WesWorld

Placeholder for information relating to the antiaircraft weapons deployed by the German Heer and Luftwaffe

(20mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 30)


The original 20mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 30 design was developed for the Kriegsmarine, which produced the 20 mm C/30. It featured a barrel of 65 calibers, firing at a rate of about 120 rounds per minute. The C/30 became the primary shipborne light AA weapon, and equipped most German warships.

Rheinmetall then started an adaptation of the C/30 for Army use, producing the 20mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 30. Generally similar to the C/30, the main areas of development were the mount, which was fairly compact. Set-up could be accomplished by dropping the gun to the ground off its two-wheeled carriage and leveling with hand cranks. The result was a triangular base that allowed fire in all directions. While its rate of fire was considered low in comparison to other weapons of its calibre its light weight and mobility won for it a place as the Heer’s standard light antiaircraft gun and also as the equipment of the Luftwaffe’s light antiaircraft batteries.

The weapon was designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Düsseldorf, but manufactured in that firm’s plant at Sömmerda in Thuringia. To meet demand by the Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, as well as exports to friendly nations, a production group has been built up that includes:

Benteler AG, Bielefeld
Brennabor-Werke AG, Brandenburg an der Havel
Stahlwerke Buderus-Röchling AG, Wetzlar

Through December 1939 more than three thousand examples of this weapon have been delivered to the Heer and production was continuing.

(37mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 35)

The 37mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 35 was developed by Rheinmetall from the 3.7 cm Flugzeugabwehrkanone 18, a land-service derivative of a 37mm antiaircraft gun built for the Kriegsmarine. Few examples of the FlaK18 were constructed, as it was considered too heavy for field service. The Model 35 was considerably lighter, the complete gun, including the wheeled mount, weighed 1,757 kilograms.

It was adopted by the Heer, and more so by the Luftwaffe, for the defence of military installations from low-altitude and dive-bombing attacks. It is standard equipment of light antiaircraft batteries of both services.

The weapon was designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Düsseldorf, but manufactured in that firm’s plant at Apolda in Thuringia. To meet the demand of the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, a production group has been built up comprising:

Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Werk Apolda
Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik, Arthur Krupp AG, Werke Berndorf
Dürkoppwerke AG, Bielefeld
Polte Armaturen und Maschinenfabrik AG, Werk Fichtestraße, Magdeburg-Sudenstadt

Through December 1939 more than three thousand examples of this weapon have been delivered to the Heer and production was continuing.

(88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 33)

The first prototypes of what was to become the 88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 33 appeared in the late 1920s from the shops of Friedrich Krupp AG, Essen. The weapon was based upon Krupp’s experience in developing antiaircraft weapons abroad and in producing the small number of antiaircraft weapons allowed the Kriegsmarine under the Versailles restrictions. These were followed by the 88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 18, which was built in small numbers for the Heer, replacing a variety of guns of Great War vintage.

Improvements to the weapon’s range and mobility – chiefly a cruciform gun carriage that allowed for fire in all directions – resulted in the standardisation of the Model 33, which quickly became the principal heavy antiaircraft weapon of the Heer and the Luftwaffe, as well as being sold abroad in quantity to many friendly nations. The 88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 33 is employed as a mobile heavy anti-aircraft gun, and in a more static role for home defence. The weapon also exhibits excellent performance when employed in the direct fire role against both armoured and so-called ‘soft’ targets.

Production of the 88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 33 is undertaken by a production group comprising:

Friedrich Krupp AG, Essen
Metallwerk Wolfenbüttel GmbH, Wolfenbüttel
Regensburger Stahl und Maschinenbau AG

At the close of December 1939 the total number of guns of this type delivered to the Heer and to the Luftwaffe exceeded 1,200, over and above exports.

(105mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 38)

The 105mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 38 was developed in the later 1930s at the request of the Luftwaffe, who sought a heavy antiaircraft gun with greater range than the 88mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 33. Rheinmetall-Borsig AG responded with what was, in effect, an enlarged Model 33 chambered for the naval 105mm shell. While in theory a mobile weapon, the heavy weight of the Model 38, and the time needed to emplace it, has limited its employment to static defence of the major German cities. In such circumstances, its ability to engage targets at high altitude and rapid rate of fire provide a considerable improvement to the air defence of German national territory.

Production of the 105mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 38 is undertaken by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Düsseldorf, and, to date, more than three hundred such weapons have been delivered to the Luftwaffe. Production is continuing.

(128 mm Antiaircraft Gun Model 40)

This weapon was developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig in response to Luftwaffe requirements for a very heavy antiaircraft gun. It was cleared for production in March 1939 and the first weapons were delivered in October of that year. Low-rate production is continuing.