The first prototype ZSU-57-2 was built in June 1950, the second in December 1950. The final project of the ZSU-57-2 (Ob'yekt 500), armed with twin S-68s and based on a light-weight T-54 tank chassis, was finished in 1948. It was initially mounted on a S-79A four-wheel carriage that system passed various tests but did not go into production. The first S-68 prototype (with ESP-76 diesel-electric drive), was ready in 1948.

Grabin, began the development of a twin 57 mm S-68 automatic anti-aircraft gun based on the 57mm S-60 in the spring of 1947. 58 (NII-58) (formerly known as the Central Artillery Design Bureau, TsAKB), under the supervision of V.G. The Design Bureau of Research Institute No. However, the project did not proceed due to the desire to concentrate attention on the newest tank chassis available. 58 in Kaliningrad, Moscow Oblast submitted a joint project for a SPAAG based on the T-34 tank chassis, to be armed with four 37 mm AA guns, to the Technical Council of the Ministry of Transport. 174 in Omsk and the Research Institute No. In February 1946, the Design Bureau of Works No. The need for a new tracked AA vehicle was apparent.

Two of the USSR's potential enemies – the United States and Great Britain, had high-quality air forces with substantial ground-attack experience. ZSU-57-2 prototypes įor several years after World War II there were no new SPAAG models in the USSR except for the BTR-152A (which were armed with two or four 14.5mm KPV heavy machine guns, designed ZTPU-4) and the BTR-40A (ZTPU-2) wheeled SPAAGs. Thus the ZSU-37s were retired from service by the end of the 1940s. SPAAGs based on light tank chassis had poor maneuverability in difficult terrain, slow off-road speed and insufficient range in comparison with medium tanks and SPGs. Īfter World War II it became clear that the firepower of a single 37 mm AA gun was insufficient to destroy high-speed, low-altitude targets. The vehicle entered production in February 1945 and was in small-scale production until 1948. The ZSU-37 was based on the chassis of the SU-76M self-propelled gun (SPG) and armed with a 37 mm 61K anti-aircraft autocannon in an open-top rotating armoured turret. The SU-72 SPAAG and several other experimental vehicles based on the T-60 or T-70 light tank chassis and armed with 37 mm autocannon were also tested in 1942–1943. The vehicle, based on the T-60 light tank chassis, was armed with two 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine guns but the prototype did not go into production because of flaws in the design. In 1942, Soviet engineers developed the T-60-3. Vehicles such as the German Wirbelwind and specialized variants of the US M3 Half-track had been used to good effect in the final battles of World War II, both by the US and nations which had received the M3 through Lend-Lease. This experience made it clear that an anti-aircraft tracked vehicle, armed with small-bore autocannons or heavy machine guns, was needed. Conventional towed anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) was an inadequate response under such conditions owing to the time needed to bring anti-aircraft machine guns into action. Development history Origins ĭuring World War II, ground-attack aircraft emerged as a significant threat to mechanized units on the move.

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