Advertisements

Land Systems / Battlefield

MT-12 / 2A19 (Rapira)

100mm Towed Anti-Tank (AT) Gun [ 1955 ]

The T-12 series anti-tank gun entered service in 1955 and continues in a frontline role with several armies in the current decade.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 04/11/2022 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

The Soviet Army learned the value of tank-killing, armor-defeating weapons during World War 2 (1939-1945) when it squared off against the might of the Wehrmacht armored divisions. Most of the solutions centered around high-velocity, towed field guns with effective penetrating projectiles and it was this sort of thinking that continued for Soviets into the Cold War period (1947-1991). In 1955 was debuted a new, towed ant-tank gun and this product quickly became the standardized weapon of the Army and other Soviet-aligned nations and foreign allies followed in equipping the type. The MT-12 "Rapira" series was in operation service with Soviet forces up until the latter part of the 1980s but went on to serve a plethora of global operators from Algeria and Armenia to Ukraine and Uzbekistan - many of which continue to field the weapon even today (2017).

The MT-12 has also been recognized by the formal designation of "2A19" and also as the "T-12". The type was taken into service to replace the aging line of 100mm BS-3 series field guns which had been in service since 1944 (World War 2).

At the core of the T-12 design was its chosen 100mm projectile fired from a smoothbore barrel assembly. Compared to the BS-3, the MT-12 was given an all new gun tube and revised two-wheeled carriage to go along with a gun shield - all based on lessons learned from the fighting of World War 2. The barrel measured 63 calibers which made up a good portion of the overall length of 31 feet for the complete weapon system. The gun shield held a three-sided, angled appearance and was sloped for basic ballistics protection - a vision port being cut-out from the upper left side for the aimer. The carriage was of a traditional two-wheeled, rubber-tired design with tow arms located towards the rear. The wheels were elevated from the ground when the system was made ready-to-fire. The gun mounting hardware allowed for an elevation span of -6 to +20 degrees and traversal of 27-degrees right or left of centerline.©MilitaryFactory.com

A trained gunnery crew could fire (theoretically) fourteen rounds-per-minute though a four-to-six rpm rate was realistic. The crew numbered six personnel and the gun system required a mover vehicle for long-range travel though the gunnery crew could make due somewhat over very short distances (the complete weapon weighed over 6,000lb).

The MT-12 fired an APFSDS-T ("Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot - Tungsten") projectile of 12.5lb at a muzzle velocity of 5,170 feet per second out to a range of 3,300 yards. Since the gun tube of the MT-12 was smoothbore (not rifled), the projectiles required built-in, spring-loaded fins for in-flight stabilization. Penetration at 3,300 yards was 5.5 inches of armor. At 550 yards, the weapon could defeat nearly 10 inches of armor.

Beyond the typical armor-piercing, fin-stabilized round, the weapon supported a HEAT (High-Explosive, Anti-Tank) and HE-FRAG (High-Explosive, FRAGmentation) projectile as well as the 9K117 "Kastet" beam-riding, laser-guided missiles.

The MT-12 "Rapira" was the debut form designation and this was followed by the MT-12R "Ruta" which equipped the RLPK-1 series radar for improved accuracy under smoke conditions. The MT-12K "Kastet" was introduced in 1981 and supported the firing of 9M117 "Kastet" missiles.

Over 6,000 MT-12 guns have been in service with the Soviet Union / Russians. The next largest operator became Ukraine with some 400 units in inventory at one point. Iraq is a former operator of the product and many were lost in the Gulf War of 1991 and the final stock was all destroyed during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation. The former nation of Yugoslavia had its MT-12 supply passed on to successor states (mainly Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Croatia ) following its dissolution.

The A407 marks a locally-designed Romanian model influenced by the MT-12 series. China copied the MT-12 as the Type 73 and the Type 86 is believed to be a sort of related offshoot, also of 100mm caliber©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

BASICS [+] MANUFACTURER(S) [+] OPERATORS [+] ROLES [+] DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTS [+] POWER & PERFORMANCE [+] ARMAMENT [+] AMMUNITION [+] VARIANTS [+] HONORS [+]

Advertisements