The German Development of Recoilless Guns for Aircraft: A Summary of the little‐known efforts made by the Germans to develop this unusual armament during the Course of the Second World War

Abstract

RECOILLESS guns have been developed in Germany, Russia and America because of the lightness of the whole equipment, relative to the muzzle‐energy, that is possible in this class of gun. The German work began about 1937 and such guns (10·5 cm. L.G.40) were used in the invasion of Crete in 1941. The Russian 3‐inch recoilless gun was in use a little earlier. American interest in these guns dates from 1943, and a 7·5 cm. type has been announced. No British recoilless guns have been mentioned, but a theory of the internal ballistics of this form of gun has been published recently by the present writer.

Citation

Corner, J. (1947), "The German Development of Recoilless Guns for Aircraft: A Summary of the little‐known efforts made by the Germans to develop this unusual armament during the Course of the Second World War", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 19 No. 12, pp. 378-389. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb031579