MG FF (20 mm)

This page is about the German machine gun MG FF (20 mm). For the other version, see MG FF/M (20 mm).

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• A7He1
• Ar 196 A-3
• Bf 109 E-3
• He 112 B-0
• He 112 B-1/U2 (Germany)
• He 112 B-1/U2
• He 112 B-2/U2

General info

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Available ammunition

• Default: IT* · IT* · APHE
• Universal: IT* · FI-T* · FI-T* · APHE
• Air targets: FI-T* · FI-T* · AP-I · APHE · IT*
• Tracers: IT* · IT* · FI-T* · FI-T*
• Stealth: APHE · APHE · 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	19	18	15	10	6	6
Universal	19	18	15	10	6	6
Air targets	25	24	18	10	6	6
Tracers	16	12	7	6	6	6
Stealth	20	19	15	10	6	6

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent punch compared to most of the other contemporary armament

Cons:

• Sluggish rate of fire
• Low muzzle velocity
• Lacks the minegeschoss shell of the FF/M
• Less effective armour-piercing ammunition

History

The story of the MG FF starts in World War I with the Becker M2, an early 20mm aircraft mounted auto-cannon. Using an advanced primer ignition blowback action and fed from 15 round curved box magazines, the Becker had difficulties serving as aircraft armament as the blowback action meant the gun could not synchronized to fire through the propeller without damaging it. As a result, the Becker M2 only saw combat on Zeppelins during the war and only used on aircraft for testing.

After the war, the Treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from developing aircraft cannons and similar weapons so the rights were sold to the Swiss company SEMAG in 1919 and then transferred again to Oerlikon in 1924. Oerlikon began developing multiple cannon types based on the Becker action and worked to increase the muzzle velocity so it could serve in anti-tank and anti-aircraft roles. In 1935, Oerlikon introduced their latest variant of their 20mm cannon, the FF which could be mounted inside or on the wings of fighter aircraft. In the global rearmament that precipitated World War II, licenses for the Oerlikon FF were taken out by multiple nations including Germany.

In Germany, the Irakia firm began manufacturing the cannon as the MG FF for German fighters and bombers. Compared to the contemporary Hispano 404 the MG FF suffered from a low fire rate and muzzle velocity. Another limiting factor of the design was the 60 round drums which were difficult to mount in the wings of Germany's main fighters the Bf 109 and Fw 190. Starting in 1941, the MG FF began to phased out of the lighter, belt-fed MG 151 but it would find a new lease on life in 1943 as part of the Schräge Musik mounting in German night fighters due to large stockpile and the fact muzzle velocity would not be concern in the new role.

Media

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See also

• MG FF/M (20 mm)

External links

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