Once in service, the ZSU-57-2 was delivered in numbers strong enough to arm the anti-aircraft batteries serving Soviet tank units. In practice, the vehicle was soon shown to lack behind the advancements being made in enemy aircraft and comparable air defense elements elsewhere. The ZSU-57-2 depended upon the visual sighting of enemy aircraft by the gunnery crew to which then the sight adjuster would input numbers into the onboard system for a relatively precise response from the gunner. The method entailed a mechanically operated computing reflex sight system meaning that the gunnery crew could only engage targets they could visually see. This provided for inherent limitations during daylight hours and made the use of the ZSU-57-2 in night defense a moot point. Additionally, the air-cooled nature of the cannons meant that long displays of sustained firepower were risky and the ZSU-57-2 was not designed to fire its guns while on the move with any level of accuracy. Thusly, the ZSU-57-2 was rendered obsolete in a rather short amount of time and ended up proving rather unpopular with Soviet crews. By the 1960s, the ZSU-57-2 was not viewed as a favorable battlefield implement on any level.
The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", a radar-operated tracked anti-aircraft system, was made available in 1965 and was soon to join the existing formations of ZSU-57-2s then in service. By the time the ZSU-23-4 was available in quantity, the role of the outmoded ZSU-57-2 was extremely limited and all were outright replaced within the Red Army. Some hulls were still in use for tank driver training in the early 1970s while other ZSU-57-2s were sent into storage, used as live fire targets or sold for scrap. By the 1990s, the ZSU-57-2 in Soviet/Russian service was no more and many were passed on to friendly nations. Some were further modernized (with radar) by their new owners to help extend service lives amidst the changing face of modern warfare.
This being the Cold War, the ZSU-57-2 was quick to find itself in the inventories of Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations and states. East Germany became the first foreign operator of the Soviet weapon system and these served until the late 1970s. Despite her late 1940s origins, the ZSU-57-2 still maintains a presence (albeit limited) in several modern army establishments such as those in Angola, Bulgaria, China (Type 80), Egypt, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. North Korea may be the largest modern operator of the type to date with some 250 vehicles delivered. Former ZSU-57-2 operators include Finland, Iran, Iraq, Israel (captured Egyptian and Syrian models), Poland, North and South Vietnam and Yugoslavia.
The ZSU-57-2 was used in the Vietnam War (1959-1975), the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973), the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002), the Sino-Vietnamese War (1979), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Lebanon War (1982), the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991), the Yugoslav Wars (from 1991 to 2001) and as recently as the US invasion of Iraq (2003).
The Vietnam War was the first published involvement of the ZSU-57-2 in a war setting. Though originally designed for combating aircraft, the ZSU-57-2 proved quite handy in support of infantry actions. Used in both roles during the war, the type was fielded by North Vietnam and saw first actions in 1972 and later featured in the 1975 Ho Chi Minh Campaign.
With the Soviet influence strong in the Middle East, it was only an inevitability that the ZSU-57-2 would find its way into the region and used against the newly founded nation of Israel. This occurred in the Six Day War, Yom Kipper War Lebanon War and were part of the armies of Egypt and Syria. However, the systems were highly outclassed in modern theater and suffered heavily as a result - particularly against Israeli air support and tanks.
Iraq proved a large consumer of the ZSU-57-2 defense system, acquiring some 100 examples in the 1970s. They were fielded (interestingly by both sides) in the near-decades long war between Iran and Iraq. Enough survived the conflict to witness use in the Gulf War and scored a few aircraft kills against low-flying British Tornado strike fighters. The ZSU-57-2 was still in the Iraqi inventory by the time of the 2003 American invasion.
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