| Ammunition type |
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 |
The Ho-5 (Type 2) cannon was an excellent weapon resembling a scaled-up
Type 1 machine gun. It was
widely used as a fixed weapon on Army aircraft. It used a
Browning short recoil action and was belt-fed. The design was kept as
compact and lightweight as possible in hopes that it could replace Type
1 machine guns on existing aircraft. Because of difficulties in quality
control during production, 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.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index