B-20M (20 mm)

This page is about the Soviet cannon B-20M (20 mm). For other versions, see B-20 (20 mm) (Family).

Description

The B-20 is a Soviet aviation small-caliber automatic cannon of 20 mm caliber. Created by weapons designer M.E. Berezin during the WW2 by remaking his 12.7 mm UB machine gun chambered for the 20 mm ShVAK cannon for a competition in which Vladimirov’s V-20 and Shpitalny’s Sh-20 designs. The B-20M designation denotes a B-20 configuration that is mounted to fire through the propeller shaft.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Yak-3 (VK-107)
• Yak-3P
• Yak-9P
• ◔Yak-9P

General info

The gun has 6 ammunition options. Use them depending on the situation and needs on the battlefield

Available ammunition

• Default: FI-T · AP-I
• Universal: FI-T · HEF · AP-I · FI-T
• Ground targets: HEF · FI-T · AP-I
• Tracers: FI-T · FI-T · FI-T
• Armoured targets: AP-I · FI-T · AP-I · AP-I
• Stealth: AP-I · HEF · HEF · FI

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
FI-T	FI-T	2	2	2	2	2	2
AP-I	AP-I	28	24	14	7	4	2
HEF	HEF	2	2	2	2	2	2
FI	FI	2	2	2	2	2	2

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
FI-T	FI-T	800	0.1	0.04	0.1	6.36	47°	56°	65°
AP-I	AP-I	800	0.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	56°	65°
HEF	HEF	800	0.1	0.04	0.1	5.8	79°	80°	81°
FI	FI	800	0.1	0.04	0.1	8.62	47°	56°	65°

Comparison with analogues

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

Usage in battles

This gun is designed for combat with enemy aircraft. Therefore, your main goal is to shoot down enemy planes, which the guns can successfully deal with. But you can also destroy open or lightly armored vehicles with the right ammunition.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent rate of fire

Cons:

• AP-I ammunition can pen only 28 mm of armor at 10 m so not useful against decently armored vehicles.
• Usually the gun has about 115-120 shots, which is often not enough for prolonged battles.

History

The development of the weapon began back in 1941, with the GKO decree No. 106 "On the testing of the 20 mm Berezin aircraft cannon" issued on July 11 of that year. It was planned to conduct factory tests of two cannons by July 16, prepare three cannons for field tests by July 18, and by July 25, mount two wing cannons on the Il-2 and one motor cannon on the LaGG-3 for flight testing.

In the memoirs of the Deputy People's Commissar of Armaments, V. N. Novikov, it is claimed that the cannon only reached initial testing at the end of 1943. According to him, the main difficulties arose from modifying the bolt and the receiver. The problems were likely caused by the fact that the ShVAK cannon cartridge, unlike the UB machine gun cartridge, had a rim. Thanks to close collaboration with the factory designers, the cannon turned out not only to be very light (half the weight of the ShVAK) but also significantly more technologically advanced.

Media

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

See also

Related development

• B-20 (20 mm) (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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