Brontekst bekijken van ZB-53

{{Infobox weapon
|is_ranged=yes
|is_UK=yes
| image= 7,92-мм югославский станковый пулемет системы В. Холека обр. 1938-40 годов.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=
|name=ZB-53, Vz.37
|type=[[Medium machine gun]]
|origin= [[Czechoslovakia]]
|manufacturer=[[Zbrojovka Brno]]
|designer=[[Václav Holek]]
|design_date=1935
|production_date=1936–early 1950s
|service=1937–1960s (Czechoslovakia)
|used_by=See [[#Users|Users]]
|wars={{ubl|[[World War II]]|[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]|[[1947–1949 Palestine war]]|[[Portuguese Colonial War]]|[[Vietnam War]]|[[Bangladesh Liberation War]]<ref name="ds29Dec2017" /><br/>|[[Bay of Pigs Invasion]]|[[Nigerian Civil War]]}}
|spec_type=
|caliber=[[8mm caliber|7.9 mm]]
|part_length={{convert|0.736|m|in|abbr=on}}
|cartridge=[[7.92×57mm Mauser]]
|feed=225-round metal link belt
|action=[[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]]
|rate=500–800 round/min
|velocity=
|weight={{convert|21|kg|lb|abbr=on}} empty
|length={{convert|1.105|m|in|abbr=on}}
|variants=
|number=
}}

The '''ZB-53''' was a [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] [[machine gun]]. A versatile weapon, it was used both as a squad support weapon, as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles, and on fixed positions inside [[Czechoslovak border fortifications]]. Adopted before [[World War II]] by the armies of Czechoslovakia (as '''Těžký kulomet vz. 37''', heavy machine gun model 37) and Romania, it was also license-built in the United Kingdom as the [[Besa machine gun]]. Following the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|German invasion of Czechoslovakia]], large quantities of the weapon were captured by the [[Wehrmacht]] and used during the war under the designation of '''MG 37(t)'''.

== History ==
The ZB-53 was designed as a private venture by [[Václav Holek]] and [[Miroslav Rolčík]] of the [[Zbrojovka Brno]] works as a replacement for the [[Schwarzlose MG M.07/12|Schwarzlose machine gun]] of [[World War I]] origin. Czechoslovakia purchased 500 for testing giving them the designation '''Vz.35''' ("1935 Model").<ref>{{citation |first=Maxim |last=Popenker |url=https://modernfirearms.net/en/machineguns/czech-republic-machineguns/zb-53-vz-37-eng/ |title=ZB 53 / Vz.37  |website=Modern Weapons|date=27 October 2010 }}</ref> Based on these tests some improvements were requested and the improved ZB-53 was adopted by the [[Czechoslovak Army]] with the designation TK vz. 37 ("Heavy Machine Gun Mark 1937").{{efn|"TK" stands for "těžký kulomet", heavy machine gun, while "vz" means "vzor", Model}} It was introduced as the standard machine gun of Czechoslovak [[LT-35]] and [[LT-38]] tanks. Czechoslovakia exported the gun to Romania, Yugoslavia (1,000 pcs in March-April 1940), Argentina, Afghanistan, Iran and China (large numbers were used during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]<ref name="China">{{cite book|title=China's Wars: Rousing the Dragon 1894-1949|series=General Military|first= Philip|last= Jowett|date=20 Nov 2013 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=9781782004073 |page=306}}</ref>), while UK bought a licence and started to produce its own version, known as the [[Besa machine gun]] (over 60,000 pieces made). During the German occupation of the factory, large numbers were produced for the [[Waffen-SS]] until 1942.<ref>{{cite web|title= MG 37 (t) & VZ 37 & ZB 53|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30033266|website=iwm.org.uk|publisher=[[Imperial War Museum]]}}</ref>

Czechoslovak Zbrojovka Brno and then {{Ill|Zbrojovka Vsetín|de}} produced the gun in large quantities until the 1950s.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The weapon was a gas-operated, belt-fed, air-cooled machine gun that served both the infantry support and vehicle weapons roles. The machine gun was delivered in three variants: infantry machine gun (on heavy tripod), heavy bunker machine gun (with heavier barrel, marked "O") and for armoured vehicles (marked "ÚV"). It was designed to withstand five minutes of constant fire, after which time the barrel had to be changed due to wear. Although modern, the weapon was prone to jamming due to a complicated [[rate of fire]] selection mechanism.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

== Users ==<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->
[[image: Czechoslovakian soldiers with ZB vz. 37.png|right|thumb|[[Historical reenactment|Reenactment]] of Czechoslovakian soldiers with ZB vz. 37]]
*{{flag|Afghanistan}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Afghanistan, Arms and Conflict: Armed Groups, Disarmament and Security in a Post-War Society|first1=Michael Vinai|last1=Bhatia |first2=Mark |last2=Sedra|publisher=[[Routledge]]|editor=Small Arms Survey|editor-link=Small Arms Survey|isbn=978-0-415-45308-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P4N9AgAAQBAJ|page=65|date=May 2008}}</ref>
*{{flag|Argentina}}
*{{flag|Bangladesh|1971}}: Used by [[Mukti Bahini]] forces during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]<ref name="ds29Dec2017">{{cite news|date=29 December 2017 |title=Arms for freedom|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/bangladesh-liberation-war-1971-muktijuddho-guerrilla-fighter-arms-freedom-1511812|access-date=2019-08-31|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407144902/http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/bangladesh-liberation-war-1971-muktijuddho-guerrilla-fighter-arms-freedom-1511812|archive-date= April 7, 2018}}</ref>
*{{flag|Biafra}}: At least 20 were sold to [[Biafra]] in 1967.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Jowett|first=Philip|title=Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967-70|year=2016|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1472816092|page=22}}</ref>
*{{flag|Chile}}
*{{flagcountry|Republic of China (1912–1949)}}<ref name ='MF'/>
*{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}<ref name ='MF'>{{cite web|title=ZB 53 / Vz.37|url=http://modernfirearms.net/en/machineguns/czech-republic-machineguns/zb-53-vz-37-eng/|first=Maxim |last=Popenker|website=modernfirearms.net|date=27 October 2010 }}</ref>
* {{flag|Cuba}}<ref name="smallarmsreview">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=3038 |title=The Bay of Pigs Museum: Playa Giron, Cuba |author=Rob Krott |date=April 2000 |publisher=Chipotle Publishing|magazine=Small Arms Review|volume=3|number=7  |access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Joseph E.|title=Small Arms of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/smallarmsofworld00smit|url-access=registration|edition =11|location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|publisher= The Stackpole Company|year=1969|page=[https://archive.org/details/smallarmsofworld00smit/page/300 300]|isbn=9780811715669 }}</ref>
*{{flag|Cyprus}}
*{{flagcountry|Pahlavi dynasty}}<ref name ='MF'/>
* {{flag|Israel}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars 1948–73|url=https://archive.org/details/israeliarmymiddl00laff|url-access=limited|series=Men-at-Arms 127|first=John|last= Laffin |date=29 Jul 1982|isbn=9780850454505|publisher=Osprey Publishing|page=[https://archive.org/details/israeliarmymiddl00laff/page/n7 8]}}</ref>
*{{Flag|Namibia}} used by [[People's Liberation Army of Namibia|PLAN]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Their Blood Waters our Freedom|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXQEjBIb8Uo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/fXQEjBIb8Uo |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|date=25 January 2020|website=Youtube.com|access-date=19 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
* {{PAN}}: Used by the defunct [[Panama Defense Forces]], notably mounted on Jeeps.<ref name="OspPanweaps">{{cite book| last = Rottman| first = Gordon| author-link = Gordon L. Rottman| title = Panama 1989-90| publisher = Osprey Publishing| series = Elite| volume = 37| date = 2010| pages = 13| language = English| isbn = 9781855321564}}</ref>
* {{PER}}: Installed as coaxial machine gun on 38/39M light tanks([[Panzer 38(t)|Praga LTP]]) in Peruvian service
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Romania}}:<ref name ='MF'/> 5,500 purchased by mid-1943<ref>Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, ''Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945'', p. 29</ref>
* {{flagcountry|Spanish State}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=La Coruña Military Museum|first= Félix A. |last=Alejos Cutuli|magazine=Small Arms Review SAW|date=May 2012|url=https://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=487}}</ref>

*{{flag|United Kingdom}}: [[Besa machine gun]]<ref name ='MF'/>
*{{flag|Venezuela|1954}}
*{{flag|Yugoslavia}}<ref name ='MF'/>

==See also==
*[[Besa machine gun]]
*[[ZB vz. 26]]
*[[Weapons of Czechoslovakia interwar period]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

*{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Andrzej Ciepliński |author2=Ryszard Woźniak |encyclopedia=Encyklopedia współczesnej broni palnej |title= Encyklopedia współczesnej broni palnej: Od połowy XIX wieku|year=1994 |publisher=WiS |location=Warsaw |isbn=83-86028-01-7 |language=pl}}

==External links==
{{commonscatinline}}
*[https://modernfirearms.net/en/machineguns/czech-republic-machineguns/zb-53-vz-37-eng/ Modern Firearms]

{{Weapons of Czechoslovakia}}

[[Category:Machine guns of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of China]]
[[Category:World War II machine guns]]
[[Category:Medium machine guns]]
[[Category:7.92×57mm Mauser machine guns]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s]]