Ukrainian soldiers spotted a rare Slovenian “chess machine gun” at the front M55 Zastava (photo)
Footage showing the process of firing at a racist drone at the front from an M55 Zastava anti-aircraft gun mounted on a pickup truck has been made public.
The time and place of the action are not disclosed, but it seems that the footage was shot in late fall, before the snowfall began.
What makes the M55 Zastava special is that it was produced in Yugoslavia starting in 1951. Therefore, it is already a rarity to see such an anti-aircraft gun on the battlefield in Ukraine in 2023.
The most common version of this anti-aircraft gun is the three-barrel version, which was launched in 1971, and was even used by Armenia during the war over Karabakh in 2020. In addition, Zastava is also distinguished by its non-standard 20-millimeter caliber, which is unusual for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
M55 Zastava anti-aircraft guns first appeared in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in October 2012. According to some reports, the supplier of such guns was Slovenia, which could provide up to 200 of these “chessmen.”
According to publicly available data, the picture of the M55 Zastava’s characteristics is as follows: the actual rate of fire is up to 700 rounds per minute, the effective range is up to 5.5 km, the effective height of target engagement is up to 4 km, and the magazine capacity is 60 rounds of 20 mm caliber.
Compared to the ZU-23-2, the Soviet anti-aircraft gun has a better rate of fire – up to 2,000 rounds per minute – but has a worse range – up to 2.5 kilometers of target range, and a kill height of up to 2 kilometers.
