Nudelman N-37
| N-37 | |
|---|---|
|
Chinese N-37 at the Beijing Military Museum | |
| Type | 37mm single-barrel automatic aircraft cannon |
| Place of origin | USSR |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1946 - |
| Used by | Soviet armed forces and export customers |
| Wars |
|
| Production history | |
| Designer | V. Ya. Nemenov |
| Designed | 1945 on |
| Manufacturer | OKB-16 |
| Produced | 1946 - ca.1960 |
| Variants |
|
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
| Length | 2455mm (N-37D) |
|
| |
| Cartridge | 37x155mm |
| Cartridge weight | 735 g/26 oz HEI-T, 760 g/27 oz AP-T |
| Caliber | 37 mm (1.46 in) |
| Barrels | 1 |
| Action | Short recoil |
| Rate of fire | 400 rounds per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 690 m/s (2,260 ft/s) |
The N-37 was a powerful, 37 mm (1.46 in) aircraft cannon used by the Soviet Union. It was designed by V. Ya. Nemenov of A.E. Nudelman's OKB-16 to replace the wartime Nudelman-Suranov NS-37, entering service in 1946. It was 30% lighter than its predecessor at the cost of a 23% lower muzzle velocity.
The N-37 was a sizable weapon firing a massive (735 g/26 oz HEI-T, 760 g/27 oz AP-T) shell. Its muzzle velocity was still considerable, but its rate of fire was only 400 rounds per minute. The weapon's considerable recoil and waste gases were problematic for turbojet fighter aircraft, as was finding space for the gun and a useful amount of ammunition, but a single shell was often sufficient to destroy a bomber.
The N-37 was used in the MiG-9, MiG-15, MiG-17, and early MiG-19 fighters, the Yakovlev Yak-25, and others. Production lasted through the late 1950s, although it remained in service for many years afterwards.
Variants
- N-37
- basic version without muzzle brake
- N-37D
- N-37 with muzzle brake
- N-37L
- N-37 with 1950mm long barrel (had no muzzle brake)
- NN-37
- improved N-37L developed during the late 1950s for the Yak-27 reconnaissance aircraft. The NN-37 differed from the N-37L in having a pneumatic counter-recoil accelerator, therefore achieving a rate of fire of 600-700rpm. The ammunition feed mechanism was redesigned as well on this version.
Production
The Soviet archives detail the following production numbers by year:[1]
- 1947 — 518
- 1948 — 508
- 1949 — 1,314
- 1950 — 3,043
- 1951 — 3,885
- 1952 — 4,433
- 1953 — 4,600
- 1954 — 1,700
- 1956 — 285
Comparable Weapons
See also
References
- ↑ Shirokograd, p. 129; no number given for 1955
- Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 341. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.
- Широкорад А.Б. (2001) История авиационного вооружения Харвест (Shirokorad A.B. (2001) Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia Harvest. ISBN 985-433-695-6) (History of aircraft armament)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to N-37. |