85 mm anti-tank gun D-48

D-48N. Victory museum (Moscow, Russia)

The 85-mm antitank gun D-48 (Russian: 85-мм противотанковая пушка Д-48) was a Soviet 85-mm calibre anti-tank gun used after World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3). Distinguishing features of the D-48 include a very long barrel and a pepper-pot muzzle brake. The D-48 was itself replaced in the 1960s by the T-12 antitank gun.

The gun was designed by the F. F. Petrov Design Bureau on the basis of the D-44 85-mm divisional gun and production of the D-48 began in 1953 at the №75 factory in Yurga. The D-48 used the breechblock from the BS-3 100-mm field gun in order to achieve a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute at maximum cadence. The gun can transition from march to combat order in about two minutes.

The D-48N was a version with an APN 2-77 or 3-77 infrared imaging device fitted for night combat. A licensed version of the D-48 was produced in China as the Type 60.

The gun fires a high velocity armor-piercing-capped-ballistic-cap tracer (APCBC-T) BR-372 Projectile at 1040 meters per second and can penetrate 185mm of armor at a range of 1000 meters at an angle of obliquity of 90 degrees. The 3BK-7 high explosive antitank (HEAT) projectile can penetrate 192mm of armor at an angle of obliquity of 60 degrees. The effective range of armor-piercing shells for the D-48 is 1,230 meters (HVAP-T) or 940 meters (HEAT). Additionally, the D-48 antitank gun is capable of firing a 9.66 kilogram OF-372 high explosive projectile. The Ammunition for the D-48 was developed by necking down 100-mm ammunition in order to achieve higher muzzle velocities.

The gun is towed by a URAL-375D truck or an AT-P tractor with a maximum towing speed over asphalt roadway of about 60 km/h. The tires on the D-48 are those of the ZIS-5 truck.

Country: Soviet Union

Years of production: 1955–1957

Length: 8.72 m (28.6 ft)

Width: 1.59 m (5.22 ft)

Height: 1.89 m (6.2 ft)

Crew: 6 soldiers

Rate of fire: 15 rounds per minute

Muzzle velocity: 1040 m/s

Fire range: 18.97 km (11.8 mi)

Mass: 2,350 kg (5,180.8 lbs)

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