excellent" and extracted data from American tests. The achievements of the Americans were carefully studied and the shortcomings of the system were identified.. First of all weight. agree, under 80 tons too much for the system. Americans have their own weapon «dragged» two powerful trucks «Peterbilt».
Further, the gun was brought into combat position for a long time. Depending on the consistency of the calculation from 3 to 6 hours. At this time, unloading was included, assembly, setting up and bringing the weapon to battle.
But the complexity of the design, traditional for American weapons in general. Preparation of the calculation number takes a lot of time. In combat conditions, this time will simply not be.
Work on the creation of the largest mortar in the world began in the early 50s.. It should be noted, that the task was for two different mortars at once. 420-mm mortar 2B1 ("Transformer") and 406 mm self-propelled gun 2A3 ("Condenser-2P"). Several defense enterprises of the USSR participated in the development at once. — Kolomenskoye SKB of Mechanical Engineering, KB Kirovsky plant, factory «barricades».
AT 1957 the first experimental «Transformer». And almost immediately and «Capacitor».
Both cars had a unified chassis.. Developed «Object 273» at the Kirov plant. The chassis was superior in strength to all analogues in the world.. The engine was taken from a T-10 heavy tank., from there and the developments on the chassis. Diesel V-12-6B, 12-cylinder, 750 l / sec, liquid cooled. Allowed to develop speed up to 30 km / h and had a power reserve 200-220 km.
On the Oka ("Transformer") a 420-mm mortar with a barrel length was installed 47,5 calibres, nearly 20 m! Mina weighed 750 kg! Loading was carried out only with the help of a special crane. firing range «Oki» reached 45 km. by the way, the large weight of the mine did not allow «Oke» carry more than one ammunition.
In other matters, calculation from 7 the person also could not boast of trips on a self-propelled mortar. Besides the driver, of course. The crew had to move by truck, following the mortar. Mines were transported on a separate special vehicle. Plus a normal occurrence at any time is security. That still cavalcade turned out ...
It was also necessary to aim the gun with the help of the driver.. Horizontal guidance was carried out by rotating the entire installation. But the exact aiming was done by an electric drive.. Both cars are the same in this respect.. Just on «Condenser» installed 401-mm gun SM-54.
meanwhile, both cars, without even participating in hostilities, inflicted «defeat» to a potential enemy by its appearance. TO 1957 year was produced by 4 instance of mortar «Oka» and ACS «Capacitor». And all the cars took part in the military parade on Red Square…
Reaction «friends» was predictable. shock! The machines made a splash! Americans not only lost another advantage, but also lagged behind the USSR in some way. It was then that «duck» about Soviet cardboard technology, which we hear today in relation to our «Armatam», Su-57 and other revolutionary developments. Fear spawned lies! But on this below.
Now about the performance characteristics.
Self-propelled unit 2A3 «Capacitor-2P» with gun 406 mm SM-54.
Weight: 64 tons
Length with gun: 20 m
Width: 3,08 m
Height: 5,75 m
firing range: 25,6 km
Crew / crew: 7 human
Number of cars produced: 4 pieces.
Self-propelled mortar 420 mm 2B1 «Oka».
combat weight: 55 tonnes
Length: 20,02 m
Width: 30,8 m
Height: 57,28 m
BH angle +50…+75 degrees
firing range: 1 – 45 km
Crew: 7 human
The number of cars produced - 4 pieces.
And now about «cardboard duck», which even today you can often hear from fans of the West.
«Capacitor-2P» Americans call daddy mortar, "Daddy mortar". the, what is called information war today, was always. And the western man was able to instill the idea of «cardboard». But the experts understood, that the weapon is valid.
Why Americans, even specialists, believed in fake? Simply because, what if you don't, then we will have to recognize the superiority of Soviet engineers over Western. AT «Condenser» components and assemblies are used, which at that time were not in the world samples of armored vehicles.
Starting with the undercarriage. Above we wrote about the chassis of the heavy T-10M tank. The designers did not just use the latest developments, but also «adjusted» them for a new weapon! A eight-wheel chassis with hydraulic shock absorbers? They not only helped to move smoothly, but extinguished part of the recoil energy.
And the tool? The huge mass of the 406-mm gun simply could not be mounted on the chassis.. The weight of the ammunition for the gun reached a monstrous figure. RDS-41, Soviet atomic ammunition with charge 14 CT, was a mass of almost 600 kg! AND «was flying» this monster on 25,5 kilometers! Can you imagine the effect of such a gap. 14 kilotons on the front lines…
But talking about SPGs, how about a car, must not. To quote the historian of armored vehicles, artillery officer Anatoly Simonyan from his interview «Stars»:
«The monstrous power of recoil has done such terrible things, that the project was almost wrapped up. After the shot, the gearbox fell off the mountings, the engine was not there after the shot, where was it posted, communication equipment and hydraulics - literally everything failed. Every shot of this machine, in fact, was experimental, since after each such volley, the car was studied for three to four hours up to each screw for the weakening of metal. This is not to mention the fact, that the installation itself rolled back seven to eight meters».
«Capacitor» became a weapon of intimidation. Paradoxically, this ACS could compete with the rocket armament that existed at that time. strangely, but it was enough to transport the SPG to some area — and all. The situation calmed down by itself.
Approximately the same effect was exerted by «Oka». Let's quote a specialist again, military historian Nikolai Lapshin:
«Shot 2B1 was called a strategic trump card in the negotiations. Why? Well, probably, because, that one shot could change not just the balance of power in the upcoming battle, but also, for example, change the balance of forces in general in the area of operation. Imagine the accumulation of enemy forces, in which «arrives» mine with an atomic charge and weighing more 600 kilograms? I think, there will be no witnesses here, even there will be no one to recruit for capitulation».
Active-reactive mine «This», 420-mm mine «Transformer» really amazed by its size. Human's height! More 600 kg weight. Range up to 50 kilometers! At the same time, huge power!
And at the end of the article, I would like to return to that anecdote, where we started. What's going on «at home» after the shot «Oki». Well first of all, the shot itself. personnel, even with headphones, practically lost hearing for quite a long time. And the nearest seismic stations recorded an earthquake. Lung.
Today, such systems can only be seen in museums.. We abandoned their development in 1960. Americans in 1963. It's a pity. Imagine, how would international relations change, if there were a few, but modernized «Transformers» and «Capacitors».
but, our story about huge mortars doesn't end there ...
