Model 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun
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The Model 96 25mm Dual Purpose AT/AA (Anti-Tank/Anti-Aircraft) Gun (Single,Double or Triple cannon) is a heavy machine gun that comes in two variations:
- Regular type — a light AA 25mm gun mounted on a tripod with one 1" single muzzle and operated by a crew of one or two soldiers. These models are transported in vehicles or by soldiers on foot.
- Heavy type — a heavy AA 25mm gun mounted on a large quadripod support with two or three 1" muzzles and operated by a crew of three or four soldiers. This variation is also used in naval vessels, land installments, fortifications and surface defensive weapons in submarines.
The Model 96 25mm AT/AA Gun is the principal type of 1" heavy machine gun of 25mm calibre with one muzzle that was derived from French/Romanian designed Hotchkiss 25mm AA/AT Heavy Machine Gun with single or Twin Cannons. It has some similarities to the British/Swedish designed Bofors 40mm AA gun. These weapons possess one basic variation with three cannons, which makes it possible to duplicate the rate of fire for devastating effects comparable to the German Flakvierling 20mm Four muzzle AA cannon.
The Model 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun was converted to produce the standard medium antiaircraft weapon of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was also used in land bases in the Japanese empire and in the Japanese combat fronts. It was also used aboard Japanese naval surface vessels and as a defensive surface weapon on submarines (the Sen Toku Subs I-400/401 used ten of these AA guns — three with three muzzles plus one installation with a single cannon on each sub) and subs I-13/I-14 (which each used one AA installation with three cannons each).
These weapons were also used by the Japanese as anti-tank cannons in some defensive actions in Pacific theaters and against land objectives in southeast Asia/China Mainland during Pacific War.
