MG 151 (20 mm)

This page is about the German autocannon MG 151 (20 mm). For the 15 mm version, see MG 151 (15 mm).

Description

The Mauser 20 mm MG 151/20 is a German 20 mm aircraft cannon converted from the 15 mm MG 151/15 cannon to a 20 mm after combat evaluation proved a larger high-explosive shell to be more effective than a high-velocity shell.

General info

The 20 mm MG 151 has a fire rate of 700 rounds per minute. The gun is reasonably accurate with decent shell trajectory.

Available ammunition

The key features of the MG 151 is the special Minengeschoß (lit. "mine shell") high-explosive ammunition. This Minengeschoß round was specifically made with a thin tungsten casing to contain more explosive filler (usually 50% more than regular HE shell) and thus were extremely effective against enemy aircraft.

Aircraft

• Default: IT · IT · APHE · HEI
• Universal: IT · HEI · HEI · AP-I
• Air targets: AP-I · HEI · HEI · HEI · HEI · IT
• Armoured targets: APHE · APHE · APHE · IT
• Tracers: FI-T · FI-T · FI-T · IT · IT
• Stealth: HEI · HEI · HEI · APHE · AP-I

• Default (turret): IT · HEI · APHE · AP-I
• Armoured targets (turret): AP-I · AP-I · APHE · IT · AP-I
• Universal (turret): IT · HEI · HEI

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	26	24	15	8	4	3
Universal	26	24	15	8	4	3
Air targets	26	24	15	8	4	3
Armoured targets	26	24	15	8	4	3
Tracers	26	24	15	8	6	6
Stealth	26	23	13	7	3	3
Default (turret)	26	24	15	8	4	3
Armoured targets (turret)	26	24	15	8	4	3
Universal (turret)	26	24	15	8	4	3

Tanks

• Default: HEFI-T · AP-I

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	26	23	13	6	3	3

Ships

• Universal: HEFI-T · API-T · API-T
• 20 mm HE belts: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · API-T
• 20 mm AP belts: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEFI-T

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Universal	26	24	18	12	8	6
20 mm HE belts	26	24	18	12	8	6
20 mm AP belts	26	24	18	12	8	6

Comparison with analogues

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

Usage in battles

The 20 mm MG 151 is very dangerous against air targets due to the Minengeschoß shell, which makes the MG 151/20 arguably the best 20 mm cannon against air targets. Unless other ammunition is needed for a specific reason, always choose the ammo belt with most Minengeschoß available.

With "air targets" belt, it usually take a short burst of 20 - 30 rounds to take down an average fighter, 30 - 50 rounds for a heavy fighter or a ground attack aircraft, and 100 - 150 rounds for a heavy bomber. Due to the gun's fast rate of fire, however, it is quite easy to empty all of the ammo before you managed to finish the targets without proper aiming, especially without the help of gun pods. Thus, the MG 151 will often requires trigger discipline for better results, with an ace being achieveable in a single sortie with a proper ammo conservation.

However, despite the MG 151's stellar characteristics, the gun is also infamous due to its poor stock performances. Owing to the fact that only 1/4 of its stock belt contains the "Minengeschoß" round, while the other rounds were a near-useless incendiary shell with a performance akin to that of a practice shell found on the Hispano autocannons, as well as poor APHE rounds that often over-penetrates the enemy airframe and thus were unable not detonate. Due to this, it is best to treat the stock MG 151 like an oversized heavy machine gun. Firing a long burst to get more chance of hitting the enemy with Minengeschoß rounds until the upgraded belts are available.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Minengeschoß shell (an improved HEI shell) provides a lot of hitting power against aircraft
• Larger ammo count than the other German 20 mm cannons
• Higher muzzle velocity than the other German 20 mm cannons
• Faster firing and less prone to jamming than the Allied Hispano variants

Cons:

• Its stock belt is notoriously unreliable due to the ineffective incendiary and APHE shell
• Still lower muzzle velocity compared to most machine guns
• Ineffective against armoured ground targets, even with APHE shells
• Tracer and HEI (Minengeschoß) have slightly different trajectories which reiterate knowing your ammunition

History

The MG 151 was originally developed for a 15 mm cartridge which was small enough to fit between the cylinder banks of their V-12 aircraft engines and offered a higher velocity compared to the 20 mm cannons of their Allied opponents. However, in 1941, Germany recognized that, in air combat, explosive power was more important than high velocity. As a result, in 1941, the MG-151 was re-chambered to fire a 20 mm shell based on the cartridge used by the MG FF, but necked up and with a longer case body meaning that the conversion mostly involved changing the barrel. The MG 151 was introduced on the Bf 109 F-4, would remain one of the main fighter cannons for Germany during World War II, and would be popularly exported to other nations in the Axis, such as mounting on the Japanese Ki-61-I hei, Italian Re.2005 serie 0, and Romanian IAR-81C fighters. However, Germany's attempt to make an explosive shell for the MG 151 became its downfall. The Minengeschoß (Mine Shell) rounds were ineffective against the Allied heavy bombers taking about 15-20 hits to down one while a 30 mm cannon such as the MK 103 needed only 3 or 4 hits to down. As a result, the MK 103 and its shorter-barrelled cousin the MK 108 began to replace the MG 151 as the Luftwaffe's (German Air Force) main cannon near the end of the war and it was adapted by the Volkssturm (German national militia) for use as an anti-aircraft weapon along with being used to upgrade the 15 mm armed Sd.Kfz.251/21. After the war, the MG 151 was used by the French Armée de l'Air (Air Force) and Aviation légère de l'armée de Terre (Land Army Light Aviation). In both fixed and flexible configurations, the MG 151 was used by the French in multiple aircraft including helicopters such as their H-21C Workhorse and H-34 helicopters used in Algeria. The flexible variants were modified with insulating sleeves to protect the user's hands. The MG 151 was also used in the Portuguese and Rhodesian versions of the SA 316B Alouette III, and a variant of the cannon called the Vektor GA-1 was built by Denel in South Africa.

Media

Images

• 

  MG 151/20

Videos

Minengeschoß: More Bang for Your Buck - Militaria Reviewed

Top 7 Autocannons discusses the MG 151 (20 mm) at 03:33 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

• AN/M2 (20 mm)
• MG 151/15 (15 mm) - Gun from which the MG 151/20 cannon was adapted
• ShVAK (20 mm)
• Hispano Mk.I (20 mm) Hispano Mk.II (20 mm)
• Hispano 404 (20 mm)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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

Sweden aircraft cannons
20 mm	Akan m/41A · Akan m/45 · Akan m/47B · Akan m/47C · Akan m/49 · Oerlikon FF
27 mm	Akan m/85
30 mm	Akan m/55 · Akan m/75
57 mm	Akan m/47
	Foreign:
20 mm	MG FF (Germany) · MG 151 (Germany)
23 mm	GSh-23L (USSR)
30 mm	2A42 (USSR) · M230E-1 (USA) · MK 108 (Germany)