Oerlikon Contraves

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Oerlikon is a Swiss anti-aircraft artillery manufacturer made famous by its Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon design of 1914, used in the First and Second World Wars, and still in use today. Copies and derivatives of these designs were used by the Germans, French, British and Japanese weapon manufacturers.

American versions such as the Mk 4, Mk 10, and Mk 24, were used extensively from the World War II era to the of Vietnam era. Originally used as anti-aircraft weapons by the U.S. Navy, they were frequently the last line of defense against kamikaze attacks. Most combat ships from aircraft carriers to PT boats were equipped with Oerlikon guns. In Vietnam they were widely employed by riverine forces as anti-personnel weapons. They remained in service until the 1970s when they were replaced by the Mk 16 20 mm cannon.

Oerlikon was established in 1906 in Switzerland in the machine tool industry. In 1923 it acquired a factory in Germany. It entered the anti-aircraft defence field in 1924. In 1936 it founded a purely anti-aircraft development company called Contraves (Latin for against birds).

Nowadays the company is known as Oerlikon-Contraves and employs 2,100 worldwide with a yearly turnover of 522 million Swiss francs. Oerlikon is now a subsidiary of Rheinmetall-DeTec AG, the big German armament manufacturer.