The New Role of the Vietnamese ZiS-3 Cannon

15 April 2021

New role of ZiS-3 76mm cannon for coastal defence (photos : Ann Quann, QPVN)

RG page is very interested in a report by the National Defense Television, which recorded the combat training scene of a ZiS-3 cannon.

The RG site of Russia commented, in the posted video, it could be seen that the combat gun was bringing the 76 mm ZiS-3 cannon out of the shelter, it was a solidly protected concrete structure.

All operations are done manually by 7 people in a short time. From the area where the cannon was deployed, a good view of the sea will be opened. Thus the cannon can destroy ships and boats approaching shore, as well as amphibious tanks and armored vehicles carrying troops.

It is known that the aforementioned ZiS-3 cannons are nearly 80 years old, they have been used since World War II in the service of the Soviet Army as well as many wars in the 20th century.

Currently, this weapon is mainly used by the Russian Army as ceremonial artillery, but it is still seen actively participating in Syria, the RG site expressed surprise when the ZiS-3 cannon was used by the Vietnam Army for coastal defense.

The fact that the People's Army of Vietnam still maintains this "antique" artillery on the service, even from the outside it can be assessed that their technical status is still quite good, really can be seen as a logistic-engineering miracle.

Although it is very old and somewhat "inferior" to all kinds of heavy artillery or modern personal anti-tank weapons, the ZiS-3 cannon can still play a role in defense.

According to the manufacturer's introduction, ZiS-3 (also known as M1942) is a division-level field cannon, produced in the period 1941-1945 in the Soviet Union with a huge number up to 103,000 guns.

The ZiS-3 was originally designed to support firepower like a conventional howitzer, but it was surprising during its use that it also assumed the role of anti-tank.

The ZiS-3 M1942 gun had a combat weight of 1.1 tons; Gunner crew of 7 people; Ammo size 76.2 x 385 mm; The barrel length is 3.24 m; Angle range from -5 to 37 degrees, direction angle 54 degrees. The range of the ZiS-3 is up to more than 13 km and the fire rate is about 25 shots/minute.

There are many types of ammunition produced for the ZiS-3 gun including: armor-piercing ammunition BR-350A/SP; BR-350N hard mixed steel penetration ammunition (developed after CTTG 2); strong explosive ammunition against tanks BK-354 (developed after CTTG 2); bullets exploding fragments OF-350B.

In which the BR-350A steel bullet is capable of penetrating 82 mm thick front armor with an angle of 90 degrees from 100 meters, reduced to 53 mm when fired at a distance of 2,000 meters, the farther the radiation is.

Besides the ZiS-3 cannon, the RG site also announced that the Vietnamese Army still uses the famous machines of the Second World War, the T-34-85. The drills featuring these tanks were also shown on local television.

"Of course, the Vietnamese navy also has a modern anti-ship missile, it is recently reported that the country has started to produce its own version of the Kh-35. Outstanding strength lies in it. the brigades are equipped with a powerful mobile long-range Bastion-P complex ", RG concludes.

In addition to the ZiS-3 cannon, it is known that Vietnam still maintains the 57 mm ZiS-2 cannon, but this weapon is mainly in a sealed state, less deployed for combat missions.

(KienThuc)