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Ho-203 cannon | |
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Type | Aircraft cannon |
Place of origin | ![]() |
Service history | |
Wars | World War II |
Specifications | |
Mass | 89 kg (196 lb) |
Length | 1,532 mm (60.3 in) |
Barrel length | 800 mm (31 in) |
Cartridge | 37 x 112R (475 g) |
Calibre | 37 mm (1.5 in) |
Action | Long recoil-operated |
Rate of fire | 120 rounds/min |
Muzzle velocity | 570 m/s (1,900 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 900 m (3,000 ft) |
Feed system | 15-round drum |
Ho-203 was a Japanese autocannon that saw considerable use during World War II. It was a long-recoil automation of the Year 11 Type direct-fire infantry gun. It was fed by a 15-round closed-loop ammunition belt. It was operationally used only as the nose gun of the Kawasaki Ki-45-KAIc and the Kawasaki Ki-102 heavy fighters of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. [1]
The Maschinengewehr (MG) 151 is a belt-fed autocannon for aircraft use, developed in Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1940 and produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. It was originally produced in 15.1 mm caliber from 1940, with a 15×96mm cartridge, but due to demand for higher effect against aircraft, especially with the introduction of mine shells for the 20 mm MG-FF/M aircraft cannon, the design was rechambered to 20 mm caliber in 1941, using a newly developed 20×82mm cartridge which traded projectile velocity for explosive power. The initial 15 mm variant then became known as the MG 151/15, with the new 20 mm variant becoming the MG 151/20.
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The Mitsubishi Ki-67Hiryū was a twin-engine bomber produced by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company and used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. While its original official designation was "Army Type 4 Heavy Bomber", in all of its key parameters, the Ki-67 was similar to the contemporaneous medium bombers of other countries. Japanese Navy variants included the P2M and Q2M.
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The HS.404 is an autocannon originally designed by and produced by the Swiss arm of the Spanish/Swiss company Hispano-Suiza in the mid-1930s. Production was later moved to the French arm of Hispano-Suiza.
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The MG FF was a drum-fed, blowback-operated, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, with the Oerlikon FF design itself a development of the Imperial German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in space-limited, fixed mountings such as inside aircraft wings, although it saw use as both an offensive and a defensive weapon, in both fixed and flexible format. It saw widespread use in those roles by the German Luftwaffe, particularly during the early stages of World War II, although from 1941 onwards it was gradually replaced by the Mauser firm's 20 mm MG 151/20, which had both a higher rate of fire and muzzle velocity.
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Ho-204 was a Japanese aircraft autocannon that saw limited use during World War II. It was the largest gun to see active service derived from the Model 1921 Aircraft Browning. It was used as upward-oblique armament in the Ki-46-III.
The Ho-301 was a Japanese 40 millimeter caliber autocannon that saw limited use during World War II, on Japanese Army Nakajima Ki-44 and Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI aircraft. It was unusual in using caseless ammunition. Although the effective range of the cannon was only 150 meters (490 ft), the Ho-301 was light and rapid-firing for its caliber.
Ho-401 was a Japanese aircraft autocannon that saw limited, if any, use during World War II. It was a large-caliber version of the 37 mm Ho-203 cannon. The cannon was used on the ground-attack, Kawasaki Ki-102b heavy fighter of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.
The 30 mm Type 5 cannon was a Japanese Navy autocannon used near the end of World War II. It was an indigenous 30 mm design with better performance than the Navy's earlier Oerlikon-derived Type 2 or the Imperial Army's Browning-derived Ho-155, although it was considerably heavier. The Type 5 was to have become the standard fighter cannon of the Japanese Navy – four would have been mounted on the J7W Shinden – but by the end of the war had seen use on only a few aircraft, including variants of the Mitsubishi J2M and Yokosuka P1Y.
The Kawasaki Ki-102 or Type 4 Attack Plane was a Japanese warplane of World War II. It was a twin-engine, two-seat, long-range heavy fighter developed to replace the Ki-45 Toryu. Three versions were planned: the Ki-102 Kō day fighter, Ki-102 Otsu ground-attack and Ki-102 Hei night fighter. This aircraft's Allied reporting name was "Randy".
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The Kawasaki Ki-64 was a one-off prototype of an experimental heavy, single seat, fighter. It had two unusual design features. First; it had two Kawasaki Ha-40 engines in tandem; one in the aircraft nose, the other behind the cockpit, both being connected by a drive shaft. This combination drove two, three-bladed, contra-rotating propellers. The second feature was the use of the wing surface as a radiator for the water-cooled engines. The aircraft first flew in December 1943. During the fifth flight, the rear engine caught fire; and while the aircraft made an emergency landing, it was damaged. The aircraft was subsequently abandoned in mid-1944 in favour of more promising projects. The airframe survived the war, and parts of the unique cooling system were sent to Wright Field for examination.