DShK
The DShK 1938 (ДШК, for Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7×108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield. It took its name from the weapons designers Vasily Degtyaryov, who designed the original weapon, and Georgi Shpagin, who improved the cartridge feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dashka (familiar form of female name Daria) in Russian-speaking countries, from the abbreviation.
History
The requirement for a heavy machine gun appeared in 1929. The first such gun, the Degtyaryov, Krupnokalibernyi (DK, Degtyaryov, Large calibre), was built in 1930 and this gun was produced in small quantities from 1933 to 1935.
The gun was fed from a drum magazine of only thirty rounds, and had a poor rate of fire. Shpagin developed a belt feed mechanism to fit to the DK giving rise, in 1938, to the adoption of the gun as the DShK 1938. This became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun in World War II.
Like its U.S. equivalent, the M2 Browning, the DShK 1938 was used in several roles. As 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 tanks and ISU-152 self-propelled guns. As an infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley which unfolded into a tripod for anti-aircraft use, similar to the mount developed by Vladimirov for the 1910 Maxim gun.[5] It was also mounted in vehicle turrets, for example, in the T-40 light amphibious tank.
In 1946, the DShK 1938/46 or DShKM (M for modernized) version was introduced.
In addition to the Soviet Union and Russia, the DShK has been manufactured under license by a number of countries, including the People's Republic of China, Pakistan and Romania. Today, it has been mostly replaced in favour of the more modern NSV and Kord designs. Nevertheless, the DShK is still one of the most widely used heavy machine guns.
In June 1988, during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles, a British Army Westland Lynx helicopter was hit 15 times by two Provisional IRA DShKs smuggled in from Libya and forced to crash-land near Cashel Lough Upper, south County Armagh.[6]
DShKs were also used in 2004, against British troops in Al-Amarah, Iraq.[7]
In the 2012 Syrian civil war, the Syrian government said rebels used the gun mounted on cars. It claimed to have destroyed, on the same day, 40 such cars on a highway in Aleppo and six in Dael.[8]
Users
-
Afghanistan[9] -
Albania[9] "DShkM" locally produced from a Chinese copy -
Algeria[9] -
Angola[9] -
Armenia[9] -
Azerbaijan[9] -
Bangladesh[9] -
Belarus[9] -
Bulgaria[9] -
Burkina Faso[10] 
Burundi[11]-
Cambodia[9] -
Cameroon[12] -
Cape Verde[9] -
Central African Republic[9] -
Chad[9] -
Chile[13] -
China: Produced DShKM variant.[14] -
Congo-Brazzaville[9] -
Congo-Kinshasa[9][15] -
Cuba[9] -
Cyprus[9] -
Czechoslovakia: Produced DShKM variant.[14] (former user) -
Czech Republic[9] -
Egypt[9] -
Equatorial Guinea[9] -
Eritrea[9] -
Ethiopia[9] -
Finland[9] -
Georgia[9] -
Ghana[9] -
Guinea[9] -
Guinea-Bissau[9] -
Hungary[9] -
Indonesia -
Iran: Manufactured DShKM variant named MGD 12.7.[16] -
Iraq[9] called the "Doshka" by Iraqis
-
Ireland: Used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the Irish Northern Conflict, also known as the Troubles -
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -
Israel[9] -
India Captured during Kargil War -
Kazakhstan[9] -
Kenya[18] -
Kosovo -
Kyrgyzstan[9] -
Laos[9] -
Libya[9] -
Macedonia[9] -
Madagascar[9] -
Mali[9] – Armed and Security Forces of Mali -
Malta[9] -
Mongolia[19] -
Mozambique[9] -
Nicaragua[9] -
Niger[20][21] -
Nigeria[9] -
North Korea[9] -
North Vietnam[14](former user) -
Pakistan: Used by the Pakistan Army. DShKM variant produced locally.[22][23] -
Peru[9] -
Poland[24] -
Romania Produce locally (former user)(still used with TR-85 tanks) -
Russian Federation[9] -
Rwanda: Used by Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur.[25] -
Saudi Arabia -
Serbia[9] -
Seychelles[9] -
Sierra Leone[9] -
Slovakia[9] -
Somalia[9]
-
South Sudan[29] -
Soviet Union[14] -
Sudan[30] -
Syria[9] -
Tanzania[9] -
Togo[9] -
Turkmenistan[9] -
Uganda[9] -
Ukraine[9] -
Vietnam[9] -
Yemen[9] -
Yugoslavia: Manufactured DShKM variant.[16] (former user) -
Zambia[9] -
Zimbabwe[9]
Gallery
.jpg)
DShKM TR-85M1
DShKM URO VAMTAC
DShKM T-55
DShK M1938
DShKM anti-aircraft machine gun on a T-55 tank loader's roof hatch.
See also
- FN BRG-15
- Kord machine gun
- KPV heavy machine gun
- List of Russian weaponry
- M2 Browning machine gun
- NSV machine gun
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATOG-klSnQM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL978-2-1iQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3RO_4SNvyQ&t=387s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfCI1WgpOHU&t=637s
- ↑ "FINNISH ARMY 1918–1945: ANTIAIRCRAFT MACHINEGUNS". Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ↑ Harnden, Toby (2000).Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh. Coronet Books, pp. 360–361 ISBN 0-340-71737-8
- ↑ Mills, Dan (2007). "16". Sniper One. Penguin Group. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7181-4994-9.
They were Dshkes, a Russian-made beast of a thing that fires half-inch calibre rounds and was designed to bring down helicopters.
- ↑ "الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء". الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Jones, Richard D.; Ness, Leland S., eds. (January 27, 2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 (35th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
- ↑ Joe Penney (2015-09-22). "Burkina Faso coup and violent protests". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
- ↑ Thierry Vircoulon (2014-10-02). "Insights from the Burundian Crisis (I): An Army Divided and Losing its Way". International Crisis Group. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
- ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30623199
- ↑ Gander, Terry J.; Hogg, Ian V. Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995/1996. Jane's Information Group; 21 edition (May 1995). ISBN 978-0-7106-1241-0.
- 1 2 3 4 Miller, David (2001). The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns. London: Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84065-245-1.
- ↑ Army Recognition (2008-10-30). "Democratic Republic Congo Ranks combat uniforms Congolese army". armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
- 1 2 "G3 Defence Magazine August 2010". calameo.com. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ↑ NRT (2017-01-25). "Peshmerga Ministry: There will be no withdraw from liberated areas". NRT TV. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
- ↑ World Armies (2012-10-08). "Kenyan Army". flicker. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ↑ Mongolian military museum. Ulaanbaatar. Sights of intersest
- ↑ Thomson Reuters (2015-03-17). "Boko Haram pushed out of all but 3 areas of northeast Nigeria". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
- ↑ Antonia Mortensen (2013-01-31). "French military says troops control airport in key Malian city". CNN News. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
- ↑ O'Halloran, Kevin. Rwanda: Unamir 1994/1995. Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921941-48-1.
- ↑ "12.7mm DShK heavy machinegun". Retrieved 15 May 2013.
- ↑ "Wyposażenie Wojsk Lądowych RP". Gdzie zaczyna się wojsko…. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ↑ Albert Gonzalez Farran (2014-02-10). "WFP food distribution". UNAMID. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
- ↑ GAROWEONLINE (2016-09-28). "Somalia: Puntland security forces attack Al Shabaab group, 15 killed". Garowe Online. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
- ↑ Shmuel Yosef Agnon (2017-03-16). "Puntland Sends Maritime Forces to Bari Coastal Areas on Rescue Mission of Vessel Hijacked by Somali Pirates". Strategic Intelligence News. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
- ↑ ansar (2013-05-26). "Somalia". World Military and Police Forces. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
- ↑ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/02/19/world/s-sudan-cease-fire-in-tatters-as-rebels-attack-key-oil-town/#.WAgteCRP6jA
- ↑ https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudanese-army-and-rebels-clash-in-abata-central-darfur
Further reading
- Leszek Erenfeicht (29 August 2012). "Dushka: The Soviet Fifty Caliber". Small Arms Defense Journal. Vol. 4, No. 3.
- Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon: A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 53. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to DShK. |
- DShK and DShKM at guns.ru.
- Video of Operation