World War II Database

Country of Origin	Japan
Type	Aircraft Autocannon
Caliber	20.000 mm
Length	1.890 m
Weight	34.000 kg
Ammunition Weight	0.13 kg
Rate of Fire	400 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity	750 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbase

In 1935, the Japanese Navy began searching for 20-millimeter autocannons/machine guns to arm future fighter aircraft. It settled on the designs by the Swiss firm Oerlikon in 1937. A newly formed company, Dai Nihon Heiki KK, established by retired Navy officers, purchased two licenses from Oerlikon, one for Oerlikon FF and another for Oerlikon FFL, to produce Type 99 Mark 1 Machine Guns (Kyukyu Shiki Ichigo Kizyu) and Type 99 Mark 2 Machine Guns (Kyukyu Shiki Nigo Kizyu), respectively.

Type 99 Mark 2 machine guns were heavier than the Mark 1 weapons, fired a larger cartridge, had a slower rate of fire, and had a higher higher muzzle velocity. There were only fixed applications for Mark 2 machine guns (meanwhile, Mark 1 were also installed on flexible mounts). Mark 2 machine guns were introduced in 1942, 3 years after the Mark 1 design, and quickly gained favor over their Mark 1 counterparts. They were mounted aboard later variants of A6M Zero fighters, among many other models. These weapons were initially fed from drums, but later variants introduced belt-feeding capability.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Nov 2017

Photographs

Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends:  Facebook  Reddit  Twitter Stay updated with WW2DB:  RSS Feeds

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Comment Type	General comment/question Additional information about this page Looking for more information on this topic Looking for information about my relative
Your Comments
	Submit

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.