Anti Aircraft Weapons....

[Lucky13]

Which were the best anti aircaft guns and systems of WWII?

[Soren]

Tough question mate.

I really like the 2cm FlakVierling 38, it was probably the best small caliber AAA gun of the war.

The 3.7cm FlaKzwilling 43 is probably the best AAA gun of the war, having over double the firepower of the 40mm British Bofors AAA gun.

In terms of vehicle mounted AAA guns, well the FlakVierling 38 again, when mouned on the Wirbelwind, featuring all hydraulic traverse & elevation and excellent firepower it was a devastating weapon against a/c and esp. infantry.

God it must have been scary business being under attack by a Wirbelwind firing four 2cm cannons at you from an agile and accurate mounting. At 450 rpm a piece that's a RoF of 1,800 rpm!

[trackend]

Although not the best I still thought the 8 barelled pom pom was good for low level ship defence ( 720 2lb rpm) unfortunately they lacked muzzel velocity and tracer rounds so ended up being replaced by the Bofors I think the pom pom should have been developed more.
I always thought the Bofors was a Swedish gun Soren not British

[Lucky13]

Bofors is Swedish, yes....

[Soren]

It is indeed, but the British used it as their main AAA gun. But it is Swedish.

[Airframes]

And it's STILL used today.....!

[Soren]

A vastly improved version, yes.

[Lucky13]

Crikey!

[Soren]

Well it's very simple, combine a lot of computer power with a good gun and vupti you've got a modern day AAA gun.

[Soren]

I do trust you guys see the difference

[Airframes]

Wow! That's impressive! Am I right in thinking that the 'traditional' Bofors 40mm weapon is still in use, in modified form, by some units of various forces, eg, navies? There was one, with modern carriage and laying system, at the place I lectured at until recently. It had been released from British 'War Reserve Stock' only about 3 years ago, I believe, but of course it could have been 'old' stock from the '60'/70's.

[Glider]

Its worth remembering that a WW2 vintage L60 was credited with a Mirage during the Falklands

[SoD Stitch]

Originally Posted by Soren

In terms of vehicle mounted AAA guns, well the FlakVierling 38 again, when mouned on the Wirbelwind, featuring all hydraulic traverse & elevation and excellent firepower it was a devastating weapon against a/c and esp. infantry.

God it must have been scary business being under attack by a Wirbelwind firing four 2cm cannons at you from an agile and accurate mounting. At 450 rpm a piece that's a RoF of 1,800 rpm!

I agree w/Soren; the Wirbelwind was probably the best track-mounted AA gun of the War. I never understood why Germany didn't produce more of those; and why they moved on to the Ostwind, which did have a larger-caliber cannon (3.7 cm), but only had one barrel and, therefore, a much lower rate of fire.

[timshatz]

Go with the Quad 40 bofors. Great gun, used, for the most part, as shipboard AA. I think the US Navy considered it the largest machine gun in it's service. I would go with that for a machine gun. Also, I think it used a proximity fuse (not positive but I think the marks later in the war used that fuse).

If you're talking Cannons, there are a ton of good ones. German 88 is legendary, but everyone seemed to have a good cannon in that range (US 90mm and the British 3.7") that had greater range. However, the 88's fame was based on it's versitility. The thing was all over the place. It was used for just about everything. Aircraft, infantry, tanks, you name it.

[RATHED]

I might be wrong, but it looks to me that the picture Soren posted IS NOT a Bofors AAA, but rather a 50. cal mounted on a remote controlled APV turret. Notice the grenade launchers, and the muzzel, tipycall M3...