Hispano Mk.I (20 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Beaufighter Mk VIc
• Spitfire Mk IIb
• Whirlwind Mk I
• Whirlwind P.9

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

• Default: HEI · HEI · P · T
• Universal: HEI · SAP-I · AP · T
• Ground targets: AP · AP · AP · HEI · T
• Tracers: AP · T · HEI
• Stealth: HEI · HEI · SAP-I · AP

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	17	15	11	7	5	2
Universal	37	35	25	16	10	7
Ground targets	37	35	25	16	10	7
Tracers	37	35	25	16	10	7
Stealth	37	35	25	16	10	7

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The Hispano Mk.I is a British license-built variant of the French Hispano 404. The British and French both spent the inter-war period developing a plan to arm their aircraft with 20 mm cannons instead of machine guns which weren't enough to damage enemy aircraft during increasingly short attack runs. Britain acquired a license for the HS.404 which became the Hispano Mk.I and then went on to make new aircraft designs that could carry 4 of these cannons into battle to give the RAF its punch for knockout attacks in dogfights. The Westland Whirlwind Mk I was the end result of this quest for a cannon-armed fighter to enter production, but the Bristol Beaufighter, ironically conceived as an interim measure, took over the Whirlwind's role as a cannon-armed escort fighter. After the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF recognized that that machine gun-armed fighters such as the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane were obsolete and began making plans to arm these aircraft with cannons. The Mk.I was used for testing on both aircraft where it was found to jam during combat manoeuvres. Fortunately for the British, the company Martin-Baker managed to successfully modify the Hispano to work in these fighters which entered production as the Hispano Mk.II.

Media

Videos

Top 7 Autocannons discusses the Hispano Mk.I (20 mm) at 01:56 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Britain aircraft cannons
20 mm	Hispano Mk.I · Hispano Mk.II · Hispano Mk.V · Oerlikon KAD-B
25 mm	ADEN 25
30 mm	ADEN · ADEN Mk.4
40 mm	Rolls-Royce Type BH · Vickers S
47 mm	Vickers P
57 mm	Molins Class M
	Foreign:
20 mm	GI2 (South Africa) · Hispano 404 (France) · M61A1 (USA)
27 mm	Akan m/85 (Sweden) · Mauser BK27 (Germany)
30 mm	M230E-1 (USA)