Hornisse and his Armament. Messerschmitt Me410, Part 3. German Dzib -Compiler-

Armament

MG 17

A mainstay fixed machine gun in German built aircraft (many of which were sold to other countries) well before World War II, by 1940 it was starting to be replaced with heavier caliber machine gun and cannons. By 1945 very few if any aircraft mounted the MG 17.
The MG 17 was installed in the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Bf 110, Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Junkers Ju 87, Junkers Ju 88C Nightfighter, Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17/215 Nightfighter, Focke-Wulf Fw 189 and many other aircraft. Many MG 17s were later modified for infantry use, as the Luftwaffe replaced them with either the faster-firing MG 81 machine gun for bomber defense, and the heavier-calibre MG 131 for both bomber defense and for a fighter's forward-firing offensive armament. Official numbers of conversions was about 24,271 by January 1, 1944, although additional conversions may have been done as well. (9)



Specifications
• Calibre: 7.9 +/- .04 mm
• Cartridge: 7.92x57mm IS
• Round weight: 35.5 grams (cartridge 24 grams, bullet 11.5 grams)
• Muzzle velocity: from 855 m/s (Phosphor "B" round ) to 905 m/s (Armor Piercing Tracer "SmK L'spur" round)
• Rate of fire: 1200 rpm

Dimensions
• Length: 1175 mm• Weight: 10.2 kg
• Action: Recoil
• Feed system: Belt magazine
• Sights Remotely located, various types

MG 151 (10) (11)

The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm aircraft-mounted autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. Its 20mm variant, the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, was widely used on German Luftwaffe fighters, night fighters, fighter-bombers, bombers and ground-attack aircraft. Salvaged guns saw post-war use by other nations.

MG 151 specifications
• Type: single-barrel automatic cannon
• Caliber: 15 mm x 96
• Operation: Recoil-operated; short recoil
• Length: 1916 mm
• Barrel length: 1254 mm
• Rifling: 8 grooves, right hand twist, 1 turn in 16"
• Weight (complete): 38.1 kg (84 lb)
• Rate of fire: 740 rpm
• Effective range: 1000 m
• Muzzle velocity: 850 m/s (AP-T); 960 m/s (HE-T, HEI-T); 1030 m/s AP(WC)
• Projectile types:
• AP-T weighting 72 g
• HE weighting 57 g. HE filler: 2.8 g
• AP(WC) weighting 52 g

MG 151/20 specifications
Two versions of the 20 mm MG 151 were built. Early guns used a percussion priming system, and later E-models used electrical priming. Some rounds were available with a timer self-destruct and/or tracer (or glowtracer). There were also different types of high-explosive shell fillings with either standard PETN, a mixture called HA41 (RDX and aluminium), and a compressed version where more explosives were compressed into same space using large pressures (XM).
• Type: single-barrel automatic cannon
• Caliber: 20 mm x 82
• Operation: Recoil-operated; short recoil
• Length: 1766 mm
• Barrel length: 1104 mm/55 calibers
• Rifling: 1 turn in 23 calibers
• Weight (complete): 42.7 kg
• Rate of fire: 750 rpm
• Effective range:800 m
• Muzzle velocity: 805 m/s (M-Geschoss); 705 m/s (HE-T, AP)
• Round types:

Ammunition Specification

MG 131

The MG 131 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 131, or "Machine gun 131") was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed, flexible or turreted, single or twin mountings in Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II.
It was one of the smallest, if not the smallest among the heavy machine guns, the weight was less than 60% of the M2 Browning or the Breda 12.7 mm. Despite this, the MG 131 was a rapid fire weapon with an elevated firepower for its mass. It was equipped with HE rounds. The nearer equivalent could have been the Ho-103. The other Axis main machine gun, the Breda 12.7 mm, was around 13 kg heavier and bigger, while slower by at least 150 rpm. The small size of the MG 131 meant the possibility to replace the 7.92 mm machine guns even in the small nose of the Luftwaffe fighters, which was commonplace from 1943 onwards. This weapon was a marked improvement as the greater armour protection Allied aircraft received rendered smaller calibers almost useless. This was especially true when it came to heavy Allied bombers.
It was installed in the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Me 410 Hornisse, Fw 190, Ju 88, Junkers Ju 388, He 177 Greif bomber, and many other aircraft. The Fernbedienbare Drehlafette FDL 131Z remotely controlled gun turret system, used as a forward-mount dorsal turret on the He 177A, used two MG 131s for dorsal defense, with the experimental Hecklafette HL 131V manned aircraft tail turret design, meant to be standardized on the never-built A-6 version of the He 177A, was also meant for standardization
on many late-war prototype developments of German heavy bomber airframes such as the separately developed four engined He 177B and the 1943–44 Amerika Bomber design contender from Heinkel, the Heinkel He 277, both airframes being intended to use the HL 131V tail turret unit mounting four MG 131s, two guns each mounted in each of a pair of rotating exterior elevation carriages on either side of the seated gunner, with horizontal traverse executed by the turret core's rotation. The Hecklafette tail turret design was never produced beyond a small number of prototype and test examples from 1943 onwards, with few relics of their existence remaining.

Maschinengewehr 131

The MG 131 fired electrically primed ammunition in order to sustain a high rate of fire when shooting through the propeller disc of a single-engined fighter. A pair of MG 131 machine guns was used as cowl armament on later models of the Bf 109G (which originally required one blister or Beule on each side of the fuselage, flanking the upper rear end of the engine, to house the larger breech of the new gun) and the Fw 190.
Technical data:
• Weight : 16.6 kilograms (37 lb)
• Length : 1.17 metres (3.8 ft)
• Muzzle velocity : ~ 750 metres per second (2,500 ft/s)
• Rate of fire : ~ 900 rounds per minute
• 13 mm API (Pzgr. L'Spur) - 710 m/s, projectile mass 38.5 grams (594 gr), muzzle energy 989 m/kg (12)
• 13 mm HE-T (Sprgr. L'Spur) - 710 m/s, projectile mass 34 grams (520 gr) (13)
• 13 mm HEI-T (Br. Sprgr. L/Spur) - 750 m/s, projectile mass 34 grams (520 gr) with 1.4 grams (22 gr) PETN + 0.3 grams         (4.6 gr) thermite, muzzle energy 975 m/kg ⁽¹⁴⁾

Werfer-Granate 21

The Werfer-Granate 21 rocket launcher, also known as the BR 21 (the "BR" standing for Bordrakete) in official Luftwaffe manuals, was a weapon used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and was the first on-board rocket placed into service by the Luftwaffe, first introduced in mid 1943. The weapon was developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig under the leadership of Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Nebel, who had pioneered German use of wing-mounted offensive rocketry in World War I with the Luftstreitkräfte.

Aircraft armed with the Wfr. Gr. 21

Arming the underwing Werfer-Granate 21 rocket mortar of anFw 190 A-8/R6 of Stab/JG 26.

Underwing mount (singly, one under each wing)

• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7 and newer: as Rüstsatz 6 (/R6) modification

• Messerschmitt Bf 109G: as BR21 modification

Underwing mount (two under each wing)

• Messerschmitt Bf 110

• Messerschmitt Me 210

• Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse

Under-fuselage mount (one each side, from bomb racks flanking nosegear well)

• Messerschmitt Me 262 (15)(16)