AAA, from 45mm to 57mm: a missed opportunity or waste of resources?

[tomo pauk]

You've got it backward. Killing ground targets is the primary purpose of Heer 20mm weapons from WWI (i.e. 20mm Becker) right up to the present day. The large HE payload of German 20mm shells allows these weapons to function in a manner similiar to the Soviet AGS-17 30mm automatic grenade launcher. Protection against CAS aircraft is just a bonus.



37mm flak was primarily intended for air defense.

Since the name was 'Flak', not 'Iak', I'd say the purpose of the German 2cm Flak weaponry was indeed to fight 'flugzeug', not 'infanterie' The Luftwaffe was one of the major users, so that further points towards the intended use - killing aircraft. SR6 covered the HE vs. total shell weight ratio.

[davebender]

Luftwaffe 2cm, 3.7cm, 5cm and 8.8cm weapons were intended for use against aircraft. The Heer had different priorities.

[Juha]

Luftwaffe 2cm, 3.7cm, 5cm and 8.8cm weapons were intended for use against aircraft. The Heer had different priorities.

If so, why Heer gave the 2cm FlaK to its AA units? And where you got the idea that Heeres Fla units were not for AA but for ground support?

Juha

[Shortround6]

Luftwaffe 2cm, 3.7cm, 5cm and 8.8cm weapons were intended for use against aircraft. The Heer had different priorities.

How many 2cm, 3.7cm, 5cm and 8.8cm AA weapons did the Heer even have? Many of the "Heer's" anti-aircraft weapons were actually in Luftwaffe units attached to Heer formations as in an a Luftwaffe AA battalion being attached to a Heer infantry division.

The Heer had a lot of 2cm, 3.7cm, 5cm weapons but they weren't the same guns as the AA guns let alone the same mounts.