| abstract | - The 2A46 (D-81T) is a 125mm/L48 smoothbore cannon of Soviet origin used in several main battle tanks. It was developed by the Spetstekhnika design bureau in Ekaterinburg in the 1960s originally for the T-64A tank. They were then manufactured at Artillery Plant No.9 in Ekaterinburg and Motovilikha in Perm. Commercially produced versions 2A46, 2A46M, 2A46M-1 2A46M-2 2A46M-4 2A46M-5 and the KBA-3(Ukrainian). The 2A46 can fire armour piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high explosive fragmentation (HEF) projectiles. The ammunition for the 2A46 gun is 2-piece, in that the projectile is loaded first, followed by a separate propellant charge. The early version of the 2A46 suffered from a short barrel life, but this was subsequently fixed on the 2A46M version. The Ukrainian KBA guns are derived from the 2A46 gun.
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