| ZU-23-2 | |
|---|---|
A ZU-23-2 on display at Saint Petersburg Artillery Museum. |
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| Type | Towed 23 mm Anti-Aircraft Twin Autocannon |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1960 - present |
| Used by | See Operators section |
| Production history | |
| Designed | Late 1950s |
| Produced | 1960 - still in production [1] |
| Variants | See Variants section |
| Specifications (ZU-23-2) | |
| Weight | 0.95 tonnes (2,094 lbs) |
| Length | 4.57 m (10 ft) |
| Width | 2.88 m (9 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 1.22 m (4 ft) |
| Crew | 6 |
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| Caliber | 23 mm |
| Traverse | 360° |
The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23 mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for Zenitnaya Ustanovka (Russian: Зенитная Установка) - anti-aircraft mount.
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ZU-23-2 was developed in the late 1950s. It was designed to engage low-flying targets at a range of 2.5 km as well as armoured vehicles at a range of 2 km and for direct defense of troops and strategic locations against air assault usually conducted by helicopters and low-flying airplanes.[1] Development of this weapon into a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) led to the ZSU-23-4 Shilka.
It mounts two 2A14 23 mm autocannons on a small trailer which can be converted into a stationary mount for firing the guns. While in this position the wheels are moved aside. The autocannon can be prepared for firing from the march position in 30 seconds and in emergency can be fired from the traveling position. The weapon is aimed and fired manually, with the help of the ZAP-23 optical-mechanical sight which uses manually entered target data to provide limited automatic aiming. It also has a straight-tube telescope for use against ground targets such as infantry as well as unarmored or lightly armoured vehicles. The ammo is a feed by a conveyor belt from two ammunition boxes. Each of the ammunition boxes are located on the side of the twin autocannon and each carries 50 rounds. The fumes created by firing the weapon are partially removed through the side openings in the barrels.[1]
The cannon carriage is based on the earlier ZPU-2 anti-aircraft twin heavy machine gun, which mounted two KPV 14.5 mm heavy machine guns. ZU-23-2 can be identified by different placement of the ammunition boxes (at right angles to the gun carriage) and by muzzle flash suppressors. In another similarity to the ZPU series, single-barrel and four-barrel versions of the ZU-23 were also developed. However, these versions never entered service.
ZU-23-2 can be towed by a number of different vehicles. In USSR and later Russia the most frequently used towing vehicles for it were GAZ-66 4x4 trucks and GAZ-69 4x4 light trucks.[1]
The 23mm AA guns utilizes the same 23x152B case as the wartime VYa aircraft cannon. Due to different loadings and primers the ammunition is not interchangeable, however; ammunition of the anti-aircraft cannon can be identified from its steel casings, ammunition for the aircraft cannon having brass cases instead.[2] The following table lists the main characteristics of some of the available 23x152B ammunition used in 23mm AA guns:
| Designation | Type | Projectile Weight [g] | Bursting charge [g] | Muzzle Velocity [m/s] | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BZT | API | 190 [3] | ? | 970 | Blunt AP steel core, with incendiary charge inside windshield cap.[3] Penetration 15 mm RHA at 100 m range and 30 degree impact angle (from perpendicular), tracer burn time 5 seconds. |
| OFZ | HE | 184[3] | 19 [4] | 980[3] | HE fragmentation round with nose fuzes incorporating self-destruct mechanism.[3] |
| OFZT | HE-T | 188[3] | 13 [4] | 980[3] | HE fragmentation round with a reduced HE charge due to the space taken by the tracer; tracer burn time 5 seconds. |
| APDS-T | APDS-T | 103 | none | 1220 | A Polish sub-caliber armour-piercing round with tracer. Penetration 30 mm RHA at 100 m range and 30 degree impact angle (from perpendicular), tracer burn time >2.5 s. |
ZU-23-2 entered service with the Soviet Army in 1960. ZU-23-2 is often mounted on trucks for use in both anti-aircraft and fire support roles. It can also be mounted on the roof of the MT-LB multi-purpose tracked APCs. Specially modified three-legged ZU-23-2 is used in BTR-DG based airborne SPAAG. Cheap, easy to operate and still effective, the ZU-23-2 is still used by the Russian Army and by more than 20 other armies. The Finnish military nickname for the weapon is Sergei. There are also non-ex-Soviet produced versions of the weapon. One example is the Polish ZUR-23-2TG, which has improved sights and is armed with "Grom" missiles in addition to the autocannons. Another is the Finnish 23 ItK 95, which is often vehicle mounted, like a technical.
The type has seen widespread use by both sides in the 2011 Libyan civil war often mounted on technical pickup trucks. [5]
The ZU-23-2 appears in the video games Battlefield: Bad Company, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a towed weapon and also mounted on a variant of the BMD-3.[11]
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