In the summer of 1941, armored hordes of Nazi invaders were rushing to the vital areas of our country. Infantry rifle fire could not stop enemy tanks and armored vehicles, and rifle and submachine gun fire caused damage only to the enemy's manpower.
In this difficult time of a fierce battle with the enemy, a new type of small arms designed to defeat enemy armored vehicles is being adopted by the active army. It was an anti-tank rifle, whose armor-piercing incendiary bullets penetrated the armor of enemy tanks.
In infantry units, units are created that determine the nature of combat activities for the use of the damaging properties of this type of rifle fire: a squad of anti-tank rifles, a platoon of anti-tank rifles, a company of anti-tank rifles.
There is a system of designations that determine the specialization of military personnel in relation to this type of small arms: calculation of anti-tank guns - a group of military personnel who service these weapons. Moreover, in the calculation of an anti-tank gun, the first number is allocated (the one who directs the weapon at the target) and the second number.
In the speech of front-line soldiers, reflected in the periodicals of that time, the designations of this type of small arms are widely used: "All the fighters were armed with anti-tank guns "(Komsomolskaya Pravda. 1941, November 5); " Antitank rifle in skillful hands - a formidable weapon "(Vech. Moscow. 1941. 10 Dec.).
The name antitank rifle fits into the system of concepts of military affairs: the defining component of a separately formed nomination indicates the means used in the fight against tanks: antitank (grenade, mine, bomb, cannon, artillery, defense, ambush), antitank (area, node, line, shaft), antitank (gun, obstacle, barrier).
The terminological designation of an effective means of combating tanks when giving commands, orders is shortened, which also covers other categories, determining what is designated by the name of the corresponding letters ...
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