Hispano Mk.II (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.

General info

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

Available ammunition

• Default: HEF-I · HEF-I · P · T
• Universal: HEF-I · HEF-SAPI · AP · T
• Ground targets: AP · AP · AP · HEF-I · T
• Air targets: T · HEF-I · HEF-SAPI · HEF-I · HEF-SAPI
• Tracers: AP · T · HEF-I
• Stealth: HEF-I · HEF-I · HEF-SAPI · 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	26	23	17	14	8	6
Ground targets	26	23	17	14	8	2
Air targets	17	15	11	7	5	2
Tracers	26	23	17	14	8	2
Stealth	26	23	17	14	8	6

Comparison with analogues

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

Usage in battles

The Hispano Mk.II cannons are lethal weapons, and stand out as some of the most powerful WWII-era aircraft guns in the game. The HEF-I and HEF-SAPI shells available on many ammunition belts for these cannons deal a huge amount of damage to aircraft of any size, from fighters up to heavy bombers, and can give British pilots the edge in head-ons, interceptions, and general dogfighting. The stealth belts are especially powerful, suiting sneakier playstyles. Using cloud cover and approaching from blind spots, a Hispano-armed pilot can jump an enemy and obliterate them with a few bursts before the enemy even knows they're coming.

Like their predecessor in the Mk.I, the Mk.IIs still have some severe flaws that can be a headache. The stock guns prior to upgrade are not only prone to jamming during lengthy periods of shooting, but are hopelessly inaccurate. The stock belts are also fairly ineffective, as they lack the sheer number of high-damage shells. This makes using these guns a headache while they're stock, and it can be a difficult grind if the plane you're flying is weak at stock to begin with.

While these cannons aren't the best guns in the game for attacking ground targets, they will still do a decent chunk of damage to anything they hit, although it's highly recommended to use the Ground targets belt if available, as other belts will struggle with armoured targets. The AP rounds can destroy light pillboxes, and anything weaker should be easy pickings. Just be mindful of the inaccuracy of the guns, and your ammo count. Since these are 20 mm guns, few planes using them will stock a large amount of ammo, save for the Beaufighters and the Mosquito.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• HEF-I rounds can shred fighters in less than 3 seconds, in the hands of a skilled pilot
• AP rounds can penetrate light pillboxes

Cons:

• "Default" belt contains practice shells which deal far less damage than other ammunition belts
• HEFI and HEF-SAPI rounds do more puncturing damage compared to other countries' cannons due to possessing lesser amounts of filler
• "Air targets" ammunition belts are less effective against bombers, instead, utilize Stealth or Ground targets ammunition
• Cannons quickly overheat when repeatedly fired for long periods of time
• Initially cannons are quite inaccurate until they are upgraded

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• 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)