S-68 (57 mm)

Description

The 57 mm S-68 (C-68 in Russian) is a Soviet anti-aircraft cannon. It is the twin-barrel variant of 57 mm AZP S-60 anti-aircraft gun.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• ZSU-57-2
• ◔ZSU-57-2
• ▄ZSU-57-2
• ZSU-57-2

General info

In an attempt to built a field AA gun with the chassis of a T-54, the twin-barrel S-68 cannon provided sufficient rate of fire while having a very devastating firepower at close-range brawls. While it might not do well at its intended purpose of anti-aircraft operations, a solid hit on slow aircraft can prove deadly with its calibre and explosive filler.

Available ammunition

• Default: HE* · APCBC - Half the rounds in this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However, against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve can help.
• BR-281SP: APCBC - An anti-tank belt, it is comprised of APCBC shells that can penetrate most tanks from the side. However, the shells do not contain any explosive filler, so it is recommended to upgrade to the BR-281U belt when possible.
• OR-281U: HE* - For use against planes. One or two hits usually gets the job done. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.
• BR-281U: APCBC - Very similar to the preceding BR-281SP belt; however, the shells now have a small amount of explosive filler, making them slightly more efficient against ground vehicles.

Comparison with analogues

• 57 mm WA318 - Chinese equivalent of the S-68, the S-68 has a better traverse speed but the WA318 has access to HE-VT shell which vastly boost its anti-aircraft capabilities.

Usage in battles

At its tier, the twin-barrel 57 mm gun stands out among other vehicles. This gun is a nightmare for lightly-armoured vehicles or those who showed their side thanks to its high rate of fire and penetration. The APHE/APCBC shells work fantastically against armoured targets, 8 shots in a very short amount of time can certainly knock down most of the enemies (aside from heavily-armoured tanks).

While the S-68 doesn't do really well in its intended purpose: anti-aircraft operations (it was intended to be guided by radar and rangefinders), thanks to the sheer calibre and enough explosive filler, a solid hit on the target certainly means severe or lethal damage against them; at higher tier where helicopters are present, when aimed properly, it can score a surprise kill even at 3-4 km away.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Devastating in brawling or flanking
• Sufficient rate of fire and ammo pool
• High explosive content
• Straight ballistics

Cons:

• Requires a solid hit on aerial targets
• Lightly-protected
• Huge profile

History

During the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of WW2), Soviets soon realized that their anti-aircraft gun inventory was insufficient to handle targets at higher altitudes (both 25 mm and 37 mm couldn't travel very far before being ineffective, and larger calibre guns required long reload time); it was deemed that a new anti-aircraft gun must be made to cover the mid-calibre range.

While they had acquired examples of German 5 cm FlaK41, the Soviets also acquired a prototype gun dubbed 5,5 cm Gerät 58; this became the basis of a later prototype gun with a 57 mm calibre in 1946, after years of field tests, the gun was certified for service in early 1950s as the AZP S-60. While this gun had a radar and a rangefinder for target tracking, in the era of supersonic jets, the S-60 was soon phrased out in favor for SAMs; although later experiences from Vietnam showed that it was still effective against low-flying targets and should be kept as a supplement for the underperforming SAMs of the era, where ground clutters severely affected its tracking capabilities.

Aside from the base model S-60, there were the navalised versions AK-725 and ZIF-72, as well as the S-68 on ZSU-57-2. Although most of the surviving S-60s are seen in different warfare overseas, sometimes even mounted onto a dump-truck as improvised platform, the Russian Ground Forces built a new 57 mm unmanned weapon system based on S-60, known as AU-220M and was first seen as on an Armata Universal Platform in the late 2010s.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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