# 2A46 125 mm gun

The 2A46 (also called D-81TM) is a 125 mm/L48 smoothbore cannon of Soviet origin used in several main battle tanks. It was designed by OKB-9 (Artillery Plant No. 9) in Yekaterinburg.

## Description

It was developed by the Spetstekhnika Design Bureau in Ekaterinburg in the 1960s originally for the T-64 tank. They were subsequently manufactured at Artillery Plant No. 9 in Ekaterinburg and Motovilikha in Perm. Other variations include 2A46M, 2A46M-1, 2A46M-2, 2A46M-4, 2A46M-5, and Ukrainian KBA-3 and Chinese ZPT-98.
The 2A46 can fire armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high-explosive fragmentation (HEF) projectiles. The ammunition for the 2A46 gun is in two pieces: the projectile is loaded first, followed by a separate propellant charge.
The early versions of the 2A46 suffered from a relatively short barrel life, but this was rectified on the 2A46M-1 version. Depending on the version it offers 510.0 MPa (73,970 psi) or from the 2A46M-1 650.0 MPa (94,270 psi) P$_{max}$ chamber pressure.
The Ukrainian KBA-3 guns are based on the 2A46 gun. In addition, the Chinese ZPT-98 is based on 2A46M imported from Russia's T-72 or T-80.

## Projectiles

Projectile specifications for 2A46 and 2A46M Note: There are different ways to measure penetration value. NATO uses the 50% (This means that 50% of the projectile had to go through the plate), while the Soviet/Russia standard is higher (80% had to go through). According to authorities like Paul Lakowski, the difference in performance can reach as much as 8% :
| Round index | Projectile index | Charge index | Round weight, kg | Projectile weight, kg | Charge weight, kg | Penetration, mm/deg |
| APFSDS Rounds |||||||
| 3VBM3 | 3BM9/3BM10 | 4Zh40 | 19.6 | 5.67 | 5.0/5.0+3.4 | 245mm/0°, 140mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM6 | 3BM12/3BM13 | 4Zh40 | 19.6 | 5.67 | 5.0/5.0+3.4 | 380mm/0°, 140mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM7 | 3BM15/3BM16 | 4Zh40 | 20.0 | 5.9 | 5.0/5.0+3.4 | 400mm/0°, 150mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM8 | 3BM17/3BM18 | 4Zh40 | 20.0 | 5.9 | 5,0/5,0+3,4 | 265mm/0°, 150mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM9 | 3BM22/3BM23 | 4Zh40 | 20.2 | 6.55 | 5,0/5,0+3,4 | 420mm/0°, 170mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM11 | 3BM26/3BM27 | 4Zh63 | 20.43 | 7.05 | 5.3/5.3+2.9 | 410mm/0°, 200mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM12 | 3BM29/3BM30 | | | 6.55 | | 360mm /0°, 210mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM13 | 3BM32/3BM38 | 4Zh63 | 20.55 | 7.05 | 5.3/5.3+2.9 | 395mm/0°, 230mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM17 | 3BM42/3BM44 ("Mango") | 4Zh63 | 20.4 | 7.05 | 5.3/5.3+2.9 | 450mm/0°, 230mm/60° @ 2km |
| —- | 3BM44-2 (“Mango-2”) | | | | | 480mm/0°, 280mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM19 | 3BM42M/3BM44M ("Lekalo") | 4Zh63 | 20.4 | 7.05 | 5.3/5.3+2.9 | ???mm/0°, ???mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM20 | 3BM46/3BM48 ("Svinets") | 4Zh63 | 20.4 | 7.05 | 5.3/5.3+2.9 | 495mm/0°, 290mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM22 | 3BM59 ("Svinets-1") | | | 8.8 | | ???mm/0°, 315mm/60° @ 2km |
| 3VBM23 | 3BM60 ("Svinets-2") | | | 8.1 | | ???mm/0°, 300mm/60° @ 2km |
| 125-mm TAPNA | | | | 6.7 | 5.5/5.5+3.3 | 460mm/0°, 270mm/60° @ 2km |
| ZPS Pronit | | 4Zh63 | | | 5.855/5.855+3.0 | 430mm/0°, 250mm/60° @ 2km |
| 125-I | | | 23.0 | 7.37 | | 430mm/0°, 250mm/60° @ 2km |
| 125-II / DTW-125 | | | 23.0 | 7.44 | | 515mm/0°, 300mm/60° @ 2km |
| 125-III / DTC10-125 | | | | | | ???mm/0°, 330mm/60° @ 2km |
| HEAT Rounds |||||||
| 3VBK7 | 3BK12(M) | 4Zh40 | 29.0 | 19.0 | 5.0 | 220/60° |
| 3VBK10 | 3BK14(M) | 4Zh40 | 29.0 | 19.0 | 5.0 | 220/60° |
| 3VBK16 | 3BK18(M) | 4Zh40 | 29.0 | 19.0 | 5.0 | 260/60° |
| 3VBK17 | 3BK21B | 4Zh52 | 29.0 | 19.0 | 10.0 | 260/60° |
| 3VBK25 | 3BK29(M) | 4Zh52 | 28.4 | 18.4 | 10.0 | 300/60° |
| 3VBK27 | 3BK31 | | | 19.0 | | 350/60° |
| 125-mm HEAT | | | | 19.0 | | 200/60° |
| 125-mm HEAT-T | | | 33.0 | 23.0 | 10,0 | |
| 125-mm HEAT-T | | | | 19.5 | | 200/60° |
| M88 | | | | | | |
| HE Rounds |||||||
| 3VOF22 | 3OF19 | 4Zh40 | 33.0 | 23.0 | 5.0 | — |
| 3VOF36 | 3OF26 | 4Zh40 | 33.0 | 23.0 | 5.0 | — |
| Practice HEAT Rounds |||||||
| 3VP5 | 3P11 | 4Zh40 | 29.0 | 19.0 | 5.0 | |
| Practice APFSDS Rounds |||||||
| 3VP6 | 3P31/3P35 | 4Zh40 | 19.5 | 5.2 | 5.0/5.0+4.3 | — |
| Practice HE Rounds |||||||
| 3VP24 | 3P23 | 4Zh40 | 33.0 | 23.0 | 5.0 | — |
| Training Rounds |||||||
| 3VPU4 | 3PU12 | 4PU105 | 19.1 | 9.6 | | — |
| 3VPU5 | 3PU13 | 4PU105 | 28.5 | 19.0 | | — |
| 3VPU6 | 3PU14 | 4PU105 | 32.5 | 23.0 | | — |
| Inert | — | 4Kh33 | — | — | 13 | — |
| Guided weapons for 2A46-2, 2A46M and their variants |||||||
| ATGMs |||||||
| | 9M112 | 9D129 | 33.2 | | | 250/60° |
| | 9M112M | | | | | 300/60° |
| | 9M112M2 | | 31.1 | 24 | | 300..350/60° |
| | 9M124 | | 33.6 | 27.9 | | 450/60° |
| 3UBK14 | 9M119 | 9Kh949 | 23.3 | 16.5 | 7.1 | 325..375/60° |
| | Sokol-1 | 4Zh63 | | 23.0 | 5.3 | 350/60° |
| Explosive ATGMs |||||||
| 3UBK14F | 9M119F | 9Kh949 | 23.6 | 16.5 | 7.1 | — |
| 3UBK14F1 | 9M119F1 | 9Kh949 | 23.3 | 16.5 | 6.8 | — |
| Guided weapons for 2A46M and its variants |||||||
| 3UBK20 | 9M119M | 9Kh949 | 24.3 | 17.2 | 7.1 | 325..375/60° |
| 3UBK20M | 9M119M1 | 9Kh949 | 24.3 | 17.2 | 7.1 | 425..450/60° |
| AP projectiles for 2A46M-5 |||||||
| 3VBM22 | 3BM59 | 4Zh96 | | | | 540/0° @ 2km |
| 3VBM23 | 3BM60 | 4Zh96 | | | | 515/0° @ 2km |
| ??? | 3BM69 | | | | | ???/0° |
| ??? | 3BM70 | | | | | ???/0° |

## Variants
### Soviet Union and Russia

* 2A46-1 / DT-81TM (1970): Used on T-64A and T-72A.
* 2A46-2 / DT-81K (1976): Used on T-64B and T-80B.
* 2A46M (1981): Used on T-72AV, and T-72B.
* 2A46M-1 (1981): Used on T-64BV, T-72B, T-80BV and T-80U.
* 2A46M-2 (1992): Used on T-72S, T-90, T-90A, and T-90S tanks.
* 2A46M-4: Used on Object 640 (aka, Black Eagle)
* 2A46M-5: Used on T-90M, T-80BVM, and T72B3 Obr2017.
* 2A82-1M: Used on T-14 Armata.
Source:

### China

* ZPT98: Used on ZTZ96 and ZTZ99.

### Ukraine

* KBA-3: Used on T-84.
Slovakia
* 2A46MS: Used on T-72 M2 Moderna and PT-91M Pendekar

## Tanks using the 2A46

The 2A46 has been used in numerous tanks, almost exclusively Soviet/Russian designs or foreign derivatives:
* Armenia
** T-72A
** T-72B
** T-90S
* Azerbaijan
** T-72A
** T-72B
** T-72AV
** T-72 "Aslan"
** T-90S
* Bangladesh
** Type 59G(BD) Durjoy
* China
** Type 96B
** Type 99
* Croatia
** M-95 Degman
** M-84D
* Cyprus
** T-80U
** T-80UK
* Czech Republic
** T-72M4CZ
** T-72M1
* Georgia
** T-72SIM1
* Iran
** Zulfiqar
** Karrar
* Iraq
** Asad Babil tank
* South Korea
** T-80U
** T-80UK
* North Korea
** Chonma-ho V (Ma)
** Pokpung-Ho II & III
* Malaysia
** PT-91M Pendekar
* Poland
** PT-91 Twardy
* Socialist Republic of Romania
** TR-125
* Russia
** T-90
** T-80
** T-72
** T-67 (125mm gun-armed T-62)
** T-64 (after T-64A variant)
** T-55M6
** Obyekt 640/Black Eagle
* Serbia
** M-84AS
* Syria
** T-90
** T-72
* Thailand
** T-84
** VT-4
* Ukraine
** T-84
** T-64
** T-80
** T-72
* Vietnam
** T-90S
** T-90SK
* Yugoslavia
** M-84