2A46 125 mm gun

The 2A46 (also called D-81T) is a 125mm/L48 smoothbore cannon of Soviet origin used in several main battle tanks.

Description

It was developed by the Spetstekhnika Design Bureau in Ekaterinburg in the 1960s originally for the T-64A tank. They were subsequently manufactured at Artillery Plant No.9 in Ekaterinburg and Motovilikha in Perm. Versions include 2A46, 2A46M, 2A46M-1, 2A46M-2, 2A46M-4, 2A46M-5 and the Ukrainian KBA-3.

The 2A46 can fire armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high-explosive fragmentation (HEF) projectiles. The ammunition for the 2A46 gun is in two pieces: the projectile is loaded first, followed by a separate propellant charge.

The early version of the 2A46 suffered from a short barrel life, but this was subsequently rectified on the 2A46M version.

The Ukrainian KBA guns are derived from the 2A46 gun.

Tanks using the 2A46

Map with 2A46 operators in blue with former operators in red

The 2A46 has been used in numerous tanks, almost exclusively Soviet/Russian designs or foreign derivatives thereof.

•  Croatia
  • M-95 Degman
  • M-84D
•  Iran
  • Zulfiqar
• Iraq
  • Asad Babil tank
•  North Korea
  • Chonma-ho V (Ma)
  • Pokpung-Ho II & III
•  Poland
  • PT-91 Twardy
• Socialist Republic of Romania
  • TR-125
•  Russia
  • T-90
  • T-80
  • T-72
  • T-67 (125mm gun-armed T-62)
  • T-64
  • T-55M6
  • Obyekt 640/Black Eagle
•  Serbia
  • M-84AS
•  Ukraine
  • T-84
•  Yugoslavia
  • M-84

See also

• 125 mm smoothbore ammunition
• 2A45 Sprut - A Soviet towed 125 mm anti-tank gun

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• L30 : British 120-mm rifled equivalent
• GIAT CN120-26/52 : French 120-mm equivalent
• Rheinmetall 120 mm gun : German 120-mm equivalent
• IMI 120 mm gun : Israeli 120-mm equivalent

Sources

• http://fofanov.armor.kiev.ua/

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 125 mm gun 2A46.