Summary
The very idea of a 76 mm divisional gun with anti-aircraft capabilities was doomed for the following reasons:
- An anti-aircraft gun needs powerful ballistics and 360° traverse, which makes the gun unnecessarily big and expensive for a divisional gun.
- The main purpose of frontline anti-aircraft guns is protection from dive bombers and low-altitude aircraft, against which small-caliber autocannons are much more effective than a 76 mm gun.
In case of the F-22, the attempt produced a gun which was both a poor anti-aircraft weapon and a mediocre field piece. It lacked 360° traverse and its muzzle velocity fell behind that of even the old 76 mm AA gun model 1915/1928 (730 m/s). The breech automatic mechanism was failing at elevations higher than 60°, reducing the rate of fire. After initial investigations, the RKKA apparently dropped the idea of using the F-22 as anti-aircraft gun - the gun was never equipped with AA shells and with sights suited for the role. There are no reports about actual use of the gun against aircraft. As a divisional gun, the F-22 also had significant shortcomings. It was relatively large and heavy, which limited its mobility. Employment in the anti-tank role was hindered by inconvenient placement of sights and elevation controls on different sides of the barrel. The gun was hard to produce and unreliable. It offered some advantages in range and armor-piercing capability over the 76-mm divisional gun M1902/30, but wasn't significantly better.
As a result, in 1937 requirements for a new divisional gun were issued, eventually resulting in the F-22USV.
However, its German derivative, the 7.62 cm PaK 36(r), performed well in the anti-tank role.
Read more about this topic: 76 Mm Divisional Gun M1936 (F-22)
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