What makes a heavy artillery shell fly out of the barrel at high speed and fall far from the gun, tens of kilometers away?

What is the force that throws the projectile out of the gun?

In times gone by, the elasticity of tightly twisted ropes from ox intestines or veins was used to throw stone shells from a catapult.

For throwing arrows from bows, the elasticity of wood or metal was used.

The principle of operation of the catapult and bow is quite clear.

And what is the principle of the device and operation of a firearm artillery gun?

A modern artillery firearm is a complex combat vehicle that consists of many different parts and mechanisms. Depending on the purpose, artillery pieces are very diverse in their own way. outward appearance... However, the main parts and mechanisms of all tools, according to the principle of design and action, differ little from one another.

Let's get acquainted with the general structure of the tool (Fig. 31).

The gun consists of a barrel with a bolt and a gun carriage. These are the main parts of any weapon.

The barrel serves to direct the movement of the projectile. In addition, a rotary motion is imparted to the projectile in the rifled barrel.

The bolt closes the bore. It opens easily and simply to load the gun and ejects the cartridge case. When loading, the bolt also closes easily and is firmly connected to the barrel. After the shutter is closed, a shot is fired using the percussion mechanism.

The carriage is assigned to fasten the barrel, to give it the necessary position when firing, and in field guns, the carriage, in addition, serves as a vehicle for the weapon in marching movement. (68)

The carriage consists of many parts and mechanisms. The base of the carriage is the lower machine with beds and chassis (Fig. 32).

When firing from a gun, the stands are spread and fixed in the spread position, and for the marching movement they are shifted. The spreading of the beds when firing the gun provides good lateral stability and a large horizontal shelling. There are openers at the ends of the beds. They fix the gun on the ground from longitudinal movement when fired.

The undercarriage consists of wheels and a suspension mechanism that resiliently connects the wheels to the lower machine on the hike (with the beds flattened). Suspension must be switched off during firing; this is done automatically when the bed is pulled apart.

On the lower machine of the carriage, a rotating part of the gun is placed, which consists of the upper machine, aiming mechanisms (turning and lifting), a counterbalancing mechanism, sighting devices, a cradle and recoil devices. (69)

The top machine (see fig. 32) is the base of the rotating implement. A cradle with a barrel and recoil devices, or a swinging part of the weapon, is attached to it with the help of trunnions.

The rotation of the upper machine on the lower one is carried out by a rotary mechanism, which ensures a large horizontal shelling of the gun. The rotation of the cradle with the barrel on the upper machine is carried out using a lifting mechanism, which gives the barrel the required elevation angle. This is how the gun is aimed in the horizontal and vertical directions.

The counterbalancing mechanism is assigned to balance the swinging part and to facilitate manual operation of the lifting mechanism.

With the help of sighting devices, the guns are aimed at the target. On the sighting devices the required horizontal and vertical angles are set, which are then attached to the barrel using aiming mechanisms.

Recoil devices reduce the effect of the shot on the gun and ensure the immobility and stability of the gun during firing. They consist of a recoil brake and a knurling brake. The recoil brake absorbs the recoil energy when fired, and the recoil mechanism returns the recoil barrel to its original position and holds it in this position at all elevation angles. A muzzle brake is also used to reduce the effect of recoil on the gun.

Shield cover protects the gun crew, that is, the gunners who perform combat work at the gun, from bullets and fragments of enemy shells.

This is a general, very brief description of a modern weapon. In more detail, the structure and operation of individual parts and mechanisms of the tool will be discussed in subsequent chapters.

In modern artillery guns, powder gases, the energy of which has a special property, are used to eject shells from the barrel.

When the catapult was working, the people serving it twisted the ropes of ox intestines tightly so that they would then throw a stone with great force. It took a lot of time and energy. When shooting from a bow, it was necessary to pull the bowstring with force.

A modern artillery weapon requires from us a relatively small expenditure of effort before firing. The work done in the gun when fired is done by the energy hidden in the powder.

Before firing, a projectile and a charge of gunpowder are inserted into the barrel of the gun. When fired, the powder charge burns out and turns into gases, which at the time of their formation have a very high elasticity. These gases begin to press with tremendous force in all directions (Fig. 33), and, consequently, on the bottom of the projectile. (70)

Powder gases can leave the confined space only in the direction of the projectile, since under the action of the gases, the projectile begins to move rapidly along the bore and flies out of it at a very high speed.

This is the peculiarity of the energy of powder gases - it is hidden in the powder until we ignite it and until it turns into gases; then the energy of gunpowder is released and does the work we need.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO REPLACE THE POWDER WITH GASOLINE?

Latent energy is not only possessed by gunpowder; and firewood, and coal Both kerosene and gasoline also have energy that is released when they burn and can be used to produce work.

So why not use gunpowder for the shot, but another fuel, for example, gasoline? When burned, gasoline also turns into gases. Why not place a tank of gasoline over the gun and put it in a pipe in the barrel? Then, when loading, you will only need to put in the projectile, and the "charge" will flow into the barrel by itself - you just have to open the tap!

It would be very convenient. And the quality of gasoline as fuel is, perhaps, higher than the quality of gunpowder: if you burn 1 kilogram of gasoline, 10,000 large calories of heat are released, and 1 kilogram of smokeless gunpowder gives about 800 calories during combustion, that is, 12 times less than gasoline. This means that a kilogram of gasoline provides as much heat as it takes to heat 10,000 liters of water by one degree, and a kilogram of gunpowder can heat only 800 liters of water by one degree.

Why don't they "shoot" with gasoline?

To answer this question, you need to find out how gasoline burns and how gunpowder burns. (71)

In the open air, both gasoline and smokeless powder do not burn very slowly, but also not very quickly. They burn but do not explode. There is not much difference between gasoline and gunpowder.

But gasoline and gunpowder behave completely differently if they are placed in a closed space, closed on all sides, devoid of air flow, for example, behind a projectile in the barrel of a gun, tightly closed by a bolt. In this case, gasoline will not burn: it needs an inflow of air, an inflow of oxygen to burn it.

Gunpowder will burn very quickly in an enclosed space: it will explode and turn into gases.

Combustion of gunpowder in an enclosed space is a very complex, peculiar phenomenon, not at all similar to ordinary combustion. Such a phenomenon is called explosive decomposition, explosive transformation, or simply an explosion, only conditionally retaining the more familiar name "combustion" for it.

Why does gunpowder burn and even explode without access to air?

Because the gunpowder itself contains oxygen, due to which combustion occurs.

In a confined space, gunpowder burns extremely quickly, a lot of gases are emitted, and their temperature is very high. This is the essence of the explosion; this is the difference between an explosion and ordinary combustion.

So, to get an explosion of smokeless gunpowder, you must ignite it without fail in a confined space. The flame will then very quickly, almost instantly, spread over the entire surface of the powder - it will ignite. The gunpowder will quickly burn and turn into gases.

This is how the explosion proceeds. It is possible only if there is oxygen in the explosive itself.

This is precisely the peculiarity of gunpowder and almost all other explosives: they themselves have oxygen, and during combustion they do not need an influx of oxygen from the outside.

Take, for example, gunpowder, which has been used in military affairs for a long time: smoky, black powder. It contains coal, saltpeter and sulfur. The fuel here is coal. Nitrate contains oxygen. And sulfur was introduced in order to make gunpowder easier to ignite; in addition, sulfur serves as a bonding agent, it combines coal with nitrate. During an explosion, this gunpowder is far from all converted to gases. A significant part of the burnt gunpowder in the form of the smallest solid particles is deposited on the walls of the barrel bore (carbon deposits) and is thrown into the air in the form of smoke. Therefore, such gunpowder is called smoky.

In modern guns, smokeless, pyroxylinic or nitroglycerin powders are usually used.

Smokeless powder, like smoky powder, contains oxygen. During an explosion, this oxygen is released, and due to it, the powder is burned. When burned, smokeless powder turns into gases and does not give off smoke. (72)

So, you cannot replace gunpowder with gasoline: gunpowder has everything you need to burn it, but gasoline has no oxygen. Therefore, when it is necessary to achieve rapid combustion of gasoline in an enclosed space, for example, in the cylinder of an automobile engine, it is necessary to arrange special complex devices in order to pre-mix gasoline with air - to prepare a combustible mixture.

Let's make a simple calculation.

We have already said that 1 kilogram of gasoline, when burned, gives 10,000 large calories of heat. But it turns out that for the combustion of each kilogram of gasoline, 15.5 kilograms of air must be added to it. This means that 10,000 calories are not for 1 kilogram of gasoline, but for 16.5 kilograms of combustible mixture. One kilogram of it releases only about 610 calories when burning. This is less than 1 kilogram of gunpowder.

As you can see, the mixture of gasoline with air is inferior to gunpowder in calories.

However, this is not the main point. The main thing is that a lot of gases are formed during the explosion of gunpowder. The volume of gases formed during the combustion of one liter of a mixture of gasoline with air, as well as one liter of smoky and one liter of smokeless pyroxylin powder, is shown in Fig. 34.

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The gases would occupy such a volume when they were cooled to zero degrees centigrade at a pressure of one atmosphere, that is, at normal pressure. And the volume of powder gases at the explosion temperature (again at a pressure of one atmosphere) will be many times greater.

From fig. 34 shows that pyroxylin powder emits gases more than 4 times more than black powder with equal amounts by weight. Therefore, pyroxylinic powder is stronger than smoky powder.

But this still does not exhaust the advantages of gunpowder over conventional fuel, such as gasoline. The rate of transformation of gunpowder into gases is of immense importance.

The explosive transformation of a powder charge when fired lasts only a few thousandths of a second. The gasoline mixture in the engine cylinder burns 10 times slower.

The powder charge of a 76 mm cannon is completely converted to gases in less than 6 thousandths (0.006) of a second.

It is even difficult to imagine such a short period of time. After all, the "moment" - the blinking of the eyelid of the human eye - lasts about a third of a second. Powder charge explodes 50 times faster.

The explosion of a charge of smokeless powder creates tremendous pressure in the gun barrel: up to 3000–3500 atmospheres, that is, 3000–3500 kilograms per square centimeter.

With a high pressure of propellant gases and a very short explosive transformation time, the enormous power that a firing weapon possesses is created. None of the other fuels creates such power under the same conditions.

EXPLOSION AND KNOCK

In the open air, smokeless powder burns quietly and does not explode. Therefore, when the tube of smokeless powder (Fig. 35) burns,

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in the open air, you can track the time of its burning by the clock: meanwhile, even the most accurate stopwatch cannot measure the time of the explosive transformation of the same gunpowder in a gun. How can this be explained?

It turns out that the whole point is in the conditions under which the formation of gases occurs.

When gunpowder burns in the open air, the resulting gases dissipate quickly: nothing holds them back. The pressure around the burning gunpowder hardly increases, and the burning rate is comparatively low.

In an enclosed space, the gases formed do not have an outlet. They fill the entire space. Their pressure rises rapidly. Under the influence of this pressure, the explosive transformation proceeds very vigorously, that is, all the gunpowder turns into gases with extreme rapidity. The result is no longer an ordinary combustion, but an explosion (see Fig. 35).

The greater the pressure around the burning gunpowder, the greater the speed of the explosion. By increasing this pressure, we can get a very high explosion velocity. Such an explosion, proceeding at a tremendous speed, tens and even hundreds of times higher than the speed of an ordinary explosion, is called detonation. With such an explosion, ignition and explosive transformation seem to merge, occur almost simultaneously, within a few hundred thousandths of a second.

The explosion rate depends not only on pressure. Detonation can sometimes be obtained without applying much pressure.

Which is better for shooting - an ordinary explosion or detonation?

The detonation speed is much higher than the speed of an ordinary explosion / Maybe the work done by gases during detonation will be greater?

Let's try to replace the explosion with detonation: for this we create a higher pressure in the barrel than is usually obtained when igniting gunpowder.

To do this, fill the entire space in the barrel behind the projectile with gunpowder to capacity. Let us now ignite the gunpowder.

What happens?

The very first portions of gas, having no outlet, create a very high pressure in the barrel. Under the influence of such pressure, all the gunpowder will immediately turn into gases, this will increase the pressure many times over. All this will happen in a period of time that is immeasurably shorter than with an ordinary explosion. It will no longer be measured in thousandths, but in ten-thousandths and even hundred-thousandths of a second!

But what happened to the weapon?

Look at fig. 36.

The trunk could not stand it! (75)

The projectile had not yet had time to get under way, as the huge pressure of gases had already tore the barrel to pieces.

This means that the excessive speed of the explosion is not suitable for shooting. Do not fill the entire space behind the projectile with gunpowder and thus create excessive pressure. In this case, the implement may explode.

Therefore, when drawing up a charge of gunpowder, they never forget about the space in which the gunpowder will be exploded, that is, about the volume of the so-called charging chamber of the gun. The ratio of the weight of the charge in kilograms to the volume of the charging chamber in liters is called the loading density (Fig. 37). If the loading density exceeds a known limit, there is a danger of detonation. Usually, the loading density in guns does not exceed 0.5–0.7 kilograms of gunpowder per 1 liter of the volume of the charging chamber.

There are, however, substances that are made specifically to produce detonation. These are blasting or crushing explosives, such as pyroxylin, TNT. In contrast, propellants are called propellants.

High explosives have interesting properties. For example, one of the destructive blasting agents - pyroxylin - was used 100 years ago without any fear for the most peaceful purposes: to light candles in chandeliers. The pyroxylin cord was set on fire, and it burned completely calmly, slightly smoking, without an explosion, lighting one candle after another. From impact or friction, the same pyroxylin, if dried and enclosed in a shell, explodes. And if an explosion of explosive mercury occurs nearby, dry pyroxylin detonates.

Wet pyroxylin burns quietly when touched by a flame, but unlike dry pyroxylin, it does not explode on impact and does not detonate when explosive mercury explodes nearby. (76)

Why does pyroxylin behave differently under different circumstances: sometimes it burns, sometimes it explodes, and sometimes it detonates?

The strength of the chemical compound of molecules, the chemical and physical nature of the substance and the ability of the substance play a role here. to explosive transformation.

Other high explosives also behave differently. For some blasting agents, the touch of a flame is sufficient for explosive transformation, for others, explosive transformation occurs from impact, for still others, it occurs only with a strong shock of molecules caused by the explosion of another explosive. The shock from the explosion spreads quite far, for tens of meters. Therefore, many blasting substances can detonate even when the explosion of the same or another blasting substance occurs quite far from them.

Upon detonation, all of the blasting material is almost instantly converted into gases. In this case, the gases do not have time to spread in the air as they are formed. They strive to expand with great speed and force and destroy everything in their path.

The closer to the explosive there is an obstacle preventing the propagation of gases, the stronger the blow of gases against this obstacle. That is why the blasting substance, exploding in a vessel closed with a lid, shatters the vessel into small parts, and the vessel lid flies off to the side, but usually remains intact (Fig. 38).

Can high explosives be used to load a gun?

Of course not. We already know that when the gunpowder detonates, the barrel of a gun bursts. The same would happen if we put a high explosive charge into the weapon.

Therefore, blasting explosives are mainly used to fill the chamber of artillery shells. Highly sensitive to impact blasting agents, such as TNT, are placed inside the projectiles and forced to detonate when the projectile meets the target. (77)

Some explosives are unusually sensitive: explosive mercury, for example, explodes from a light prick or even a shock.

The sensitivity of such explosives is used to ignite the propellant charge and to detonate high explosives. These substances are called initiators. In addition to explosive mercury, lead azide, lead trinitroresorcinate (THRS) and others are among the initiating substances.

To ignite a powder charge, small portions of explosive mercury are most often used.

However, it is impossible to use pure mercury - it is too sensitive; mercury fulminate can explode and ignite the propellant charge when it is not yet needed - by accidental light impact during loading, or even by shock while transporting the charges. In addition, the flame from pure mercury-fueled mercury does not easily ignite gunpowder.

To use explosive mercury, it is necessary to lower its sensitivity and increase its flammability. For this purpose, explosive mercury is mixed with other substances: shellac, berthollet's salt, antimony. The resulting mixture ignites only with a strong impact or prick and is called a shock compound. A copper cup with a percussion compound placed in it is called a primer.

When struck or pricked, the primer gives off a flame with very high temperature, which ignites the powder charge.

As you can see, initiating, propelling, and high explosives are used in artillery, but only for different purposes. Initiating explosives are used to make primers, gunpowder - to eject a projectile from the barrel, high explosives - to equip most projectiles.

WHAT IS THE ENERGY OF GUNPOWDER?

When fired, part of the energy contained in the charge of the gunpowder is converted into the energy of the projectile's movement.

While the charge is not yet ignited, it has potential or latent energy. It can be compared to the energy of water standing on high level at the sluices of the mill when they are closed. The water is calm, the wheels are motionless (fig. 39).

But. here we have ignited the charge. An explosive transformation takes place - energy is released. The gunpowder turns into highly heated gases. Thus, the chemical energy of gunpowder is converted into mechanical energy, that is, into the energy of movement of gas particles. This movement of the particles creates the pressure of the propellant gases, which, in turn, causes the projectile to move: the energy of the propellant is converted into the energy of the projectile's motion. (78)

We kind of opened the floodgates. A stormy stream of water rushed from a height and quickly turned the blades of the water wheel (see Fig. 39).

How much energy is contained in a charge of gunpowder, for example, in a full charge of a 76mm cannon?

It's easy to calculate. The full charge of the pyroxylin powder of the 76mm cannon weighs 1.08 kilograms. Each kilogram of such gunpowder releases 765 large calories of heat when burned. Every large calorie is known to correspond 427 kilograms of mechanical energy.

Thus, the energy contained in a full charge of a 76 mm cannon is: 1.08 × 765 × 427 = 352,000 kilogram meters.

What is a kilogram meter? This is the work that must be spent in order to lift one kilogram to a height of one meter (Fig. 40).

However, not all the energy of the gunpowder is spent on pushing the projectile out of the gun, that is, on useful work. Most of the energy of the gunpowder is lost: about 40% of the energy is not used at all, since some of the gases are uselessly thrown out of the barrel after the projectile has taken off, about 22% (79) is spent on heating the barrel, about 5% is spent on recoil and gas movement.

If we take into account all the losses, it turns out that only one third, or 33%, of the charge energy goes to useful work.

This is not too little. The tool as a machine has a fairly high coefficient useful action... In the most advanced internal combustion engines, no more than 40% of all thermal energy is spent on useful work, and in steam engines, for example, in steam locomotives, no more than 20%.

So, 33% of the 352,000 kilogram meters, that is, about 117,000 kilogram meters, is spent on useful work in a 76-millimeter cannon.

And all this energy is released in just 6 thousandths of a second!

A simple calculation shows that the power of the gun is over 260,000 horsepower. And what is "horsepower" can be seen from fig. 41.

If people could do this kind of work in the same short term, it would take about half a million people. That's how powerful even a small cannon can fire!

IS THERE ANYTHING ANYTHING TO REPLACE THE POWDER?

The use of gunpowder as a source of enormous energy is associated with significant inconveniences.

For example, due to the very high pressure of powder gases, gun barrels have to be made very strong, heavy, and because of this, the mobility of the gun suffers.

In addition, during the explosion of gunpowder, an extremely high temperature develops (Fig. 42) - up to 3000 degrees. This is 4 times higher than the flame temperature of a gas burner!

To melt steel, 1400 degrees of heat is enough. The explosion temperature is thus more than twice the melting temperature of steel.

The gun barrel does not melt just because the high temperature of the explosion acts for a negligible time and the barrel does not have time to heat up to the melting temperature of steel. (80)

But still, the barrel heats up a lot, this is also facilitated by the friction of the projectile. With prolonged shooting, you have to increase the time intervals between shots so that the barrel does not overheat. Some fast-firing small-caliber guns are equipped with special cooling systems.

All this, of course, creates inconvenience when shooting. In addition, high pressure, high temperature, as well as the chemical action of gases do not remain unnoticed for the barrel: its metal is gradually destroyed.

Finally, among the inconveniences caused by the use of gunpowder, it should also be attributed to the fact that the shot is accompanied by a loud sound. Sound often reveals a hidden weapon, unmasks it.

As you can see, the use of gunpowder is associated with great inconvenience.

That is why they have long been trying to replace gunpowder with another source of energy.

Indeed, is it not strange that gunpowder even now, as several centuries ago, reigns supreme in artillery? Indeed, over the centuries, technology has made great strides forward: from muscular strength to the strength of wind and water; then the steam engine was invented - the age of steam came; then they began to use liquid fuel - oil, gasoline.

Finally, electricity has penetrated all areas of life.

Now such sources of energy are available to us, about which six centuries ago, in the years of the appearance of gunpowder, people did not even have a clue.

Well, what about gunpowder? Is it really impossible to replace it with something more perfect?

Let's not talk about replacing gunpowder with another fuel. We have already seen the failure of this attempt with the example of gasoline. (81)

But why not, for example, use the energy of compressed air for shooting?

Attempts to introduce pneumatic guns and cannons have been made for a long time. But pneumatic weapons still did not spread. And it's clear why.

Indeed, in order to obtain the energy necessary for a shot, one must first expend much more energy to compress the air, since during a shot a significant part of the energy will inevitably be lost. If, when loading a pneumatic gun, the energy of one person is enough, then efforts are required to load an air gun. a large number people or a special engine.

It is possible, however, to create a pneumatic gun with charges of compressed air, prepared in advance at the factories. Then, when shooting, it would be enough to put such a charge into the barrel and open its "lid" or "tap".

There have been attempts to create such a weapon. However, they also turned out to be unsuccessful: first, there were difficulties in storing highly compressed air in a vessel; secondly, as the calculations showed, such a pneumatic gun could throw a projectile at a lower speed than a firearm of the same weight.

Pneumatic weapons cannot compete with firearms. Pneumatic guns do exist, but not how combat weapon, but only for training shooting at a dozen or two meters.

The situation is even worse with the use of steam. Steam installations must be too complex and cumbersome to obtain the required pressure.

Attempts have been made more than once to use a centrifugal throwing machine for throwing shells.

Why not mount the projectile on a fast rotating disc? As the disk rotates, the projectile will tend to break away from it. If at a certain moment the projectile is released, it will fly, and its speed will be the greater, the faster the disk rotates. At first glance, the idea is very tempting. But only at first glance.

Accurate calculations show that such a throwing machine would be very large and cumbersome. For “it would need a powerful engine. And, most importantly, such a centrifugal machine could not “shoot” accurately: the slightest mistake in determining the moment of separation of the projectile from the disk would cause a sharp change in the direction of the projectile's flight. And release the projectile exactly at the right moment it is extremely difficult when the disc is spinning rapidly. Therefore, the centrifugal throwing machine cannot be used.

There remains one more type of energy - electricity. There are probably tremendous opportunities here!

And now, two decades ago, an electric weapon was built. True, not a combat sample, but a model. This model of an electric (82) gun threw a shell weighing 50 grams at a speed of 200 meters per second. No pressure, normal temperature, almost no sound. There are many advantages. Why not build a real combat weapon from the model?

It turns out it's not that easy.

The barrel of an electric gun should consist of conductor windings in the form of coils. When current flows through the windings, the steel projectile will be drawn in series into these coils by magnetic forces generated around the conductor. Thus, the projectile will receive the desired acceleration and, after turning off the current from the windings, will fly out of the barrel by inertia.

An electric cannon must receive energy for throwing a projectile from the outside, from a source electric current, in other words, from the car. What should be the power of a machine for firing, for example, from a 76mm electric cannon?

Recall that throwing a projectile from a 76-millimeter cannon takes an enormous energy of 117,000 kilogram meters in six thousandths of a second, or 260,000 horsepower. The same power is, of course, required to fire a TBgmillimeter electric cannon, which throws the same projectile at the same distance.

But energy losses are inevitable in the car. These losses can amount to at least 50% of the machine's power. This means that a machine with our electric cannon must have a capacity of at least 500,000 horsepower. This is the power of a huge power plant.

You can see that even a small electrical tool must be powered by a huge power station.

But in addition to imparting the energy necessary for the movement of the projectile in an insignificant period of time, a tremendous current is needed; for this, the power plant must have special equipment. The equipment used now will not withstand the "shock" that will follow in the case of a "short circuit" of a very strong current.

If you increase the time of exposure of the current to the projectile, that is, reduce the power of the shot, then you will need to lengthen the barrel.

It is not at all necessary that the shot "lasts", for example, one hundredth of a second. We could lengthen the shot time to one second, that is, increase it 100 times. But then the barrel would have to be lengthened by about the same number of times. Otherwise, it will be impossible to tell the projectile the required speed.

To throw a 76-millimeter projectile over a dozen kilometers with a shot duration of a whole second, the barrel of an electric gun would have to be made about 200 meters long. With such a barrel length, the power of the "throwing" power plant can be reduced by 100 times, that is, made equal to 5000 horsepower. But even this (83) power is quite high, and the gun is extremely long and bulky.

In fig. 43 shows one of the projects of the electric gun. It can be seen from the figure that there is no need to think about the movement of such a weapon with troops across the battlefield; it can only travel by rail.

However, the electric gun has many advantages. First of all, there is not a lot of pressure. This means that the projectile can be made with thin walls and contain much more explosive in it than in a conventional cannon projectile.

In addition, as calculations show, from an electric gun, with a very long barrel length, it will be possible to shoot not tens, but hundreds of kilometers. This is beyond the power of modern weapons.

Therefore, the use of electricity for ultra-long range shooting is very likely in the future.

But this is a matter for the future. Now, in our time, gunpowder is indispensable in artillery; we, of course, need to continue to perfect gunpowder and learn to use it in the best possible way. Our scientists have been and are doing this.

A FEW PAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN GUNPOWDER

In the old days, only one black powder was known. This gunpowder was used in all armies until the second half of the 19th century, before the introduction of smokeless powder. (84)

The methods of making black powder have changed very little over the course of several centuries. Russian gunpowder masters already in the 15th-16th centuries knew very well the properties of various component parts gunpowder, so the gunpowder they made had good qualities.

Until the 17th century, gunpowder was mainly produced by private individuals. Before the campaigns, these persons were told how much "potion" the boyar, merchant or priest's court should put into the treasury. "And whoever makes the excuse that he cannot get the potion, send the yamchuzh (saltpeter) masters to those."

It was only in the 17th century that the production of gunpowder began to be concentrated in the hands of the so-called gunpowder persuasions, that is, entrepreneurs who made gunpowder under contracts with the state.

In the second decade of the 18th century, Russian craftsmen, and above all the outstanding master Ivan Leontyev, enthusiastically set to work to improve gunpowder production in the country. They found that the powder becomes loose and, therefore, loses the ability to impart the required speed to the projectile as a result of the fact that the powder mixture is compressed under a relatively low pressure; so they decided to compact the powder mixture with millstones, using them as rollers.

This thought was not new. Back in the middle of the 17th century, stone millstones were used in powder mills in Russia. Until now, there have been preserved receipts for the payment of money for the millstones for making the "potion".

Later, however, the millstones were no longer used, probably because the stone millstones gave a spark when they were struck and pushed, which ignited the powder mixture.

Ivan Leontiev and his students restored the old Russian method of manufacturing gunpowder using millstones and improved it - the millstones began to be made of copper, the shape of the millstones was improved, automatic wetting of the mixture was introduced, etc. All these improvements in the production of gunpowder contributed to the advancement of Russian artillery to one of the first places in Europe.

Gunpowder for the Russian army was produced by the Okhtensky gunpowder factory in St. Petersburg, founded by Peter I in 1715 and currently existing. For several decades, Russia produced about 30–35 thousand poods of gunpowder per year. But at the end of the 18th century, Russia had to wage two wars almost simultaneously: with Turkey (in 1787–1791) and with Sweden (in 1788–1790). The army and navy required much more gunpowder, and in 1789 the gunpowder factories were given a huge order for that time: to produce 150 thousand poods of gunpowder. In connection with the increase in the production of gunpowder by 4-5 times, it was necessary to expand the existing factories and build new ones; in addition, significant improvements were made to the production of gunpowder. (85)

Yet the work in the powder factories was still very dangerous and difficult. Constant inhalation of powder dust caused lung diseases, consumption shortened the lives of powder workers. In the saltpeter breweries, where the work was especially difficult, the work teams were replaced weekly.

Unbearable working conditions forced the workers to flee from the powder factories, although they were threatened with severe punishment for this.

An important step forward in the manufacture of black powder was the appearance of brown or chocolate prismatic powder. We already know about the role this gunpowder played in military affairs from the first chapter,

In the 19th century, due to the great advances in the field of chemistry, new explosives were discovered, including new, smokeless propellants. Much credit for this belongs to Russian scientists.

Smokeless powders, as we already know, turned out to be much stronger than old black powder. However, for a long time there was a dispute about which of these powders is better.

Meanwhile, the introduction of smokeless powder in all armies went on as usual. The issue was resolved in favor of smokeless powder.

Smokeless powder is prepared mainly from pyroxylin or nitroglycerin.

Pyroxylin, or nitrocellulose, is obtained by processing fiber with a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids; this treatment is called nitration by chemists. Cotton wool or textile waste, linen tow, wood pulp are used as fiber.

Pyroxylin almost does not differ in appearance from the original substance (cotton wool, linen waste, etc.); it is insoluble in water, but dissolves in a mixture of alcohol and ether.

The honor of discovering pyroxylin belongs to the remarkable Russian powder-maker, a pupil of the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy, Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeev.

Before the discovery of pyroxylin, A. A. Fadeev found a wonderful way to safely store black powder in warehouses; he showed that if black powder is mixed with coal and graphite, then when ignited in air the gunpowder does not “explode, but only burns slowly. To prove the validity of his statement, A. A. Fadeev set fire to a barrel with such gunpowder. During this experiment, he himself stood only three paces from the burning barrel. The explosion of gunpowder never followed.

A description of the method of storing gunpowder proposed by A.A.Fadeev was published by the French Academy of Sciences, since this method surpassed all existing foreign methods.

Regarding the use of pyroxylin for the manufacture of smokeless powder, the German newspaper "Allgemeine Preisische Zeitung" in 1846 published that Colonel Fadeev was already preparing "cotton powder" in St. Petersburg and hoped to replace cotton wool with a cheaper material. (Biography of A. A. Fadeev. The magazine "Intelligence" No. 81, December 1891.) (86)

However, the tsarist government did not attach due importance to the invention of pyroxylin, and its production in Russia was established much later.

The famous Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907), having taken up the powder business, decided to simplify and reduce the cost of making pyroxylin powder. The solution to this problem was facilitated after D.I. Mendeleev invented pyrocollodium, from which gunpowder could be obtained much easier.

Pyrocollodium gunpowder had excellent properties, but it was widely used not in Russia, but in the United States. The "enterprising" ancestors of the modern American imperialists stole the secret of making pyrocollodium gunpowder from the Russians, set up the production of this gunpowder and, during the First World War, supplied them to the warring countries in huge quantities, while receiving large profits.

In the production of pyroxylin powder, it is very important to remove water from pyroxylin. DI Mendeleev back in 1890 proposed to use alcohol for washing the pyroxylin mass, but this proposal was not accepted.

In 1892, an explosion of insufficiently dehydrated pyroxylin mass occurred at one of the powder factories. After some time, the talented inventor of the nugget, the fireworks master Zakharov, who knew nothing about the proposal of D. I. Mendeleev, put forward the same project for the dehydration of pyroxylin with alcohol; This time the offer was accepted.

Nitroglycerin plays an equally important role in the manufacture of smokeless propellants.

Nitroglycerin is produced by nitration of glycerin; in its pure form, nitroglycerin is a colorless transparent liquid resembling glycerin. Pure nitroglycerin can be stored for a very long time, but if water or acids are mixed with it, it begins to decompose, which ultimately leads to an explosion.

Back in 1852, the Russian scientist Vasily Fomich Petrushevsky, with the assistance of the famous Russian chemist N. N. Zimin, was engaged in experiments on the use of nitroglycerin as an explosive.

V.F. Petrushevsky was the first to develop a method for fabricating nitroglycerin in significant quantities (only laboratory doses were prepared before him).

The use of nitroglycerin in liquid form is associated with significant dangers, and even when fabricating this substance, which is extremely sensitive to shock, friction, etc., great precautions must be taken.

VF Petrushevsky was the first to use nitroglycerin to obtain dynamite and used this explosive in explosive shells and underwater mines. (87)

Dynamite V.F.

In a small reference on the history of the development of Russian gunpowder, it is not even possible to mention the names of all the wonderful Russian scientists-gunpowder, whose labors have brought our voyage making to one of the first places in the world.

REACTIVE FORCE

Gunpowder can be used to throw projectiles without the use of durable, heavy gun barrels.

Everyone knows the rocket. For the movement of the rocket, as we know, the barrel is not needed. It turns out that the principle of rocket movement can be successfully used for throwing artillery shells.

What is this principle?

It consists in using the so-called reactive force, therefore the projectiles in which this force is used are called reactive.

In fig. 44 shows a rocket with a hole in the tail section. After the ignition of the powder inside the rocket, the formed powder gases will “flow out” through the hole at high speed. When a stream of gases escapes from the combustion chamber of the powder, a force arises in the direction of the movement of the stream; the magnitude of this force depends on the mass of the outflowing gases and on the speed of their outflow.

It is known from physics that any action is always answered by an equal reaction. In short, we sometimes say this: "action is equal to reaction." This means that in the case we are considering, when a force arises in the direction of the movement of gases, an equal in magnitude, but oppositely directed force should arise, under the influence of which the rocket begins to move forward.

This oppositely directed force is, as it were, a reaction to the emergence of a force directed towards the outflow of gases; therefore it is called reactive force, and the movement of a rocket caused by reactive force is called reactive propulsion. (88)

Let's see what are the advantages of using reactive force.

A powder charge for throwing a rocket is placed in the projectile itself. This means that the gun barrel is not needed in this case, since the projectile acquires speed not under the action of the powder gases formed outside the projectile, but under the action of the reactive force that develops in the projectile itself when fired.

To direct the movement of the missile, a light "guide", for example, a rail, is sufficient. This is very beneficial, since the weapon is much lighter and more mobile without a barrel.

On a rocket artillery gun (on a combat vehicle), it is easy to strengthen several guides and fire in one volley, firing several rockets at the same time. The powerful effect of such volleys has been tested on the experience of firing Soviet Katyushas in the Great Patriotic War.

A rocket projectile does not experience high external pressure, like an artillery projectile in a bore. Therefore, its walls can be made thinner and, thanks to this, more explosives can be placed in the projectile.

These are the main advantages of rockets.

But there are also disadvantages. For example, when firing rocket artillery, a much greater dispersion of projectiles is obtained than when firing from barreled artillery guns, which means that firing rocket artillery projectiles is less accurate.

Therefore, we use both those and other weapons, and those and other shells and use the pressure of the powder gases in the barrel and the reactive force for throwing shells.

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Brands and markings on German shells and mortar mines of the Second World War

Brands on the bottom of a German armor-piercing shell

Brands on German shells - these are various letters, numbers, signs - are embossed on the surface of the shell. They are divided into service and control brands.
The brands of the inspectors refer to the control ones and are the same on all parts of the projectile. They look like a stylized Nazi eagle and the inscription " WaA" (Waffen amt) under the swastika. Next to the letters WaA is a number - the military acceptance number.

Service marks carry information about the manufacture, different features shells, their purpose, type of charge.
Brands are placed on the shell German mines and shells, on the bodies of the head fuses, on the casings, on the capsule sleeves, tracers, detonators. Detonators and tracers were often marked with paint instead of stamps.
On shells and mines, the marks are placed on the inner and outer surfaces.
Of primary importance is the branding on the outer shell of German shells and the conical part of mortar mines made during the war. These hallmarks consist of a combination of numbers separated by spaces, for example 92 8 10 41 or 15 22 5 43 ... In the absence of markings on German shells, such digital stamps provide information about the type of shell filling and the date of the shell or mine equipment. The hallmarks given in the form of an example mean:
92 or 15 - type BB;
8 22 - date of equipment;
10 or 5 - a month of equipment;
41 or 43 is the year of equipment.

Fuses and stamps on them

Brands on them are placed on the body in one or two lines. The type of fuse, the company that made it, the batch number of the fuse and the year of its manufacture are indicated.
Some fuses have additional marks informing about the type of projectile for which they are intended, the body material, the name of the installation and the deceleration time.
For example " KL. AZ 23 Pr. bmq 12 1943"stands for:

KL. AZ 23 - sample fuse;
Pr. - body material (plastic);
bmq - manufacturer;
12 - party;
1943 - year of manufacture.

Or brands " Bd. Z. f. 21 cm Gr. 18 Be. RhS 433 1940"means:

Bd. Z. - bottom fuse;
f. 21 cm Gr. 18 Be. - type of projectile (21cm concrete-piercing projectile arr. 18);
RhS - firm;
418 - lot number;
1942 - year of manufacture;
Most often, the following brands are found indicating the installation or deceleration time of the fuse:
I - stowed position;
O or OV - no deceleration;
mV - setting for deceleration;
mV 0.15 or (0.15) - deceleration 0.15 sec;
k / V or K - setting at the smallest deceleration;
l / V or L - setting to the largest deceleration;
1 / V - setting for the first deceleration;
2 / V - setting for the second deceleration.

On the sleeves, the stamps are applied to the bottom cut. They carry information about the index of the sleeve, the type of material from which it is made, the purpose of the sleeve, the manufacturer, the batch and the year of manufacture. For example, the stamps " 6351 St. 21 cm Mrs. P 141 1941"means the following:

6351 - liner index;
St. - the material from which the sleeve is made, in this case steel;
21 cm Mrs. 18 - sample gun (21cm mortar sample 18);
141 - party;
1941 - year of manufacture.

Most of the steel sleeves are laminated, making it difficult to identify the material of the sleeve. All sleeves made of brass after the index have no reduction St., and all sleeves made of steel, regardless of the nature of the anti-corrosion coating, are marked with an abbreviation St.(Stahl)

Capsule sleeves

Capsule and electrical bushings were used in German ammunition. The external difference is that caps have a blind bottom cut, while electric ones have a hole in the center of the bottom cut, into which a contact rod is placed. Brands on the bushings are placed on the bottom surface of their body. Brands indicate the index of the sleeve, what material it is made of, the company, batch number and year of manufacture. For example, the stigma "C / 22 St. bmq 133 42 "means:

C / 22 - bushing index;
St. - the material from which the sleeve body is made, in this case steel;
bmq - company;
133 - party;
42 - year of manufacture.

All steel bushings have a contraction " St."(Stahl).
Steel formatted caps or tinned electrics are often marked with white instead of stamps.
Brands or white markings on tracers were applied to the protruding part. They are often placed on the surface of key recesses. Brands indicate the company, batch number and year of manufacture. For example, the brand " Rdf 171 42" means:

Rdf - company;
171 - party;
43 - year of manufacture.

Detonator stamps

branding on the bottom of the detonator

On detonators, stamps were placed on the bottom of the aluminum shell. The three-letter manufacturer's code and the designation of the explosive with which the detonator is equipped. For instance, " Np. 10"(nitropenta 10%) means that the detonator is equipped with a heating element, phlegmatized with 10% of mountain wax (ozokerite).
In addition to the standard and general brands and markings shown, on some parts of the shells, most often on the cylindrical part of the hull, there are additional special brands that are of particular importance.

Painting of German shells and mines

Painting The painting of projectiles and mines has two purposes, protection against corrosion of the shell of the projectile and the provision of easily perceptible information about the type, purpose and action of the ammunition. Fuses, with a plastic case, having an iron sheath, are painted to protect the goggle from corrosion, and are also painted to protect them from corrosion.

Painting of German mines, shells and fuses:

The following are painted in a dark green protective color:
a) all shells of the main and special purpose ground artillery, except for all armor-piercing and propaganda shells and two types of 37-mm fragmentation-tracer grenades intended only for ground shooting.

b) all steel jacketed mines
v) fuses with a plastic case covered with a thin iron shell.

Painted in black- all armor-piercing shells, of all calibers, systems and devices.

Painted in yellow- all fragmentation ammunition of anti-aircraft and aviation artillery, except for 37-mm fragmentation-tracer grenades, intended for ground firing from anti-aircraft guns; such projectiles are painted in a dark green protective color.

Colored red:
a) all mines with a shell of steel or ductile iron;
b) Campaign shells, the head of which is painted white.

Standard markings of German shells and special distinguishing features

Standard marking includes conditional combinations of letters and numbers on the elements of the shot, in order to determine all the necessary data on them or on the shot as a whole for their service operation.
Standard markings are found on shells and mines, on the casings of ammunition loading shots and caps of their warheads, and on the caps of variable warhead beams. Often this marking is duplicated by labels attached to the variable charge cover and to the ammunition cork, regardless of their design.
The marking is in white, black or red paint.
On all shells, except for armor-piercing all calibers, painted black, and 20mm fragmentation and armor-piercing incendiary-tracer shells, the markings are applied in black paint and only on the cylindrical part and the head. Armor-piercing shells of all calibers have the same markings, but in red.
20mm fragmentation-incendiary-tracer and 20mm armor-piercing incendiary-tracer shells, like all shells of this caliber, are marked only on the cylindrical part, with the first red and the second white, which serves as an additional distinguishing feature of incendiary shells of this caliber.
In addition to the standard black markings on the cylindrical part and on the head, shells of separate case loading shots have additional white markings on the bottom cut.
The weight category, or ballistic mark, is placed in the form of a Roman numeral on the cylindrical part of the projectile on both sides and only on projectiles with a caliber of 75mm and above.

The meaning of ballistic marks:

I - Lighter than normal by 3-5%
II - Lighter than normal by 1-3%
III - Normal + - 1%
IV - Harder than normal by 1-3%
V - Heavier than normal by 3-5%
There is no standard marking on armor-piercing tracer projectiles with a tungsten carbide core.
The standard markings on mines are in black paint, and their meaning is exactly the same as the markings on projectiles.
The standard markings on the casings of ammunition loading shots are in black paint on their body. The same markings are applied to the caps or half caps of the charge of these shots.
The standard marking on the caps of variable charge beams differs from the marking on the caps of the charge of ammunition loading shots only in that the former additionally have an indication of the number of the beam.
The standard marking on the capping with cartridge-loading shots indicates only their number, the caliber of the shells and the purpose of the latter, and on the capping with live charges of separate cartridge-case loading shots only their purpose. See labels for more details.
The special distinguishing features are very varied. they are playing important role and are applied to various elements of the shots in the form of colored stripes, letters or numbers in order to indicate the characteristics of the equipment, design or use of ammunition. The place of their application and conditional values ​​are shown in the figure "Special distinguishing features"

DECALS

Labels are attached to the capping with shot elements or complete shots in order to obtain all information about the ammunition without opening the capping, which is often hermetically sealed, and therefore opening to inspect the ammunition without a special need for this requires further additional work to put it in proper order.
Decals are multi-colored and one-color. Colored ones are used for capping rounds of ammunition loading for small-caliber systems (up to 30mm inclusive), and their color is associated with the design features of the shells and, therefore, with the combat use of certain shots. The conventional meaning of the colors of such labels is given in the corresponding delivery tables.
Single-color decals are used on closures with elements of shots or complete shots of caliber 37mm and higher, the content of which is different. The most common etiquette and the meanings of the information contained therein are shown below as an example.

Labels on the capping with elements of separate case loading shots

a) With a projectile

1-caliber and sample of the projectile;
2 - sample fuse;
3 - there is no smoke-generating bomb in the bursting charge;
4 - conventional designation of an explosive
5 - material of the leading belt
6 - ballistic mark
7 - place, day, month and year of the final equipment of the projectile and the sign of the person responsible for the equipment.

B) With warheads

1 - abbreviated designation of the weapon to which the warheads are intended;
2 - the number of warheads;
3 - weight of gunpowder in each warhead;
4 - brand of gunpowder;
5 - plant, year of manufacture of gunpowder and batch number;
6 - place, day, month and year of manufacture of the charge and sign; the person responsible for the manufacture;
7 - symbolic designation of the nature of gunpowder;
8 - liner index.

Etiquette on a capping with a cartridge loading shot

1 - Caliber and sample of the projectile and the purpose of the shot
2 - fuse sample
3 - brand of gunpowder
4 - plant, year of manufacture of gunpowder and batch number
5 - place, day, month and year of the shot assembly and the sign of the person in charge
6 - a sample of a smoke-generating bombs
7 - conventional designation of an explosive
8 - material of the leading belt on the projectile
9 - ballistic mark
10 - symbolic designation of the nature of gunpowder
11 - liner index

The variety of tasks solved in combat conditions by troops requires the use of different tactical and technical characteristics species firearms... This, in turn, leads to the need to have a variety of types of ammunition, including a fairly large variety of gunpowders and RTT. By purpose (by type of weapon), gunpowder is usually divided into four groups:

• 1) gunpowder for small arms;
• 2) gunpowder;
• 3) mortar gunpowder;
• 4) rocket solid propellants (ballistic and composite).

Small arms charges are mainly manufactured

from pyroxylin, as well as from spherical ballistic powders of emulsion preparation. Powder elements of pyroxylin powder for small arms have a cylindrical shape without channels, with one and seven channels (granular powder). These are fine powder with dimensions: thickness of the burning arch 2e, = 0.29-0.65 mm; length 2c- 1.3-3.5 mm; channel diameter U k = 0.08-0.35 mm.

Powder emulsion preparation have a spherical shape (therefore called spherical), close to a ball (therefore sometimes - ball).

Pyroxylin gunpowders can be grained single-channel and seven-channel cylindrical, seven-channel and 14-channel petal-shaped, as well as tubular. Ballistic gunpowder is in the form of tubes with one channel. The dimensions of gunpowder are as follows: granulated 2e]= 0.7-1.85 mm; 2s = 8.0-18.0 mm; With! P= 0.25-0.95mm; tubular 2e 1 = 1.4-3.10 mm; 2s = 210-500 mm; c1 to = 1.3-4.10 mm. The shape of gunpowder is shown in Fig. 2.2.

Ballistic mortar powder is prepared in the form of plates, tapes, rings with dimensions: 2e (= 0.1-0.92 mm; 2s = 4.0-257 mm; 2v = 4-47 mm; ?) = 65 mm; 32 mm. They are shown in Fig. 2.3.

The shape and size of the powder elements are the main factors determining the law of gas formation during the combustion of powder, which is expressed by the dependence of the intensity of gas formation on the burnt part of the powder, i.e. Г = (x t o-i]) / e]= f (y).

Rice. 2.1

a - channelless grain; 6 - single-channel; v - seven-channel; g - spherical

Rice. 2.2.

a - seven-channel grain; 6 - seven-channel petal-shaped grain; v - a tube

Rice. 2.3. Gunpowder Forms: a - plate; 6 - ribbon; e - ring

It is from the form (through the form factor x = 1 + 2c, / 2v + + 2e (/ 2s and the relative burning surface a = - ^ / b 1,), as well as on the dimensions (through the thickness of the burning arch e,) the possibility of using this or that gunpowder in a particular weapon depends. In this case, the defining dimension is the thickness of the burning vault. Since the combustion of the powder element goes from two sides, then usually the thickness of the burning arch is denoted 2c, (c, is half the thickness that burns in one direction). The shape and size of the powder elements are usually included in the symbols of the powder. Gunpowder pyroxylin powder, for example, is denoted by a fraction, the denominator of which indicates the number of channels in the powder element, and the numerator indicates the thickness of the arch in tenths of a millimeter. For example, 7 /, - a grain of pyroxylin powder of a cylindrical shape with one channel and a vault thickness of 0.7 mm; 12/7 - grain with seven channels and a thickness of 1.2 mm. By changing the shape of the powder elements and their sizes, it is possible to achieve the desired regularity of the gas formation process during the combustion of powder, the regularity of the change in the pressure of the powder gases in the barrel of the weapon, and, consequently, the work of the powder gases when fired, which determines the muzzle velocity of the projectile in accordance with the formula

The initial shape of the powder elements determines the surface change during combustion. Depending on this, all gunpowder can be divided into three groups:

• a) gunpowder of a degressive form of combustion;
• b) gunpowder of a progressive form of combustion;
• c) gunpowder with a constant combustion surface.

The gunpowders degressive s / jurma the combustion surface decreases and the ratio З / У, = а is always less than one. These propellants include: cubic, spherical, plate, tape, annular propellants; single-channel and channelless grained. These types of propellants are used in short-barreled guns, mortars and small arms. For degressive propellants, the ratio of the surface at the end of combustion of the propellant to the initial surface, i.e. the values ​​of st k = 5 ^ / 5 are equal: for the plate - 0.67; tape - 0.88; annular "1.0; cubic and spherical - 0; grain channelless - 0.1; grained single-channel - 0.7; tubular "1.0.

When burning powder progressive form their current surface before the disintegration of the grain grows, and then decreases to zero so that a dec = .5 / 5,> 1 and for granulated seven-channel cylindrical and petal-shaped propellants it is, respectively, 1.378 at y = 0.855 and 1.382 at n = 0.949. Seven-channel cylindrical propellants are most widely used. Gunpowder of this form turned out to be the most versatile, applicable for many artillery systems and have a clear technological advantage.

To gunpowder with constant burning surface could be attributed to the tubular gunpowder with armored tube ends. Long tubes of gun powder are very close to this shape (they have about k * 1.0).

Gunpowder is used in weapons as the main element of the device for artillery and mortar rounds and in cartridges for small arms - a powder charge. Bulk charges are made from granular, lamellar and spherical propellants, while charges from bundles are made from tubular and tape powders. The ignition of the powder elements in the charges does not occur simultaneously. The ignition time of the charge is short in comparison with the time of the subsequent combustion of all propellant elements of the charge at the same time after the ignition. The intensity of gas formation during the combustion of such charges is determined by the shape and size of the powder elements: degressive in shape burn with a decrease in intensity; progressive - with increasing intensity; gunpowder with a constant combustion surface - with constancy. Granular propellants have the advantage over tubular and other forms that they have a high gravimetric density. And this is of great importance for weapons systems with small dimensions of cameras and casings, especially for automatic weapons. The disadvantage of granular propellants is the more difficult and more non-simultaneous ignition of charges from them. In long charges, this can cause protracted shots and pressure bursts. Progressive propellants provide the highest projectile speed with equal vault and composition thicknesses. With the same shape of the powder elements and a constant weight of the charge, a change in the thickness of the vault changes the initial velocity of the projectile in the opposite direction. The above is illustrated by the data table. 2.2.

Table 2.2

Dependence of the initial velocity of the projectile and the maximum pressure of the powder gases when fired

from the thickness of the burning arch of gunpowder

e y mm		Rtakh "MPE

From table. 2.2 it follows that when changing e 1 from 1.5 to 2.0 mm, by 33%, p max changes by 42%, and and () - by 9%. Thus, by changing the shape of the powder element and its dimensions, it is possible to achieve the desired change p max and and 0.

An increase in the work of propellant gases when fired due to progressive gas formation can be achieved not only due to the shape of the powder elements, but also due to the progressive combustion of phlegmatized propellants (degressive in shape) and so-called block charges. Block powder charges are a composition of standard non-deformed small-sized elements of a cylindrical or spherical shape - a filler and a thermoplastic combustible polymer filling the interelement volume (polyacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, cellulose acetate, etc.). To preserve the energy characteristics of the charge, powerful explosives are added to the powder in an amount that compensates for the loss of energy due to an inert combustible binder. The composition is processed into a heterogeneous monoblock-block by industrial methods of extrusion, hydro-pressing, compression pressing using the equipment of gunpowder factories. In fig. 2.4 shows powder monoblocks of powder charges of convective and layer-by-layer convective combustion.

Rice. 2.4. The structure of monoblock powder charges: a- the charge of convective combustion; b- layer-by-layer combustion charge

The idea of ​​developing block propellant charges (BP3) is based on the ability of porous systems to burn in a layer-by-volume mode by the mechanism of convective combustion. When the BPZ is ignited from the end, the flame front propagates at a constant or increasing speed along the length of the charge. During combustion, the block regularly disperses with the formation of a suspension. The gradual ignition of the charge in combination with the accumulation of the after-burning suspension provides a high progressive rate of gassing at a charging density of 1.20 kg / dm. 2.5 shows a physical model of the combustion of porous BPZ.

The necessary components of the combustible material are cellulose nitrates, which provide high physical and mechanical characteristics and the rate of combustion of the charge. For getting

Rice. 2.5. Physical model of the combustion of porous BPZ:

• 7 - ignition; 2 - layer-by-layer combustion; 3 - transition of layer-by-layer combustion to convective; 4 - developed convective combustion;
• 5 - disintegration of BPZ into conglomerates and powder elements; 6 - afterburning of powder elements in layer-by-layer mode

high combustion rate BPZ at a density of 1.2-1.4 kg / dm 3, it is necessary to have a fibrous structure of cellulose nitrates. To process a mass containing a fibrous component with a high phase transformation temperature, podivinyl butyral (PVB) is introduced into it - a binder with high adhesion capacity and a wide raw material base.

The porous structure is a necessary condition for obtaining fast-burning BPZ, and the high rigidity of macromolecules and supramolecular formations of NC necessitates the use of a solvent to ensure the processability of the mixture.

The solvent must completely dissolve PVB, but not lead to deep plasticization of NC. Ethyl alcohol satisfies these requirements. Thus, one of the possible compositions of the technological mass for obtaining BPZ is as follows (%): filler (powder elements) - 70-80;

cellulose nitrates -10-20;

polyvinyl butyral - 10-15;

ethyl alcohol (removable, over 100%) - 10-12.

The technological properties of the powder mass of such a composition of the BPZ ensure its processing by the continuous pressing method on the existing equipment for the production of PP. Using pyroxylin powder and powerful crystalline explosives as a filler in the BPZ, it is possible to regulate the burning rate and change the ballistic characteristics in a wide range.

Artillery was the ruthless "god of war" in armed conflicts in the first half of the 20th century. Not an elegant, swift fighter plane and not a formidable tank, but a simple and unpretentious-looking mortar and cannon with a tornado of deadly fire destroyed fortifications, firing points and command posts, quickly and ruthlessly destroyed the enemy that had risen to attack (they account for half of all killed and wounded in World War II), paved the way for their tanks and motorized infantry.

((direct))

Among all the components of the artillery materiel, ammunition should be recognized as the most important. Ultimately, it is the projectile (mine, bullet) that is the "payload" for the delivery of which the entire huge complex, consisting of people, guns, artillery tractors, cars, communication lines, spotter aircraft, etc., works to the target.

Astronomical figures

Low firing accuracy was compensated for in that era by the huge consumption of ammunition (according to the standards, it was supposed to use 60–80 rounds to suppress one machine-gun point). As a result, even in terms of the simplest characteristic - the total weight - the artillery shells were significantly superior to the weapon with which they were brought down on the enemy's head.

So, established by order of the People's Commissariat of Defense No. 0182 (by a strange irony of history, this order was signed on May 9, 1941), the ammunition load for the most massive 122-mm howitzer in the Red Army was 80 rounds. Taking into account the weight of the projectile, charge and capping (shell box), the total weight of one ammunition load (about 2.7 tons) was more than the weight of the howitzer itself.

Ammunition alone, however, will not do much. As a rule, to conduct offensive operation(which in calendar terms corresponds to 10-15-20 days) planned ammunition consumption in the amount of 4-5 ammunition *. Thus, the weight of the required ammunition was many times greater than the weight of the weapons involved. Unfortunately, the Second World War was not limited to one or two operations, and the consumption of ammunition began to be measured in completely astronomical numbers.

In 1941, the Wehrmacht used up about 580 kilotons of all types of ammunition on the Eastern Front, which is about 20 times the total weight of all artillery systems operating at the front (and even ten times the weight of all German tanks and self-propelled guns). And in the future, the production of ammunition in Germany, and their consumption became even greater. Production of ammunition in the USSR for the entire period of the Great Patriotic War estimated at a crushing figure of 10 million tons.

Collage by Andrey Sedykh

Here it is also necessary to remember that a ton is a ton of strife. If the weight of the gun is the weight of a relatively cheap ferrous metal (the elements of the carriage are made of simple low-alloy steel), then expensive brass, copper, bronze, lead are used for the production of an art shot; the production of gunpowder and explosives requires a huge consumption of chemicals that are scarce in war conditions, expensive and highly explosive. Ultimately, the cost of producing ammunition during the Second World War was comparable to the total cost of producing everything else (tanks, cannons, aircraft, machine guns, tractors, armored personnel carriers and radars).

Oddly enough, but this very important information about the material preparation for the war and its course in Soviet historiography was traditionally passed over in silence. Those who wish to be convinced of this on their own can open, for example, the 2nd volume of the fundamental 6-volume "History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union" (Moscow, Voenizdat, 1961). To describe the events of the initial period of the war (from June 22, 1941 to November 1942), the team of authors needed 328 thousand words in this volume. And why not there! Listed are both the labor initiatives of the home front workers, and the spiritually uplifting plays of Soviet playwrights, neither the dastardly intrigues of the unfaithful allies (that is, the United States and Great Britain), nor the leading role of the party ... during the defensive battle at Stalingrad, the troops of the Stalingrad and Don fronts were delivered 9898 thousand shells and mines "), and even then without the detail required within the framework of a scientific monograph. About the consumption of ammunition in the operations of 1941, not a word at all! More precisely, there are words and there are many of them, but without numbers. Usually the words are as follows: "having used up the last shells, the troops were forced to ...", "an acute shortage of ammunition led to ...", "already on the third day, the ammunition was almost completely exhausted ..."

We will try, as far as possible within the framework of a newspaper article, to partially fill this omission.

To whom has history given little time?

Immediately, we note that Comrade Stalin loved and appreciated artillery, he fully understood the role and importance of ammunition: “Artillery decides the fate of the war, mass artillery ... he was not calm, so that he could not sleep, one should not spare shells and cartridges. More shells, more cartridges to give, fewer people will be lost. You will regret cartridges and shells - there will be more losses ... "

These wonderful words were uttered at the April (1940) Meeting of the highest command personnel of the Red Army. Unfortunately, so correct setting tasks did not find proper reflection in the real state of affairs with which Soviet artillery a year later she came to the brink of the Great War.

As you can see, surpassing Germany in the number of guns of all main types, the Soviet Union was inferior to its future enemy both in the total amount of accumulated ammunition stocks and in the specific number of shells per barrel. Moreover, it was this indicator (the amount of accumulated ammunition per unit of the weapon) that turned out to be the ONLY one, according to which the enemy had a significant quantitative superiority over the Red Army (of course, we are talking about the main components of material preparation for war, and not about any rasp of ungulates) ...

And this is all the more strange, considering that in the matter of accumulating ammunition for a future war, Germany was in a particularly difficult situation. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, the victorious countries set strict limits for it: 1000 artillery rounds for each of 204 75 mm guns and 800 rounds for each of 84 105 mm howitzers. And it's all. A scanty (in comparison with the armies of the great powers) number of guns, 270 thousand (less than Comrade Stalin proposed to use up in one day) medium-caliber artillery shots and zero large-caliber rounds.

It was only in the spring of 1935 that Hitler announced Germany's withdrawal from subordination to the terms of the Versailles Treaty; just over four years remained before the outbreak of world war. History gave Hitler little time, and nature - even fewer raw materials. With the extraction and production of copper, lead, tin, saltpeter and cellulose in Germany, as you know, is not a lot. The Soviet Union was in an incomparably better position, but by June 1941 Germany had accumulated about 700 kilotons of "payload" (shells) of medium caliber artillery (from 75 mm to 150 mm), and the Soviet Union - 430 kilotons. 1.6 times less.

The situation, as we can see, is quite paradoxical. The generally accepted idea is that Germany had a huge scientific and technical potential, but was limited in raw materials, while the "young republic of Soviets" had just embarked on the path of industrialization and therefore could not compete on equal terms in the field of "high technologies" with German industry. In fact, everything turned out to be exactly the opposite: the Soviet Union produced an incomparably larger number of more advanced tanks, surpassed Germany in the number of combat aircraft, guns and mortars, but at the same time, possessing huge reserves of non-ferrous metal ores and raw materials for the chemical industry, significantly lagged behind in mass production and the accumulation of ammunition.

How KV was "lowered" to the level of the German "four"

In the general situation with the provision of the Red Army with ammunition on the eve of the war, such a failure was admitted, which is quite difficult to explain with reasonable arguments. The troops had very few armor-piercing rounds for the 76-mm cannon. Specifically, this "very little" is expressed in 132 thousand 76-mm armor-piercing rounds available as of May 1, 1941. In terms of one divisional or tank 76-mm gun, this means 12.5 rounds per barrel. And that's on average. But in the Western Special Military District, which turned out to be in the direction of the main attack of the two tank groups of the Wehrmacht, the corresponding figure was only 9 armor-piercing shells per barrel (the best position - 34 ballistic missiles per barrel - turned out to be in the Odessa district, that is, exactly where there was not a single German armored division).

Ammunition for:	Germany		the USSR
	Total (million units)	One barrel (pcs.)	Total (million units)	One barrel (pcs.)
81-mm (82-, 107-mm) mortars	12,7	1100	12,1	600
75 mm (76 mm) field guns	8,0	1900	16,4	1100
105 mm (122 mm) howitzers	25,8	3650	6,7	800
150 mm (152 mm) howitzers	7,1	1900	4,6	700
Total Art Shots	43,4	2750	29,9	950
Total artillery rounds and mines	56,1	2038	42,0	800

The lack of armor-piercing 76-mm rounds to a large extent "nullified" two significant military-technical advantages of the Red Army: the presence of 16 "divisions" F-22 or USV in the armament of a rifle division, capable of penetrating the frontal armor of any German tank in the summer of 1941, and long-barreled "three-inch" tanks on new types of tanks (T-34 and KV). In the absence of armor-piercing shells, the latest Soviet tanks"Lowered" to the level of the German Pz-IV with a short-barreled 75-mm "cigarette butt".

What was not enough to organize the mass production of 76-mm armor-piercing rounds? Time? Resources? Production capacity? Tanks T-34 and KV were adopted by the Red Army on December 19, 1939. The divisional 76-mm F-22 cannon was put into service even earlier - in 1936. At least from this point on, one should be puzzled by the production of ammunition that would fully realize the combat potential of these weapons systems. The production capacity of the Soviet economy made it possible to accumulate by June 1941 16.4 million high-explosive fragmentation rounds for 76-mm regimental, divisional and mountain guns and another 4.9 million rounds for 76-mm anti-aircraft guns. Total - 21.3 million 76-mm artillery rounds. It should also be taken into account that an armor-piercing shot in cost and resource intensity does not at all exceed a high-explosive fragmentation shot, and an anti-aircraft shot is much more complicated and more expensive than an armor-piercing one.

The most convincing answer to the question about the ability of the Soviet industry to organize the mass production of armor-piercing shells can be considered the presence of 12 million ballistic missiles of rounds for 45-mm guns by the beginning of the war. And even this number was still considered insufficient, and in the plan for the release of ammunition for 1941, the production of 2.3 million armor-piercing 45-mm rounds was spelled out as a separate line.

Only on May 14, 1941, the alarming situation with the shortage of 76-mm armor-piercing rounds was realized by the country's leadership. On this day, a resolution was adopted by the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the BKP (b), according to which it was planned to increase the production of 76-mm ballistic missiles of rounds to 47 thousand per month at plant No. 73 alone. The same decree instructed to organize the release of ballistic missiles for the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun (at a rate of 15 thousand per month) and the heavy 107-mm corps gun. Of course, in the few weeks remaining before the start of the war, it was not possible to radically change the situation.

Everything is relative

"So that's why the German tanks crawled to Moscow and Tikhvin!" - the hasty reader will exclaim and will be deeply wrong. Everything is learned by comparison, and comparing the number of ballistic missiles with the number of artillery barrels is only one of many evaluation criteria. In the end, the projectile is not intended to grind down the barrel of a gun, but to defeat the enemy. Armor-piercing projectiles are not fired at "squares", do not erect "fire curtains", do not conduct defensive fire, and it is not necessary to spend them in the millions. Armor-piercing shells are used when firing a direct shot at a clearly visible target.

As part of German army invasion targets, on which it would be worth spending a three-inch armor-piercing projectile, was about 1400 (strictly speaking, even less, since among the Pz-IV medium tanks included in this figure there were a number of early series vehicles with 30-mm frontal armor). Dividing the actual shells by the number of tanks, we get an impressive figure: 95 pieces of 76-mm armor-piercing shells per medium German tank or self-propelled guns with enhanced frontal armor.

Yes, of course, war is not solitaire, and in a war you cannot ask the enemy to fit medium tanks to the firing positions of 76-mm "divisions", and other lightly armored trifles - closer to anti-tank "forty-five." But even if circumstances force us to spend scarce 76-mm BR rounds on any armored tracked vehicle that appears in the sight (and there were no more than four thousand in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, including machine-gun tankettes and light self-propelled guns), then even then purely arithmetically in our there are 33 shells per target. With skillful use, it is quite enough for a guaranteed defeat. “Very little” it will be only in comparison with the gigantic scale of production of 45-mm armor-piercing shells, of which by the beginning of the war were accumulated in the amount of three thousand pieces per one German tank.

The above "arithmetic" is too simple and does not take into account many important circumstances, in particular, the real distribution of the available ammunition resource between various theaters of operations (from Brest to Vladivostok) and central artillery supply depots. On the eve of the war, 44 percent of the total stock of artillery rounds was concentrated in the western border districts; the share of 45-mm artillery rounds (of all types, not only BR) concentrated in the western districts was 50 percent of common resource... A significant part of the 45-mm shots were not in infantry (rifle) divisions, but in tank (mechanized) units and formations, where light tanks (T-26 and BT) and armored vehicles BA-6 / BA-10 were armed with 45-mm cannons. ... In just five western border districts (Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kiev and Odessa) there were almost 10 thousand "forty-fives" under the armor, which even exceeded the number of towed 45-mm anti-tank guns, of which there were "only" 6870 units in the western districts.

"Mud-clay"

On average, each of these 6,870 guns had 373 armor-piercing 45 mm rounds; directly in the districts, this figure varied from 149 in Odessa to 606 in the West. Even counting at the very minimum (not taking into account the presence of their own tanks, not taking into account the troops and weapons of the Leningrad and Odessa districts), on the morning of June 22, 1941, German tanks were expected to meet with 4997 anti-tank "forty-fives", in the charging boxes of which 2.3 million armor-piercing rounds were stored ... And another 2,551 divisional 76-mm cannon with a very modest reserve of 34 thousand BR rounds (an average of 12.5 per barrel).

It would be appropriate to recall the presence in the three border districts of 2201 anti-aircraft guns of 76 mm and 85 mm caliber, 373 corps 107-mm guns. Even in the absence of ballistic missile rounds, they could be used to combat tanks, since the energy of these powerful guns made it possible to disperse a high-explosive or shrapnel projectile to speeds sufficient to penetrate the armor of German light tanks at a kilometer range. ** As well as it was to be expected that a particularly large amount of artillery rounds for anti-aircraft guns was accumulated (more than 1100 per 76-mm anti-aircraft gun in the western districts).

Two weeks after the start of the war, on July 5, 1941, signed by Lieutenant General Nikolai Vatutin, who took over the duties of chief of staff Northwestern Front(on the eve of the war - Chief of the Operations Directorate, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army) issued "Instructions for Combating Enemy Tanks", which instructed "to prepare mud-clay, which is thrown into the viewing slots of the tank." And if the desperate order of Vatutin can still be attributed to the category of tragic curiosities, then the notorious Molotov cocktails in July 1941 were quite officially adopted by the Red Army and were produced by dozens of factories in millions of quantities.

Where have other, incomparably more effective than "mud-clay" and bottles, means of fighting tanks gone?

* For example, in the original (dated October 29, 1939) plan for the defeat of the Finnish army on the Karelian Isthmus, the following ammunition consumption was planned: 1 ammunition for a battle in the border strip, 3 ammunition for breaking through a fortified area (Mannerheim line) and 1 ammunition for the subsequent pursuit of a retreating enemy

** As practice has shown, the most effective was the use of shrapnel shells with a fuse "on strike"; in this case, in the first microseconds of interaction between the projectile and the armor, the impact of the steel shell of the projectile led to cracking of the cemented surface of the armor plate, then, after the fuse and expelling charge were triggered, lead shrapnel pierced the armor. The use of HE shells to combat armored vehicles was possible in two versions. In one case, the fuse was set to "non-explosive" or simply replaced with a plug, penetration of the armor occurred due to the kinetic energy of the projectile. Another method involved firing at the sides of the tank at large angles; the projectile "glided" along the surface and exploded, while the energy of the shock wave and fragments was enough to penetrate the side armor, the thickness of which for any German tanks in the summer of 1941 did not exceed 20-30 mm

For ammunition for small arms and infantry fighting vehicles, the following warranty periods are established :

When stored in warehouses - up to 5 years;

In the field - up to 3 years;

In ammunition racks - up to 6 months.

Each type of ammunition loaded on a vehicle or BMP must be of the same factory and year of manufacture.

Ammunition is placed in the BMP in accordance with the masonry scheme.

RG complete with fuses fit into the BMP in sealed standard boxes.

5.45 mm cartridges are stored in the vehicles of the company commander and platoon commander in a factory sealed package.

Cartridges for machine guns, when they are laid in the BMP, are loaded into flights and fit into boxes.

(For PKT ammunition - 2000 rounds, for BMP guns - 40 rounds).

Shops for machine guns are loaded with cartridges at the rate of 50% of their capacity. The rest of the cartridges for machine guns with magazines are stored in the BMP in a sealed package.

It is prohibited to store cartridges in packs or in bulk in machines.

Boxes with cartridges packed in them in strips are closed with lids and sealed.

Re-equipment and ammunition renewal is carried out according to the schedule once every 6 months.

Capping and labeling

9mm pistol cartridges are in a wooden box 2560 pcs.

Each box contains two galvanized iron boxes, which are packed with cartridges in cardboard packs of 16 pcs.

One iron box holds 80 packs. On the side walls of the wooden boxes there are inscriptions indicating the range of cartridges stacked in these boxes: the batch number of cartridges, the month and year of manufacture of cartridges and gunpowder, the manufacturer, the brand and batch of gunpowder, the number of cartridges in the box. All one box with cartridges of about 33 kg.

5.45mm rounds, capping is done in wooden boxes. Two hermetically sealed metal boxes of 1080 rounds are placed in a wooden box. Cartridges are packed in cardboard boxes of 30 pcs. There are 2160 rounds in a wooden box. On the side walls of the box, in which cartridges with tracer bullets are sealed, a green stripe is applied. Each drawer has a box opener.

7.62 mm cartridges mod. 1908 g.- are sealed in wooden boxes. The box contains two hermetically sealed metal boxes of 440 rounds each. The cartridges are packed in packs of 20 cartridges. There are 880 rounds in a wooden box.

On the side walls of the wooden boxes, colored stripes are applied, corresponding to the colors of the bullet heads.

If there are light bullet cartridges in the box, no colored stripes will be applied to the side walls of the box.

Capping, marking of shots and ATGM

The final equipment of the grenade, to ensure long-term storage, is sealed in sealed film bags and stacked in wooden boxes of 6 pcs. in each.

In the same box, in a special compartment, 6 launch charges in 2 packages are placed.

Coloring of pomegranates:

Combat grenades, i.e. BB A-1X-1 equipment is painted in a khaki color.

In inert equipment: the warhead is painted black, the jet engine is protective, and instead of the BB code there is an inscription "inert".

Pomegranate models are colored red.

Marking.

Marking is called conventional signs and ink inscriptions on the projectile, cartridge case and ammunition cork.

PG-15V is marked: the head of the grenade, the jet engine and the starting powder charge.

9M14M is marked: warhead, explosive device, tracer, as well as the entire projectile.

13 - mechanical plant number;

4 - batch number of the head part;

64 - year of manufacture;

R - stamp of quality control department.

PG-9; 12-5-64; A-1 X-1

PG-9 - symbolic designation of a grenade;

12 - no. Of the equipment plant;

5 - batch number of warhead equipment;

64 - equipment year;

A-1 X-1-code BB.

Handling shots:

1. Prevent the fall of grenades, charges and collected shots.

2. To transport and carry grenades and charges to them only in a cork.

3. Protect grenades and charges to them from moisture and dampness.

4. Open the case and remove the charges from it only before stowing the shots in the BMP ammunition rack.

5. Safety caps and checks must be kept until the end of the shooting.

6. Remove the safety caps from the fuse head only before storing the rounds in the BMP ammunition rack.

7. If the shot is not used up and must be returned to the warehouse, put on the safety cap on the fuse of this shot and secure it with a pin, having checked beforehand whether the membrane is damaged.

8. Touch the unexploded grenades after firing IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN!

Such grenades must be destroyed at the site of their fall in compliance with appropriate safety measures.

Final part.

1. Remind the topic and purpose of the lesson and how they were achieved.

2. To mark the positive actions of students and disadvantages in the study of this topic.

3. Give a self-study assignment

Define ammunition, their purpose and classification;

Artillery shot (cartridge), its elements, general arrangement;

Ammunition Handling Rules;

Capping and labeling.