Czechoslovak R-14 130mm cannon

[RipSteakface]

Other than this image I have not been able to find any information on this gun, other than a guess that it's a heavy anti-air gun. Anyone know anything?

 

[TomS]

Other than this image I have not been able to find any information on this gun, other than a guess that it's a heavy anti-air gun. Anyone know anything?

The same pic shows up in this discussion of Czech tanks for WoT. But don't despair -- there are data for the gun that seem to be historically plausible. As guessed, it's a heavy AA gun, the Czech equivalent of the Soviet KS-30, which eventually displaced it. Seems to have been even more of a beast than the Russian gun. Make sure to read down to the comments for some clarification on the ammunition.

 

[Petrus]

Here you've got another two photos of the R-14's mock-up. One shows its feeding mechanism, in the paternoster feeder there were 10 rounds, another 4 in the 'feed table' and 1 in the loading tray, which elevated with the barrel. In the other photo there are operators (from left to right): fuse-setter, layer and trainer.
Data of the gun:
Calibre: 130 mm
Barrel Length: 9125 mm (L70)
AA Ceiling: 16000 m
Range: 15000 m
Gun Weight: 27600 kg
Muzzle Velocity: 970 mps
Rate of Fire: 15 rpm
Weight of Complete Round : 75 kg (the gun was to use fixed ammunition)
Elevation: -3 / +88 deg

Data and photos here come from an article on the gun in the ATM magazine issue 10/2006. The photo in the initial post by RipSteakface comes from the book "Od bodaku po tryskace" by Martin Dubanek. In the book there are few other photos and drawing of the gun, I'll try to scan them from my copy and I'll post them later on.

BR
Piotr

 

[Petrus]

From "Od bodáku po tryskáče : nedokončené československé zbrojní projekty 1945-1955" ('From a bayonet to a jet pipe: incompleted Czechoslovak arms projects 1945-1955') by Martin Dubánek: drawings of anti-aircraft cannons for the USSR in 130mm and 152,4mm calibre (both share feeding mechanism similar to that of the R-14 cannon) and yet another photo of the R-14's mock-up. 'Odvod nabojnic' means a cartridge case deflector and 'podavaci panev' means a loading tray.

Piotr