Soviet Armed Forces / Soviet Army (1946-1991)

Alouette III test :

Ok guys, this has been bothering me for a while.

The PT-76


Why the heck did this platform use a 76mm gun, especially given the fact that Russia was well aware of the limits of 76mm since WW2 and had already moved to 85mm on the T-34.
So why after WW2 did they make such a thing and even after never created a 85mm variant??

It's all so very strange.

Update: There are some mentions of a PT-85 during the Invasion of Czechoslovakia, but there isn't much info about it.

The PT-76 was a lightly armored reconnaissance tank. It's D-56T 76 mm gun was considered adequate for this role at the time. The gun was able to penetrate 280mm of armour at 1000m with a HEAT round. And a derivative, with the D-58 85mm gun (Objekt 960/PT-85) was considered and built in prototype form...but rejected :

archangelski wrote:The PT-76 was a lightly armored reconnaissance tank. It's D-56T 76 mm gun was considered adequate for this role at the time. The gun was able to penetrate 280mm of armour at 1000m with a HEAT round. And a derivative, with the D-58 85mm gun (Objekt 960/PT-85) was considered and built in prototype form...but rejected

So the gun fulfilled the job.
Any idea why why the PT-85 was rejected?

The Chinese introduced a PT-85 type vehicle... apart from less ready to use ammo it really was not that much different.

Pretty much anything that could shrug off a 76.2mm shell wasn't generally bothered by an 85mm... in other words most armoured vehicles that are not tanks could be defeated by either round, but a target that could stop a 76.2mm round generally was a MBT so the 85mm wasn't going to do much better...

AlfaT8 wrote:

archangelski wrote:The PT-76 was a lightly armored reconnaissance tank. It's D-56T 76 mm gun was considered adequate for this role at the time. The gun was able to penetrate 280mm of armour at 1000m with a HEAT round. And a derivative, with the D-58 85mm gun (Objekt 960/PT-85) was considered and built in prototype form...but rejected

So the gun fulfilled the job.
Any idea why why the PT-85 was rejected?

First prototype of the Objekt 906 comed out in 1962. It was tested in real conditions at the beginning of 1963 and performed well but, at the very same moment, soviet army were focussed on a promissive project which will become the BMP-1. With the same level of armour, it was able to fullfil the light tank and reconnaissance roles with better general performances. But it's an other story...

One of the PT-85 prototype (Park Patriot) : http://www.vitalykuzmin.net/Military/Park-Patriot-Tanks/i-MM28mZZ/

Museum of Soviet Military History

http://www.vitalykuzmin.net/Military/Museum-of-Russian-Military-History/i-mJ2VB4f

George1 wrote:Museum of Soviet Military History

http://www.vitalykuzmin.net/Military/Museum-of-Russian-Military-History/i-mJ2VB4f

Vitaly is, and has always been since I follow his publications, an excellent source of photographs of Soviet or Russian material from all periods ...

Soviet 2K4 tactical rocket system

archangelski wrote:https://i.imgur.com/rmiZugw.jpg

A Soviet mother aircraft launched and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used for suicidide bombing

Wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov

On January 23, 2020, the organizing committee of the Ogarkov Readings conference held a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov, head of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces (1977–1984), at the Novodevichy Cemetery. The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia Miroslav Lazanski, CSTO Deputy Secretary General Pyotr Tikhonovsky and Belarus Defense Attache Colonel Yevgeny Artemenko.




https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3913339.html

The last Minister of Defense of the USSR Marshal aviation Evgeny Shaposhnikov died at the age of 79 in Moscow.

https://en.topwar.ru/177922-umer-poslednij-ministr-oborony-sssr.html

The American edition of The National Interest named five types of Soviet weapons that have become legendary
October 10 2021
172

1. In the first place, without a doubt, the author puts the AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. He calls it the "icon" of the Cold War and the deadliest weapon in the world, given how many of these submachine guns have been fired and how many military conflicts they have fought and still do.

2. In second place is the Soviet T-34 tank. According to the author, although he had many shortcomings, he was superior to the German Tanks, too complicated to manufacture and operate. Good performance and mass production helped the T-34 become one of the best tanks of the Second World War.

3. The author puts the Soviet BM-13 "Katyusha" multiple launch rocket system in third place. The use of this rocket launcher in 1941 came as a shock to the Germans, he writes. Massive attacks of "Katyusha" literally devastated the German positions, this installation made a tangible contribution to the defeat of the Nazi troops.

4. In fourth place is the Soviet MiG-15 fighter. The appearance of this aircraft in the skies over Korea was already a shock for the Americans, who believed that they had no equal in the air. However, the Soviet pilots on the MiG-15 were forced to reconsider this opinion. This fighter was superior to many American aircraft of the time and is considered to be one of the best. In total, the USSR and its allies produced more than 18 thousand MiG-15s.

5. In fifth place, the author placed the RPG-7 hand grenade launcher. In his opinion, the RPG-7 is the "Kalashnikov assault rifle" among the grenade launchers, since it is just as reliable, simple and produced in large quantities. Since the 60s of the last century, it has been involved in all military conflicts around the world and is in service with many countries.

https://en.topwar.ru/187918-amerikanskoe-izdanie-nazvalo-pjat-vidov-sovetskogo-oruzhija-stavshego-legendarnym.html

If I may I would have rather broke this lot up into WWII and the Cold War era.

My top 5 from both eras would be >>

Soviet legendary Weapons during WWII:

1. T-34 MBT
2. Il-2 Sturmovik
3. BM-13 Katyusha
4. PPsh-41 SMG
5. PTRD anti-tank rifle

Soviet legendary Weapons during the Cold War:

1. Kalashnikov assault rifle
2. RSD-10 Pioneer IRBM
3. Mig-25
4. Mi-24
5. Project 941 Akula SSBN

Old photo, probably from the 1980's