100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3)

100 mm field gun model 1944 (BS-3)
100 mm field gun model 1944 (BS-3)
	BS-3 at the Israel Defense Forces History Museum, Israel
Type	Field gun and anti-tank gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1944–present
Used by	Soviet Union
Wars	World War II; Vietnam War; Yom Kippur War; Russo-Ukrainian War
Production history
Produced	1944–1951
Specifications
Mass	3,650 kg (8,047 lbs)
Length	9.37 m (30 ft 9 in)
Barrel length	Bore: 5.34 m (17 ft 6 in) L/53.5; Overall: 5.96 m (19 ft 7 in) L/59.6; (with muzzle brake)
Width	2.15 m (7 ft 1 in)
Height	1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Crew	6 to 8
Shell	100 × 695 mmR; (R/147mm)
Caliber	100 mm (3.93 in)
Breech	Semi-automatic vertical sliding-wedge
Recoil	hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	Split trail
Elevation	-5° to 45°
Traverse	58°
Rate of fire	8 to 10 rpm
Muzzle velocity	900 m/s (2,953 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	20 km (12.42 mi)

The 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3) (Russian: 100-мм полевая пушка обр. 1944 г. (БС-3)) is a Soviet 100 mm (3.9 in) anti-tank and field gun.

History

Development

The BS-3 was based on the B-34 naval gun. The development team was led by V. G. Grabin.

World War II

During World War II the Soviet Army employed the gun in the light artillery brigades of tank armies (20 pieces along with 48 ZiS-3) and by corps artillery. In the Second World War the BS-3 was successfully used as a powerful anti-tank gun. It was capable of defeating any contemporary tank at long range, excluding the Tiger II: to destroy that heavy tank the gun needed to shoot at less than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) from the target. The gun was capable of defeating the turret of Tiger II at a range of 800–1,000 m (2,600–3,300 ft). The gun was also used as a field gun. Though in this role it was less powerful than the 122 mm A-19, as it fired a smaller round, the BS-3 was more mobile and had a higher rate of fire.

Post World War II

The BS-3 remained in service into the 1950s. As of 1955 it was getting replaced in Soviet service by the T-12 antitank gun and the 85 mm antitank gun D-48. A number of BS-3 pieces are still stored in Russian Ground Forces arsenals. In 2012, at least 12 BS-3 guns were still active with the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division, located on the Kuril Islands, used as anti-ship and anti-landing guns.

During the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-present) both sides employed towed anti-tank guns. The use of the 100 mm Rapira is well known, but the Ukrainian Army also used the older BS-3. Three Ukrainian BS-3s were destroyed by Russian military forces during the initial phase of their 2022 invasion of Ukraine.^[2] In September 2023, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service released footage of a Ukrainian BS-3 crew firing on Russian positions.^[3]

Ammunition data

Ammunition
- AP: BR-412
- APBC: BR-412B, BR-412D
- HE/Fragmentation
Projectile weight
- AP/APBC: 15.88 kg (35 lbs)
- HE/Fragmentation: 15.6 kg (34.39 lbs)
Armor penetration (BR-412B, 30° degrees)
- 500 m : 190 mm
  (547 yds : 6.29 in)
- 1000 m : 170 mm
  (1,093 yds : 6 in)

Operators

Republic of the Congo: 10^[4]^[5]
Democratic Republic of the Congo^[5]
Cyprus: 10-20^[6]^[4]
Ethiopia^[5]^[4]
India: 350^[6]
Kyrgyzstan: 18^[5]^[4]
Mali: 6^[6]
Mongolia: 45^[6]
Mozambique: 20^[5]^[4]
Nicaragua: 24^[6]^[4]
North Korea: 500^[6]
Sudan: 20^[6]^[4]
Syria: 300^[6]
Timor-Leste^[4]
Ukraine: Reactivated during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[2]^[3]
Vietnam: 250^[6]^[7]
Yemen: 20^[5]

Former operators

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Foss, Christopher (1977). Jane's pocket book of towed artillery. New York: Collier. p. 59. ISBN 0020806000. OCLC 911907988.
^ ^a ^b "Attack On Europe: Documenting Ukrainian Equipment Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine". Oryx. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Border Guards Demonstrate Firing From 100-Mm BS-3 Gun Dating Back To The 1940s". Kyiv: The Sundries. 5 September 2023. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h International Institute for Strategic Studies (2021). The Military Balance. pp. 92, 188, 285, 309, 422, 458, 465, 479, 493. ISBN 9781032012278.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Future Artillery Systems: 2016 Market Report" (PDF). Tidworth: Defence IQ. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
^ Schuster, Carl Otis; Coffey, David (May 2011). "Vietnam, Democratic Republic of, Army". In Tucker, Spencer C. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2 ed.). p. 1251. ISBN 978-1-85109-960-3.

References

Shunkov V. N. - The Weapons of the Red Army, Mn. Harvest, 1999 (Шунков В. Н. - Оружие Красной Армии. — Мн.: Харвест, 1999.) ISBN 985-433-469-4
Christopher F. Foss, Artillery of the World