page_title: ZPU
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: ZPU / History
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Зенитная установка ЗПУ-2 поздней модификации. Технический музей Тольятти English: ZPU-2 in Technical museum Togliatti
context_page_description: The ZPU is a family of towed anti-aircraft gun based on the Soviet 14.5×114mm KPV heavy machine gun. It entered service with the Soviet Union in 1949 and is used by over 50 countries worldwide.
  Quadruple, double- and single-barreled versions of the weapon exist.
context_section_description: The series was used during the Korean War by Chinese and North Korean forces, and was later considered to be the most dangerous opposition to U.S. helicopters in Vietnam. Later it was used by Morocco and the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara War. It was also used by Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm and again in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 1974 the Cyprus National Guard artillery batteries used their ZPU-2's against the Turkish air force.
  In the Russian military, it was replaced by the newer and more powerful ZU-23 23 mm twin automatic anti-aircraft gun.
  During the Lebanese Civil War, the Lebanese militias mounted the ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 on various vehicles, such as M113 armored personnel carriers, to create self-propelled support vehicles.
  The ZPU has seen widespread use by both sides in the Libyan Civil War, Syrian Civil War, and Yemeni Civil War, being often mounted on technical pickup trucks. The weapon has also been heavily used in thebeing installed on pickup trucks and is credited for bringing down several Syrian Air Force helicopters.
caption: ZPU-2 in Technical museum Togliatti
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