Illustration of the cannon

The ShVAK (Russian: ШВАК: Шпитальный-Владимиров Авиационный Крупнокалиберный, Shpitalnyi-Vladimirov Aviatsionnyi Krupnokalibernyi, "Shpitalny-Vladimirov large-calibre for aircraft") was a 20 mm autocannon used by the Soviet Union during World War II. It was designed by Boris Shpitalniy and Semyon Vladimirov and entered production in 1936. ShVAK was installed in many Soviet aircraft including Yakovlev Yak-1, Polikarpov I-153 and I-16, Lavochkin La-5 and La-7, LaGG-3, early Ilyushin Il-2, and Soviet-modified Hawker Hurricane aircraft as well as T-38 and T-60 tanks. Image File history File links ShVAK42. ... Image File history File links ShVAK42. ... The 20mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon (or more commonly today, autocannon) and not a heavy machine gun. ... M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Soviet redirects here. ... The Yakovlev Yak-1 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft and the first among the wars many successful Yakovlev fighters. ... Polikarpov I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 Chaika (Seagull; Russian Чайка) was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. ... The Polikarpov I-16 was the worlds most advanced fighter aircraft when it was introduced in the mid-1930s, and soon formed the majority of the Soviet Air Forces units. ... The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the LaGG-3 and was one of the Soviet Air Forces most capable types of warplane. ... Lavochkin La-7 This article is about the WW2 Soviet airplane. ... The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1, and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Soviet Air Force at the time of Germanys attempted invasion. ... The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik (Russian: ) was a ground attack aircraft of World War II, and was produced by the Soviet Union in huge numbers; in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 36,163 were built. ... The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter design from the 1930s which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. ... The T-38 was a Soviet light amphibious tank that saw service in World War II. Developed in 1936 at the AMO vehicle works, the T-38 was a development of the earlier T-37. ... The T-60 was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. ...

The TNSh was a version of this gun for tanks (Russian: ТНШ: Tankovyi Nudel’man-Shpitalnyi).

Description

ShVAK 20 mm autocannon is a large-caliber version of the 12.7 mm ShKAS machine gun. The machine gun entered production in 1934 but proved unreliable, difficult to manufacture, and prone to jamming which often required partial or complete disassembly of the weapon. Its production was stopped in 1936. The autocannon version differed only in larger caliber of the barrel. It is a gas-operated belt-fed weapon with either cable or pneumatic charging in remote applications. ShVAK ammunition consisted of a mix of fragmentation-incendiary and armor piercing-incendiary rounds. The damaging effect of this ammunition was considered weak for the caliber. As the result, towards the end of Great Patriotic War ShVAK was supplanted by Berezin B-20, Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23, and Nudelman-Suranov NS-37 autocannons. M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ... This article or section should be merged with . ... // Background The ShKAS (Shpitalny-Komaritski Aviatsionny Skorostrelnij, Shpitalny-Komaritski rapid fire machine gun for aircraft; Russian: ШКАС - Шпитальный, Комарицкий, Авиационный, Скорострельный) is a 7. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ... The gas-operated system for implementing automatic reloading of a firearm is one of five such systems, the others being recoil-operated, gatling, chain, and blowback. ... An Armour piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armour. ... The Eastern Front1 was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... The Berezin B-20 (Березин Б-20) was a 20 mm caliber autocannon used by Soviet aircraft in World War II. // Development B-20 was created by M.E. Berezin in 1944 by chambering his Berezin UB 12. ... Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (Волков-Ярцев ВЯ-23) is a 23 mm caliber autocannon used on Soviet aircraft during World War II. // Development In 1940, A.A. Volkov and S.A.Yartsev created an autocannon called TKB-201 for the new 23 mm round. ... M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ...

Specifications

• Caliber: 20 mm
• Rate of fire: 700-800 rounds/min
• Muzzle velocity: 750-790 m/s
• Weight: 88 lb (40 kg) without ammunition for the wing version
• Length: 66.1 in (1679 mm) for the wing version

The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... The Rate of fire is the speed at which a specific firearm or artillery piece can operate. ... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ...

Ammunition specifications

See also

• List of firearms
• List of common WW2 weapons

Located below is an extended list of small arms, ranging from pistols to machine guns and even to large handheld devices such as grenade launchers and anti-tank rifles. ... This page lists the common infantry weapons used by the various armies engaged in World War II. // Handguns Enfield Revolver No. ...

References

• Широкоград А.Б. (2001) История авиационного вооружения Харвест (Shirokograd A.B. (2001) Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia Harvest. ISBN 985-433-695-6) (History of aircraft armament)

External links

• 20mm TNSh Tank Gun at battlefield.ru
• THE RUSSIAN AMMUNITION PAGE