The 52-K was an 85mm Soviet air defence gun successfully used throughout the German-Soviet War against level bombers and other high- and medium-altitude targets. In emergencies they were utilised as powerful anti-tank weapons. The barrel of 52-K was the base for the family of 85mm Soviet tank guns. Crews of 85mm AD guns shot down 4,047 Axis aircraft. Virtually every country behind the Iron Curtain received this gun after World War II for their air defences. In the Soviet Union itself, these guns were largely superseded by the 100 and 130mm guns.
