USSR Base
Soviet Anti-tank gun
Description
The anti-tank gun of the USSR, more precisely
an anti-tank rifle, was an easily-portable weapon designed
to defeat armored vehicles.
In development since
1936 across several design offices, it finally
entered the field in the autumn of 1941,
and along with it a new soldier's
specialty – the anti-tank rifleman.
These specially trained experts
planned their shots carefully to disable
their prey as swiftly as possible. In battle, the
rifle was handled by one soldier,
assisted by another. The weapon they bore could penetrate an armor thickness of 35 to 40 millimeters, at a distance of up to 300 meters.
The most famous feat of the anti-tank riflemen would be that of the
316th Infantry Division (later known as the 8th Guards), in the defense of Moscow in 1941. Under the command
of Major General Ivan Panfilov,
a group of anti-tank riflemen (consisting of 28 men with 11 guns) were able to destroy 18 of the enemy's 54 heavily armored vehicles.