Organization and employment 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)

1 organization , employment

1.1 red army
1.2 other operators
1.3 operators

organization , employment

m-30 in sevastopol.



m-30 in nizhny novgorod, russia.



m-30 in beyt ha-totchan museum, israel.



m-30 in hämeenlinna artillery museum, finland.



m-30 in poznań, poland.


red army

the m-30 divisional level howitzer. according organization of 1939, each rifle division had 2 artillery regiments; 1 light regiment (a battalion of 76 mm guns; 2 mixed battalions 1 battery of 76 mm guns , 2 batteries of 122 mm howitzers) , 1 howitzer regiment (a battalion of 122 mm howitzers , battalion of 152 mm howitzers), giving 28 122 mm howitzers per division. in june 1940 1 more battalion of 122 mm howitzers added howitzer regiment, bringing number of guns in each unit 32. in june 1941 howitzer regiment removed , number of howitzers dropped 16. organization used throughout war, except in russian guards rifle divisions december 1942 had 3 artillery battalions (two batteries of 76 mm guns , 1 battery of 122 mm howitzers each), totaling 12 howitzers. december 1944 received howitzer regiment (5 batteries, 20 howitzers) , june 1945 rifle divisions reorganized identically.

mountain rifle divisions in 1939–1940 had 1 battalion of 122 mm howitzers (3 batteries, 9 guns). 1941 received instead 1 artillery regiment (2 battalions, each 3 four-gun batteries) 24 howitzers, in 1942 1 battalion (2 batteries, 8 howitzers) remained. 1944 howitzers removed mountain rifle divisions.

motorized divisions had 2 mixed battalions (a battery of 76 mm guns , 2 batteries of 122 mm howitzers), totaling 12 howitzers. tank divisions had 1 battalion 12 howitzers. cavalry divisions until august 1941 had 2 batteries of 122 mm howitzers, totaling eight, before divisional artillery removed.

until late 1941 rifle brigades had battery of 4 122 mm howitzers. 122 mm howitzers used howitzer brigades of reserve of main command (72-84 pieces).

by 1st of june 1941 1,667 m-30s in service, comprising fraction of rkka divisional howitzers. war progressed, share grew rapidly due mass production , because many older guns lost in combat in 1941-42.

m-30 howitzers employed indirect fire against enemy personnel. used against field fortifications, clearing minefields , breaching barbed wire. he-fragmentation shells presented danger armoured vehicles. fragments created explosion penetrate 20 mm of armour, - enough against thinly armoured vehicles. shells damage chassis, sights or other elements of heavier armoured vehicles.

for self-defense against enemy tanks heat shell developed in 1943. before 1943, crews required rely on high-explosive action of regular ammunition, degree of success. according german report 1943, tiger once heavily damaged su-122 assault guns firing high-explosive shells.

m-30 howitzers towed variety of means: horses, oxen, soviet , lend-lease trucks (such dodge wc series), stalinets stz-5 , ya-12 purpose built light artillery tractors, , manhandled soviet artillerymen themselves.

the gun replaced 122-mm howitzer d-30 after latter adopted service in 1960. small number of operational m-30 howitzers still present in russian army ordnance depots. being gradually withdrawn reserve. m-30s featured in many soviet movies used novice artillery crew training. these movies made in 1960s when more modern d-30 howitzers becoming available, m-30 considered authorities more suitable training purposes. movies still in use despite absence of m-30 howitzers in practice exercises.

other operators

a number of m-30s fell hands of wehrmacht in 1941–1942 , adopted 12,2 cm s.f.h.396(r) heavy howitzers. germany began mass production of 122 mm ammunition these , other captured howitzers, producing 424,000 shells in 1943, 696,700 in 1944 , 133,000 in 1945. captured m-30s used in atlantic wall fortifications.

the finnish army captured 41 guns of type , adopted them 122 h 38. these guns fired 13,298 shells in combat; few pieces lost. gun liked; used training or stored in depots until mid-1980s.

after world war ii gun supplied many countries around globe. egyptian , syrian armies saw action in arab-israeli wars. of these guns captured israel, although unclear whether ever employed israeli defense forces. people s republic of china organized own production of m-30 howitzers under type 54 designation.

according ian v. hogg, m1938 howitzer must, surely, prolific piece of artillery in history .

operators

according jane s armour , artillery m-30 , type 54 still being used in services.

current operators

 afghanistan - n/a
 armenia - n/a
 algeria - 60
 bangladesh - 20+
 bolivia - 36 type 54
 bosnia , herzegovina - 3
 cambodia - type 54
 congo - 10
 croatia - 45
 cuba - n/a
 czech republic - 25 vz 38/74 in reserve
 egypt - 359
 ethiopia - 360
 macedonia - 108
 moldova - 17
 hungary - 230 tarack 38/68m
 indonesia - n/a
 iran - type 54
 iraq - n/a
 kyrgyzstan - 37
 kurdistan – peshmerga
 laos - 20
 lebanon - 33
 mongolia - n/a
 mozambique - 24 m-30 , d-30
 north korea
 pakistan - 490 type 54 in service pakistan army.
 people s republic of china - type 54
 poland - 2 wz.1938/1985
 romania - 204
 russia - 4,000 in reserve
 sahrawi republic - 13 est.
 singapore
 sudan - 24 m-30 , 76 type 54
 slovakia - 46
 syria - 150 est.
 tanzania - 24-100 type 54
 uganda - 18
 ukraine - 3 in reserve
 uzbekistan - 540
 vietnam - n/a
 yemen - 50
 zimbabwe - 24 type 54

former operators

 czechoslovakia
 east germany
 finland
 israel
 myanmar
 nazi germany - captured.
 somalia
 soviet union
 yugoslavia
 zaire




^ cite error: named reference shirokorad_esa invoked never defined (see page).
^ su-122 assault gun @ russian battelfield .
^ petr mikhin; guns against reich; pen , sword books, ltd.; barnsley, uk; 2010; pp 51 - 54
^ shirokorad a. b. - god of war of third reich.
^ 122 h/38 @ jaeger platoon: finnish army 1918 - 1945 website .
^ jane s armour , artillery, 2003-2004
^ ian v. hogg: allied artillery of world war two, crowood press: 2001, p.58
^ http://articles.janes.com/articles/janes-armour-and-artillery/norinco-122-mm-howitzer-type-54-1-china.html
^ [1]
^ john pike. pakistan army equipment . globalsecurity.org. retrieved 6 may 2013.