View source for DShK-M

<hr>

The DShK-M is a Soviet 12.7?108mm heavy machine gun and an improved postwar version of the DShK family. It is known for heavy sustained fire from a tripod, wheeled, vehicle, or anti-aircraft mount, giving infantry and vehicle crews a weapon capable of engaging personnel, light vehicles, and low-flying aircraft.

==HISTORY==
The original DShK was developed in the Soviet Union from designs by Vasily Degtyaryov, with Georgy Shpagin improving the feed system into a belt-fed weapon. The DShK entered service before the Second World War, and the later DShK 38/46, commonly called the DShK-M or DShKM, refined the feed and muzzle system while retaining the same 12.7?108mm cartridge. The weapon filled the same broad role as other heavy machine guns of the period: long-range direct fire, anti-vehicle fire against light targets, and close-range air defense.

During the Vietnam War, DShK and DShK-M type weapons were used by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces as heavy machine guns and low-altitude anti-aircraft weapons. Their portability compared with larger anti-aircraft guns made them useful around trails, base areas, and prepared ambush sites, where they could threaten helicopters, aircraft, boats, and exposed ground targets. Communist forces also used Chinese and other Eastern Bloc variants related to the DShK design.

===Sources===
* [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000380718.pdf Soviet Ground Force Weapons and Armored Vehicles | Central Intelligence Agency]
* [https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/DShK_1938_Russian_12.7mm_Heavy_Machine_Gun DShK 1938 Russian 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun | U.S. Army ODIN]
* [https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/red-fifty-the-soviet-12-7-mm-dshk-heavy-machine-gun/ Red Fifty: The Soviet 12.7 mm DShK Heavy Machine Gun | American Rifleman]

<hr>

==See also==
* [[Zombies]]
* [[Weapons of Vietnam]]

[[Category:Weapons]]