2A46 125 mm gun
2A46 125 mm gun | |
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2A46M1 in Motovilikha Plants museum | |
Type | Smoothbore tank gun |
Place of origin | USSR |
Specifications | |
Caliber | 125 mm |
Effective firing range | 12km (12,000m) with HEF, 8km (8,000m) with GM, 3km (3,000m) with APDS & HEAT |
The 2A46 (also called D-81T) is a 125mm/L48 smoothbore cannon of Soviet origin used in several main battle tanks.
Description
It was developed by the Spetstekhnika Design Bureau in Ekaterinburg in the 1960s originally for the T-64A tank. They were subsequently manufactured at Artillery Plant No.9 in Ekaterinburg and Motovilikha in Perm. Versions include 2A46, 2A46M, 2A46M-1, 2A46M-2, 2A46M-4, 2A46M-5 and the Ukrainian KBA-3.
The 2A46 can fire armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high-explosive fragmentation (HEF) projectiles. The ammunition for the 2A46 gun is in two pieces: the projectile is loaded first, followed by a separate propellant charge.
The early version of the 2A46 suffered from a short barrel life, but this was subsequently rectified on the 2A46M version.
The Ukrainian KBA guns are derived from the 2A46 gun.
Tanks using the 2A46
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The 2A46 has been used in numerous tanks, almost exclusively Soviet/Russian designs or foreign derivatives thereof.
See also
- 125 mm smoothbore ammunition
- 2A45 Sprut - A Soviet towed 125 mm anti-tank gun
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
- L30 : British 120-mm rifled equivalent
- GIAT CN120-26/52 : French 120-mm equivalent
- Rheinmetall 120 mm gun : German 120-mm equivalent
- IMI 120 mm gun : Israeli 120-mm equivalent
Sources
References
External links
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