soc.history.war.world-war-ii

Davide Pastore wrote:
> "Don Phillipson" ha scritto
>
>> 2. The largest artillery piece fitted to any aircraft appears
>> to have been the 75 mm. gun.
>
> 102mm on P.108/A (but who cares for Italians?)

It was never used operationally, so but it certainly was the largest
artillery piece fitted to any aircraft. As for most effective in real
life, I would propose:

A) For ground attack:

1. The 75 mm BK 7.5 high velocity gun in some Hs 129 and Ju 88.
2. The 75 mm T13E1 medium velocity gun in the B-25H

3. The twin 37 mm NS-37 autocannons in some Il-2.
3. The twin 40 mm guns in Hurricane Mk. IID and IV.

I have not included Mosquito FB Mk.XVIII with its 57 mm cannon, since it
was not used for ground attack in practice, but theoretically it should
go to the third or perhaps even second place (the T13E1 was not
automatic unlike the 57 mm Molins).

The utility of the 75 mm guns for ground attack is somewhat questionable
as well, since they were very specialized weapons that required expert
crews in order to be effective. So, for general ground attack the 40 mm
and 37 mm guns were probably the most effective. The Germans also had
the BK 3.7 in that class, but for general ground attack it was less
effective than the aforementioned guns due to slow rate of fire.
However, in capable hands it was a fairly effective tank killer.

B) For air combat:

1. The 50 mm BK 5 cannon in some Me 410
2. The 37 mm NS-37 cannon in the Yak-9T

The Me 410 with the BK 5 was a specialized bomber killer and nearly
useless for fighter vs. fighter combat, but the Yak-9T was actually
quite useful as an all-round fighter. Great skill was required though
and only expert pilots were allowed to fly the Yak-9T.


Tero P. Mustalahti