Profile
- Type
- Towed 57 mm anti-tank gun
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- Service note
- Introduced in 1941 and produced again from 1943 to 1945; documented in Yemen during the 2010s conflict
Artillery
ZiS-2 57 mm anti-tank gun
The ZiS-2 is a Soviet 57 mm towed anti-tank gun designed around a high-velocity armor-piercing round and a split-trail carriage. Although it was a Second World War system, a 2018 Yemen conflict source documented at least one Houthi-aligned example adapted as a pickup-mounted direct-fire weapon.
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Built by
- Artillery Factory No. 92
- Built in
- Soviet Union
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Service History
- In service
- Soviet service from 1941, reintroduced in 1943; documented in Houthi-aligned use in Yemen in 2018
- Used by
- Houthi-aligned forces, Soviet Army
- Wars
- Yemen Civil War, World War II
Production History
- Designer
- V. G. Grabin design bureau at Artillery Factory No. 92
- Designed
- 1940-1941
- Built by
- Artillery Factory No. 92
- Built in
- Soviet Union
- Produced
- 1941; 1943-1945
- Number built
- 10,016
- Variants
- ZiS-2, ZiS-4 tank-gun variant, PaK 208(r) German captured-service designation
Specifications
- Caliber
- 57 mm
- Cartridge
- 57x480 mmR
- Weight
- About 1,250 kg
- Overall length
- 7.03 m
- Maximum range
- About 8 km
- Muzzle velocity
- About 990 m/s
- Carriage
- Two-wheeled split-trail carriage with gun shield
- Traverse
- 56 degrees
- Elevation
- -5 to +25 degrees
Conflict Usage
- Yemen Civil War
- Side: Houthi-aligned forcesRole: Improvised direct-fire anti-tank gun
Used by Houthi-aligned forces in at least one documented 2018 configuration with the gun removed from its carriage and mounted on a Toyota pickup.
ZiS-2 57 mm anti-tank gun Images
Related Weapon Systems
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ZiS-2 (M1941 / M1943) 57mm Towed Anti-Tank GunPublisher: Military Factory | Note: Supports ZiS-2 background, design origin, Artillery Factory No. 92 contractor attribution, production total, and specifications. | Accessed: 2026-06-20WWII Weapons in Yemen's Civil WarPublisher: WWII After WWII | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War conflict use: used by Houthi-aligned forces in 2018 after the ZiS-2 was removed from its carriage and mounted on a Toyota pickup. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Commons ZiS-2 Saint Petersburg Museum ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a ZiS-2 photographed at the Military-historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps; the uploader released the image into the public domain. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Commons ZiS-2 Nizhny Novgorod Memorial ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a ZiS-2 at the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin memorial under CC BY-SA 3.0 / GFDL licensing. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Commons ZiS-2 Belgrade Military Museum ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a ZiS-2 at the Belgrade Military Museum under CC BY-SA / GFDL licensing. | Accessed: 2026-06-20