Atomic 420mm mortar 2B1 "Oka": specifications

The history of the creation of super-powerful artillerymilitary means full of embarrassments and curiosities. The Moscow Kremlin presents our historical landmark - Tsar Cannon, a work of art and pride of Russian foundry workers. Everyone knows that, despite the artistic perfection of the performance, this gigantic device never shot. There are other examples of armaments that were amazing in size, but of dubious practical value. One of them can be the atomic mortar 2B1 "Oka". Unlike the Tsar Cannon, it was used for its intended purpose, however, only at the test site.

Artillery and Gigantomania

Huge artillery cannons have traditionally been"The idea-fix" of German imperialism. In March 1917, the Wehrmacht bombarded Paris, using long-range large-caliber weapons. Residents of the Eternal City did not expect such attacks, the front line was far away. The French, in turn, built their huge cannons, and in the 30s installed them on the defensive line of Maginot. Their Germans captured at the beginning of the Second World War and for a long time (until complete wear and tear) experienced trophies. Work on the creation of weapons capable of delivering heavy ammunition for 100 or more kilometers, were also produced in Britain and the USSR. The effect of using these monsters turned out to be not so significant in practice. A colossal charge exploded when it struck the ground and exploded beneath its thickness, without causing much harm. The situation changed after the appearance of nuclear weapons.

Why do we need atomic mortars in the cosmic age?

Scientists who worked on the creation of the atomic bomb,at the initial stage of research they solved the main task. The charge had to be detonated, otherwise how to prove the effectiveness of the new weapon? But in the Nevada desert, the first "mushroom" rose above the ground, and the question arose as to how to bring down the whole power of a chain nuclear reaction to the enemy's head. The first samples were quite heavy, and it took a long time to reduce their weight to acceptable values. "Fat Boy" or "Baby" could carry a strategic bomber firm "Boeing" B-29. In the 1950s the USSR already possessed powerful missile delivery systems, which, however, had a serious drawback. ICBMs guaranteed the destruction of targets on the territory of the most powerful and main enemy, the United States, especially considering the complete absence at that time of missile defense. But the invasion of the aggressor could be prepared in Western Europe, and strategic ballistic missiles have a limitation on the minimum radius. And the theoreticians of military affairs turned their eyes to the old artillery that seemed to many.

The American initiative and the Soviet response

The Soviet country was not the initiatorartillery nuclear race, it began the Americans. In the spring of 1953, the first shot of the T-131 gun was sent to Nevada at the French Plateau range, sending a 280 mm nuclear bomb. The flight of the projectile lasted 25 seconds. Work on this miracle of technology has been going on for several years, and, thus, the Soviet response to the American initiative can be considered belated. In November 1955, the Council of Ministers of the USSR developed a resolution (secret), according to which the Kirov plant and the Kolomna machine-building SKB were assigned to create two artillery armament: a cannon (codenamed "Condenser-2P") and a 2B1 "Oka" mortar. The lag needed to be overcome.

Technical specification of special complexity

The weight of the nuclear charge remained large. Before the design team of the SKB under the direction of BI Shavyrin, there was a difficult task: to create a mortar capable of throwing a 750 kg body at a distance of up to 45 kilometers. There were also precision parameters, although not as stringent as for shooting with blasting shells. The gun must have a certain reliability, guaranteeing a certain number of shots, although under conditions of nuclear war (albeit limited) it certainly could not exceed a one-digit number. Mobility - a mandatory condition, the enemy gun after the war is almost guaranteed to destroy. The running gear became the concern of the factory workers from Leningrad. The fact that the 2B1 Oka mortar will be huge was clear right away, even before the design began.

Chassis

The Kirov plant had a rich experience of buildingunique crawler chassis, but the design parameters of the installation, which was to be created this time, went beyond all conceivable hitherto frameworks. Nevertheless, the designers with the task, in general, coped. The most powerful IS-5 tank (the same IS-10 and T-10) at that time served as a "donor", giving the "Object-273" power unit, the heart of which was a diesel engine with a turbocharger V-12-6B with a capacity of 750 liters. from. With this load, even this super-powerful engine was limited in the motor life, providing a power reserve of only 200 km (on the highway). Nevertheless, the specific capacity was considerable, each ton of the machine was driven by almost 12 "horses", which allowed to keep a perfectly acceptable move, albeit not for long. For 2B1 "Oka" and "Condenser-2P", the running parts were designed unified, which is due not only to the advantages of standardization, but also to the fact that it was simply impossible to create anything more powerful at that time. Support rollers were equipped with individual torsion-beam shock absorbers.

420-mm mortar 2B1 "Oka" and its trunk

The barrel had impressive dimensions. Charging was carried out by the breech, with a twenty-meter length of a different method was unacceptable. All devices designed to repay recoil energy, used previously even for extra-heavy guns, in this case had a very limited suitability. The atomic 420-mm mortar 2B1 "Oka" did not have a barrel cutting, its rate of fire reached 12 shots per hour, which is a very good indicator for an instrument of this caliber. The main damper of the rollback served as the car body itself, sloths and other chassis components.

Demonstration

On the march in the whole huge car was onlyone person is a driver. Another six, including the crew commander, followed the mortar 2B1 "Oka" in an armored personnel carrier or other vehicle. At the festive parade in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution in 1957, the car arrived after all the tests had passed. In the course of them were identified numerous design flaws, which were mostly systemic in nature. Before the bewildered correspondents of foreign newspapers and magazines, the 2B1 Oka self-propelled mortar majestically gnashed it, and the announcer with a cheerful voice announced publicly about the combat assignment of this cyclopean monster. Not all military experts believed in the reality of the specimen presented, even opinions were voiced that it was a sham. Other analysts believed in the formidable essence of this weapon and willingly picked up the usual song about the Soviet military threat. Both were right in their own way. A 420-mm self-propelled mortar 2B1 "Oka" existed quite real and even made a lot of test shots. Another question related to its durability and actual combat readiness.

The result

55-ton machine that could not withstandeach bridge, already three years after the demonstration on Red Square, was decommissioned. Attempts at finishing four prototypes of the 2B1 Oka mortar were discontinued in 1960 for two main reasons. First, the undercarriage knots could not withstand the monstrous loads that occurred during a rollback, which pushed the entire car five meters back, and all measures to strengthen them did not produce results. The ultimate strength of the precision alloy still exists. Secondly, at that time tactical missile carriers appeared, which had far better characteristics and excellent maneuverability. As you know, a rocket takes off without impact, therefore, the requirements for its launcher are much more modest. There was another factor that influenced the fate of this unique instrument. The atomic 420-mm mortar 2B1 "Oka" was very expensive for the budget, and its finishing had rather vague prospects. All this contributed to the fact that the car from the category of promising military equipment got into a number of museum exhibits, adding to the list of military curiosities.