View source for 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K)

{{Infobox Weapon
|name=85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-К)
|image=[[Image:52k nn.jpg|270px]]
|caption=52-K in [[Nizhny Novgorod]] Kremlin.
|origin={{flag|Soviet Union}}
|type=Air defense gun
<!-- Type selection -->
|is_ranged=
|is_bladed=
|is_explosive=
|is_artillery=yes
|is_vehicle=
|is_UK=
<!-- Service history -->
|service=
|used_by=
|wars=
<!-- Production history -->
|designer=
|design_date=
|manufacturer=
|production_date=[[1939]]-?
|number=
|variants=
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight=combat: 4,500 kg<br>(9,921 lbs)<br> travel: 4,500 kg<br>(9,921 lbs)
|length=7.05 m (23.12 ft)
|part_length=55 Calibers
|width=2.15 m (7 ft)
|height=2.25 m (7.38 ft)
|crew=7
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications --> 
|cartridge=O-365
|caliber=85 mm (3.34 in)
|action=
|rate=10-12 rounds per minute
|velocity=792 m/s (2,598 ft/s)
|range=10,500 m (34,448 ft) (vertical range)
|max_range=15.65 km (9.72 mi)
|feed=
|sights=
<!-- Artillery specifications -->
|breech=vertical sliding wedge
|recoil=hydraulic buffer
|carriage=2-axle and 4-wheeled
|elevation=-3° to 82°
|traverse=360°
<!-- Bladed weapon specifications --> 
|blade_type=
|hilt_type=
|sheath_type=
|head_type=
|haft_type=
<!-- Explosive specifications --> 
|diameter=
|filling=
|filling_weight=
|detonation=
|yield=
<!-- Vehicle specifications -->
|armour=
|primary_armament=
|secondary_armament=
|engine=
|engine_power=
|pw_ratio=
|suspension=
|vehicle_range=
|speed=
}}

The '''85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K)''' ({{lang-ru|85-мм зенитная пушка обр. 1939 г. (52-К)}}) was an 85-mm [[Soviet]] [[air defense]] gun, developed under guidance of leading Soviet designers [[Loginov Mikhail Nikolaevich|M. N. Loginov]] and G. D. Dorokhin. This gun was successfully used throughout the [[Great Patriotic War]] against level bombers and other high- and medium-altitude targets. In emergencies they were utilized as powerful anti-tank weapons. The barrel of 52-K was the base for the family of 85-mm Soviet tank guns. Crews of 85-mm AD guns shot down 4,047 Axis aircraft. The mean quantity of 85-mm ammunition required to shoot down one enemy plane was 598 rounds. After the war some 52-Ks were refitted for peaceful purposes as anti-avalanche guns in a mountainous terrain.

Virtually every country behind the [[Iron Curtain]] received this gun after [[World War II]] for their [[air defense]]. In the Soviet Union itself, these guns were largely superseded by the [[100 mm air defense gun KS-19|100]] and [[130 mm air defense gun KS-30|130 mm]] guns.

==Description==
Adopted in [[1939]], the 85-mm M1939, like its counterpart the [[88 mm gun|88-mm gun]], was meant for [[air defense]].  Like many anti-aircraft (AA) guns of the era it was provided with [[antitank]] [[ammunition]] in the event a [[tank]] should appear.

==Organization==
85-mm M1939 guns were organized into heavy anti-aircraft regiments of 16 guns.  The regiments were organized into divisions of the field anti-aircraft forces.

==Tank guns==

By 1943, the 76.2mm [[F-34 tank gun]] of the [[T-34 medium tank]] was found to be severely lacking in long-range firepower, compared to the German [[Tiger I heavy tank]]'s long-barreled 88-mm gun.  Military planners directed Gen. [[Vasiliy Grabin|V. Grabin]]'s and Gen. [[Fyodor Petrov|F. Petrov]]'s design bureaus to develop new 85mm tank guns based on the M1939's antitank ammunition.

Petrov developed the new ''D-5 85mm gun'', which was shortly mounted on the chassis of the [[SU-122]] self-propelled gun to create the [[SU-85]] tank destroyer.  Grabin, working on the ''ZiS-53'' at [[Joseph Stalin Factory No. 92]] in [[Nizhny Novgorod|Gorky]], was reassigned to the Central Artillery Design Bureau (TsAKB) in Moscow, and his project was turned over to 23-year-old A. Savin.  Another team led by K. Siderenko was assigned to yet another 85mm gun project, the ''S-18''.

The resulting guns were tested at Gorokhoviesky Proving Grounds near Gorky, with Grabin's ZiS-53 winning the competition.  Unfortunately, the new T-34-85 tank's turret had been designed for the already-available D-5 gun, and didn't mate properly with Grabin's gun.  Initial production of the T-34-85 tank was approved with the D-5 gun (designated ''D-5T'', for "tank").  

Savin was put to work modifying Grabin's gun to fit and incorporating other improvements, and his initial was added to its designation in recognition of his contribution: ''ZiS-S-53''.  The T-34-85 Model 1944, which included an improved 3-man [[gun turret|turret]] layout, started production with this gun in the spring of 1944. When later tested against German armor, it was found that the tank gun developed from the 85-mm AA gun lacked the power of its predecessor and a new antitank gun was made, the 122-mm gun.

==References==
{{Commons|85-mm air defense gun model 1939 (52-К)}}
* Hogg, Ian (2000). ''Twentieth-Century Artillery''. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. ISBN 1-58663-299-X.
* ''Jane's Armour and Artillery'' (1982). Jane's Publishing Company, Ltd. ISBN 0-7106-0727-X.
* Shunkov V. N. - ''The Weapons of the Red Army'', Mn. Harvest, 1999 (Шунков В. Н. - ''Оружие Красной Армии.'' — Мн.: Харвест, 1999.) ISBN 985-433-469-4.
* Zaloga, Steven J., James Grandsen (1984). ''Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two'', London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8.

==See also==
* [[Designations of Russian towed artillery]]

{{SovArtyGPW}}

[[Category:Anti-aircraft guns of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:World War II Soviet guns]]
[[Category:World War II anti-aircraft guns]]
[[Category:World War II field artillery]]
[[Category:85 mm artillery]]

[[Category:2Fix]]