Oerlikon FF (20 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• ▄Fokker D.XXI

General info

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Available ammunition

• Default: HEI · HEI · P · T
• Universal: HEI · SAP-I · AP · T
• Tracers: AP · T · HEI
• Ground targets: AP · AP · AP · HEI · T
• Stealth: HEI · HEI · SAP-I · AP

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	17	15	11	7	5	2
Universal	38	36	28	20	15	11
Tracers	38	36	28	20	15	11
Ground targets	38	36	28	20	15	11
Stealth	38	36	28	20	15	11

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The Oerlikon FF's story begins in World War I with a German industrialist named Reinhold Becker. The War Ministry issued a specification for a cannon with a caliber below 37mm and a weight of 70kg that could fire a 10-round burst. Becker responded to this request with the Becker Type M2 20mm cannon. Loading a 20x70mmRB cartridge with an advanced primer ignition blowback action and a 300rpm cyclic rate, it would see limited use on German Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte) planes before the war ended and some use as an anti-aircraft gun.

The Treaty of Versailles at the end of the war prohibited most German arms development including of aircraft weapons. As a result, in 1922, the design was transferred in 1919 to a Swiss firm named SEMAG near Zurich. They would refine the Becker design to fire a more powerful 20x100mmRB cartridge at 350rp dubbed the SEMAG L. SEMAG went bankrupt in 1924 and the design and most of the engineers would be bought out by Oerlikon who would market as the Oerlikon L. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Oerlikon would continue to refine their 20mm cannon design with the Oerlikon FF appearing in 1935 modified to serve as a wing-mounted weapon. The FF needed modifications for cartridge ejection and remote firing for the design to work, but these were achieved created a weapon that fired 128 gram 20x72mm cartridge at at a muzzle velocity of 2,700f/s (600m/s) and a cyclic rate of 520 rounds per minute. As tension around the world rose throughout the 1930s, the Oerlikon company received requests to license their cannon from numerous companies including France, Germany, Japan, and Britain.

Britain, who officially intended to use the Oerlikon FF as an anti-tank weapon, were desiring a 20mm cannon for their aircraft that could fire through the engine and bought the Oerlikon FF for testing in 1935. While the RAF did not adopt it, the Royal Navy did impressed by the cannon's ability to fire low quality ammunition reliably and obtained its ground-based anti-aircraft cousin. France, pursuing the same type of cannon development as their allies across the Channel, tested Oerlikons in Hispano-Suzia engines and got a license that led to the creation of the Hispano HS.9. However, a patent dispute with Oerlikon caused Hispano-Suiza to lose the license so they continued with their own design the Hispano 404. Japan would be the next country to adopt the design in late 1935 ordering 32 on September 17th, before negotiating a license agreement to make Oerlikon FFF as the Type 99 Model 1 on June 6th, 1936. The Germans would follow suit and adopt the Oerlikon FF under license as the MG FF, which would arm most of Germany's inter-war aircraft until it was phased in 1941 for the MG 151 (20 mm).

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

Sweden aircraft cannons
20 mm	Akan m/41A · Akan m/45 · Akan m/47B · Akan m/47C · Akan m/49 · Oerlikon FF
27 mm	Akan m/85
30 mm	Akan m/55 · Akan m/75
57 mm	Akan m/47
	Foreign:
20 mm	MG FF (Germany) · MG 151 (Germany)
23 mm	GSh-23L (USSR)
30 mm	2A42 (USSR) · M230E-1 (USA) · MK 108 (Germany)