| ZPU-4 Anti-aircraft Gun | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Anti-aircraft gun |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1949 - present |
| Used by | See Operators for users |
| Wars | Korean War, Vietnam War, Cambodian Civil War, Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Gulf War, South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000), 2011 Libyan civil war |
| Production history | |
| Variants | ZPU-1, ZPU-2 |
The ZPU-4 is a towed, quadruple-barreled anti-aircraft gun based on the Soviet 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun. It entered service with the Soviet Union in 1949 and is used by over 50 countries worldwide. Double- and single-barreled version of the weapon exist, called the ZPU-2 (two variants) and ZPU-1 respectively.
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Description [link]
Development of the ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 began in 1945, with development of the ZPU-1 starting in 1947. All three were accepted into service in 1949. Improved optical predicting gunsights were developed for the system in the 1950s.
All weapons in the ZPU series have air-cooled quick-change barrels and can fire a variety of ammunition including API (B32), API (BS41), API-T (BZT) and I-T (ZP) projectiles. Each barrel has a maximum rate of fire of around 600 rounds per minute, though this is practically limited to about 150 rounds per minute.
The quad-barrel ZPU-4 uses a four-wheel carriage similar to that once used by the obsolete 25 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun M1940. In firing position, the weapon is lowered onto firing jacks. It can be brought in and out of action in about 15 to 20 seconds, and can be fired with the wheels in the traveling position if needed.
The double-barrel ZPU-2 was built in two different versions; the early model has large mud guards and two wheels that are removed in the firing position, and the late model has wheels that fold and are raised from the ground in the firing position.
The single-barrel ZPU-1 is carried on a two-wheeled carriage and can be broken down into several 80-kilogram pieces for transport over rough ground.
Versions of the weapon are built in China, North Korea and Romania.
History [link]
The series was used during the Korean War by Chinese and North Korean forces, and was later considered to be the most dangerous opposition to U.S. helicopters in Vietnam. Later it was used by Morocco and the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara War. It was also used by Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm and again in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In the Russian military, it was replaced by the newer and more powerful ZU-23 23 mm twin automatic anti-aircraft gun .
The type has seen widespread use by both sides in the 2011 Libyan civil war often mounted on pickup trucks technicals.[1]
Ammunition [link]
- API (BS.41) - Full metal jacket bullet round with a tungsten carbide core. Projectile weight is 64.4 g (2.27 oz) and muzzle velocity is 1000 m/s (3,202 ft/s). Armor-penetration at 500 m (547 yds) is 32 mm (1.25 in) of RHA at 90 degrees.[2]
- API-T (BZT) - Full metal jacket round with a steel core. Projectile weight is 59.56 g (2.10 oz) and muzzle velocity is 1,005 m/s (3,297 ft/s). Tracer burns to at least 2,000 m (2,187 yds).
- I-T (ZP) - "Instantaneous Incendiary" bullet with internal fuze, incendiary in tip, tracer container in base. Projectile weight is 60.0 g (2.116 oz).
Rounds are also produced by Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Poland, and Romania.
Variants [link]
- ZPU-4
- Type 56 - Chinese-built version.
- MR-4 - Romanian-built version with a two-wheel carriage designed locally.
- ZPU-2
- Type 58 - Chinese-built version.
- ZU-2 - Romanian-built version.
- ZPU-1
- BTR-40A SPAAG - A BTR-40 APC with a ZPU-2 gun mounted in the rear. Entered service in 1950.
- BTR-152A SPAAG - A BTR-152 with a ZPU-2 mounted in the rear. Entered service in 1952.
Specifications [link]
| Model | ZPU-1 | ZPU-2 (early) | ZPU-2 (late) | ZPU-4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrels | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Weight (travelling) | 413 kg (910 lb) |
994 kg (2,191 lb) |
649 kg (1,430 lb) |
1,810 kg (3,990 lb) |
| Weight (firing) | 413 kg (910 lb) |
639 kg (1,408 lb) |
621 kg (1,369 lb) |
1,810 kg (3,990 lb) |
| Length (travel) | 3.44 m (11.28 ft) |
3.54 m (11.61 ft) |
3.87 m (12.69 ft) |
4.53 m (14.86 ft) |
| Width (travel) | 1.62 m (5.31 ft) |
1.92 m (6.29 ft) |
1.37 m (4.49 ft) |
1.72 m (5.64 ft) |
| Height (travel) | 1.34 m (4.39 ft) |
1.83 m (6.00 ft) |
1.1 m (3.60 ft) |
2.13 m (7 ft) |
| Elevation | +88/-8 | +90/-7 | +85/-15 | +90/-10 |
| Traverse | 360 | |||
| Maximum range | 8,000 m (8,749 yds) |
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| Maximum altitude | 5,000 m (16,404 ft) |
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| Effective altitude | 1,400 m (4,593 ft) |
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| Ammunition (rounds) | 1200 | 2400 | 4800 | |
| Crew | 4 | 5 | ||
Operators [link]
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Bangladesh
Benin
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Chad
China
Republic of the Congo
Croatia
Cuba
Djibouti
Egypt
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Kosovo Liberation Army ?
North Korea
Laos
Libya
Libyan People's Army
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Romania
Russia
São Tomé and Príncipe- 22x20px Seychelles
Sri Lanka
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Vietnam
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zaire
Zimbabwe
References [link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ZPU series |
- Jane's Land Based Air Defence 2005-2006. ISBN 0-7106-2697-5
- Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 98. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9. https://www.russianammo.org.
External links [link]
https://wn.com/ZPU
ZPU (microprocessor)
The ZPU microprocessor is a stack machine designed to run supervisory code in electronic systems that include a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
The ZPU is notable because it is a relatively recent stack machine with a small but real economic niche, and it has a growing number of users and implementations. Many experts think that this is impossible.
The ZPU has been designed to require very small amounts of electronic logic, making more electronic logic available for other purposes in the FPGA. To make it easily usable, it has a port of the GNU Compiler Collection. This makes it much easier to apply than CPUs without compilers.
The ZPU is very small, but it is not fast. It keeps the intermediate results of calculations in memory, in a push-down stack, rather than in registers.
Zylin Corp. made the ZPU open-source in 2008.
Usage
Many electronic projects include electronic logic in an FPGA. It's wasteful to also have a microprocessor, so it is commonplace to add a CPU to the electronic logic in the FPGA. Often, a smaller, less-expensive FPGA could be used if only the CPU used less resources. This is the exact situation that the ZPU was designed to address.
