Berezin UB
Encyclopedia
Berezin UB was a 12.7 mm caliber Soviet aircraft machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

 widely used during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Development

In 1937, Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin began designing a new large-caliber aircraft machine gun chambered to the 12.7 mm round used by infantry machine guns. The new design passed factory trials in 1938 and was accepted into service in 1939 under the designation BS (Березин Синхронный, Berezin Sinkhronniy, Berezin Synchronized). The rate of fire made it well suited for use as defensive armament in aircraft. While a successful design, BS was not without its faults, the biggest being its cable-operated charging which required considerable physical strength. Continued development resulted in the improved UB which came in three versions: UBK (Kрыльевой, Krylyevoi, for the wings), UBS (Синхронный, Sinkhronniy, Synchronized), and UBT (Турельный, Turelniy, for the turret), with UBS and UBK charged by compressed air. The UB was accepted into service on April 22, 1941, just two months before the start of the German-Soviet War.

Description

The Berezin UB is a gas-operated air-cooled machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

 chambered to the Soviet 12.7 x 108 mm infantry machine gun round. Ammunition is supplied via a disintegrating link belt
Belt (firearm)
A belt or ammunition belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into a firearm. Belts and the associated feed systems are typically employed to feed machine guns or other automatic weapons...

 with a unique system in which each new round helps to extract the spent cartridge. Another unusual feature is that the belt is advanced during the return of the moving portion of the gun and not during the recoil. Turret installations were charged manually, while wing and synchronized versions utilized pneumatic charging.

The UB in all variants was used by the vast majority of Soviet military aircraft of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Related content

Related developments:
  • Berezin B-20
    Berezin B-20
    The Berezin B-20 was a 20 mm caliber autocannon used by Soviet aircraft in World War II.-Development:The B-20 was created by M.E. Berezin in 1944 by chambering his Berezin UB 12.7 mm machine gun for the 20 mm rounds used by the ShVAK cannon...

     autocannon


Similar weapons:
  • M2 Browning machine gun
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