One of the most difficult and significant for the history of all mankind was World War 2. The weapons used in this crazy battle of 63 of the 74 countries existing at that time claimed hundreds of millions of human lives.
Steel arms
World War 2 brought weapons of various promising types: from a simple submachine gun to the installation of jet fire - Katyusha. A lot of small, artillery, various aviation, naval weapons and tanks were improved in these years.
Melee weapons of World War 2 were used for close melee and as a premium. It was presented: needle and wedge-shaped bayonets, which were supplied with rifles and carbines; army knives of various types; daggers for the highest land and sea ranks; long-blade cavalry sabers of ordinary and commanding composition; naval officer broadswords; premium original knives, daggers and checkers.
Weapon
Small arms of World War 2 played a particularly important role, since a huge number of people participated in it. Both the course of the battle and its results depended on the armament of each.
The small arms of the USSR of World War II in the Red Army's weapons system were represented by the following types: personal time-file (revolvers and pistols of officers), individual of various units (magazine, self-loading and automatic carbines and rifles, for ordinary soldiers), weapons for snipers (special self-loading or magazine rifles ), individual automatic for close combat (machine guns), a collective type of weapon for platoons and squads of various groups of troops (light machine guns), for special machine guns x units (machine guns, mounted on an easel support), anti-aircraft fire arms (machine-gun anti-aircraft guns and machine guns of large caliber), tank fire arms (tank machine gun).
The most significant Soviet small arms
The Soviet army used such small arms as the famous and irreplaceable rifle of the 1891/30 model (Mosin), self-loading rifles SVT-40 (F.V. Tokarev), automatic ABC-36 (S. G. Simonov), automatic pistol- machine guns PPD-40 (V. A. Degtyarev), PPSh-41 (G.S. Shpagin), PPS-43 (A. I. Sudaev), TT-type gun (F.V. Tokarev), light machine gun DP (V A. Degtyarev, infantry), a large-caliber machine gun DShK (V. A. Degtyarev - G. S. Shpagin), machine gun SG-43 (P. M. Goryunova), anti-tank rifles PTRD (V. A. Degtyarev) and PTRS (S. G. Simonova). The main caliber of the weapons used is 7.62 mm. All this assortment was mainly developed by talented Soviet designers, united in special design bureaus (design bureaus) and bringing victory closer.
Such a small contribution to the approach of victory was played by such small arms of World War 2 as submachine guns. Due to the lack of machine guns at the beginning of the war, an unfavorable situation developed for the Soviet Union on all fronts. The rapid buildup of this type of weapon was necessary. During the first months, its production increased significantly.
New assault rifles and machine guns
In service in 1941, a completely new submachine gun of the type PPSh-41 was adopted. He surpassed the PPD-40 by more than 70% in accuracy of fire, was as simple as possible in the device and had good combat qualities. Even more unique was the PPS-43 assault rifle. Its shortened version allowed the soldier to be more maneuverable in battle. It was used for tankmen, signalmen, scouts. The production technology of such a submachine gun was at the highest level. Much less metal was spent on its manufacture and almost 3 times less time than on similar ones previously produced by PPSh-41.
The use of a large-caliber machine gun DShK with an armor-piercing bullet made it possible to inflict damage on armored vehicles and aircraft of the enemy. The machine gun SG-43 on the machine eliminated the dependence on the availability of water reserves, as it had air cooling.
Enormous damage to enemy tanks brought the use of anti-tank rifles PTRD and PTRS. In fact, with their help, the battle of Moscow was won.
What did the Germans fight
German weapons of World War 2 are presented in a wide variety. The German Wehrmacht used pistols of the type: Mauser C96 - 1895, Mauser HSc - 1935-1936., Mauser M 1910., Sauer 38H - 1938, Walther P38 - 1938, Walther PP - 1929. The caliber of these pistols fluctuated : 5.6; 6.35; 7.65 and 9.0 mm. Which was quite inconvenient.
The rifles used all 7.92 mm caliber types: Mauser 98k - 1935, Gewehr 41 - 1941, FG - 42 - 1942, Gewehr 43 - 1943, StG 44 - 1943, StG 45 (M ) - 1944, Volkssturmgewehr 1-5 - the end of 1944.
Machine guns of the types: MG-08 - 1908, MG-13 - 1926, MG-15 - 1927, MG-34 - 1934, MG42 - 1941. They used 7.92 mm caliber bullets.
The submachine guns, the so-called German Schmeissers, produced the following modifications: MP 18 - 1917, MP 28 - 1928, MP35 - 1932, MP 38/40 - 1938, MP-3008 - 1945 . They were all 9 mm caliber. Also, German troops used a large number of captured small arms, inherited from the armies of the enslaved countries of Europe.
Weapons in the hands of American soldiers
One of the main advantages of the Americans at the beginning of the war was a sufficient amount of automatic weapons. The United States at the time of the outbreak of hostilities was one of the few states in the world that almost completely rearmed their infantry with automatic and self-loading weapons. They used self-loading rifles "Grand" M-1, "Johnson" M1941, "Grand" M1D, carbines M1 , M1F1, M2, "Smith-Wesson" M1940. For some types of rifles, a 22 mm M7 removable grenade launcher was used. Its use greatly expanded the firepower and combat capabilities of weapons.
The Americans used Thompson submachine guns, Reising, United Defense M42, M3 Grease gun. Reising was supplied under Lend-Lease in the USSR. The British were armed with automatic weapons: Sten, Austen, Lanchester Mk. 1.
The funny thing was that the knights of the British Albion in the manufacture of their submachine gun Lanchester Mk.1 copied the German MP28, and the Australian Austen borrowed the design from the MP40.
Firebolt
World War 2 firearms on the battlefields were represented by famous brands: Italian Berreta, Belgian Browning, Spanish Astra-Unceta, American Johnson, Winchester, Springfield, English Lanchester, unforgettable Maxim, Soviet PPSh and TT.
Artillery. The famous Katyusha
The main stage in the development of artillery weapons of that time was the development and implementation of multiple launch rocket launchers.
The role of the Soviet BM-13 rocket artillery fighting vehicle in the war is enormous. She is known to all by the nickname "Katyusha". Its rockets (RS-132) in a matter of minutes could destroy not only the manpower and equipment of the enemy, but, which is especially important, and undermine his spirit. The shells were installed on the base of such trucks as the Soviet ZIS-6 and the American, imported under Lend-Lease, all-wheel drive Studebaker BS6.
The first installations were made in June 1941 at the Komintern factory in Voronezh. Their salvo hit the Germans on July 14 of that year near Orsha. In just a few seconds, emitting a terrible roar and emitting smoke and flame, the rockets rushed at the enemy. The fiery tornado completely swallowed the enemy train at Orsha station.
In the development and creation of deadly weapons, the Jet Research Institute (RNII) took part. It is to his employees — I. I. Gvay, A. S. Popov, V. N. Galkovsky and others — that we are obliged to bow for the creation of such a miracle of military equipment. During the war years, more than 10,000 of these machines were created.
German "Vanyusha"
The German army also had a similar weapon - this is a 15 cm Nb jet mortar. W41 (Nebelwerfer), or simply "Vanyusha". It was a weapon of very low accuracy. It had a large spread of shells in the affected area. Attempts to modernize the mortar or produce something like the Katyusha did not succeed due to the defeat of the German troops.
Tanks
In all its beauty and diversity, World War 2 showed us weapons - a tank.
The most famous tanks of World War 2 were: the Soviet T-34 medium tank hero, the German menagerie - the T-VI Tiger heavy tanks and the PzKpfw V Panther medium tanks, the American medium tanks Sherman, M3 Li, Japanese amphibious tank "Mizu Censya 2602" ("Ka-Mi"), English light tank Mk III "Valentine", their own heavy tank "Churchill", etc.
Churchill is known for being supplied under Lend-Lease in the USSR. The British brought his armor as a result of cheaper production to 152 mm. In battle, he was completely useless.
The role of tank forces during World War II
The plans of the Nazis in 1941 were lightning strikes with tank wedges at the junctions of Soviet troops and their complete encirclement. It was the so-called blitzkrieg - "lightning war." The basis of all German offensive operations in 1941 was precisely tank troops.
The destruction of Soviet tanks through aviation and long-range artillery at the beginning of the war almost led to the defeat of the USSR. Such a huge impact on the course of the war was the presence of the required number of tank troops.
One of the most famous tank battles of World War 2 is the battle of Prokhorovka, which took place in July 1943. Subsequent offensive operations of the Soviet troops from 1943 to 1945 showed the power of our tank armies and the ability to tactically engage in battle. The impression was that the methods used by the Nazis at the beginning of the war (this was a strike by tank groups at the junction of enemy formations) now became an integral part of Soviet military tactics. Such attacks by mechanized corps and tank groups were excellently shown in the Kiev offensive, the Byelorussian and Lviv-Sandomierz, Yasso-Kishenevskaya, Baltic, Berlin offensive operations against the Germans and in Manchurian - against the Japanese.
Legendary Soviet tanks
Tanks - weapons of World War 2, which showed the world completely new methods of warfare.
In many battles, the legendary Soviet medium tanks T-34, later - T-34-85, heavy - KV-1 later KV-85, IS-1 and IS-2, as well as self-propelled guns SU-85 and SU-152 were especially distinguished .
The design of the legendary T-34 represented a significant leap in world tank building in the early 40s. This tank combined powerful weapons, armor and high mobility. In total, over the period of the war, about 53 thousand were produced. These combat vehicles took part in all battles.
In response to the appearance of the most powerful T-VI "Tiger" and TV "Panther" tanks by the German troops, the Soviet T-34-85 tank was created in 1943. The armor-piercing projectile of his gun - ZIS-S-53 with 1000 m pierced the armor of the Panther and from 500 m - the Tiger.
Confidently fought with the "Tigers" and "Panthers" from the end of 1943 also heavy tanks IS-2 and self-propelled guns SU-152. With 1,500 m, the IS-2 tank pierced the Panther’s frontal armor (110 mm) and practically flashed its insides. Shells SU-152 could break the towers from the German heavyweights.
The IS-2 tank received the title of the most powerful tank of World War 2.
Aviation and Navy
One of the best aircraft of that time was considered the German diving bunker Junkers Ju 87 "Shtuka", the impregnable "flying fortress" V-17, the "flying Soviet tank" Il-2, the famous fighters La-7 and Yak-3 (USSR), "Spitfire "(England)," North American R-51 "" Mustang "(USA) and" Messerschmitt Bf 109 "(Germany).
The best battleships of the naval forces of various countries during World War II were: Japanese Yamato and Musashi, English Nelson, American Iowa, German Tirpitz, French Richelieu and Italian Littorio.
Arms race. Deadly weapons of mass destruction
The weapon of World War II struck the world with its power and cruelty. It made it possible to destroy an enormous amount of people, equipment and military installations almost unhindered, to wipe entire cities off the face of the earth.
World War 2 brought weapons of mass destruction of various kinds. Particularly deadly for many years to come was nuclear weapons.
The arms race, constant tension in conflict zones, the intervention of the powerful in the affairs of others - all this can give rise to a new war for world domination.