ZiS-2s are equipped with PP1–2 panoramic sights. The gun can also be attached to a limber and towed by a team of six horses. The carriage has coil spring suspension, which allows towing with a speed of up to 50 km/h (31 mph) on highways, 30 km/h (19 mph) on unpaved roads and 10 km/h (6.2 mph) off-road. The split-trail carriage with gunshield was shared with the ZiS-3 divisional gun. Due to this feature the rate of fire can reach 25 rounds per minute. When firing the block opens and closes automatically, the loader only has to put a round into the receiver. The ZiS-2 is an automated-action gun with a vertical block breech. A more powerful gun was needed, and on 15 June 1943, the ZiS-2 once again entered service as the 57 mm anti-tank gun model 1943. Against the Tiger the ZiS-3 was effective from the side only at close ranges (up to 300 m) and the 45 mm pieces were nearly useless. Forty-five millimetre model 1942 guns could only pierce the side armour of the Panther while the ZiS-3 managed to penetrate the sides from greater distances. The appearance of the heavy Tiger I and then the Panther changed the balance in favour of the Germans. Some anti-tank regiments also received the ZiS-3 which was able to defeat any German vehicle until late 1942. The production lines were switched to manufacturing of the ZiS-3 76.2 mm divisional gun while Soviet anti-tank artillery received cheaper 45 mm guns. Other possible reasons for the decision were the high cost of the gun and problems with shell production. Govorov, their explanation being that ZiS-2 shells penetrated straight through weakly-armoured German tanks from one side to the other without doing much damage internally. Production began on 1 June 1941, but on 1 December 1941 it was stopped by marshals N. However, the decision also had a downside: this calibre was a new one to the Red Army so the manufacturing of the projectile had to be started from scratch.ĭevelopment started in May 1940, and in the beginning of 1941 the gun was adopted as the 57 mm anti-tank gun model 1941 (Russian: 57-мм противотанковая пушка образца 1941 года), abbreviated ZiS-2 (ЗиС-2). The velocity and mass of the armour-piercing 57 mm projectile allowed it to attain sufficient kinetic energy to penetrate up to 90 mm of RHA while keeping the gun sufficiently light, mobile and easy to conceal. In the opinion of the designers the optimal calibre in this case was 57 mm. Therefore, Grabin and his office were guided by the characteristics of their own domestic heavy tank KV-1 with 40–75 mm armour. heavier armour was attributed to this vehicle than it actually carried. There is also a chance that the department was influenced by German propaganda about the experimental multi-turreted "supertank" NbFz, ie. The head of this department, Marshal Kulik, and his subordinates estimated that the use of heavily armoured tanks by the USSR in the Winter War would not have gone unnoticed in Nazi Germany and would lead to the development of similar fighting machines there. Grabin received a task from the artillery department to develop a powerful anti-tank gun. In the beginning of 1940 the design office of V. 5.1 Weapons of comparable role, performance and era.
ZiS stands for Zavod imeni Stalina (Russian Завод имени Сталина, 'Factory named after Stalin'), the official title of Artillery Factory No. The ZiS-4 is a version of the gun that was meant to be installed in tanks. The ZiS-2 ( Russian: ЗиС-2) ( GRAU index: 52-P-271) is a Soviet 57 mm anti-tank gun used during World War II. ZiS-2 in the Kremlin of Nizhny Novgorod, Russiaĭesign bureau of No.