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German anti-aircraft guns of the Second World War. The terrible eighty-eighth

like everyone german tank was a "Tiger" for most Allied soldiers, so every anti-tank gun was "eighty-eighth". One of the famous gun mounts of all time, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun definitely became a tank destroyer. But in the Wehrmacht arsenals this was not the only weapon, it was not even the most numerous.

Family of 88 mm FlaK guns . Decoding FlaK, abbreviation of the German Flugzeugabwehr-Kanone or Flugabwehr-Kanone (where K) designation of an anti-aircraft gun. The number behind the abbreviation indicates the year of the gun, originally called FlaK 18, which was done to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.

88 mm German anti-aircraft gun, the terrible eighty-eighth, on the barrel there are four white victory rings

88 mm German anti-aircraft gun terrible eighty-eighth photo , FlaK 18/36/37 then the new and more powerful FlaK 41 models. Known to opponents as the "eighty-eighth" and as the "aht-aht", the gun deserves a place of honor in any study of German anti-tank weapons. (Acht-Acht is a play on the words “eight-eight” or “attention-attention.”

In 1931 88 mm FlaK 18 anti-aircraft gun developed in Sweden by a team of Krupp engineers together with Bofors in secret to hide violations of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1932, serial production of the 88-mm FlaK 18 cannon began.

Anti-aircraft gun 88 mm FlaK 18 /36 photo

The FlaK 18 was mounted on a cross-shaped carriage, which allowed it to fire in all directions. Automatic ejection of the cartridge case made it possible to fire about 20 rounds per minute. The two side supports could be quickly folded for transport. For transportation, two wheeled chassis model Sonderanhänger 201 were used.

Preparing an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun for transportation photo

The FlaK /36/37 anti-aircraft guns used the Sonderanhänger 202 trolley, which had a greater load capacity, higher transportation speed and, most importantly, allowed firing directly from the trolley.

trailer Sonderanhänger 202 from 88 mm German anti-aircraft gun, allowed to fire directly from the cart

Because of heavy weight guns, the half-track sd kfz 7 became the standard tractor. But the problem of the high silhouette of the 88-mm gun, comparable to a tank, was not solved in the following modifications.

88 mm Flak 36 entered service in 1936, modernized in 1939 and named Flak 37 photo

And anti-aircraft guns have a lot general properties- both types are designed to fire projectiles at high speeds along a straight trajectory. Give an anti-aircraft gun the right type of armor-piercing shell and it will become a highly effective tank destroyer. However, by the beginning of the war, the only anti-aircraft gun equipped to fire at tanks was the German FlaK 18 - the classic eighty-eighth.

photo of a German 88 mm cannon towed by an SD KFZ 7 tractor

In Spain, an early modification of the 88th was mobilized for infantry service. The FlaK 18 proved remarkably effective against lightly armored vehicles of the period. As a result, armor-piercing shells became the standard ammunition for all German anti-aircraft batteries.

88 mm German anti-aircraft gun terrible eighty-eighth photo , first used against tanks during the Spanish Civil War. The 88-mm anti-aircraft gun was one of the most formidable guns for British and American troops in North Africa and Italy, as well as ours and KVs. The key to understanding the success of the eighty-eighth was the very high speed of its projectiles. It could hit most Allied tanks even when firing high explosive shells, and with armor piercing shells it became deadly.

The crew of a German gun fires at Soviet troops in the Kharkov area you can see a cart from Sonderanhänger on the right 202 photos

It is interesting that the Germans were the only ones who used heavy universal guns . Most armies of World War II had similar anti-aircraft guns, but they were never used to fire at ground targets.
It was not difficult to prove its usefulness in the early years of World War II, when the 88mm anti-aircraft gun was the only weapon capable of easily stopping such heavily armored tanks as the British Matilda, the French Char B and our Soviet KV-1. The FlaK 18 entered service as improved FlaK 36, 37 and 41, the latter being a newly developed gun.

July 1942 88-mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun direct fire near Voronezh photo

The gun, although it was anti-aircraft, turned out to be useful, but far from perfect in its role, since it was very bulky and very difficult to camouflage; a lot of time was spent preparing it for shooting. The Eighty-Eight could, in case of emergency, fire directly from its wheeled cart, but to obtain maximum accuracy it was lowered onto a carriage, which required a lot of time.
88 mm German anti-aircraft gun terrible eighty-eighth photo Despite the existence of special anti-tank guns, the FlaK was used against tanks until the end of the war. Early versions provided an initial armor-piercing projectile speed of 795 m/s, a maximum horizontal range of 14,813 m. With FlaK 41, the initial projectile speed was raised to 1000 m/s, and the maximum firing range was up to 19,730 m. Although we are now mainly talking about the use 88 mm gun as an anti-tank weapon, do not forget that the main purpose of the FlaK 18 family of guns is primarily to combat air targets. in which she also succeeded a lot. Although the inability of German industry to produce guns on a large scale did not cover the troops' requests for these guns. On average, from 5 thousand to 8 thousand shots were spent on destroying one air target (!).

Anti-aircraft artillery acoustic guidance system photo

Acoustic and then radar guidance systems made it possible to increase the effectiveness of the use of anti-aircraft artillery.

With the advent of radar stations, the effectiveness of shooting, especially at night, has increased significantly

« 88 mm German anti-aircraft gun terrible eighty-eighth "served as the basis for a whole family of anti-tank guns as well as it proved itself in its original role as an anti-aircraft weapon.

88 mm anti-aircraft guns were also installed on landing craft

However, as the war progresses, even such super-advanced weapons find themselves facing new challenges. Heavy soviet tanks, such as the IS-1 and IS-2 (IS - “Joseph Stalin”), had powerful guns with greater armor penetration and even thicker armor than the T-34. A large gun was needed to counter them, and in 1943 Krupp and Rheinmetall began work on a dual-purpose 128 mm anti-tank and field gun.

To facilitate manufacturing, the barrel of the RaK 43 gun was equipped with a carriage from a 105-mm light field howitzer FlaK 18 and wheels from a 150-mm howitzer SFH-18. The first truly anti-tank modification entered service at the end of 1943. The RaK 43/41 gun used the barrel and breech of the FlaK 41, it was more suitable for firing at tanks and fired newly developed types of projectiles.

German anti-tank guns Pak 43 88 mm photo

These 88 mm anti-tank guns were mounted on the carriage of a 105 mm light field howitzer with the wheels of a 150 mm howitzer. Weighing about 5 tons, it was difficult to aim, so calculations called it the “barn door” (Scheunentor), but it had a lower frontal projection than the FlaK. She retained all the best from the early guns. It was successfully used on both the Eastern and Western fronts. The 88-mm RaK 43 cannon, which entered service around the same time, was inferior in mobility to the RaK 43/41 and was mounted on a modified cart from the FlaK gun, and, as before, the wheels of the cart were removed to obtain maximum shooting accuracy. However, it should be noted that the gun had a very low frontal projection - to dig it in, a trench 1.5 m deep was needed. In battles, it proved that it was one of the best, capable of destroying any Allied tank from a distance of more than 2 km.
88 mm German anti-aircraft gun terrible eighty-eighth photo . When firing an armor-piercing projectile with a tungsten core from the Pzgr 40/43, the PaK 43 had an initial projectile speed increased to 1130 m/s, and the permissible firing range of a high-explosive projectile was 17.5 km. An armor-piercing projectile penetrated 182 mm armor at an angle of 30 "from a distance of 500 m and 135 mm armor from 2 km. The RaK 44 was used to a limited extent until the end of the war. 51 guns were manufactured and installed on an improvised carriage taken from a French 155 mm gun. Firing projectile from the Pzgr 43 cannon, the Pzgr 44 cannon had an initial projectile speed of 1000 m/s and penetrated 230 mm armor at an angle of 30° from a distance of 1 km.

A self-propelled artillery mount based on the flak-37, which is interesting; the flak-41 was originally installed; only three copies were made

By the end of the war, German engineers had broken through the boundaries of traditional ideas about artillery designs.

flak-18 on the Sd.Kfz.9 tractor was never put into production

They created automatic loaders for 75 and 88 mm guns, and experimented with infrared sights that could be used at night.

Experimental model with 88 mm anti-aircraft gun

Modernization of the projectiles included proposals to use steel and plastic in the manufacture of projectile shells to save copper. Of course, not all samples reached mass production.

Flak 36 anti-aircraft gun

Large-caliber semi-automatic anti-aircraft guns (75-105 mm) were created in Germany during the First World War. However, the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Germans from having anti-aircraft artillery and all Reichswehr guns were destroyed.

Work on their creation resumed secretly in the second half of the 20s and was carried out by German designers both in Germany itself and in Sweden, Holland and other countries. At the same time, all new field and anti-aircraft guns designed in Germany during these years received the number 18 in the designation, that is, “1918 model.” In case of requests from the governments of England or France, the Germans could answer that these were not new guns, but old ones, created back in 1918, during the First World War. For purposes of secrecy, anti-aircraft units until 1935 were called “mobile battalions” (Fahrabteilung).

A group of designers from the Krupp company began designing an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun in 1931 in Sweden. Then the technical documentation was delivered to Essen, where the first samples of guns were manufactured. Since 1933, anti-aircraft guns, designated 8.8 cm Flak 18 (in Germany, as is known, gun calibers are measured in centimeters), began to enter the army.

Flak 36 anti-aircraft gun from the Jacques Littlefeed private museum, USA

The gun barrel consisted of a casing, a free pipe and a breech. The shutter is semi-automatic horizontal, wedge.

The recoil devices consisted of a spindle-type hydraulic recoil brake and a hydropneumatic knurler. The rollback length is variable. The recoil brake was equipped with a compensator.

The base of the carriage was a crosspiece, in which the side frames, when transferred to the stowed position, rose upward, and the main longitudinal beam served as a cart. A cabinet was attached to the base of the carriage, on which a swivel (upper machine) was installed. The lower end of the swivel pin was embedded in the slide of the leveling mechanism. The lifting and rotating devices each had two guidance speeds. The balancing mechanism was spring-pull type.

The gun was transported using two moves (rolling single-axle trolleys) Sd.Anh.201, which were disconnected when the gun was transferred from the traveling position to the combat position. The moves are not interchangeable: the front one has single-wheel drive, the rear one has double-wheel drive.

In 1936, the modernized 88-mm Flak 36 cannon entered service. The changes mainly affected the design of the barrel, which received a detachable front part, which made it easier to manufacture. At the same time, the internal structure and ballistics of the barrel remained the same as those of the Flak 18. All brass parts of the gun were replaced with steel ones, which made it possible to significantly reduce its cost. The carriage also underwent modernization - its front and rear frames became interchangeable. To tow the gun, two identical Sd.Anh.202 moves with dual-pitch wheels were used. Other smaller changes were also made. In general, both guns were structurally identical.

A year later, the next modification appeared - Flak 37. The gun had an improved firing direction indication system, connected by a cable to the fire control device.
An 8-ton Sd.Kfz.7 half-track tractor from Kraus-Maffei was used as an anti-aircraft towing vehicle.

Sd.Kfz.7 tractor with Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun

88-mm anti-aircraft guns received their baptism of fire in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, where they were sent as part of the German Condor Legion. Based on the experience of this war, guns began to be equipped with a shield.

By September 1, 1939 in anti-aircraft units The Luftwaffe had 2,459 Flak 18 and Flak 36 guns, which were in service with both the Reich air defense forces and the army air defense. Moreover, it was as part of the latter that they distinguished themselves to the greatest extent, and not only in shooting at aircraft. During the French campaign, it became clear that 37 mm German anti-tank guns were absolutely powerless against the armor of most French tanks. But the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns that remained “unemployed” (German aviation reigned supreme in the air) brilliantly coped with this task. The importance of these guns as an anti-tank weapon increased even more during the battles in North Africa and on the Eastern Front.

It’s strange, but these guns did not have outstanding combat characteristics. For example, the Soviet 85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52K was in no way inferior to the German one, including in terms of armor penetration, but did not become so famous. What's the matter? Why "aht-aht" ("eight-eight"), as this gun was called German soldiers, earned such fame both in the Wehrmacht and in the armies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition? The reason for its popularity lies in its unusual tactics of application.

While the British, for example, in North Africa limited the role of their very powerful 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns to fighting aircraft, the Germans used 88-mm guns to fire at both aircraft and tanks. In November 1941, the entire Afrika Korps had only 35 88 mm cannons, but moving with the tanks, these guns inflicted huge losses on the British Matildas and Valentines. On the Eastern Front, 88-mm guns were also in the battle formations of tank units. When the latter came across new Soviet T-34 and KB tanks, anti-aircraft guns came into action. Similar tactics were used by German troops until the end of the war. Naturally, as the troops became saturated with new anti-tank guns, the importance of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns as an anti-tank weapon gradually decreased. However, by 1944, 13 anti-tank artillery units were equipped with these anti-aircraft guns. As of August 1944, the troops had 10,930 Flak 18, 36 and 37 guns, which were used on all fronts and in the Reich's air defense.

These guns were also widely used in coastal artillery.

As an actual anti-aircraft gun, this gun had exhausted its usefulness by the beginning of World War II. Therefore, in 1939, the Rheinmetall company began designing a new anti-aircraft gun with improved ballistic characteristics - Gerat 37. When the first prototype was made in 1941, the name was changed to 8.8 cm Flak 41. In 1942, 44 guns were sent for testing to North Africa. However, half of them ended up at the bottom Mediterranean Sea along with the transports that delivered them. The rest still arrived in Tunisia.

During front-line testing, it turned out that Flak 41 has many minor shortcomings, which can be eliminated in short time it was impossible. Nevertheless, this gun with a barrel length of 74 calibers, a muzzle velocity of a high-explosive fragmentation grenade of 1000 m/s and a ballistic ceiling of 14,700 m became the best medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun of the Second World War. The production of Flak 41 anti-aircraft guns increased very slowly, and their use was complicated by the inability to use Flak 18/36 ammunition. In February 1944, the Reich air defense had only 279 Flak 41 units.

88 mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun:
1 - knurl; 2 - upper machine; 3 - rammer tray; 4 - vertical guidance mechanism; 5 - fuse installation mechanism; 6 - flywheel of the leveling mechanism; 7 - cabinet; 8 - left cylinder of the balancing mechanism; 9-bracket for mounting the barrel in a traveling manner; 10 - gunner's seat; 11 - seat of the fuse installer; 12 - fuse installation indicator; 13 - vertical guidance indicator; 14 - horizontal guidance indicator; 15 - cradle; 16 - rollback brake; 17 - right cylinder of the balancing mechanism; 18 - horizontal guidance mechanism; 19 - vertical guidance mechanism; 20 - longitudinal beam of the carriage; 21 - anti-aircraft sight; 22 - left folding bed; 23 - right folding bed.

Information sources

M. KNYAZEV "EIGHT-EIGHT". "Model designer" No. 4, 2001

After defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from having anti-aircraft artillery at all, and existing anti-aircraft guns were subject to destruction. Therefore, from the late 20s until 1933, German designers worked on anti-aircraft guns secretly both in Germany and in Sweden, Holland and other countries. In the early 1930s, anti-aircraft units were also created in Germany, which, for the purpose of secrecy, until 1935 were called “railway battalions.” For the same reason, all new field and anti-aircraft guns designed in Germany in 1928-1933 were called “mod. 18". Thus, in case of requests from the governments of England and France, the Germans could answer that these were not new guns, but old ones, created back in 1918 during the First World War.

In the early 30s, due to the rapid development of aviation, an increase in flight speed and range, the creation of all-metal aircraft and the use of aircraft armor, the issue of protecting troops from attack aircraft became acute.
The existing anti-aircraft guns created during the First World War did not meet modern requirements for rate of fire and aiming speed, and rifle-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns did not satisfy the range and power of action.

Under these conditions, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns (MZA) of 20-50 mm caliber turned out to be in demand. Having good performance rate of fire, range of effective fire and damaging effect of the projectile.

Anti-aircraft gun 2.0 cm FlaK 30(German 2.0 cm Flugzeugabwehrkanone 30 - 20 mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1930 model). Developed by Rheinmetall in 1930. Guns began to arrive in the Wehrmacht in 1934. In addition, Rheinmetall exported 20-mm Flak 30 to Holland and China.

The advantages of the 2 cm Flak 30 machine gun were the simplicity of the device, the ability to quickly disassemble and reassemble, and its relatively low weight.

On August 28, 1930, an agreement was signed with the German company BUTAST (a front office of the Rheinmetall company) to supply to the USSR, among other guns, a 20-mm anti-aircraft automatic gun. The Rheinmetall company supplied all the documentation for the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun, two samples guns and one spare swinging part.
After testing, the 20-mm gun of the Rheinmetall company was put into service under the name 20-mm automatic anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun model 1930. Production of the 20-mm gun model 1930 was transferred to plant No. 8 (Podlipki, Moscow region ), where it was assigned the index 2K. Serial production of guns was started by plant No. 8 in 1932. However, the quality of the produced machine guns turned out to be extremely low. Military acceptance refused to accept anti-aircraft guns. As a result, defectors from the Kalinin plant (No. 8) were unable to cope with gun production.

According to the results combat use The 20-mm Flak 30 was modernized by the Mauser company in Spain. The modernized model was named 2.0 cm Flak 38. New installation had the same ballistics and ammunition.

All changes in the device were aimed at increasing the rate of fire, which increased from 245 rounds/min to 420-480 rounds/min. It had a height reach: 2200-3700 m, firing range: up to 4800 m. Weight in combat position: 450 kg, weight in stowed position: 770 kg.
Light automatic cannons Flak-30 and Flak-38 had basically the same design. 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 principle of operation of the mechanisms of the model 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.
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.

Changes to the carriages were minimal; in particular, a second speed was introduced in manual guidance drives.
There was a special dismountable “pack” version for mountain army units. In this version, the Flak 38 gun remained the same, but a small and, accordingly, lighter carriage was used. The gun was called the 2-cm mountain anti-aircraft gun Gebirgeflak 38 and was a weapon designed to destroy both air and ground targets.
The 20-mm Flak 38 began to reach the troops in the second half of 1940.

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 an integral part of each motorized anti-aircraft division of the RGK, attached to tank and motorized divisions.

In addition to towed ones, it was created a large number of self-propelled guns. Trucks, tanks, various tractors and armored personnel carriers were used as chassis.
In addition to their direct purpose, by the end of the war they were increasingly used to combat enemy personnel and light armored vehicles.

The scale of use of Flak-30/38 cannons is evidenced by the fact that in May 1944. ground troops had 6,355 guns of this type, and the Luftwaffe units providing German air defense had more than 20,000 20-mm guns.

To increase the density of fire, a quadruple installation was developed based on Flak-38 2-cm Flakvierling 38. The effectiveness of the anti-aircraft installation turned out to be very high.

Although the Germans throughout the war constantly experienced a shortage of these anti-aircraft installations. Flakvirling 38 was used in the German army, in the anti-aircraft units of the Luftwaffe and in the German Navy.

To increase mobility, many different anti-aircraft self-propelled guns were created on their basis.

There was a version intended for installation on armored trains. An installation was being developed, the fire of which was supposed to be controlled using radar.

In addition to the Flak-30 and Flak-38, the 20-mm machine gun was used in smaller quantities in German air defense 2 cm Flak 28.
This anti-aircraft gun traces its ancestry to the German “Becker gun,” which was developed back in the First World War. The Oerlikon company, named after its location - a suburb of Zurich, acquired all rights to develop the gun.
By 1927, Oerlikon had developed and put into production a model called Oerlikon S (three years later it became simply 1S). Compared to the original model, it was created for a more powerful 20x110 mm cartridge and was characterized by a higher initial projectile speed of 830 m/s.

In Germany, the gun was widely used as a means of air defense of ships, but there were also field versions of the gun, widely used in the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe anti-aircraft forces, under the designation - 2 cm Flak 28 And 2 cm VKPL vz. 36.

In the period from 1940 to 1944, the volume of transactions of the parent company Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon (WO) with only the Axis powers - Germany, Italy and Romania - amounted to 543.4 million Swiss francs. francs, and included the supply of 7013 20-mm cannons, 14.76 million pieces of cartridges for them, 12,520 spare barrels and 40 thousand cartridge boxes (such Swiss “neutrality”!).
Several hundred of these anti-aircraft guns were captured in Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Norway.

In the USSR, the word “Oerlikon” became a household name for all small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery during the Second World War.

For all their advantages, 20-mm anti-aircraft guns were unable to guarantee 100% penetration of the armor of Il-2 attack aircraft.
To correct this situation, in 1943, the Mauser company created the Flak 103/38 anti-aircraft gun by placing a 3-cm MK-103 aircraft cannon on the carriage of a 2-cm Flak 38 automatic anti-aircraft gun. The gun had a double-sided belt feed. The operation of the machine's mechanisms was based on a mixed principle: unlocking the barrel bore and cocking the bolt was carried out using the energy of the powder gases discharged through the side channel in the barrel, and the operation of the feed mechanisms was carried out using the energy of the recoil barrel.

Into mass production Flak 103/ 38 launched in 1944. A total of 371 guns were produced.
In addition to single-barreled ones, a small number of twin and quad 30-mm mounts were produced.

In 1942–1943 The Waffen-Werke enterprise in Brune created an anti-aircraft automatic cannon based on the 3-cm MK 103 aircraft cannon MK 303 BR. It was distinguished from the Flak 103/38 cannon by better ballistics. For a projectile weighing 320 g, the initial speed of the MK 303 Br was 1080 m/s versus 900 m/s for the Flak 103/38. For a projectile weighing 440 g, these values were 1000 m/s and 800 m/s, respectively.

The automation worked both due to the energy of gases removed from the barrel bore, and due to the recoil of the barrel during its short stroke. The shutter is wedge. The loading of cartridges was carried out by a rammer along the entire path of movement of the cartridge into the chamber. The muzzle brake had an effectiveness of 30%.
Production of the MK 303 Br guns began in October 1944. A total of 32 guns were delivered by the end of the year, and another 190 in 1945.

30-mm installations were much more effective than 20-mm, but the Germans did not have time to launch large-scale production of these anti-aircraft guns.

In violation of the Versailles agreements, the Rheinmetall company began work on the creation of a 3.7 cm automatic anti-aircraft gun in the late 20s.
The gun's automatic operation was powered by recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. The shooting was carried out from a pedestal carriage, supported by a cross-shaped base on the ground. In the traveling position, the gun was mounted on a four-wheeled cart.

The 37-mm anti-aircraft gun was intended to combat aircraft flying at low altitudes (1500-3000 meters) and to combat ground armored targets.

A 3.7 cm cannon from Rheinmetall, together with a 2 cm automatic cannon, was sold by the BYUTAST office in 1930 Soviet Union. In fact, only complete technological documentation and a set of semi-finished products were supplied; the guns themselves were not supplied.
In the USSR, the gun received the name “37-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun mod. 1930." It was sometimes called the 37 mm "N" (German) gun. Production of the gun began in 1931 at Factory No. 8, where the gun received the 4K index. In 1931, 3 guns were presented. For 1932, the plan was 25 guns, the plant presented 3, but military acceptance did not accept any. At the end of 1932, the system had to be discontinued. Not a single 37-mm cannon model hit the Red Army. 1930

The Rheinmetall 3.7 cm automatic cannon entered service in 1935 under the name 3.7 cm Flak 18. One of the significant drawbacks was the four-wheeled carriage. It turned out to be heavy and clumsy, so a new four-frame carriage with a separable two-wheel drive was developed to replace it.
The 3.7 cm anti-aircraft automatic gun with a new two-wheeled carriage and a number of changes in the design of the machine gun was named 3.7 cm Flak 36.

There was another option, 3.7cm Flak 37, differing only in a complex, controlled sight with a counting device and a predictive system.

In addition to standard carriages mod. 1936, 3.7 cm Flak 18 and Flak 36 machine guns were installed on railway platforms and various trucks and armored personnel carriers, as well as on tank chassis.

Production of Flak 36 and 37 was carried out until the very end of the war at three factories (one of them was in Czechoslovakia). By the end of the war, the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht had about 4,000 37-mm anti-aircraft guns.

Already during the war, based on the 3.7 cm Flak 36, Rheinmetall developed a new 3.7 cm assault rifle Flak 43.

Automatic rev. 43 had a fundamentally new automation scheme, when some of the operations were carried out using the energy of exhaust gases, and some - due to rolling parts. The Flak 43 magazine held 8 rounds, while the Flak 36 was designed to hold 6 rounds.

3.7 cm machine gun mod. 43 were mounted on both single and twin gun mounts.

During the Second World War, there was a “difficult” level of altitude for anti-aircraft guns from 1500 m to 3000. Here the planes were out of reach for light anti-aircraft guns, and for the guns of heavy anti-aircraft artillery this altitude was too low. In order to solve the problem, it seemed natural to create anti-aircraft guns of some intermediate caliber.

German designers from the Rheinmetall company offered the military a gun known under the symbol 5cm Flak 41.

The operation of automation is based on a mixed principle. Unlocking the barrel bore, extracting the cartridge case, throwing the bolt back and compressing the bolt knurled spring occurred due to the energy of the powder gases removed through the side channel in the barrel. And the supply of cartridges was carried out due to the energy of the rolling barrel. In addition, the automation used a partial fixed rollout of the barrel.
The barrel bore was locked with a longitudinally sliding wedge bolt. The machine is fed with cartridges from the side, along a horizontal feed table using a 5-round clip.
In the stowed position, the installation was transported on a four-wheeled cart. In a combat position, both moves were rolled back.

The first copy appeared in 1936. The development process was very slow, as a result, the gun was put into mass production only in 1940.
A total of 60 anti-aircraft guns of this brand were produced. As soon as the first of them entered the active army in 1941, major shortcomings emerged (as if they had not been at the training ground).
The main problem was the ammunition, which was poorly suited for use in an anti-aircraft gun.

Despite the relatively large caliber, the 50 mm shells lacked power. In addition, the flashes of the shots blinded the gunner, even on a clear sunny day. The carriage turned out to be too bulky and inconvenient in real combat conditions. The horizontal aiming mechanism was too weak and worked slowly.

Flak 41 was produced in two versions. The mobile anti-aircraft gun moved on a biaxial carriage. The stationary gun was intended for the defense of strategically important objects, such as the Ruhr dams. Despite the fact that the gun was, to put it mildly, unsuccessful, it continued to serve until the end of the war. True, by that time there were only 24 units left.

To be fair, it should be said that guns of this caliber were never created in any of the warring countries.
The anti-aircraft 57-mm S-60 was created in the USSR by V.G. Grabin after the war.

Assessing the actions of German small-caliber artillery, it is worth noting its exceptional effectiveness. The anti-aircraft cover of the German troops was much better than the Soviet one, especially in the initial period of the war.

Exactly flak destroyed most of the IL-2s lost due to combat reasons.
The high losses of the Il-2 themselves should be explained, first of all, by the specifics of the combat use of these attack aircraft. Unlike bombers and fighters, they operated exclusively from low altitudes - which means that they were in the range of actual fire from small-caliber German anti-aircraft artillery more often and longer than other aircraft.
The extreme danger that German small-caliber anti-aircraft guns posed to our aviation was due, firstly, to the perfection of the material part of it. The design of the anti-aircraft installations made it possible to very quickly maneuver trajectories in the vertical and horizontal planes; each gun was equipped with an anti-aircraft artillery fire control device, which provided corrections for the speed and course of the aircraft; tracer shells made it easier to adjust fire. Finally, German anti-aircraft guns had a high rate of fire; Thus, the 37-mm Flak 36 installation fired 188 rounds per minute, and the 20-mm Flak 38 – 480.
Secondly, the saturation of the German troops and air defense of rear facilities with these means was very high. The number of barrels covering the targets of the Il-2’s strikes continuously increased, and at the beginning of 1945, up to 200-250 20- and 37-mm shells could be fired per second (!) at an attack aircraft operating in the zone of a German fortified area.
The reaction time was very short, from the moment of detection to the opening of fire. The small-caliber anti-aircraft battery was ready to fire its first aimed shot within 20 seconds after the detection of Soviet aircraft; The Germans introduced corrections for changes in the course of the IL-2, their dive angle, speed, and range to the target within 2-3 seconds. The concentration of fire from several guns on one target they used also increased the likelihood of defeat

Based on materials:
http://www.xliby.ru/transport_i_aviacija/tehnika_i_vooruzhenie_1998_08/p3.php
http://zonawar.ru/artileru/leg_zenit_2mw.html
http://www.plam.ru/hist/_sokoly_umytye_krovyu_pochemu_sovetskie_vvs_voevali_huzhe_lyuftvaffe/p3.php
A.B. Shirokohdrad "God of War of the Third Reich"

Performance characteristics
Caliber, mm	37
Total weight, kg
Total length, m
Projectile weight, kg	0.64 (high explosive)
Vertical guidance angle, degrees.	-8°... +85°
Horizontal guidance angle, degrees.
Initial projectile speed, m/s	820
Maximum effective ceiling, m	4800
Rate of fire, shots/min	160 (in bursts)

When the 37 mm Flak 18 was put into service in 1935, the anti-aircraft gun was considered a medium-caliber air defense weapon. It was developed by the Rheinmetall concern in Switzerland in order to circumvent the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. For some time it was known as ST 10, or "Solotern" S10-100. Before joining the troops, Flak 18 had a lot serious problems, but even after their elimination it was not considered a very successful weapon.

In the original version, the gun and its frame were moved on a heavy two-axle chassis, which greatly delayed the time of placing in a position and changing it. Moreover, the rotation of the frame was slow, and the mechanism of the gun itself was so prone to jamming that only a well-trained, experienced crew could cope with this.
Despite these shortcomings, Flak 18 continued to serve during the war. Until 1939, several guns were supplied to China.

In 1936, the Flak 18 went out of production and was replaced by the new 37 mm Flak 36 anti-aircraft gun, which used new ammunition with one rather than two leading belts.
The significantly reconstructed frame could be moved on a single-axle chassis. "Flac 36" had the same combat characteristics as its predecessor, but was more universal. After this, only one modification was released, model 37, which had complex system with clock mechanism.
Flak 36 and 37 were produced in large quantities: by August 1944, the Luftwaffe alone had 4,211 units of these anti-aircraft guns. The Navy used different models basic weapons on special ship support structures, including for submarines. There were several types of improvised self-propelled anti-aircraft guns on trucks, on tank and half-track chassis. Regular combat schedule The crew included seven people, one of whom worked with a portable rangefinder, but after 1944 this position was abolished. Ammunition was fed into the breech in the form of six-round magazine cartridges tied into a pack.

After 1940, Flak anti-aircraft guns models 18, 36 and 37 became the standard weapon of the German Armed Forces against low-flying aircraft; They were usually equipped in batteries of 9 or 12 guns. Many were placed on air defense towers, providing effective all-round protection. Special air defense trains running across Germany to repel massive Allied raids were also equipped with Flak 36 or Flak 37 anti-aircraft guns. The production of Flak 36 and Flak 37 anti-aircraft guns did not stop until the end of the war in the three main industrial centers, but it was quite complex and expensive. The result was Flak 43.

German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37 (8.8-cm-Flugabwehrkanone, 8.8-cm anti-aircraft gun model 1918/1936/1937)

The famous German anti-aircraft gun FlaK 18 (Flugabwehrkanone, from German “anti-aircraft gun”) was rightfully one of the most famous artillery systems of Nazi Germany in World War II. At the beginning of the war, the Germans appreciated all the advantages of this universal cannon, using it to combat air targets, enemy armored vehicles and to destroy enemy fortifications. In addition to the Germans, the FlaK 18 cannon and all its modifications (36/37/41) were appreciated by the British, Americans and Russians, since at the initial stage of the war, this gun was effective means defeat of the Matilda and T-34 tanks. .

The history of the creation of the German FlaK18 anti-aircraft gun

The first representatives of German anti-aircraft semi-automatic guns were created in Germany back in the First world war. These medium-caliber guns were created by two major companies: Rheinmetall (then called Erchardt) and Krup in 1917. With the defeat of Germany in the First World War, all of its artillery systems were withdrawn from the army and, basically, all were destroyed. Let us recall that the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles prohibited defeated Germany from having anti-aircraft artillery, as well as from creating devices for controlling the fire from these guns. However, German artillery designers continued to secretly create their artillery systems in the 1920s in Sweden, Germany, Holland and other countries. In those years, almost all of the guns created were designated by the number “18”, which meant “model 1918”. In part, this was done in order to veil (or hide so that there would be no doubt among the allies) and show that Germany still complied with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and did not violate it. However, the new FlaK18 gun was very different from the previous gun of the 17th year.

The need for such a gun arose among the Germans in connection with the appearance of heavy Haley-Page bombers in the Royal Air Force of England, which could rise to a height of more than 10 thousand meters. In 1928, in Sweden in secret, German designers of the Krupp company began redesigning a new anti-aircraft gun. All work was carried out at the Swedish company Swedish BOfors, controlled by Krup. The first samples of guns were made in the city of Essen. Secret field tests of new anti-aircraft guns soon followed, based on the results of which the designers made a number of changes to the design of the units. Krup himself played a huge role in the creation of new weapons, who selflessly participated in the creation of guns.

Sketch drawing of the 88 mm FlaK18 cannon. Right view.

Sketch drawing of the 88 mm FlaK18 cannon. Left view

Sketch drawing of the 88 mm FlaK18 cannon. View from above.

Sketch of the recoil device balancing spring

Sketch of the breech of the FlaK 18 cannon

FlaK 18 gun barrel sketch

FlaK 36 gun barrel sketch

This is what the 88 mm FlaK18 cannon looks like from above

Sketch drawing of the FlaK18 cannon carriage (16 hooks on the spars for lifting on a winch, 17 stakes for driving into the ground, 18 shovel, 22 eye, 37 device for positioning relative to the horizontal plane

Sketch drawing of the FlaK18 cannon carriage, top view

Sketch drawing of the FlaK36 cannon carriage, top view

During the design process, German designers introduced a lot of innovations, one of which was the ease of manufacturing the 88-mm FlaK18 cannon. In addition, the gun could be mass produced in tractor and automobile factories without the use of specialized assembly lines. The first demonstration to the Wehrmacht military took place in 1932, where Krupp personally demonstrated the capabilities of the new weapon. The military was delighted with the new anti-aircraft gun. A contract was immediately concluded for the supply of FlaK18 guns to the Reichswehr. Soon the German army formed 7 motorized anti-aircraft batteries, which were armed with 8.8 FlaK18 guns. In 1933, batteries with new guns went on combat duty.

Design of the FlaK18 anti-aircraft gun

The FlaK18 gun barrel consisted of a breech, a free tube and a casing. The cannon's rate of fire of up to 15-20 rounds per minute was made possible by the original breech, which was a horizontal, semi-automatic wedge bolt that ensured the removal of the spent cartridge case, and the construction of the mainspring due to recoil energy. It is worth noting that the rammer together with the charging tray worked poorly in some cases, therefore, the future crew of the gun removed it in the field with the help of field workshops.

Recoil devices included a hydropneumatic knurler and a hydraulic recoil brake (spindle type). With the help of the knurl, after the shot, the barrel returned to its original position. The recoil of the barrel after the shot was limited by a limiter. To facilitate vertical aiming of the gun, two spring compensators were mounted under the barrel of the FlaK18 gun in two cylinders. The gun recoil brakes were equipped with a compensator. The length of FlaK18's retracement was variable. As already indicated, the gun’s rate of fire reached 20 rounds per minute; this was an undoubted advantage of this weapon; it was also ensured by the presence of a mechanism for automatically ejecting spent cartridges. The trained crew of the FlaK18 cannon can easily fire at such intensity. However, this required some physical training, since the assembled cartridge weighed 15 kilograms, and the anti-aircraft fragmentation projectile weighed 10.5 kilograms.

The gun had a carriage, which was connected to an 8-sided base by a hinge. The base itself was supported by a cross. The crosspiece had side frames, which rose upward during the transition from the combat to the traveling position. A longitudinal beam ran along the cannon, which served as a cart when traveling. At the base of the carriage there was a cabinet on which the upper machine (also known as a swivel) was mounted. The lower end of the swivel pin was inserted into the slide of the leveling mechanism. The rotating and lifting devices each had 2 guidance speeds. There was also a spring-pull type balancing mechanism. In the horizontal plane, the FlaK18 cannon provided circular fire; in the vertical plane, fire was provided in the range of +5 degrees. up to +85 degrees.

Composition of units of FlaK18 anti-aircraft guns.

The light anti-aircraft unit included each FlaK18 gun. At the discretion of management, absolutely any number of FlaK18 cannons could be combined into a battery, which was attached to command post. Each unit was armed with a trailer with guidance devices and a search light, which were powered by an autonomous diesel generator.

How did the searchlight interact with the FlaK18 anti-aircraft gun unit?

A searchlight attached to the object being protected from night raids by enemy aircraft searched for and “captured” (illuminated in the night sky) the target. After which the aiming installation operator had to provide visual tracking of the target. At the same time, the devices that were built into the target tracking (tracking) installation automatically sent data on the angle above the horizon and target height to the target guidance devices of each FlaK18 anti-aircraft gun. The rotation angle, elevation angle and fuse installation necessary for firing at enemy aircraft were determined by a special device, which transmitted them to the FlaK18 gun unit via a 108-core cable through the Ubertransunger 37 transmission tube device. In the event of a device failure, this information was transmitted by the operator by phone. Before the modernization of the gun, the fuse was installed next to the gun at a distance of 10 meters, then a device for installing the fuse appeared, which was mounted on the gun carriage. All fire control devices on the 8.8 mm FlaK 36/37/41 gun were duplicated. From the command center, data was displayed on the small dials of the gun. The gunner set exactly these values on his large dials and fired. Thanks to this decision, all firepower The batteries of 8.8mm FlaK 36/37/41 guns were tightly concentrated on one target, which had little chance of getting out alive.

The 8.8 FlaK 36/37/41 cannon was transported using 2 trailers (the Russians called rolling single-axle carts - “moves”) Sonderanhaenger 201. In a combat position they were detached, and joined during a campaign.

For all crews of 8.8 mm FlaK 36/37/41 guns, there was a standard according to which the crew had to “uncover” (remove the gun from the carts and assume a firing position) in just 20 seconds, and install the gun in no more than 1 minute. This was especially true when changing positions after firing shots, since in response the crew was covered by enemy artillery.

The 8.8 mm FlaK 36/37/41 cannon was armed with cartridge-loading rounds with projectiles that varied in purpose (anti-aircraft, anti-tank (several armor-piercing variants), anti-personnel). For flying targets, a fragmentation projectile was used, which had a remote fuse. With a projectile weight of 9 kg (explosive weight 0.87 kg), the initial velocity of the projectile was 820 m/s. The vertical range of the fragmentation projectile was 10.6 km.