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30x28B 30mm AGS-17 grenade launcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The AGS-17 Plamyja (= "flame" in English) grenade
launcher was introduced in 1979 and is used by motorized armed forces
(BTR, BMP, BMD vehicles). The
recoil operated launcher weights 18kg without mount,
ammunition is
fed from 29-round magazine drums from the right side. The short barrel
has
cooling-fins and fires 350-400rds/min. with a muzzle velocity of 185m/s
up
to a combat range of 800m, maximum range is 1750m. The launcher may be
elevated
up to 85° to allow the engagement of helicopters. A second
version, the
AG-17A, with longer barrel is fixed to the Mi-8 HIP-E helicopter. The
AG-17A
weights 22kg, was introduced in 1980 and is fed by a 300 rounds belt.
The
barrel rifeling twist was reduced from 715 to 600mm, the rate of fire
was
increased to 420-500rds/min. AG-17M marine version was also introduced.
The improoved AGS-30 has nearly half the weight (16kg including mount, without ammunition box) of the AGS-17 and measures 360x500x1100mm. The AGS-30 needs only a crew of 2 men compared to the AGS-17 that needed 3. It also has a different box shape magazine about the same capacity of the older drum shape magazine, a AGS-30 fire unit carries 90 linked rounds. There is also a grenade-rifle, 996mm long and weighting 5,9kg using this kind of ammunition. I only know details of four types of ammunition so
far, they have a very odd looking, belted cartridge case drawn from
steel with a mechanical percussion primer. The first shell has a thin
walled body lined with a coil of steel wire that produces large numbers
of fragments on detonation. This round is designated VOG-17A and it is
used for ground targets only, the
shell is fitted with an aluminum nose fuze VMG-A without
self-destruction
feature. The black shell has white letters on it, describing the type
of
shell, type of explosive filler, lot-number and year. The fuze may have
a dark blue band painted on, the meaning of this is not known. A US source reports of a VOG-17 shell with VMG fuze
and also shows a small picture of a "VOG-26" shell. Ammunition is manufactured by Russia and India. |
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Ammunition used in the AGS-17: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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30mm VOG-17A with belt link. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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30mm VUS-17 TP-Smoke round. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
30x155B 30mm NR-30 aircraft cannon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This round, used in the NR-30 aircraft cannon, was
introduced in 1954 and its ammunition is fed in steel linked belts to a
rate of fire of 850-900rpm in many early fighter jets. The cannon is
gas operated and weights 67kg, it is 2160mm long and has a barrel
length of 1910mm. Effective combat range is reported to be 800 meters
and the cannon was or is still mounted on the SU-7, SU-17, MiG-19S and
MiG-21. It was developed from the NR-23 to replace the N-37 cannon with
a faster but still hard hitting cannon. It became the standard weapon
for fighters and was the most potent gun in its days what concerns gun
weight and muzzle energy. China also uses this caliber in its NORINCO
Type 1 cannon.
Muzzle velocity is between 780 and 800m/s with 95g to
99g of 6/7fl VBP smokeless powder, depending on ammunition types.
Maximum pressure is
264,7 to 299,0MPa for the newer rounds, a single round weights 840g and
has
an overall length of 265mm. A KV-30 percussion primer is threaded into
the brass cartridge case. Ammunition used in the NR-30, old types: |
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Ammunition used in the NR-30, modern types: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Different Russian NR-30 cartridges, older and modern
types mixed: HEI round (old), HEI round (old), HEI round (modern), AP-T round (modern), APHE round (old), APHE round (modern), PRL Chaff round (old). |
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30x165 30mm 2A42 AAA and GSh-30 aircraft cannon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ground based weapons:
This round was introduced in the late 1970s and is used in the 2A42 cannon fixed to the BMP-2 and in movable mounts on Ka-50 and Mi-8 helicopters with double ammunition supply and a selective fire rate of 200 and 600rpm. The 2A42 is a gas/recoil operated cannon weighting 115kg and measuring 3030mm in length. The 2A72 cannon, installed in the BMP-3 is recoil
operated and has a fixed fire rate of 330rpm, the cannon weights 84kg
and is 3010mm long. The 2S6 Tunguska AAA system was developed in 1987 to
replace the older self-propelled ZSU-23-4 AAA system. The two onboard
2A38M AAA cannons use two water-cooled barrels and fire 2500rpm each,
to a range of 0.2 to
4km, up to an altitude of 3km, ammunition storage on board is 2x 1904
rounds in belts. The two barrel 2A38M is gas operated and weights
195kg, its length is 3450mm. One of the barrels carries a muzzle
velocity sensor. To clear misfires or jams the PP-L pyrocartridge is
used. The Zinc clad steel cases have the shells securely
fixed by two pronounced spaced crimps, in the guns described above, the
rounds use a
KV-3 percussion primer and 6/7P-5Bfl propellant. Shells for the ground
based
guns use the nose fuze A-670M. Cartridges are linked in 9H-623 type
desintegrating steel belts. |
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Ammunition used in the 2A42, 2A38 and 2A72: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From left to right (above picture): 2 Russian inert drill rounds, TP from AP-T round, AP-T round, HEI round, TP from HEI-T, HEI-T round |
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Airborne weapons:
The Gryazev-Shipunov (GSh) aircraft cannon, used as GSh-301 (1500rpm, 45kg) in the MiG-29 and SU-27, as GSh-30 (3000rpm, 115kg) in the SU-25 and as GSh-6-30 (5000rpm, 150kg) in the MiG-27K, use the same ammunition, but with the electrical primer EKV-30M activated by 27 Volts. The single-barrel gun is the lightest 30mm cannon developed, it is used in light fighter aircraft in fixed and movable mounts but has only a Vo of 860m/s; ammunition may be fed from the left or the right side. The GSh-301 is recoil operated and only 1970mm long. The double-barrel GSh-30 measures 2044x222x195mm and is used in fixed installations and underwing gun-pods and has a barrel length of 1500mm. The GSh-30K is a modified version with 2400mm long barrels and an evaporating-type of barrel cooling and variable rate of fire, it is used in fixed helicopter-borne mounts and measures 2944x222x195mm. The six-barrel rotary cannon is mounted on
bomber-aircrafts as defensive cannon and has a Vo of only 850m/s. Propellant charges of the rounds vary between 117g and
123g of 6/7 FL Pyroxilin powder, maximum pressure is 318,8MPa, maximum
range is
4000m. Latest developement are projectiles with two plasic
driving bands. The driving bands are very similar to the early driving
bands of the U.S. 30mm GAU-8 ammunition and reduce barrel wear
considerably. |
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Ammunition used in the GSh series aircraft guns: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Naval weapons:
This ammunition is also used in Close-in-Weapon-Systems (CIWS = Naval AAA) in Gatling-type guns: The AK-630, was developed in the mid 1970s and is
still operational as modernized AK-630M1 on many ships today, it uses
the AO-18 designated six barrel rotary cannon and a 2000 round
magazine. The improoved AK-630M1 features an aditional magazine with
another 1000 rounds. Barrels of the AO-18 are located in a sheet metal
housing and continuosly cooled by liquid to allow
long bursts of up to 400 rounds, the gun is operated by the gas
pressure of the propellant allone, not like the western Gatling type
guns, that are externally driven. The AK-306 was developed from the cannon described
before, its weight and rate of fire were considerably reduced. Its
AO-18L cannon has
no cooling system but can fire all 500 rounds from its magazine in a
single
burst. Improved versions AK-306-01 and -02 have an aditional ammunition
belt
of 1000 rounds, the third version -03 has again only the basic 500
round
magazine. The cannons are guided by the MR-123 fire control system as
well, The "Palman" is a Naval air defence system as well, it
uses two AO-18KD guns and 8 Sosna-R guided missiles. The "Kashtan" Naval air defence system also combines cannons and SAM missiles, the cannon turret uses two AO-18 cannons, firing 10000rpm maximum together. The SAM system consists of 8 missiles 9M311 on the turret and another 32 missiles under deck. The Kashtan is Radar and TV guided and operated automaticly by an artificial inteligence fire computer. The "Vikhr-K" uses the AK-306M mount with 4 Vikhr-1 missiles and a single GSh-6-30L cannon with an ammunition load of 500 rounds. It is the latest developed Naval defence system and also the lightest, it may be installed on ships that have a displacement of 20 tons and above. The cannon has a maximum range of 4000m, the missiles 10000m, the system is operated by a unified day and night fire control system and missile laser guidance not disturbable by regular jamming countermeasures. Ammunition for the Naval AAA guns is also fitted with the electrical EKV-30M primer screw, but the projectiles are fuzed with the MG-32 nose fuze, which is the Navy designation of the A-670M nose fuze. Shells for Navy use are all over lacquered green and also use 6/7 FL Pyroxilin powder. |
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Ammunition used in the CIWS guns: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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30x210B 30mm NN-30 AAA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This caliber was developed about 1955 as a Naval AAA
on warships and as main gun on small vessels. The Naval AK-230 AA system utilizes two NN-30 cannons, these are water cooled, four barrel AAA guns. The gas operated rotary cannon NN-30 is belt fed and weights 155kg, barrel length is 1930mm and overall length is 2670mm, the rate of fire is 1000rpm. The radar directed AK-230 naval mounting has a helmet shaped housing and the whole mounting weights 1,8tons. The NN-30 has been widely distributed, for example to India and to China as Type 69 Naval cannon. Its maximum range is 5000m, its effectife range in combat 2500m and its AA ceiling is 600m. The former Yugoslavia also used this caliber in its
ground based M86 and M89 cannons. The Romanian A436M towed AA system carries two cannons
that also use this caliber. The A436M consists of a four wheel carriage
with the guns and a shield and weights 3,46 tons without ammunition
load, it is served by 5 crewmen. Elevation is -5 to +85° and
traverse 360°, cartridges are fed in 30 round magazines. The
cannons have a selective fire rate of 100,
250 or 500 rounds per minute each and a maximum range of 3500m altitude
in
AA role and are effective aginst unprotected ground targets up to
2000m. Patterns of the Russian origin NN-30 cartridges: Four service rounds, along with a target practice and dummy rounds, are known to exist: |
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![]() Picture of the Russian service rounds listed above. |
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Legend: m= mass of projectile, om= mass of complete round, pm=mass of propellant, l= length of projectile, ol= overall length of complete round, Vo= muzzle velocity, cartridge case headstamps are given in the clockwise system, the clock-sections divided by "|" for better reading. The "|" does not mean an imprinted line in the headstamp. Example: symbol at 12 o´clock | 3 o´clock | 6 o´clock | 9 o´clock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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