Considering the Japanese anti-aircraft weapons that were in the army and navy during the Second World War, it can be noted that most of it did not meet modern requirements. This was partly due to the weakness of Japanese industry and a lack of resources, and partly to a lack of understanding by the Japanese command of the role of anti-aircraft artillery. The situation was aggravated by the large variety of available samples, the Imperial Japanese Army and the Navy were armed with guns of different years of development with different calibers.
In 1938, an automatic 20-mm Type 98 cannon was adopted by the Japanese army. By its design, it repeated the French Hotchkiss machine gun mod. 1929 This weapon was originally developed as a dual-use system: to fight lightly armored ground and air targets.
The first modification of the gun had wooden wheels with spokes for transportation by horse harness or truck. At the position, the gun was installed on the legs of the bed, which were bred, forming two rear supports, in addition to the third, front one. After the final installation of the tripod paws (for a calculation of 2-3 people, this process took 3 minutes), the gunner-gunner was located on a small seat. It was possible to shoot directly from the wheels, but in the process of firing the gun became unstable and its accuracy deteriorated seriously. Later, a version was created, disassembled into parts and transported in packs.
20-mm cannon Type 98
The Type 98 20 mm cannon used a fairly powerful projectile, the same as that of the Type 97 anti-tank gun. At a distance of 245 m, it penetrated 30 mm thick armor. The initial velocity of 162 g of an armor-piercing projectile is 830 m / s. Reach in height - 1500 m. Weight in the firing position of the variant with a wheeled drive - 373 kg. Power was supplied from a 20-charge magazine, which limited the practical rate of fire (120 rds / min). In total, the Japanese industry managed to transfer about 2500 Type 98 to the troops. In addition to single-barreled installations, a coupled version of the Type 4 was produced. Before the end of hostilities, about 500 20-mm twin guns were transferred to the troops.
As part of military-technical cooperation, the Germans handed over technical documentation and full-scale samples of the 20-mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft machine gun. In 1942, the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun under the Japanese name Type 2 began to enter the troops. Compared to the Type 98, the Flak 38 was faster, more accurate and more reliable. The rate of fire increased to 420-480 rds / min. Weight in firing position: 450 kg.
At the end of 1944, serial production of a paired version of a German licensed 20-mm assault rifle began. But due to the limited capabilities of Japanese industry, it was not possible to produce a significant number of such installations.
In Japan, attempts were made to create a ZSU by installing 20-mm anti-aircraft guns on light tanks, various half-track transporters and trucks. Due to the insufficient number of self-propelled chassis and a chronic shortage of anti-aircraft guns in the troops, the Japanese ZSU were produced in very small quantities.
20-mm anti-aircraft guns were very actively used in combat operations on land. Disassembled, easily portable and camouflaged, the Type 98 20mm cannon caused a lot of problems for the Americans and the British. Very often, 20-mm machine guns were mounted in bunkers and shot through the area for a kilometer. Their shells posed a great danger to amphibious assault vehicles, including lightly armored LVT amphibians and fire support vehicles based on them.
The 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft machine gun became the most famous Japanese anti-aircraft gun. This automatic anti-aircraft gun was developed in 1936 on the basis of the gun of the French company "Hotchkiss". It was widely used during the Second World War, being the main light anti-aircraft weapon of the Japanese fleet, but it was also available in the Imperial Army. The machine was powered by 15-round magazines inserted from above. Practical rate of fire - 100-120 rounds / min. Total weight: 800 kg (single), 1100 kg (twin), 1800 kg (triple). The muzzle velocity of the 262 g projectile is 900 m / s. Effective firing range - 3000 m. Altitude reach - 2000 m.
American Marine at the captured 25 mm Type 96 assault rifle
The Type 96 was used in single, twin and triple installations, both on ships and on land. In total, over the years of production, more than 33,000 25-mm guns have been produced. Until the mid-1930s, Type 96 25mm anti-aircraft guns were quite satisfactory weapons. But in the course of the war, significant shortcomings came to light. The practical rate of fire was not high; ribbon feed would be optimal for a weapon of this caliber. Another disadvantage was the air cooling of the gun barrels, which reduced the duration of continuous firing.
If used on the coast, 25-mm anti-aircraft guns posed a mortal danger to lightly armored amphibious transporters and fire support vehicles based on them. American light tanks "Stuart" repeatedly suffered heavy losses from Type 96 fire.
After the Japanese occupied a number of British and Dutch colonies in Asia, a significant number of 40-mm Bofors L / 60 anti-aircraft guns and ammunition fell into their hands. These captured anti-aircraft guns were very actively used by the Japanese army against British and American aviation, and after the Americans began amphibious operations, in coastal and anti-tank defenses.
Former Dutch naval anti-aircraft guns Hazemeyer, with twin 40-mm "Bofors", were stationary installed on the coast and used by the Japanese in the defense of the islands.
In 1943, in Japan, an attempt was made to copy and put into mass production a 40-mm Bofors L / 60 assault rifle under the name Type 5. However, the lack of technical documentation and low quality metalwork did not allow the mass production of anti-aircraft installations. Since 1944, Type 5s were assembled by hand at the Yokosuka naval arsenal at a rate of 5-8 guns per month. Despite the manual assembly and individual fit of the parts, the quality and reliability of the Japanese 40mm anti-aircraft guns, designated Type 5, were very low. Subsequently, after the war, American engineers, who got acquainted with the captured 40-mm anti-aircraft guns of Japanese production, were greatly perplexed how the automation functioned with such a quality of manufacture. Several dozen of these anti-aircraft guns, which were available in the troops due to the small number and unsatisfactory reliability, had no effect on the course of hostilities.
The first specialized medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun in the Japanese armed forces was the 75-mm Type 11 anti-aircraft gun, which entered service in the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Taisho (1922). The weapon was a conglomerate of foreign borrowing. Many of the details were copied from the British 76, 2mm Q. F. 3-in 20cwt anti-aircraft gun.
Due to the lack of experience, the gun turned out to be expensive and difficult to manufacture, and the accuracy and firing range turned out to be low. The height reach at an initial speed of 6, 5-kg projectile 585 m / s was about 6500 m. A total of 44 anti-aircraft guns of this type were fired. Due to their small number, they did not have any effect on the course of the war and by 1943 they were written off due to wear and tear.
In 1928, the 75-mm Type 88 anti-aircraft gun was put into production (2588 “from the founding of the empire). Compared to the Type 11, it was a much more advanced weapon. Although the caliber remained the same, it was superior in accuracy and range to the Type 11. The gun could fire at targets at altitudes up to 9000 m with a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute.
75-mm anti-aircraft gun Type 88
At the end of the 30s, the Type 88 gun no longer fully met modern requirements in terms of range, height of destruction and the power of the projectile. In addition, the procedure for deploying and folding anti-aircraft guns in a combat position caused a lot of criticism.
Complicated and time-consuming procedures for dismantling two transport wheels, spreading four of the five beam supports and centering with jacks physically exhausting the calculations and took an unacceptable amount of time.
75mm Type 88 gun captured by the US Marines in Guam
The Japanese command considered the Type 88 guns as an effective anti-tank weapon. Especially many 75-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the line of fortifications in Guam. However, these hopes were not destined to come true. Theoretically, 75-mm anti-aircraft guns could pose a great threat to the American Shermans, but before the American landing on the Pacific islands, the coastal zone was so carefully and generously processed by ground attack aircraft and naval artillery shells that the bulky guns had little chance of surviving.
At the end of 1943, small-scale production of 75-mm Type 4 anti-aircraft guns began in Japan. In terms of their characteristics, they surpassed the Type 88. The height of the fired targets increased to 10,000 m. The gun itself was more technologically advanced and convenient for deployment.
75-mm anti-aircraft gun Type 4
The prototype for the Type 4 was a 75 mm Bofors M29 gun captured during the fighting in China. Due to the incessant raids of American bombers and a chronic shortage of raw materials, only about 70 75-mm Type 4 anti-aircraft guns were produced.
During World War I, to arm auxiliary warships and protect cruisers and battleships from the "mine fleet" and aviation, the Imperial Navy adopted a 76, 2-mm Type 3 semi-automatic gun. The guns had an altitude reach of 7000 meters and a rate of fire of 10-12 rounds. / min.
76, 2-mm gun Type 3
By the mid-30s, the bulk of the 76-mm "dual-use" guns moved from the ship's decks to the shore. This circumstance was due to the fact that outdated cannons, which did not have effective anti-aircraft fire control devices and were capable of conducting only barrage fire, were replaced by 25-mm machine guns. As anti-aircraft guns Type 3 did not show themselves at all, but they took an active part in the battles of 1944-1945 in the role of coastal and field artillery.
Another anti-aircraft gun, created on the basis of a captured model, was the Type 99. A German-made naval gun became a role model in the creation of the 88-mm anti-aircraft gun. Realizing that the 75-mm Type 88 anti-aircraft guns no longer fully meet modern requirements. The Japanese military leadership decided to launch the captured gun into production. The Type 99 cannon entered service in 1939. From 1939 to 1945, about 1000 guns were produced.
88-mm anti-aircraft gun Type 99
The Type 99 gun was significantly superior to the Japanese 75-mm anti-aircraft guns. A fragmentation projectile weighing 9 kg left the barrel at a speed of 800 m / s, reaching an altitude of more than 9000 m. The effective rate of fire was 15 rounds / min. An obstacle to using the Type 99 as an anti-tank gun was that for this anti-aircraft gun, a carriage that was convenient for transportation was never developed. In the case of redeployment, the disassembly of the gun was required, therefore, 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, as a rule, were located at stationary positions along the coast, simultaneously performing the functions of coastal defense guns.
In 1929, the Type 14 100-mm anti-aircraft gun (14th year of the reign of Emperor Taisho) entered service. The height of target destruction with 16-kg Type 14 projectiles exceeded 10,000 m. The rate of fire was up to 10 rds / min. The mass of the gun in a combat position is about 6000 kg. The machine frame rested on six extendable legs, which were leveled by jacks. For undocking the wheel drive and transferring the anti-aircraft gun from the transport to the combat position, the crew required at least 45 minutes.
100-mm anti-aircraft gun Type 14
In the 30s, the superiority of the combat characteristics of the 100-mm Type 14 guns over the 75-mm Type 88 guns was not obvious, and they themselves were much heavier and more expensive. This was the reason for the withdrawal of 100-mm guns from production. In total, there were about 70 Type 14 guns in service.
One of the most valuable in terms of combat types of anti-aircraft guns, pumped from deck to shore, was the 100-mm gun mount Type 98. Prior to that, 100-mm guns were installed on destroyers of the Akizuki type. For the armament of large ships, a semi-open installation Type 98 model A1 was developed, it was used on the cruiser "Oyodo" and the aircraft carrier "Taiho".
The Japanese command, faced with an acute shortage of air defense and coastal defense guns, at the beginning of 1944 ordered the installation of existing guns intended for unfinished warships on coastal stationary positions. The Type 98 100-mm semi-open twin mounts proved to be a very powerful means of coastal defense. Most of them were destroyed as a result of targeted airstrikes and artillery shelling.
Soon after the start of the American bombers' raids on the Japanese islands, it became clear that the capabilities of the available 75-mm anti-aircraft guns were not enough. In this regard, an attempt was made to launch the 105-mm German Flak 38 gun from Rheinmetall into serial production. These were quite sophisticated guns for their time, capable of firing at targets at an altitude of more than 11,000 m. In parallel, a heavy Type 1 anti-tank gun was created, the use of which was planned both in towed and self-propelled versions. Until the end of hostilities, Japanese industry was able to produce only a few prototypes, and it never came to the actual adoption of 105-mm guns. The main reasons were the lack of raw materials and the overload of enterprises with military orders.
For the defense of the islands, the 120-mm Type 10 gun (10th year of the reign of Emperor Taisho) was widely used. It entered service in 1927 and was developed on the basis of the sea as a coastal defense and anti-aircraft weapon. Many of the already built naval guns were converted into anti-aircraft guns. In total, the coastal units in 1943 had more than 2,000 Type 10 guns.
120mm Type 10 gun captured by the Americans in the Philippines
A gun weighing about 8500 kg was installed in stationary positions. Rate of fire - 10-12 rounds / min. The muzzle velocity of a 20 kg projectile is 825 m / s. Reach 10,000 m.
The leadership of the Imperial Japanese Army had high hopes for the new Type 3 120-mm anti-aircraft gun, which was supposed to replace the 75-mm anti-aircraft guns in mass production. The Type 3 anti-aircraft gun was one of the few weapons in the Japanese air defense system that could effectively fire at B-29 bombers that carried out devastating raids on cities and industrial enterprises in Japan. But the new weapon turned out to be excessively expensive and heavy, its weight was close to 20 tons. For this reason, the production of Type 3 guns did not exceed 200 units.
120-mm anti-aircraft gun Type 3
Another naval weapon that was forcedly used ashore was the 127-mm Type 89. Weapons weighing more than 3 tons in a combat position were installed at stationary fortified positions. The projectile, which weighed 22 kg with an initial speed of 720 m / s, could hit air targets at altitudes up to 9000 m. The rate of fire was 8-10 rds / min. Some of the guns in two-gun semi-closed turrets, protected by anti-splinter armor, were installed in concrete positions.
127 mm Type 89 cannon
After the start of regular raids by American bombers, the Japanese command was forced to use naval guns removed from damaged or unfinished ships to strengthen the air defense of land targets. Some of them were located in capital positions in closed or semi-open towers, as a rule, not far from naval bases or near places convenient for amphibious landing. In addition to their direct purpose, all anti-aircraft guns were assigned the tasks of coastal and anti-amphibious defense.
In addition to Japanese naval guns, captured anti-aircraft guns were also widely used on the coast, including those raised from American, British and Dutch ships sunk in shallow water. The Imperial Japanese army used British 76, 2-mm anti-aircraft guns Q. F. 3-in 20cwt, American 76, 2-mm anti-aircraft guns M3, Dutch 40 and 75-mm "Bofors" captured in Singapore. Those of them that survived until 1944 were used in the antiamphibious defense of the Pacific Islands captured by Japan.
The wide variety of types and calibers of Japanese anti-aircraft guns inevitably created problems with the preparation of calculations, the supply of ammunition and the repair of guns. Despite the presence of several thousand anti-aircraft guns, prepared by the Japanese for firing at ground targets, it was not possible to organize an effective anti-amphibious and anti-tank defense. Much more tanks than from the fire of the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery, the American Marines lost drowned in the coastal zone or were blown up by mines.
