BK-5 cannon

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BK-5 cannon
Type Cannon
Place of origin Flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service history
In service 1943–1945
Wars World War II
Production history
Produced 1943–1945
Number built approx. 300
Specifications
Weight 135 lbs
Length 45 inch
Cartridge 50 mm
Rate of fire 45 rounds per minute.

The BK-5 (part of a series of Bordkanone heavy-calibre airborne cannon) was intended primarily for use against Allied heavy bombers. The BK-5 cannons were installed in Luftwaffe bomber destroyers such as the twin-engined Me 410 Hornisse, and experimentally, in the Me 262 jet fighter, when the similar caliber MK 214 cannon was not yet available. Approximately 300 were produced and it saw only limited action. There were also 37 mm and 75 mm cannon in the Bordkanone series, but of these two other weapons, the BK 3.7 was used on the Ju 87 G model of the Stuka (externally mounted, one under each wing) and also used on the small numbers of Ju 88 P twin engined bomber destroyers built, along with the BK 5 cannon.

[edit] Reference

  • Stocker, Werner & Petrick, Peter (2007). Messerschmitt Me 210 / Me 410 Hornisse/ Hornet. Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-271-3
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