Representative work of small Nordic countries: 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun in World War II.

In the Second World War, it was rare for the armies of two warring countries to be formally equipped with the same weapons except for the temporary use of the captured weapons of the other side. But there is one exception, that is, the Swedish 40mm (1.57 inch) Bofors L/60 anti-aircraft gun (hereinafter referred to as 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun), which is widely used by the Allies and Axis countries and regarded as a standard air defense weapon. Since its birth in 1930s, the 40mm Bofors antiaircraft gun has been exported, licensed, copied or improved, becoming the most widely used antiaircraft gun in World War II. Bofors Company was founded in 1894, and was founded by Alfred, a famous Swedish chemist. Bernhard? In order to strengthen the national defense industry of the motherland, alfred bernhard nobel invested 654.38+0.3 billion Swedish kronor to acquire Bofors-Gource Company in Wemland Province, and changed its name to Bofors Company, which mainly manufactures steel and explosives. Thanks to Nobel's painstaking efforts, Bofors grew stronger and began to produce a variety of weapons and export them abroad, making Bofors, a Nordic town with a history dating back to the middle of17th century, famous in the world. By World War I, because Sweden remained neutral, Bofors could easily sell weapons to both sides of the war, so it became the world's top weapons manufacturer. After World War I, Germany, as a defeated country, was restricted by the Versailles Agreement and could not develop any new weapons of mass destruction. In the 1920s, Krupp, a famous German company, acquired part of Bofors' shares and transferred part of its production technology, and cooperated with Bofors to design and develop various new guns in Sweden. This is undoubtedly a rare opportunity for Bofors. Swedish designers have gained brand-new design concepts and valuable design experience from German designers. But in fact, due to the significant differences in design concepts between Bofors and Krupp, Swedish designers have been focusing on the research and development of light artillery, while German designers are more inclined to develop heavy artillery. In the mid-1930s, the cooperation between the two companies was suspended after the international restrictions on German weapons development were gradually relaxed. After parting ways, Krupp Company of Germany developed FlaK-36 88mm anti-aircraft gun, which made great contributions to German neutrality in World War II, while Bofors Company developed the famous 40mm Bofors L/60 anti-aircraft gun. M32 and M34 1925, Bofors Company was commissioned by the Swedish Navy to develop 20 mm (0.79 inch) caliber fully automatic ship-borne anti-aircraft guns, but later the military found that the power of small caliber anti-aircraft guns was limited, so it planned to develop larger caliber anti-aircraft guns. 1928, the Swedish navy asked Bofors to design a 40mm shipborne anti-aircraft gun, which was powerful enough to kill enemy planes with one shot. 1932, the first 40 mm sample gun was installed on the ship for test firing and named M32. After being approved by the navy, Bofors Company began to improve the towed 40mm field anti-aircraft gun suitable for army equipment on the basis of M32. Two years later, the sample gun was completed with a water-cooled barrel. The actual barrel diameter ratio is 56 times, which is customarily called 60 times (that is, L/60). In an interview, this kind of gun attracted the attention of the military all over the world at that time, especially those countries that were setting up armored forces. This new type of army towed antiaircraft gun has two advantages: 1) it has strong maneuverability and can move with armored forces; 2) It fills the fire gap between light antiaircraft guns and heavy antiaircraft guns for a long time. Its power and shooting height are better than that of 20mm light antiaircraft guns, and its firing rate is higher than 76.2mm. It can effectively deal with medium and low altitude air targets. From left to right, 40mm L60 anti-aircraft gun ammunition, L70 anti-aircraft gun ammunition and 57mm anti-aircraft gun ammunition produced by Bofors Company are 1934. Many foreign military delegations arrived in Sweden for investigation, and they all expressed great interest in the army towed anti-aircraft guns just developed by Bofors, and put forward their purchase intentions in succession. However, foreign delegations put forward opinions on the use of water-cooled barrel for sample guns. Therefore, Bofors Company improved the air-cooled barrel of its towed 40mm field antiaircraft gun, which is the benchmark model of 40mm Bofors antiaircraft gun-M34. The reference M34 M34 40mm antiaircraft gun has a wheeled gun mount chassis, on which the gun mount and all control components are placed. The open structure gives gunners a lot of operating space, but it also brings the disadvantage of poor protection. The upper gun frame is connected with the gun body, and comprises a lifter, a balancer, an aiming mechanism and a trunnion; The lower gun frame is cross-shaped, mainly including a rotating mechanism, which is integrated with the chassis. Among them, the front and rear support frames are box-shaped steel beams, the left and right support frames are retractable, and jacks with adjustable height are installed to ensure that the whole chassis remains stable and horizontal. The chassis of M34 antiaircraft gun adopts the layout of two shafts and four wheels, so it is necessary to put away the cannon wheels when changing from the traction state to the combat state, but in an emergency, it can also be put into battle immediately under the traction state. The chassis is connected with the tractor through a traction rod, and a set of Ackerman steering system is installed at the front end of the axle. In the traveling state, the muzzle turns to the rear and is locked by the traveling fixing frame behind the chassis. The lower gun rack is equipped with cushions on both sides of the gun, and two gunners sit on it to operate the gun. Among them, the right assistant gunner is responsible for controlling the rotating mechanism, and the left main gunner is responsible for controlling the high-low mechanism and stepping on the pedal to fire. The aiming system of M34 antiaircraft gun consists of a set of reflective optical sights and a simple mechanical computer, which was developed by Bofors Company for fast tracking air targets. This aiming system enables gunners to effectively correct air targets flying at a speed of 563 km/h (350 mph), thus greatly enhancing the shooting accuracy. But it also increases the difficulty of control, and gunners need long-term training to master the shooting essentials of anti-aircraft guns. In addition, the lower gun mount is equipped with a commander's seat cushion behind the assistant gunner. The commander is responsible for observing the target and shooting effect and ordering the gunner to fire. The commander shouted out all orders. The gun part of M34 antiaircraft gun includes barrel, barrel and ammunition supply mechanism. The barrel is air-cooled and its length is 56 times of the diameter ratio. At the back of the gun bore is an upright wedge-shaped bolt. The action of opening and closing the bolt is usually done automatically by the recoil of the gun, but it can also be done manually if necessary. The first shell must be filled manually by the loader. The ammunition supply mechanism located above the gun bore has three rows of guide rails, and each row can accommodate four rounds of magazines. The magazine will be taken out automatically, and only one shell can be pressed into the gun bore at a time. After shooting, use recoil to open the bolt, throw the empty shell, another shell enters the gun chamber, and close the bolt again to realize full-automatic loading and repeated shooting. During the shooting process, the main gunner only needs to step on the firing pedal, and the loader is responsible for loading the shells in time in a standing or sitting position. A well-trained gun group can replace the barrel in one minute. The theoretical maximum firing rate of M34 antiaircraft gun can reach 140 rounds/min, but due to the limitation of loading speed, the actual maximum firing rate can only reach 80 rounds/min. Initially, M34 antiaircraft gun was equipped with only one kind of high-explosive tracer. Its warhead is equipped with a fuse and weighs 1 kg (2.2 pounds). The whole cartridge case, together with the cartridge case and charge, weighs about 2. 15 kg (4.74 pounds). Later, Bofors gradually developed new high-explosive bombs, training bombs and armor-piercing bombs for M34 antiaircraft guns. Bofors soon modified the sound of the gun slightly on the basis of M34, and produced M36 40mm anti-aircraft guns for export. Polish Navy, Austrian Army and Belgian Army ordered M36 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns at the initial stage of export imitation, and the purchase volume was very small. 1935, Poland and Hungary obtained the concession to produce M36 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and began to manufacture them in China. By 1936, the purchase volume of M36 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns began to increase. New customers included Britain and Dutch East India, which purchased 203 guns and 72 guns respectively. After obtaining the franchise, the Polish National Arsenal manufactured more than 500 M36 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, most of which were equipped with Polish troops, and 168 guns were exported to Britain, Romania and the Netherlands. APW-36 40 mm antiaircraft gun authorized by Poland and Hungary is the country that manufactures the largest number of 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft guns after obtaining the concession. Its production work was mainly carried out by the Hungarian Ministry of Railways Factory (MAVAG for short), and at least 767 doors were produced before the war. The Hungarian army appreciated the excellent performance of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, but it felt a little powerless to be maneuvered only by wheeled vehicles, so it entrusted Gans Arsenal in Budapest to improve the 40mm Bofors self-propelled anti-aircraft gun on the basis of the 38m Torti II light tank chassis, thus producing the 40mm nimrod self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. In World War II, Hungary, which joined the Axis Group, provided Nazi Germany with 262 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and as many as 735 spare barrels. Moreover, Hungary has made many technical improvements to the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, which was used with fire control radar at the earliest time, greatly improving the shooting accuracy. In a battle on the Tezel River in 1943, 1 The Hungarian 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft artillery battalion equipped with fire control radar shot down all 25 Pe-2 bombers dispatched by the Soviet Air Force. In addition, Hungary also converted a few 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns into aviation guns and installed them on the Me 2 10Ca- 1 heavy twin-engine fighter-bomber produced by Messerschmidt Company of Germany for the Hungarian Air Force. Hungarian anti-aircraft gun unit and its 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun 1935. The Belgian Army ordered eight M34 40mm anti-aircraft guns from Bofors Company and began to copy them in Belgium's national arsenal (FN). 1937, FN sold 34 imitation 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns to France, and the latter bought 8 guns from FN in 1940. These 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns are used for air defense in Paris, the capital of France. France originally intended to buy the franchise directly from Bofors in Sweden, but with the defeat of France, this plan also fell through. 1936, Norway, which belongs to the Nordic region, began to order 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns from Bofors of Sweden, and obtained the franchise production right on 1940. Soon after, Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany, and its 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and production lines all fell into German hands. Nazi Germany's Flak-28 (Bofors) 40mm anti-aircraft gun Before World War II, Nazi Germany did not have much interest in 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Most German officers proudly believe that the air defense firepower combination consisting of FLAK-36 88mm heavy antiaircraft gun and FLAK-38 20mm light antiaircraft gun is almost perfect. However, some sober-minded people in the German Air Force realized that this combination has a great firepower gap, and the 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun is the most suitable one to make up for this gap. On March 1938, Austria and Germany merged. Previously, Austria had obtained the franchise right of M36 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun from Bofors. At the time of the merger, Austria had just finished producing 24 doors, and another 26 doors were nearing completion. After the merger, although the German Air Force hoped to produce all the remaining 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns to equip the German air defense forces, the Germans insisted on using all the ground field guns needed by the Austrian Arsenal army for production. Until 1 may, 9391day, in the german air force marshal Herman? After Green personally asked, some Austrian arsenals resumed the production of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns for the German Air Force, and the Germans renamed it Flak-28 Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns. Compared with M34 40mm Bofors antiaircraft gun, Flak-28 (Bofors) has only one change: it is equipped with a sight made by Goerz company in Germany. German Flak-28(Bofors) 40mm anti-aircraft gun From July 65438 to July 0940, most western European countries were occupied by Nazi Germans, and all the licensed manufacturers of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in these countries also fell into German hands. However, only Norway's Kong * * Erg Arsenal has been specialized in producing 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns for the Germans, and the other manufacturers have been required by the Germans to produce other guns. In the equipment report of the German Air Force in June 1 942+1October1,it was recorded that the German air defense forces were equipped with 340 40 Bofors anti-aircraft guns. By June 1944, Kangbao Arsenal had built 94 new doors and repaired 234 doors for the German Air Force. The German navy also uses a large number of 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. By July 194 1, the German navy had equipped 247 Flak-28 40mm anti-aircraft guns, which were widely installed on coastal air defense batteries and various auxiliary ships. 1942,65438+1February, the German navy purchased 800 Flak-28 (Bofors) 40mm anti-aircraft guns, but it was difficult for Norwegian and Hungarian manufacturers to achieve such a high output at that time. By July, 1944, only 578 guns were completed. These anti-aircraft guns became the standard anti-aircraft weapons of German ships. About 60 late German high-speed torpedo boats (S Ting for short) used it as the main gun, and many large German warships, such as "Plinz Eugen" heavy cruiser, also replaced the original 37mm anti-aircraft gun with Flak-28 (Bofors) 40mm anti-aircraft gun. Flak-28 (Bofors) 40mm anti-aircraft gun was installed on the German heavy cruiser "prinz eugen"; Soviet M 1939 37mm anti-aircraft gun; Although the Soviet Union did not have special permission to buy or manufacture 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, so did the m 1939 37 mm (1.46 inch) anti-aircraft guns widely used by the Soviet Union during World War II. Once Bofors M34 40 mm anti-aircraft gun was born, the Soviet Union used it as a template to narrow the caliber and trial-produced a small number of 25 mm (0.98 inch) anti-aircraft guns, which appeared in several battles in the early days of the Great Patriotic War. 1939, after gaining the trial-production experience of 25mm antiaircraft gun, the Soviet Union expanded the caliber to 37mm, and put it into production that year, and finally finalized it as M 1939 type 37mm antiaircraft gun. Compared with Bofors M34, the structure of Soviet M 1939 37 mm antiaircraft gun body is almost the same, but the manufacturing process of parts is much rougher, and it is replaced by simple gun chassis and sight. In addition, some M 1939 antiaircraft guns are equipped with shields. Although the decrease of caliber leads to the decrease of ammunition power, it also greatly improves the firing rate. The actual combat shows that the rough M 1939 antiaircraft gun is very suitable for the national conditions of the Soviet Union at that time, and its "cutting corners" greatly reduces the manufacturing cost, which is very conducive to mass and rapid production in wartime. In the mid-1930s, the British army began to seek an air defense weapon that could effectively deal with low-altitude and high-speed flying targets. The initial choice was a 2-pound anti-aircraft gun developed by British Vickers Company for the Royal Navy. However, its size and weight are too large and its mobility is extremely poor, which is not suitable for the British army, which was highly mechanized at that time. The British army immediately focused on the Swedish Bofors M34 40mm anti-aircraft gun, and they greatly appreciated its advantages of strong maneuverability, fast firing speed and high accuracy. 1937 In April, the British Army officially ordered 100 M34 40 mm anti-aircraft guns from Bofors, Sweden. In order to meet the needs of the whole Commonwealth army, the British army ordered 300 original or licensed 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns from Bofors of Sweden, the factory of Hungarian Ministry of Railways and the Polish national arsenal at 1938. These anti-aircraft guns are not only popular in the Commonwealth army, but also favored by the Royal Navy. They tried their best to get 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns from the army to replace the original Vickers 2-pound ship-borne anti-aircraft guns. At the beginning of 1939, the huge demand of the army and navy made Britain and other Commonwealth countries buy the franchise from Bofors in Sweden. There are mainly three manufacturers responsible for production, namely nuffield Company near Coventry, UK, Dominion Bridge Company near Hamilton, Canada and Australian Arsenal near Melbourne. In June of the same year, Novelty Company completed the first 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun made by Commonwealth countries. In order to shorten the production time, the 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft gun in Britain adopted a simplified Mk II gun mount. Compared with Swedish M34 antiaircraft gun, the main difference of Mk II gun mount is that it uses a large number of tubular supports, cancels the balance mechanism and cancels the mechanical computer for fast target tracking. In addition, the Mk II gun mount is equipped with a shield. 1941April1kloc-0/day, workers in the workshop of Dominican Bridge Company in Canada were processing 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns made in the Commonwealth are all electrically driven, so they usually carry matching power generation devices. Compared with Bofors M34 in Sweden, the 40mm Bofors antiaircraft gun made in Commonwealth replaced the original mechanical computer with a set of electronic-mechanical hybrid fire control system in Christen, England. The shooter only needs to set the range, target speed and shooting angle before launching, and the system can automatically aim and track the air target and constantly correct it. Since 1943, the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun equipped by the Commonwealth Army has also been equipped with the British stookey automatic correction sight. The Royal Navy's shipborne 40mm Bofors antiaircraft guns were also widely used in World War II, and five air-cooled and two water-cooled guns were improved successively. Among them, the water-cooled model is mainly manufactured by Nottingham Royal Arsenal. The Royal Navy's shipborne 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun is actually a simplified version of the Commonwealth Army model, which removes the chassis of the wheeled gun car and is directly installed on the ship. Usually, small ships rely on manpower to turn and adjust the pitch of artillery, while large warships are driven by electricity. The 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun on the Australian navy cruiser Sydney is firing. Among all kinds of Bofors antiaircraft guns equipped by the Royal Navy, Mk IV dual mounted 40mm antiaircraft gun was the most advanced shipborne antiaircraft gun in the world at that time. It was originally designed by Hazemeyer, a Dutch subsidiary of Siemens before World War II. On the basis of Bofors M32 shipborne antiaircraft gun in Sweden, it added a complete set of fire control system including radar, which was an advanced design at that time. 1940, before the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans, the only prototype gun made by Heismel was installed on a Dutch naval minesweeper and sailed to Britain with the design drawings. Britain put it into production and named it Mk IV dual-mounted 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. On this basis, Britain improved the Mk V dual-mounted 40 mm anti-aircraft gun with simple structure. The latter can be controlled by its own fire control device and RP50 remote control fire control device. The demand for Mk IV 40 mm antiaircraft guns copied by Britain on the basis of Heismel antiaircraft guns is in short supply. The Royal Navy once installed a batch of Army 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft guns on merchant ships as air defense weapons. In addition, before the ship-borne 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun was formally finalized, the Army 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun was also installed on the battleship Prince of Wales. In addition, the Royal Navy is equipped with some specially improved 40mm Bofors antiaircraft guns, among which the most complicated structure is the stable range antiaircraft gun (referred to as "STAAG"). This antiaircraft gun includes 262 radar, automatic target interception device, early warning device, radar tracking device, stabilizing device, rangefinder and standby generator. In addition, it is equipped with a redesigned shield and hydraulic drive system, which greatly increases the production cost, weight and structural complexity of the whole gun. Because of its strange appearance, STAAG was nicknamed "Polygonal Monster" by Royal Navy sailors. Compared with the complicated STAAG 40 mm anti-aircraft gun, the Mk VII 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun is much smaller, which is very suitable for being installed on small ships such as fast patrol boats and minesweepers. In particular, Mk VII, made in Canada, borrowed the gun base of the 20 mm Irbil shipborne anti-aircraft gun, which is very small and can only accommodate three gunners, loaders and commanders, and is equipped with a hydraulic control system. This model is only equipped with Royal Canadian Navy ships. The 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun equipped by British airborne troops reduced the weight of Mk II gun mount and improved it into Mk IV specially equipped with airborne troops. Mk IV gun rack has four supporting frames, which can be quickly removed, loaded into Hamilkar heavy glider in England together with the gun body, and parachuted with the airborne troops of the glider. The lightest Bofors anti-aircraft gun rack equipped by British airborne troops is a two-wheeled gun rack nicknamed bantam made in Canada. It has only three supporting frames, which can be towed by 1 American Willie Jeep or airlifted by 1 Douglas C-47 transport plane. Commonwealth countries 40mm Bofors self-propelled anti-aircraft guns The Commonwealth mainly produces two kinds of 40mm Bofors self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. The first model is Mk I Morris 40mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun designed by Novelty Company for the British Defence Force, with Morris gun tractor as the chassis. Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns caught the attention of British generals in a shooting demonstration, and their response time in combat was much shorter than that of general traction models. This self-propelled antiaircraft gun, improved by Novit Company, has the shape of Mk I 40 mm Morris self-propelled antiaircraft gun. Its crew consists of 1 driver, 1 conductor and two gunners, and can carry 120 rounds of ammunition. The gun frame is basically the same as the 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun made in the Commonwealth, with only a few parts slightly changed. In addition, except in emergency, in order to achieve accurate shooting effect, Morris self-propelled anti-aircraft gun still needs to put down four conical support frames before shooting. Morris self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were equipped with Commonwealth troops before Normandy landing, and they showed their talents on the western front battlefield. However, its weakness is also exposed, because it directly adopts the original gun frame of 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, and there is no armor protection. At the beginning of 1944, 1 Crusader), the Mk III tank damaged by the British army was equipped with an open turret and a140mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, which became the Crusader I self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (the British used to call it an anti-aircraft tank). Crusader I air defense tank is equipped with a turret with an open top and an automatic loader, and the discarded shell casings are thrown out of the turret directly from the front. The crew consists of 1 pilot, 1 captain and 2 gunners. Compared with the Hungarian hunter 40mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, Crusader I is extremely flexible because it uses electric drive to rotate turret and tilt barrel. However, the armor protection of Crusader I still failed to meet the requirements of the British army, so it was not put into mass production. But on this basis, Britain improved the Crusader II and III air defense tanks, equipped with fully enclosed turrets and smaller double 20 mm Swiss rapid-fire guns. In the middle and late World War II, they were equipped with mechanized troops from Britain and Free Poland, which became their most effective air defense weapons. The Hungarian Hunter 40mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is modified from the 38m Torti II light tank, which is actually a Swedish Landsverk)L-62 light tank licensed by Hungary. Its chassis is equipped with an open turret composed of inclined armor plates, which contains the gun frame and gun body of 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft gun, as well as 1 commander, 2 gunners and 1 loader. The barrel extends out of the turret through the vertical slot, and the shooting elevation angle is very large. Its biggest disadvantage is that it relies entirely on manpower to rotate the turret and adjust the inclination of the barrel, which greatly limits the flexibility of the gun. 194 1 5438+00 In June, the first prototype of Hunter self-propelled antiaircraft gun was tested. Its original design intention is to become a multi-purpose self-propelled gun, which can be used for air defense and anti-tank. However, after the official service of 1942, it showed that its anti-tank function in actual combat was minimal, and it was finally regarded as a special self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. It is worth mentioning that the 40mm hunter self-propelled antiaircraft gun is the first 40mm Bofors self-propelled antiaircraft gun with armored protection. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, China purchased a large number of M 1939 anti-aircraft guns from the Soviet Union. Chinese people's Volunteer Army's anti-aircraft artillery force has fully played its light and flexible characteristics. Volunteers directly put it on the train transporting strategic materials, effectively resisting the air strikes of American fighter bombers. A volunteer antiaircraft gun squad once shot down enemy planes 1939 with an M 1939 antiaircraft gun, and won the collective third-class merit twice. In the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, volunteers shot down 1939 Soviet-made M 1959 37mm anti-aircraft guns. 1955, China copied the M 1939 type 55 37mm anti-aircraft gun, which was the first domestic anti-aircraft gun equipped after the liberation of new China. It was not installed by our army until the 1980s.