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Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

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ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II<br />

Figure 16. German 88 mm gun. Probably the best-known artillery piece<br />

<strong>of</strong> World War II was this German 88 mm gun. It was the most versatile<br />

heavy artillery weapon used in the war, serving very well as a conventional<br />

artillery piece, as well as against tanks and aircraft. (Reprinted<br />

from Imperial War Museum.)<br />

The Germans began <strong>to</strong> work on a more advanced model, the<br />

8.8-cm Flak 41 in 1939 but did not get this gun in<strong>to</strong> service<br />

until 1943. Although it suffered early mechanical problems,<br />

this flak gun had greater performance. It fired a 20.7-pound<br />

shell at a muzzle velocity <strong>of</strong> 3,280 fps <strong>to</strong> an effective ceiling <strong>of</strong><br />

37,000 feet. It also featured a lower silhouette on its turntable<br />

mounting than did the 8.8-cm Flak 18/36/37 on its pedestal<br />

mounting. Because <strong>of</strong> the high cost and complexity <strong>of</strong> this flak<br />

gun, the Germans manufactured relatively few <strong>of</strong> them (556 in<br />

all) and, in February 1944, fielded only 279. 53<br />

The Germans supplemented the 88s with two larger guns.<br />

In 1933, the Germans established the specifications for a 105<br />

mm antiaircraft gun and three years later selected Rheinmetall’s<br />

27

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