Russian NS-37 aircraft cannon questions

[Reaper90]

Been flying the Yak-9T a lot lately, and generally a fair amount of reading on the family of aircraft as well. I've read several places of the 9T having been used for ground attack, and I know the NS-37 is the same cannon carried by the IL2... is there any record of the Yak being loaded with the AP rounds for these ground attack sorties?

[tunnelrat]

I'm finding more and more sources that list the Yak-9T as "Antitank Fighter"

It also appears that some mounted a 45mm Cannon as well.


Ex: http://www.airpages.ru/eng/ru/yak9t.shtml

http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=187


Here is a book stating that the NS-23, 37, and 45 were used specifically with anti-tank rounds: http://books.google.com/books?id=5BSnZcx7HhEC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=Yak-9T+anti+tank&source=bl&ots=IXInlAL9ey&sig=S-ojUlWwOYQrn7NBiddWAnXVQOM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pzzTULuTL8fNqAGU54CADg&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Yak-9T%20anti%20tank&f=false

[MOSQ]

For info on weapons I've liked this link for years:
http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gustin/fgun/fgun-pe.html

It's all there on that page and his other pages.

[Reaper90]

For info on weapons I've liked this link for years:
http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gustin/fgun/fgun-pe.html

It's all there on that page and his other pages.

Good stuff there, was looking though those pages yesterday, and the chart of rounds for the NS-37 references both the AP and the HE rounds.... But I can't see anywhere that would definitively state that AP ago was used in the Yak, our AP was used only I'm the IL2, or if the Yak was loaded out with either AP or HE based on the mission.

<--- would live to be able to carry AP rounds in the 9T.....

[bustr]

I spent a few years looking for the same answer to use in the wishlist.

The best I could come up with from translated russian web sights infered that the Yak9T could be loaded mission specific but, generaly HE was the prefered round. There was some reference to the recoil from the AP 900m\sec versus HE 880m\sec eventualy causing recoil deterioration damage along with throwing the aim point off worse than the HE round. Most often the fighter was used to attack bombers, light tanks, armored vehicals, towed cannon, and other german war material. It was not considered a "tank buster" like the IL2 or Ju87G2.

The HE round from 300m could shatter 20mm cold rolled steel. So you focus your attention on high angel attacks to osti\wirble and M18 open turret. And chase down PT, LVT, M8, M3 and jeeps. It's an excellent low level high speed pass deacker. And if you are lucky while deacking, bomber box vulcher on the runway.

The Yak9T is so small and fast I can never seem to hit them from a feild gun before they deack me.

[SmokinLoon]

Both the Yak-9T and the P39x do well vs tanks when the angle is steep enough and the impact is on the top.  Vs the soft gv's a hit anywhere will either bring it to a halt due to engine damage, disable the turret, or outright destroy it.

I'm surprised the P39D/Q with the 37mm and a 500lb bomb is not used more for defending towns.   

[Tilt]

As Krusty said....... (did I just write that?). Yak 9T was not actually an anti tank weapon. Its ground attack role was much more concerned with the logistics of war, hence it was directed at trucks, light vehicles, ammo & supply dumps.

It seems to  have been universally loaded with HE rounds.

The move to the NS 37mm (from the Shvak 20mm) was after a study of the effectiveness of the single 20 v 37 mm with respect to bomber interception.

Il2 m3 37 or 23 mm AP rounds were not the main weapon of choice v "heavy" tanks (Tiger & Panther etc).

This was left to the PTAB canisters which proved devastating from Kursk onwards....... Having said that, twin 37mm AP loaded cannons were lethal to light and medium tanks albeit that the 23mmYVA was by far the most common weapon used on the IL2.

[SmokinLoon]

As Krusty said....... (did I just write that?). Yak 9T was not actually an anti tank weapon. Its ground attack role was much more concerned with the logistics of war, hence it was directed at trucks, light vehicles, ammo & supply dumps.

It seems to  have been universally loaded with HE rounds.

The move to the NS 37mm (from the Shvak 20mm) was after a study of the effectiveness of the single 20 v 37 mm with respect to bomber interception.

Il2 m3 37 or 23 mm AP rounds were not the main weapon of choice v "heavy" tanks (Tiger & Panther etc).

This was left to the PTAB canisters which proved devastating from Kursk onwards....... Having said that, twin 37mm AP loaded cannons were lethal to light and medium tanks albeit that the 23mmYVA was by far the most common weapon used on the IL2.

Speaking of which, does anyone have any data on the IL-2 using HE rounds from the 37mm cannon???  I'd like to believe that the IL-2 performed missions against targets other than gv's and using HE against infantry, buildings, and other such non armored targets would make sense.  After all, the IL-2 was designed from the very beginning as a "direct support" platform.  If so, I hope HTC would consider adding in the option of using HE or AP ammo for the IL-2.

But with that in mind, the 37mm HE and AP rounds do the same damage to OBJ's (17.1 lbs, iirc), so I'm not exactly sure what we would gain other than splash damage.