The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: Japanese 18"/45 Gun | Table of Contents | Next: Japanese 20mm Mauser MG 151/20 Cannon |
U.S. Air Force. Via Mikesh (2004)
| Ammunition type |
20 x 94 HEI or AP |
| Projectile
weight |
3.95 oz (AP) 112 g (AP) |
| Velocity | 2460 feet per second 750 meters per second |
| Range | 2950 feet 900 meters |
| Rate of
fire |
850 rounds per minute |
| Gun weight |
82 lbs 37 kg |
| Gun power |
140 |
The Ho-5 (Type 2) cannon was an excellent weapon designed by scaling up the
Type 1 machine gun. It was
widely used as a fixed weapon on Army aircraft.
It used a
Browning short recoil action and was fed from a disintegrating belt.
The design was kept as
compact and lightweight as possible in hopes that it could replace Type
1 machine guns on existing aircraft. It was possibly the best 20mm
aircraft of World War II when built by skilled laborers using adequate
raw materials, but deteriorating quality
control during production meant the
cartridges had to be underloaded with gunpowder to avoid too great a
strain on the weapon, which reduced muzzle velocity from the 820 meters
per second possible with fully loaded cartridges.
The gun was used primarily as a fixed weapon,
though a cradle-mounted flexible version similar to the cradle-mounted
Type 1 was also produced (though little used.) Experiments with a true
flexible version and a lightweight version were unsuccessful. Its
Browning-type action synchronized so poorly that cowl mounts were often
removed and replaced with Type 1 machine guns.
 |
 |  |
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index
