Hispano Mk.II (20 mm)

From War Thunder Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

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

Vehicles equipped with this weapon
Fighters 
Boomerang  ▄Boomerang Mk I · ▄Boomerang Mk II
Hurricane  Sea Hurricane Mk IC
MB.5  MB.5
P-51  P-51 · ▄Mustang Mk IA
Seafire  Seafire LF Mk.III · ▄Seafire LF Mk.III
Spitfire Mk V  Spitfire Mk Vb · Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · ▄Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · Spitfire Mk Vc · Spitfire Mk Vc/trop
Spitfire Mk IX  Spitfire F Mk IX · Spitfire LF Mk IX · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc · ▂Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk.IX (CW) · Spitfire LF Mk.IXe Weizman's
Spitfire (Griffon)  Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Spitfire F Mk XIVe · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe · Spitfire F Mk XVI · Spitfire F Mk XVIIIe · Spitfire F Mk 22 · Spitfire F Mk 24
Typhoon  Typhoon Mk Ib · Typhoon Mk Ib/L
Strike aircraft  Beaufighter Mk 21 · Beaufighter Mk X · Firefly F Mk I · Mosquito FB Mk VI · Mosquito FB.Mk.26

General info

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

Available ammunition

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

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
HEI 5 4 3 2 2 2
T 17 15 11 7 5 0
SAP-I 26 24 17 11 7 4
AP-T 37 35 25 16 10 7
Shell details
Ammunition Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
HEI 853 0.13 0.1 0.1 9.28 79° 80° 81°
T 835 0.13 - - - 47° 56° 65°
SAP-I 844 0.13 0.3 0 0.01 47° 56° 65°
AP-T 822 0.14 - - - 47° 60° 65°

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 SAP-I 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
  • Reasonably accurate at longer ranges when upgraded

Cons:

  • "Default" belt contains practice shells which deal far less damage than other ammunition belts
  • HEF-I and SAP-I 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
  • Painfully inaccurate when stock
  • Unlike other cannons, it requires three modifications instead of only one to minimise jamming probability and inaccuracy

History

After the Battle of Britain in 1940, the British Air Ministry realized their eight machine gun armed Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes were obsolete, lacking the punch to take out enemy aircraft during attack runs. So the Royal Air Force decided to arm the majority of their aircraft, including later variants of both the Hurricane and Spitfire designs, with 20 mm cannons. The RAF already had the Hispano Mk.I, a licensed copy of the French Hispano 404, but these drum-fed designs were noted to present problems on the earlier Bristol Beaufighter, where it was hard to replace the drums at night or during manoeuvres. In addition, the Mk.I was tested on the Spitfire and Hurricane where it was known to jam during aerial manoeuvres. The Air Ministry briefly considered that cannons would not be possible and specified that new fighters should be armed with twelve machine guns.

However, Martin-Baker managed to successfully developed a reliable belt-feed for the Hispano which became the Hispano Mk.II. These cannons were first used on the Hurricane and Spitfire in groups of four along with other late war fighters such as the Blackburn Firebrand and Firecrest strike fighters, later models of the Beaufighter, the Austrialian CAC Boomerang fighters, de Havilland Mosquito series of heavy fighters, lead-lease Douglas DB-7 light bombers, Fairey Firefly fighters, the first RAF fighter jet, the Gloster Meteor, the Hurricane's successors the Tempest and the Typhoon, lend-lease North American P-51A Mustangs, and Martin-Baker's own MB.5 prototype.

The Mk.II was originally used in a four gun configuration on fighters, which was also used with the Mk.I on the Westland Whirlwind Mk I, however the outboard guns on Spitfires were found to freeze up at high altitudes. As a result, the RAF began replace the two outboard wing cannons with 4 .303 Brownings or .50 M2 Browning machine guns to complement the two inboard wing-mounted Mk.IIs. The British had feared their industrial capacity would not be enough maintain their supply of cannons so they licensed the design to the United States. While their fears were unfounded, the license resulted in the US developing their own variant of the HS.404 starting with the M1, which would develop into a family of cannons that culminated in the M24A1 used during the Korean War.

Media

Videos

See also

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


USA aircraft cannons
20 mm  AN/M2 · Browning-Colt Mk12 Mod 0 · Browning-Colt Mk12 Mod 3 · FMC T-160
  M3 · M24A1 · M39 · M39A1 · M39A2 · M39A3 · M61A1 · M195 · M197 · Mk 11 · Mk 11 mod 5 · T31
30 mm  M230E-1 · XM140 · GAU-8/A · GAU-13/A · LR30
37 mm  M4 · M9 · M10
40 mm  M75 · M129
75 mm  M10 · T13E1
  Foreign:
20 mm  Hispano 404 (France) · Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · MG 151 (Germany) · Type 99 Model 1 (Japan)
30 mm  ADEN Mk.4 (Britain)

USSR aircraft cannons
20 mm  B-20E · B-20M · B-20S · ShVAK
23 mm  GSh-23L · NR-23 · NS-23 · NS-23K · PTB-23 · VYa-23
30 mm  2A42 · GSh-6-30 · GSh-30-1 · GSh-30-2 · GSh-30-2K · NR-30
37 mm  N-37 · N-37D · NS-37 · SH-37
45 mm  NS-45
  Foreign:
20 mm  Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · MG 151 (Germany)
37 mm  M4 (USA) · M10 (USA)

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)

China aircraft cannons
23 mm  Type 23-1 · Type 23-2K · Type 23-3 · Type 23L
30 mm  Type 30-1
  Foreign
20 mm  AN/M2 (USA) · B-20E (USSR) · Hispano 404 (France) · Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · Ho-3 (Japan) · Ho-5 (Japan)
  M39A1 (USA) · M39A2 (USA) · M39A3 (USA) · M61A1 (USA) · M197 (USA) · ShVAK (USSR) · Type 99 Model 1 (Japan)
23 mm  NR-23 (USSR) · NS-23 (USSR) · NS-23K (USSR)
30 mm  GAU-13/A (USA)
37 mm  Ho-203 (Japan) · N-37D (USSR)

Italy aircraft cannons
20 mm  TM197B
30 mm  Hispano HS 825
37 mm  Breda Model 39 37/54
102 mm  102/35 mod 14
  Foreign:
20 mm  B-20E (USSR) · B-20M (USSR) · B-20S (USSR) · Hispano 404 (France) · Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · Hispano Mk.V (Britain) · M24A1 (USA) · M61A1 (USA) · MG 151 (Germany) · MG FF (Germany) · MG FF/M (Germany) · ShVAK (USSR)
23 mm  GSh-23L (USSR) · NR-23 (USSR) · NS-23 (USSR)
27 mm  Akan m/85 (Sweden) · Mauser BK27 (Germany)
30 mm  DEFA 552 (France) · GSh-30-1 (USSR) · GSh-30-2K (USSR) · MK 103 (Germany) · MK 108 (Germany) · NR-30 (USSR)
37 mm  BK 3.7 (Germany) · N-37 (USSR) · N-37D (USSR)

France aircraft cannons
20 mm  GIAT M.621 · Hispano 404 · Hispano HS.9 · M50
30 mm  DEFA 541 · DEFA 551 · DEFA 552 · DEFA 552A · DEFA 553 · DEFA 554 · GIAT M781
  Foreign:
20 mm  AN/M2 (USA) · Browning-Colt Mk12 Mod 3 (USA) · Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · M3 (USA) · M24A1 (USA) · M39A1 (USA) · MG 151 (Germany) · ShVAK (USSR)
37 mm  M4 (USA) · M10 (USA) · NS-37 (USSR)

Israel aircraft cannons
20 mm  GIAT M.621 (France) · Hispano Mk.II (Britain) · Hispano Mk.V (Britain) · M50 (France) · M61A1 (USA) · M195 (USA) · M197 (USA) · MG 151 (Germany) · Mk 11 mod 5 (USA)
30 mm  DEFA 551 (France) · DEFA 552 (France) · DEFA 552A (France) · DEFA 553 (France) · M230E-1 (USA)
40 mm  M129 (USA)