76 mm/60 AK-176M (76 mm)
Contents
Description
The 76 mm/60 AK-176M is a Soviet naval gun.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
The AK-176M is the Soviet equivalent of the 76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact. It has similar handling to the AK-726 but with half the RPM due to being a single cannon. It has a fast aiming speed both vertically and horizontally, faster than the AK-726 and comparable to the OTO Melara 76/62. As already seen in Soviet 76 mm cannons, they tend to be multi-purpose and reliable weapons against all sorts of threats: strong against surface vessels and positively annihilating against airborne threats. One of the main downsides of the AK-176M compared to the OTO Melara 76/62 is the lack of armour-piercing ammunition. It relies solely on HE and HE-VT ammunition, but this should not be underwhelming as they are still very capable of decimating enemy targets.
Available ammunition
The AK-176M has access to the same rounds as the AK-726: the 76 mm HE OF-62 and 76 mm HE ZS-62 HE-VT. Noticing that the proximity fuze on the HE-VT is not triggered when fired at surface targets, this is the recommended round to carry always due to the increased explosive load (from 400 g to 480 g) and the fact is has proximity fuze that can be used in immediate defense against airborne targets. If the OTOMATIC has been used before, you will see that the proxy fuze makes aircraft engaging much easier with the minimal required ammo to fire. This is also shown in with the AK-726 but due to being dual cannon, the explosive damage is doubled and cannot be "exactly comparable".
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 100 m | 1,000 m | 2,000 m | 3,000 m | 4,000 m | 5,000 m | ||
| 76 mm HE OF-62 | HE* | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 76 mm HE ZS-62 | HE-VT | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| 76 mm HE OF-62 | HE* | 980 | 5.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 616 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 76 mm HE ZS-62 | HE-VT | 980 | 5.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 739.2 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Comparison with analogues
Compared to AK-726:
The AK-176M has a better handling in general, to be expected from a much modern weapon system with reduced power due to having half the barrels. Despite that, the AK-176M is clearly one if not the best 76 mm deck gun seen in game after the OTO Melara 76/62. It should be noted it has a significantly reduced dispersion mainly for the fact it is A) a much modern system and B) a single cannon mount.
Compared to 76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact:
The AK-176M is very similar to the OTO-Melara except that it does not have access to armour-piercing ammunition. The fact it carries more ammunition (152 vs 115) makes it a more capable gun in sustained combat despite having a 4.2 x slower firing rate (3s per shell vs 0.7s). However, the lack of armour-piercing ammunition really hits the AK-176M in anti-ship warfare as it is only able to effectively combat lightly armoured vessels and lightly armoured destroyers and frigates.
When talking about just the HE and HE-VT shells, the OTO Melara 72/62 has a much higher explosive payload (nearly double) but has a significant speed loss (925 m/s vs 980 m/s). Both systems do the same purpose with different approaches, one uses a faster round with less payload and the other viceversa.
Compared to 3 inch Mk.33
The AK-176M is overall better than the Mk.33 with exception of the RPM as the ships seen with this system have 2-4 cannons. It absolutely destroys the Mk.33 in terms of firing rate (compared to a single cannon) and the fact it has higher explosive payload for HE and HE-VT. The main downside compared to Mk.33 is that it has access to APHE while the AK-176M does not.
Usage in battles
The AK-176M has very similar handling to the OTO Melara 76/62, a quick firing multi-purpose gun capable of destroying surface targets and annihilating airborne targets. The gun has two different engagement modes which will be described further:
Long range engagements
The fact the gun has a low dispersion and high muzzle velocity, meaning it has a high accuracy, makes it very good at long range engagements. However, sometimes the player may go "happy trigger" and fire salvo after salvo of countless rounds to engage a target. That is exactly what you should not do in long range engagements. Instead, fire in salvos of 2-5 rounds to ensure accuracy and reduce ammo waste. Make sure to not engage with targets past 10 km. Past that range the gun loses tremendous accuracy, it can reach ranges up to 15 km but the optimal is smaller than 10 km.
Airborne engagements:
It is pretty straight forward, detect-designate-track-engage. However, again try to avoid trigger happiness. Reduce ammo waste by firing 2-5 round salvos. Hitting airborne targets is harder than surface targets despite the use of proximity fuze. Make sure you leave a firing gap between your first and second salvo. Example: first salvo of 3 rounds, wait for them to reach the target, confirm if there has been any hit or manoeuvring instead, correct aiming if needed, second salvo of 4 rounds, etc etc etc. The use of tracking radar makes plane hunting easier, but it should be noted that sometimes tracking radars tend to display a somewhat awkward lead indicator. Use it as a guide but do not solely rely on it.
Close range engagements
The story somewhat changes in this matter. The "happy trigger" here is not as backfiring as when in long range, instead, it is actually needed and required in some cases, specially when it comes to point blank defense or inside ranges closer than 1.5 km. Salvos here are not exactly needed or there is a recommended salvo count. Fire at discretion. Be aware! If the gun keeps firing for long, it will overheat!
Airborne engagements:
This is easier but trickier than long range, this is why: when it comes to close range air defense (0-5 km), there is only so much time you have to engage the target before it is too late, make sure you engage them ASAP. The main downside of close range engagements is the fact you have a much smaller correction window as the aircraft is able to fly above you, forcing you to elevate the gun completely and/or rotating to be able to keep him on sights, something that tends to create issues and reduced combat performance as you have your gun out of combat. While it does not take much time to aim once again, it sometimes can be the difference between life and death.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful ammunition
- Fast firing rate
- Enhanced accuracy compared to previous systems
- Comparable to 76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact, one of the most feared anti-air systems
Cons:
- Relies solely on HE ammunition
History
The need for a lightweight 76 mm (3") gun for small combatants prompted the development of this weapon. The result was a fully automatic weapon using the same gun barrels as used for the 76.2 mm (3") AK-726 mount A-221. The trials were performed in 1977 and in 1979 the gun was accepted into production. The mount was produced in Gorky and was used on virtually all small combatants built in the 1980s.
This mount has selectable rates of fire of 30, 60 and 120-130 rounds per minute. The highest speed could be achieved by firing a burst of 75 rounds, but afterwards the gun had to cool off for 25 to 30 minutes. This weapon is considered effective against missiles and during trials it consistently shot down Falanga ATGMs (AT-2 Swatter) simulating Harpoon ASMs. On average it took 25 rounds per missile.
The gun is controlled by the MP-123-02 FCS. This system uses radar, TV and laser designators. This fire control system has a range of 28 miles (45 km) without ECM and 18 miles (30 km) with ECM and weighs 5.1 tons (5.2 mt).
It uses a monobloc barrel with a casing and a vertical sliding breech block. Automatics are recoil operated. The barrel is sea-water cooled, which is pumped between the casing and barrel at 11.5 fps (3.5 mps).[1]
In the late 1980s an upgraded version designated AK-176M, with a new fire control system MR-123-02, television targeting and a laser rangefinder, was introduced. This gun, is still in production (AK-176M1) and is the primary medium-caliber artillery systems to all small Soviet ships and is widely exported.
AK-176MA, a further upgrade of the design intended for newer ship classes, such as the Karakurt-class corvettes and project 22160-class patrol ships, completed its trials in 2017. The AK-176MA features improved accuracy, a stealthy turret design, and a significantly reduced weight of under 9 tonnes. It will replace older guns on carrier ships on the process of their modernization.[2]
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
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- topic on the official game forum;
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