DShK

DShK
DShK on wheeled mount with shield.
Type	Heavy machine gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1938- present
Used by	Users
Wars	World War II Korean War Chinese Civil War Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Cambodian-Vietnamese War Six-Day War Yom Kippur War Gulf War Iraq War
Production history
Designer	Vasily Degtyaryov, Georgi Shpagin
Designed	1938
Variants	DK, DShKM
Specifications
Weight	34 kg (74.96 lb) (gun only) 157 kg (346.13 lb) on wheeled mounting
Length	1,625 mm (64 in)
Barrel length	1,070 mm (42.1 in)
Cartridge	12.7x108mm
Action	gas
Rate of fire	600 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	850 m/s (2,788 ft/s)
Feed system	belt 50 rounds
Sights	Iron/Optical

The DShK 1938 (ДШК, for Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, 'Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Calibre') is a Soviet heavy anti-aircraft machine gun firing 12.7x108mm cartridges. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield.

It took its name from the weapons designers Vasily Degtyaryov, who designed the original weapon, and Georgi Shpagin, who improved the cartridge feed mechanism. It is sometimes nicknamed Dushka (lit. "Sweetie", "Dear"), from the abbreviation.

History

The requirement for a heavy machine gun appeared in 1929. The first such gun, the Degtyaryov, Krupnokalibernyi (DK, Degtyaryov, Large calibre), was built in 1930 and this gun was produced in small quantities from 1933 to 1935.

The gun was fed from a drum magazine of only thirty rounds, and had a poor rate of fire. Shpagin developed a belt feed mechanism to fit to the DK giving rise, in 1938, to the adoption of the gun as the DShK 1938. This became the standard Soviet heavy machine gun in World War II.

The DShK 1938 was used in several roles. As an anti-aircraft weapon it was mounted on pintle and tripod mounts, and on a triple mount on the GAZ-AA truck. Late in the war, it was mounted on the cupolas of IS-2 tanks and ISU-152 self-propelled guns. As an infantry heavy support weapon it used a two-wheeled trolley, similar to that developed by Sokolov for the 1910 Maxim gun. It was also mounted in vehicle turrets, for example, in the T-40 light amphibious tank.

In 1946, the DShK 1938/46 or DShKM (M for modernised) version was introduced.

In addition to the Soviet Union and Russia, the DShK has been manufactured under license by a number of countries, including the People's Republic of China, Pakistan and Romania. Today, it has largely been phased out in favour of the more modern NSV and Kord designs.

They were also used in 2004, against British troops in Al-Amarah, Iraq.^[1] One Lynx helicopter was shot down in 1990 during The Troubles by two DShK deployed by the PIRA^{[2][verification needed]}

Users

•  Soviet Union^[3]
•  Albania
•  Poland
•  North Korea
•  North Vietnam^[3]
•  Cambodia
•  Iran
•  Iraq
•  Afghanistan^[3]
•  People's Republic of China

Non-state actors

• Iraqi insurgency^[1]
• Provisional IRA^[4]
• National Liberation Front for South Vietnam during the Vietnam War^[3]

Gallery

DShK on a T-55 tank	DShKM anti-aircraft machine gun on a T-55 tank loader's roof hatch	DShK 1938 in Batey ha-Osef museum, Israel.	Albanian DShK probably of Chinese origin - Close Air Defence version.
Jamiat-e Islami Mujahideen in Afghanistan in 1987 with a DShK	DShK firing at Babadag Training Area

See also

• M2 Browning machine gun

External links

• DShK and DShKM at guns.ru.
• Russian 12.7 mm (0.5") DShK Wheeled Heavy Machine Gun – Walk around photos
• Soviet 12.7 mm DShK a/a navy machine gun – Walk around photos
• Soviet 12.7 mm DShK on ZIS-5V truck – Walk around photos

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Mills, Dan (2007). "16". Sniper One. Penguin Group. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-718-14994-9. "They were Dshkes, a Russian-made beast of a thing that fires half-inch calibre rounds and was designed to bring down helicopters." 
2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MzBtgMDcCk
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Miller, David The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns. page 464, ISBN 0-7603-1560-4, url:[1]
4. ^ uncovering the irish republican army pbs.org

• Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 53. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9. http://www.russianammo.org.