The ZiS-30 Tank Destroyer — The Soviet Danger TractorThe German onslaught during Operation Bar

The ZiS-30 Tank Destroyer — The Soviet Danger TractorThe German onslaught during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 left the Soviet Union reeling, a hard blow causing a shortage of heavy equipment such as artillery, tanks, planes, tank destroyers, and other vehicles. In order to replace lost equipment, the Soviets had to improvise with what they had. As a result the ZiS-30 tank was born in 1941 at the Gorky Plant No. 92 in Novgorod. At the opening of the war it was readily apparent that the Red Army was lacking in anti-tank weaponry, especially tank destroyers and self propelled anti-tank guns. The ZiS-30 was made to be a cheap tank destroyer made from already existing components, which could serve as an effective stop gap until better designs could be created and produced.The ZiS-30 was the combination of the Kosmolets artillery tractor with a ZiS-2 gun. The Kosmolets tractor was a tracked vehicle intended for towing artillery pieces or carriages full of equipment and personnel. It’s four cylinder 50 horsepower engine could propel the tractor at a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour. Inside the very cramped and claustrophobic cab of the tractor were two crewman, a driver and a machine gunner who operated a 7.62mm machine gun. The ZiS-2 was a very powerful 57mm gun which could propel a projectile up to 1,000 meters per second (3,300 feet per second). At that velocity it could penetrate up to 90mm of steel armor, which is impressive for a gun it’s size and especially deadly for early World War II standards. The gun was operated by two crewman, a gunner who also served as commander, and a loader. To protect the crew the gun was shielded with a 10mm thick gun mantlet. When the ZiS-2 was married with the Kosmolets tractor, what was created was actually a very effective weapon system. While it’s armor was only effective enough for small arms fire, it was not intended to be used in pitched, muzzle to muzzle combat with enemy tanks. Rather, because of it’s small size, it made an excellent ambush weapon. Typically they would be hidden in thick foliage, perhaps camouflaged with netting or bushes, and would ambush unsuspecting tank columns or vehicles which would wander into it’s trap.Despite it’s effectiveness, only 100 ZiS-30 tank destroyers were created as the gun and the tractors were needed for other projects. After 1941 they were phased out for more advanced and effective weapons systems. -- source link

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