M51 Skysweeper
Anti-aircraft gun / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The M51 Skysweeper (Gun, M51, Antiaircraft or Gun automatic, 75-mm T83E6, and E7, recoil mechanism, and loader rammer) was an anti-aircraft gun deployed in the early 1950s by both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. It was the first such gun to combine a gun laying radar, analog computer (director) and an autoloader on a single carriage.
M51 Skysweeper | |
---|---|
Type | Anti-aircraft gun |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
In service | 1951–1975 |
Used by | United States Greece Japan Turkey |
Production history | |
Produced | 1951 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 8,750 lb (3,970 kg)[1] |
Barrel length | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) 60 caliber[2] |
Shell | Fixed QF 75 x 539mmR |
Caliber | 75 mm (3.0 in) |
Breech | Vertical sliding-wedge |
Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic |
Carriage | Four wheel with outriggers |
Elevation | -6° to +85°[1] |
Traverse | 360° |
Rate of fire | 45 rpm |
Muzzle velocity | 854 m/s (2,800 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 9 km (30,000 ft) (vertical) |
Maximum firing range | 13 km (43,000 ft) (horizontal)[1] |
The Skysweeper was introduced just as surface-to-air missiles were being deployed in the long-range role, replacing earlier anti-aircraft artillery systems. These missiles were very large and slow to react, which left short-range engagements to guns. The Army's existing guns were a motley collection of World War II-era systems that were barely effective then and were considered largely useless against jet-powered aircraft. Missiles replaced all of the larger weapons, while Skysweeper replaced all the smaller ones.
The Skysweeper system was used for a relatively short period of time, from the mid to late 1950s in the US, and into the 1960s and 1970s in some overseas locations. By that time newer missile systems were closing the range gap, and the Army was busy developing new weapons like the MIM-46 Mauler for this role.