M39 (cannon)

M39A2

M39A2 built into the F-5

The Pontiac M39 is a 20mm single-barreled revolver cannon developed for the United States Air Force in the post-war years of World War II .

development

The M39 was developed by Springfield Armory and was based on the German Mauser MG 213 designed during World War II , a projected 20 mm or 30 mm revolver cannon for the Luftwaffe. The British ADEN cannon and the French DEFA cannon were also developed on this basis . However, the American developers chose smaller 20 mm cartridges in order to increase the cadence and the muzzle velocity of the weapon at the expense of the penetration power.

Initially designated as the T-160 , the weapon was installed in various F-86 Saber fighter aircraft during the Gunval program in late 1952 and for aerial combat during the Korean War in early 1953. Subsequently, the weapon was used as standard armament in the F-86H , F-100 Super Saber , F-101A and F-101C Voodoo and the F-5 Freedom Fighter . Today's F-5 Tiger II models still use the M39A2 as an on- board cannon with 280 rounds of ammunition for single-seated models and 140 rounds for double-seated models.

The M39 is neither with the derivatives of the Hispano M3 , as used by the United States Navy in the aircraft A-4 Skyhawk and F-8 Crusader (The Last of the Gunfighters), nor with the Hispano M24 derivatives, as they are United States Air Force deployed, identical. Both weapons were gas-operated and are basically just enlarged machine guns compared to a revolver cannon .

variants

T-160
M39
M39A1
M39A2
M39A3

Technical specifications

Design : single-barreled drum turret machine gun
Caliber : 20 × 102 mm
Function : five-chamber drum turret
Length : N / A
Weight (complete) : 81 kg
Rate of fire : 1,500 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity : 1,030 m / s
Bullet weight : 101 g

Carrier aircraft

Web links

Commons : M39 - collection of pictures, videos and audio files