We were all surprised when we arrived at work on Wednesday and learned that the Museum Curator Stan Amerski had acquired a Russian ZPU-4 anti-aircraft gun. We went over to take a look and like kids with a new toy, we just had to play with it for a while. It looked to be in pretty good shape. A lot of rust and a few missing parts but a fairly simple restoration project. When play was over we towed it over to the shop and began disassembly in preparation for restoration.
The ZPU-4 is an anti-aircraft gun comprised of four Soviet-built KPV 14.5mm heavy machine guns mounted on a four-wheeled towed carriage. Introduced in 1949 it was used in Korea and was later considered the most dangerous opposition to U.S. helicopters in Vietnam. The ZPU-4 was also used by the Iraqis in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. The effective range for the ZPU-4 was approximately 5,000 ft. with a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute.
