The sky-rocketing pace of aviation development at the end of the 1920s forced armed forces around the world to look for more efficient ways of defending against air attacks. In 1928, four Soviet designers - N. Tokarev, G. Kurenkov, S. Prilutsky and A. Panove - were each set the task of designing a new anti-aircraft gun system, based on the "Maxim" gun, capable of hitting fast-moving targets.
Following tests conducted in 1930, Tokarev's M-4 mounting was acknowledged to be the best and it was added to the arsenal of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1931. Unrivalled at that time, the M-4 had a high rate-of-fire, was easy to aim and could be kept permanently ready for action. Tokarev's antiaircraft guns were mounted on cars, armoured trains, at railway stations, on the roofs of buildings and on warships.
The M-4 was used in action very effectively for the first time during the conflict at Lake Hasan in 1938, and again in Halkin-Hall in 1939-1940 during the Soviet-Finish war, where it was also first used against ground targets. At the beginning of the war with Hitler's Germany (1941-1945), each Soviet rifle regiment was supposed to have an anti-aircraft company with six of Tokarev's M-4s and three 12.7 mm guns at its disposal. However, according to the Chief of Central Administration of Anti-Aircraft defense Ocipov, Soviet armed forces were understrength by some 3,000 large-calibre and M-4 guns. This deficit degraded the Soviet army's capacity to combat low-flying aircraft and enemy paratroopers.
After 1943, the M-4 was considered to be obsolete and was withdrawn from the anti-aircraft regiments. Nevertheless, batteries left at the disposal of armed forces continued to be used until the end of the war. They appear to have been fairly effective as anti-aircraft platforms protecting troop trains and stations, while heavy fire from M-4 emplacements also sometimes helped disrupt enemy infantry attacks. Captured M-4 guns, known as the MG.216(r), were also used by German Army in the initial stages of the war.

 

 

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