German anti-aircraft gun 20 caliber flak 38. Small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery of Germany in the Second World War. At the firing position

The Wehrmacht perfectly understood the importance of effective air defense. By the start of the war, Germany's armed forces were better protected from air attacks than any of their opponents.

Field anti-aircraft gun

From the very beginning of the war the Germans anti-aircraft units Air defense (Flugzeug Abwehr Kanone - Flak - anti-aircraft guns) greatly contributed to the formation of the "Axis". This German shortened name entered Allied dictionaries; US Air Force bomber crews called their heavy body armor "flak vests", and in the second half of the 20th century the word "flac" found general use to refer to anti-aircraft fire.

Light Flak guns were installed on a variety of platforms. The declining effectiveness of the Luftwaffe meant that air defense artillery had to become more mobile.

In function small-caliber guns“Flac” included countering low-flying aircraft at close range. If a significant number of small-caliber guns were attacked by bombers or fighter-bombers, they could fire along with the weapons large caliber, such as .

Machine guns

The 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun, and later the MG-42 main universal machine gun, were the lightest weapons that could be effectively used in an anti-aircraft role. The MG-34, erroneously known among the Western Allies as the "Schrandau", was the standard German general-arms machine gun in 1939. initial speed bullets 755 m/s and an effective firing range on the ground of 2000 m, in the anti-aircraft version it was reduced to approximately 1000 m. The rate of fire of the machine gun was 900 rounds/min, cartridges were supplied from a 75-round round magazine or a 50-round separate tapes.

The machine gun was replaced during the war. It was cheaper to produce due to the use of stamped parts and spot welding to speed up production. The machine gun had the same bullet speed and firing range, but the rate of fire was increased to 1550 rounds/min.

Rate of fire is very important when shooting at air targets, but the MG-34 turned out to be more effective, installed in twin form on the Zvi-linglafet mod. 36 (Zwillingslaffete 36). The MG Doppelwagen 36 installation with coaxial MG-34 machine guns on horseback or mechanical traction, adapted for service by one person, was included in the equipment German army in 1939-1940, but was often installed on cars or railway cars.

The most common means of defense against low-flying enemy aircraft is machine guns. Machine gun general purpose The MG-34 is the standard secondary weapon on most German aircraft.

The Wehrmacht did not use heavy machine guns, but to enhance air defense they adopted the 15-mm Maschinengewehr 151/15 machine gun. The machine gun was originally created for the Luftwaffe and installed on Me-109 or Fw-190 fighters; it turned out to be useful as heavy weapons fighters. The production of these machine guns was aimed at strengthening air defense in the summer of 1944. The machine gun was mounted on a half-track armored personnel carrier SdKfz-251/21, which is significant, since the Mauser installation was powered by electric shock and demanded DC voltage 22-29 V Ammunition for each installation is 3000 rounds of ammunition, ready for use.

Small bore Flac

20-mm weapons were more effective in air defense. Its cartridges were still small enough to allow high-rate firing, but the shells already contained a significant explosive charge.

Flac 38 commanded great respect from its opponents. Allied units used it themselves whenever possible: at the end of 1944, the US Army even issued its own manual for handling the gun.

The weapons that the Wehrmacht had at the beginning of the war included the Flak 30, Flak 38, light Gebirgsflak 38 (Geb Flak 38) and the four-barreled Flakvierling 38. All guns used recoil and could fire single-shot or automatic with a 12-round drum-type magazine. The light armor shield protected the crew during operations in the field, but it was usually removed from the guns used in the Reich's air defense.

The guns were equipped with Linealvisier 21, Fkakvisier 38 or Schwebekreisvisier 30/38 magnifying optical sights. German optical sights gave anti-aircraft gunners a significant advantage in comparison with the simplest sights in the form of metal circles, which were on the Allied guns.

The Wirbelwind installation (Wirbelwind - tornado) consisted of a quadruple Flak 38 cannon mounted in a multi-faceted turret located on a chassis tank T-IV. Tanks specially adapted for air defense began to enter service in 1943.

The Flakvierling 38 cannon, located in an armored train in Eastern Europe in March 1944 it was equally effective against both ground and air targets, firing various shells, including high-explosive and armor-piercing.

20-mm Flac in the Western Desert in 1942. The Flac 30 gun, developed by Mauser, has a slow rate of fire and a tendency to jam.

Mobility of Flak installations

"Flac 30" weighed 483 kg in combat position. She could fire high explosive or armor-piercing shells. The maximum vertical range is 2100 m, and the horizontal range is 2700 m. The practical rate of fire was 120 rounds/min. “Flac 38” is an improved modification, lighter by 80 kg and with a doubled rate of fire.

Light Flak cannons were installed on various wheeled and half-tracked vehicles, including the SdKfz-251 and SdKfz-10.
Leichte Flakpanzer 38(t) 1943 - the first fully tracked vehicle used for anti-aircraft guns, and consisted of a Flak 38 cannon on a modified Pz 38(t) tank chassis.

The Flakvierling 38 was developed by Mauser for , it included four Flak 38 cannons on one carriage. The installation had three seats: one for the shooter, who fired using two pedal triggers, and two for the loaders. The installation had a triangular base, which was leveled with jacks. It was widely used on self-propelled and ground-based installations in the army and aviation.

Self-propelled guns Flak

The SdKfz 7 half-track vehicle was used as a chassis for the 20-mm Flak installations Mittler Zugkrafwagen 8(t) mit 2 sm Flakvierling 38 or Selbstfahrlafette 2 sm Flakvierling 38. Later modifications had enhanced armor protection for the driver and crew.

The Pz IV chassis was used for two very effective self-propelled units for Flakfirling 38. Installation “Flak Panzer IV” (2 cm Flakvierling 38) auf Fgst PzKpfw IV Mobelwagen, nicknamed “Wagon Inventory” for its hinged side shields in the form of 10-mm armor plates, which fold down when the installation is transferred to the firing position.

Not just air

Straight path and high speed The shells of the Flac light cannons made them an ideal weapon for close-in support, and in the early years of the war they were used more against ground targets. Fighters and anti-aircraft guns made the front line deadly dangerous place for slow French and British light bombers attacking armored columns and transport hubs during the German invasion of France in 1940.

Beginning in 1943, when the Luftwaffe no longer had superiority over German skies, huge quantities of tracer shells were fired by Flack gun units to deter fighter-bombers from "looting." Light Flacs placed on building roofs and turrets posed a deadly threat to low-flying fighters and light bombers, as the cannons could fire almost horizontally at approaching aircraft.

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Story

2 cm FlaK 30

Before the outbreak of World War II, at the beginning of 1939, each Wehrmacht infantry division was entitled to 12 20-mm anti-aircraft guns FlaK 30 or Flak 38.

The guns were used until the end of World War II.

2 cm FlaK 38

In 1938, based on the results combat use in Spain, the Mauser company modernized the 2 cm FlaK 30 - the modernized sample received the designation 2 cm FlaK 38 and was adopted by the German army.

The new installation had the same ballistics and ammunition; both guns were mounted on the same type of light wheeled carriages, which in the combat position provided all-round fire with a maximum elevation angle of 90°. Changes to the carriages were minimal - in particular for 2 cm FlaK 38 a second speed was introduced in manual guidance drives. Basically, all changes in the modernized gun were aimed at increasing the rate of fire, which increased from 240-280 rounds/min. up to 420-480 rds/min. The principle of operation of the mechanisms of the FlaK 38 assault rifle remains the same - the use of recoil force with a short barrel stroke. An increase in the rate of fire was achieved by reducing the weight of the moving parts and increasing their movement speeds, and therefore special shock absorber buffers were introduced. In addition, the introduction of a carbon spatial accelerator made it possible to combine the unlocking of the shutter with the transfer of kinetic energy to it.

Description

The anti-aircraft gun was equipped with a mechanical computational sight.

Notes

1. Artillery in Spain (translation from English) // Military Foreigner, No. 2, 1938. - pp. 74-79.
2. Lehren des spanischen Krieges // “Deutsche Wehr”, 16.VI.1938. - s. 398-399

2 cm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 30/38

Flak-30 and Flak-38 anti-aircraft guns were a very widely used air defense weapon of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and SS troops. A company of such guns (12 pieces) was part of the anti-tank division of all infantry divisions, the same company was integral part each motorized anti-aircraft division of the RGK, attached to tank and motorized divisions. (In addition to a company consisting of 12 Flak-30/38 anti-aircraft guns, the division also had two four-gun batteries of 88-mm Flak-18/36/37 cannons.)

Flak-30 in Norway

The scale of use of Flak-30/38 cannons is evidenced by the fact that in May 1944, the ground forces had 6,355 cannons of this type, and the Luftwaffe units providing German air defense had more than 20,000 20-mm cannons. Light automatic cannons Flak-30 and Plak-38 had basically the same design. The Flak-38 gun was a modernized version of the Flak-30, with a slightly shorter barrel length (113 calibers instead of 115), it had a 30 kg lighter weight in the firing position and a significantly higher rate of fire, amounting to 220-480 rounds per minute instead of 120-280 rounds per minute at Flak-30. Both guns were mounted on a light wheeled carriage, which in the firing position provided all-round fire with a maximum elevation angle of 90°. The automatic sightings of these guns generated vertical and lateral leads and made it possible to aim the guns directly at the target. Input data into the sights was entered manually and determined by eye, except for the range, which was measured by a stereo rangefinder. In addition to the standard Flak-30/38 options, there were also 20 mm mountain anti-aircraft gun Gebirgsflak-38 with more than half the weight and quad 20-mm installations, which had very high firepower - 800/1800 rounds per minute.

Quad installation of 2-cm Flak-Vierling on the deck of a destroyer

By September 1, 1939, the Luftwaffe had 6072 Flak-30/38 installations. In 1939-1945. About 14 thousand of these installations were built.

The monoblock barrel was easily separated from the receiver. The barrel was replaced in 11 seconds. A muzzle brake was screwed onto the barrel. Trigger allowed to fire single shots and bursts. Store fed, magazine - 20 rounds.

The advantages of the installation were the simplicity of the device, the possibility of quick assembly and disassembly, and low weight. Disadvantages are sensitivity to contamination and thickening of the lubricant, lack of continuous power supply, decreased reliability at a high barrel elevation angle.

There were 4 types of cartridges for anti-aircraft guns. The armor penetration of the sub-caliber armor-piercing tracer projectile model 40 was at a distance of 100 m at an impact angle of 60 degrees. - 39 mm, and at a distance of 500 - 20 mm.

Flak-30 in combat position

3.7 cm anti-aircraft automatic FlaK guns 18, 36, 43

3.7 cm automatic anti-aircraft gun The Flak-18 was developed by Rheinmetall and entered service with the German army in 1935. The main disadvantage of the gun was its heavy and clumsy 4-wheeled vehicle. Therefore, to replace it, a 3.7-cm anti-aircraft gun was developed with a new two-wheeled carriage and a number of changes in the design of the machine gun. Already during the war, the Rheinmetall company modernized the Flak-36, introducing a new automation system, which increased the rate of fire. The new system was called Flak-43.

8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 18, 36, 37

In 1928, a group of designers from the Krupp company began designing an 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun in Sweden. Then the developed documentation was delivered to Essen, where the first prototypes were manufactured. The system was called 8.8-cm Flak 18. In 1933, the guns began to enter service with the troops.

Parade with Flak-18 guns

The gun had a semi-automatic shutter, which was in itself an achievement for that time. The shooting was carried out from a pedestal carriage, which had four frames arranged crosswise. The beds rested on the ground with their jacks. In the stowed position, the gun was mounted on a “special trailer 201”, which was a four-wheeled, sprung cart with two wheel travels; the middle of the cart was formed by the base of the gun carriage and frame.

The 8.8 cm Flak 18 gun received its baptism of fire in Spain as part of the Condor Legion. Based on the results of combat use, some of the Flak 18 guns were equipped with an armor shield to cover the crew. In turn, the units dismantled the charging tray and the unsatisfactorily functioning mechanical rammer.

8.8 cm Flak-18/36 anti-aircraft gun in North Africa

In 1936, the modernized 8.8 cm Flak 36 gun was put into service. The internal structure of the barrels of both guns and the ballistics were the same. The “special trailer 202” was used as a vehicle. The design of the carriage was simplified. Brass parts have been replaced with steel, resulting in lower installation costs. In 1939, the cost of the 8.8 cm Flak 36 was 33,600 Reichsmarks.

Some changes were made in 1939, and the new model was called 8.8-cm Flak 37. Most of the components of the guns mod. 18, 36 and 37 were interchangeable, for example you could often see a Flak 18 barrel on a Flak 37 carriage.

Production of Flak-18 to Flak-36 during the war

By September 1, 1939, the ground units of the Luftwaffe consisted of 2,459 8.8 cm Flak 18 and Flak 36 cannons. The ground forces first received 8.8 cm cannons in 1941 (126 guns). In 1942, another 176 guns were received, in 1943 - 296, in 1944 - 549 and in 1945 - 23 installations. In August 1944, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe had 10,930 Flak 18, 36 and 37 guns, which were used on all fronts and in the Reich air defense. The Italians had a certain number of these guns under the name 88/56 S.A.

Flak 18/36 anti-aircraft guns were used unusually and very effectively in the Afrika Korps and on the Eastern Front. During the attacks, tractors with guns moved behind the advancing tanks, ready to fire at any moment. Thus, heavy losses were inflicted on the enemy, who had tanks with better armor.

Several Flak 18 guns were mounted on the 12-ton Sd.Kfz.8 half-track partially armored vehicle in 1940.

8.8 cm Flak-18/36 anti-aircraft gun on the Sd.Kfz.8 vehicle

In 1943, 14 Flak 37 guns were mounted on the Sd.Kfz.9 half-track vehicle. System weight 25 tons. Crew 9 - 10 people. The cabin and engine are armored.

After the surrender of Germany, Flak-18, 36, 37 guns were in service with a number of countries for some time. In particular, they were used in North Korean air defense during the Korean War.

Performance characteristics

The barrel of the Flak 18, 36, 37 guns consisted of a casing, a pipe and a breech. Semi-automatic horizontal wedge shutter. The system was transported using 2 moves, which were separated when the system was transferred from the traveling position to the combat position. The system had a tube installer and a pneumatic rammer.

In total, for the Flak-18, 36, 37 guns there were 4 types of shells - 2 high-explosive fragmentation and 2 armor-piercing. Reach of guns in height: ballistic ceiling 10600 m, height of actual fire - 7675 m. Armor penetration by an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1500 m was about 120 mm. Loading is unitary.

8.8 cm Flak-18/36 anti-aircraft gun with crew

8.8 cm FlaK 41 anti-aircraft gun

During the bombing of German cities, Allied planes tried to fly as high as possible. In May 1944, the command of the 1st Air Defense Division of Berlin reported to the leadership: “At the current height of raids of 7 - 8 km, 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns mod. 36 and 37 have reached the limits of their reach.” Therefore, anti-aircraft guns with a large firing range were urgently needed.

In 1939, the Rheinmetall company received a contract to create a new gun with improved ballistic characteristics. The gun was originally called the Gerat 37. This name was replaced in 1941 by the 8.8-cm Flak 41, when the first prototype of the gun was produced. The first production samples (44 pieces) were sent to the Afrika Korps in August 1942, and half of them were sunk in the Mediterranean Sea along with German transport. Tests of the remaining samples revealed a number of design flaws that were difficult to eliminate.

Since 1943, these guns began to arrive in the Reich's air defense. In February 1944, the Reich's air defense had 279 Flak-41 guns.

Performance characteristics

The barrel of the Flak 41 guns originally consisted of three parts - chamber, middle and muzzle. At the end of 1944 they switched to a monoblock pipe. Semi-automatic horizontal wedge shutter. The cartridge was refueled using a hydropneumatic rammer. The gun had electro-hydraulic drives for horizontal and vertical guidance. The gun carriage had 4 cross-shaped frames, resting on the ground in the firing position.

Ballistics and projectile data

In total, 5 types of projectiles were developed for Flak 41 guns - 2 high-explosive fragmentation shells with different types of fuses and 3 armor-piercing ones. The gun's height reach: ballistic ceiling 15,000 m, actual fire height - 10,500 m. Armor penetration with an armor-piercing tracer projectile at a distance of 1,000 m was 159 mm, and armor-piercing sub-caliber - 192 mm.

In 1933, the Krupp and Rheinmetall companies were asked to produce two prototypes of a 10.5 cm anti-aircraft gun. Comparative tests took place in 1935, and in 1936 the 10.5 cm gun from Rheinmetall (product 38) was recognized as the best and put into mass production under the name 10.5 cm Flak 38. 10.5 cm gun The Flak 38 initially had electro-hydraulic guidance drives (DC), the same as the 8.8 cm Flak 18 and 36, but in 1936 the UTG 37 system (power frequency AC) was introduced, used on the 8. 8-cm Flak 37. At the same time, a barrel with a free pipe was introduced. The system modernized in this way was named 10.5 cm Flak 39. To increase the effective firing ceiling of 10.5-cm anti-aircraft guns, a 10.5-cm fragmentation active-rocket projectile was created. Its muzzle velocity was 800 m/s, and then the jet engine accelerated it to 1150 m/s. However, the end of the war did not allow the launch of active-missile projectiles into mass production. Similar active-missile projectiles were created for the 12.8 cm Flak 40 cannon. But even here things did not go beyond the release of a pilot batch. Speaking about technical innovations in the design of anti-aircraft shells, it should be noted the creation of high-frequency radio fuses, the action of which is based on the Doppler effect. For example, radio fuses were produced by the companies Donaulandische Apparatebau in Vienna (Kakadu fuse) and Blauppunkt-Werke in Berlin (Trichter fuse). At the moment of flying past the target, such fuses were triggered when the distance between the projectile and the target became minimal. Radio fuses were used both in anti-aircraft artillery shells and in prototype anti-aircraft guided missiles. The defeat of Germany did not make it possible to launch shells with radio fuses into mass production. The 10.5 cm Flak 38 and 39 remained in production throughout the war, despite the fact that the ballistic characteristics of the 8.8 cm Flak 41 gun were almost equal to them.

The 10.5 cm Flak 38 and 39 anti-aircraft guns were only in service with the Luftwaffe. By the beginning of the war, the troops had 64 guns.

Production of Flak 38 and 39 during the war

In August 1944, the Luftwaffe consisted of: 116 Flak 38 and 39 on railway installations; 877 - on stationary installations; 1025 - on carts of type 201.

Performance characteristics

The 10.5 cm Flak 39 barrel had a free tube consisting of three parts: chamber, middle and muzzle. The chamber and middle parts were connected at the front end of the chamber, and the joint between them was blocked by a sleeve. The middle and muzzle parts of the pipe were connected in the rifled part of the channel, and the joint between them did not overlap. The parts of the free pipe were collected in a shell or prefabricated pipe and tightened with nuts. The advantage of the composite pipe was the ability to replace only the middle part, which was most susceptible to fire. The gun had a semi-automatic wedge shutter. Semi-automatic mechanical type, cocked when rolling up. Hydraulic recoil brake of spindle type with constant recoil length and hydropneumatic knurler. The balancing mechanism is spring-type, pulling type. 10.5 cm gun mod. 38 and 39 were fully automatic. The guidance, feeding and fuse installation mechanisms were driven by electric motors.

The four-gun battery of 10.5 cm guns had a special gasoline engine that drove a DC generator with a voltage of 220 V and a power of 24 kW. The generator supplied power to the electric motors mounted on the guns. Each gun had 4 electric motors: vertical guidance, horizontal guidance, rammer and automatic fuse installer. In the Flak 39 guns, the electric motors were converted to alternating current in order to be able to connect to the city network. The normal crew consisted of a squad leader and 9 servants, plus 2 people for manual loading.

Guns arr. 38 and 39 were the first German anti-aircraft guns to have SCR-584 radars connected to their fire control devices. Like all 8.8 cm guns, the 10.5 cm guns fired from the ground from a cross-shaped carriage, and when moving to the stowed position they were mounted on two wheel travels.

Ballistics and projectile data

In total, 3 types of shells were developed for the Flak 38, 39 guns - 1 high-explosive fragmentation shell with different types of fuses and 2 armor-piercing shells. The gun's height reach: ballistic ceiling 12,800 m, effective fire height - 9,300 m at an initial speed of 880 m/s. The armor penetration of an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1500 m was 138 mm at an initial speed of 860 m/s.

An order for the development of a 12.8 cm anti-aircraft gun was issued to Rheinmetall in 1936. The company submitted prototypes of Product 40 for testing in 1938. In December 1938, the first order was given for 100 installations. At the end of 1941, the first batteries with 12.8 cm Flak 40 anti-aircraft guns entered the troops.

Initially, it was assumed that mobile 12.8-cm units would be transported on two vehicles, but later it was decided to limit ourselves to one four-axle vehicle (“special trailer 220”). But during the war, only one mobile battery (6 guns) entered service. In August 1944, Germany had in service: 6 mobile units; 242 permanent installations; 201 railway installations (on four platforms). By February 1945, the number of stationary installations increased to 362, the number of mobile and railway installations did not change.

The 12.8 cm Flak 40 was a fully automated unit. Guidance, supply and reloading of ammunition, as well as installation of the fuse, were carried out using 4 asynchronous three-phase generators with a voltage of 115 V. The four-gun battery of 12.8 cm Flak 40 was served by one generator with a power of 60 kW. In 1942, the development of a new 12.8 cm cannon (product 45) began, but it was never put into service until the end of the war. The 12.8 cm gun 45 had a longer barrel, a larger volume of the charging chamber and, accordingly, a higher initial speed and ballistic ceiling.

12.8 cm FlaK 40 anti-aircraft gun

When creating a 12.8 cm two-gun stationary installation, the base from the 15 cm installation 50 was used. The prototypes of the two-gun installation were called “product 44”. The serial installations were named 12.8 cm Flakzwilling 40. The first four-gun battery was installed in Berlin in the spring of 1942 (according to other sources, in August 1942). In August 1944 there were 27 installations in service, and in February 1945 there were 34 installations. (The installations were manufactured at the Hanomag plant in Hannover. At the beginning of 1944, they made one installation per month, at the end of the same year - 12 installations per month. The installations were part of the air defense of large cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna .

Performance characteristics

Ballistics and projectile data

Two types of projectiles were developed for the Flak 40 guns - high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercing. The height of actual fire from a high-explosive fragmentation projectile with a remote fuse was 12,800 m. The armor penetration of an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 1,500 m was about 150 mm. Loading, like all anti-aircraft guns, is unitary.

12.8 cm FlaK 40 anti-aircraft gun as a museum exhibit