The 85-mm antitank gun D-48 (Russian: 85-мм противотанковая пушка Д-48) was a Soviet 85-mm calibre anti-tank gun used after World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3). Distinguishing features of the D-48 include a very long barrel and a pepper-pot muzzle brake. The D-48 was itself replaced in the 1960s by the T-12 antitank gun.[2]
The gun was designed by the F. F. Petrov Design Bureau on the basis of the D-44 85-mm divisional gun and production of the D-48 began in 1953 at the No. 75 factory in Yurga. The D-48 used the breechblock from the BS-3 100-mm field gun in order to achieve a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute at maximum cadence.[3] The gun can transition from march to combat order in about two minutes.
The D-48N was a version with an APN 2-77 or 3-77 infrared imaging device fitted for night combat. A licensed version of the D-48 was produced in China as the Type 60.
The gun fires a high velocity armor-piercing-capped-ballistic-cap tracer (APCBC-T) BR-372 Projectile at 1040 meters per second and can penetrate 185mm of armor at a range of 1000 meters at an angle of obliquity of 90 degrees.[3] The 3BK-7 high explosive antitank (HEAT) projectile can penetrate 192mm of armor at an angle of obliquity of 60 degrees. The effective range of armor-piercing shells for the D-48 is 1,230 meters (HVAP-T) or 940 meters (HEAT). Additionally, the D-48 antitank gun is capable of firing a 9.66 kilogram OF-372 high explosive projectile to a direct fire range of 1,200 meters or an indirect fire range of 18.97 kilometers. The Ammunition for the D-48 was developed by necking down 100-mm ammunition in order to achieve higher muzzle velocities.[4]
The gun is towed by a URAL-375D truck[5] or an AT-P tractor with a maximum towing speed over asphalt roadway of about 60 km/h. The tires on the D-48 are those of the ZIS-5 truck.
Designs with auxiliary power units were also investigated but never developed beyond prototype stage.
The D-48 has been exported to Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Congo, India, Iraq, North Korea, Mongolia, Mozambique, Romania, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Vietnam.[5]
