On June 7, 1912, captain of the American Aviation Test Station, Captain Charles deForest Chandler, a Lewis light machine gun was carried onto a Wright B propulsion aircraft, fixing the gun to a crossbar.
The aircraft flew at a speed of 80 km/h over the intended target, and after several rounds of 5-shot point shots, the target targets were hit one by one. This test opened a new chapter in the air combat model, bearing in mind that before the Mexican Civil War in 1911, pilots on both sides were still relying on carry-on self-defense weapons to shoot at each other, so Captain Chandler became the first person to carry an automatic weapon into the aircraft.
Lewis machine guns were exported to China in the 1920s
The aircraft flew over the intended target at a speed of 80km/h, and after several rounds of 5-shot point shots, the target targets were hit one by one Source: Osprey Publishing
After the baptism of the First World War, the aviation industry has also experienced the development of the new moon, the British Super Marin S.6B racing aircraft has won the air racing championship many times, based on its prototype, it has also achieved the late famous "Spitfire" fighter, accumulating design experience for the later advanced fighter. After the aviation industry experienced a wave of leapfrog development, all countries began to pay attention to the development of air force.
The weapons experimenters naturally also thought about the caliber of the airborne weapons, and adapted to the medium and large caliber artillery that was more powerful and entered the soul. Bid farewell to the inefficiency and lack of firepower faced by light weapons such as the Levi's machine gun and the MG15 used in World War I.
The next few "big killers" to be mentioned interpret the design concept of airborne weapons of unlimited caliber at that time.
As early as during the Second Boer War, the British Vickers Company acquired the 37 mm Nordphend-Maxim gun. They improved on this weapon and produced the QF1 pounder, which received the nickname "Poom Gun" because of its "bang" sound when fired.
The Hurricane is equipped with a Rolls-Royce Grey-backed Falcon XX liquid-cooled V-12 engine with a power of 1185 horsepower
In 1941, the RAF found that the use of Hurricane fighters for dogfighting with the BF109 had become slightly overwhelming. But that didn't stop the Vickers cannon from giving the Hurricanes a second spring on the North African battlefield. Equipped with two 40mm cannons, the Hurricane IID soared above Montgomery and Rommel.
In the Battle of Britain, the royal air force was the greatest contributor
In 1942 alone, more than 140 Axis armored vehicles were destroyed by Hurricane IID equipped with Vickers cannons, which became a nightmare for many Axis armored soldiers. Given its excellent anti-tank capabilities, a few armor-piercing shells could penetrate the top of the weak turrets of German tanks, so the Allies in North Africa jokingly called it the "Can Opener".
The Hurricane fighters use stress-clad wings that have a higher survival rate than Spitfire fighters when facing ground fire
In 1943, in order to combat the increasingly rampant German U-boats, a Mosquito fighter loaded with a 57 mm QF6-pounder gun derived from the Navy was born. This powerful gun had anti-tank use in the Army and became an anti-ship weapon in the Navy. The giant shell was powerful enough to penetrate the hull from a distance of more than 1500 yards, penetrating the hull two feet below the waterline. As soon as the U-boat surfaces, it will become the prey of these "big killers". Pilots called the cannon-resistant Mosquito fighter tsetse (an African blood-sucking insect that causes sleeping sickness).
The United States also purchased the production rights to the QF 6-pounder anti-tank gun during World War II, designated the 57mm M1
The QF 6-pounder gun was the most commonly used anti-tank gun in the British Army in World War II. The QF stands for "Quick Firing" rapid-fire gun.
Later, the Luftwaffe modified many variants on the basis of the Ju.88, and also equipped with the same BordKanone BK 75 gun (German BordKanone: airborne gun) as the HS-129, and its P-5 experimental version was equipped with an 88 mm anti-tank gun in a pod, which was a chilling weapon of the same caliber as the Tiger tank.
Pictured: Ju.88P5 with an 88mm gun Source: WikiCommons
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Army Aviation Colonel James Doolittle led 16 B-25 medium-range bombers to bomb Tokyo and other industrial powerhouses with the determination to die, dealing a heavy blow to the arrogance of Japanese fascism. In a way, the B-25 Mitchell bomber ignited American patriotism. However, later the US military found that the B-25 was far less effective than the dive bomber represented by the SBD "Dauntless" when bombing horizontally against Japanese sea power.
In order to solve the vibration in the dive, many round holes have been added to the "fearless" subduction gear plate. Photo: Mark Carlisle
After thinking about it, the Americans decided to build a B-25 bomber based on the air gunboat armed to the teeth, leaving out the bomber identity of the B-25 using the M4 Sherman main gun as a B-airborne anti-tank gun, G and H model "Michel" In addition to carrying a full set of forward-facing .30 and 0.50 caliber light and heavy machine guns, the B-25 G/H bomber also carried a single 75 mm M1 type 76mm L/52 cannon. The guns at the nose need to be loaded manually (by the navigator) before each firing.
On the B-25 G/H, the Navigator transforms into a loader
Although the B-25G was originally intended to be used against surface ships, it has also been shown that such a modification may not be the wisest option. The sound of guns tearing in the eardrums and the black smoke from the gun exhaust in the cabin after firing made the crew members miserable. Before the end of the war, a total of 463 B-25G/H were manufactured, and although this variant had various shortcomings, its powerful ground/ship firepower also made it a veritable "air gunboat" for the Allies during World War II.
A 4-piece .30 machine gun hides an M1 76mm L/52 gun Source: WikiCommons
B-25 G/H perspective
The HS-129 is a piston propeller single-seat ground attack aircraft developed by the German Henschel company during World War II, although the aerodynamic layout of the rush makes the HS-129 appear sluggish and bulky. But the HS-129b3, equipped with a 75 mm anti-tank gun, can also easily complete anti-tank tasks.
Heinkel HS-129b3 in flight Source: WikiCommons
Unlike the Allied B-25G/H, which requires manual reloading and supply, the HS-129's main gun is a semi-automatic weapon. Based on Vermacht's Pak 40 anti-tank gun, supplied by a rotating 12-round magazine. After each shot, the waste shell immediately falls from the lower boom compartment.
Pictured: The German Army's PAK 40 75mm anti-tank gun Source: WikiCommons
In order to mount the 75mm gun on the Hs129B-2, the gun Pak 40L was partially modified. The most notable feature was the installation of a larger muzzle brake to reduce recoil, while the original mechanically controlled loading system was also changed to electrical control. The modified gun was renamed BK7.5, with a rate of fire of 40 rounds per minute, a gun velocity of 932.7 m/s, a 90° hit at a distance of 1000 m that could penetrate 130 mm thick armor, and its drum-shaped magazine contained 12 rounds of ammunition and each shell weighed 11.8 kg. In the event of an emergency, the pilot can throw away the gun compartment under the belly of the aircraft for a forced landing.
The huge 75mm anti-tank gun forced the plane to carry only 12 rounds of shells at a time
Although deployed in limited numbers late in World War II, the HS-129, equipped with a 75mm anti-tank gun, could easily destroy any tank on the battlefield. Rudolf Heinz Rufu was an HS-129 ace pilot in the Luftwaffe with a record of 80 Soviet tanks.
With the development of ground attack weapons, the former large-caliber airborne guns have been replaced by many precision-guided ground-to-ground missiles, and we may only find the former "air gunboat" on the AC-130J, which has been upgraded in recent years.
Pictured: AC-130J Ghost Rider Aerial Gunboat Source: USAF
Pictured: 105mm gun assembled with the AC-130 Source: USAF
cite:
Guns in the sky— Military History Now
World War II Aerial Tank Killer – HS129 Attack Aircraft – Air Net