List of weapons of military aircraft of Germany during World War II
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World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
(German air force) equipped their aircraft with the most modern weaponry available until resources grew scarce later in the war.


Machine guns

(Maschinengewehr) *
MG 15 The MG 15 was a German 7.92 mm machine gun designed specifically as a hand-manipulated defensive gun for combat aircraft during the early 1930s. By 1941 it was replaced by other types and found new uses with ground troops. History The MG 1 ...
*
MG 17 The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft, typically as forward-firing offensive armament. The MG 17 was based on the older MG 30 light machine gun, ...
* MG 81 & 81Z *
MG 131 The MG 131 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr'' 131, or "Machine gun 131") was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed, flexible ...


Autocannon

(Maschinenkanone and related types) *
MG FF The MG FF was a drum-fed, blowback-operated, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon (its ''FF'' suffix indicating ''Flügel Fest'', for a fixe ...
and FF/M /sup> *
MG 151 The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a German 15 mm aircraft-mounted autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. Its 20mm variant, the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, was widely used on German Luftwaffe fighters, night fighters, ...
, /15 or /20 /sup> *
MK 101 MK or mk may refer to: In arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Moon Knight, a Marvel Comics superhero * M.K., an ''Into the Badlands (TV series), ''Into the Badlands'' (TV series) character * Mary Katherine "M.K." Bomba, the prot ...
*
MK 103 The Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 103 ("MK" - '' Maschinenkanone'') was a German 30 mm caliber autocannon that was mounted in German combat aircraft during World War II. Intended to be a dual purpose weapon for anti-tank and air-to-air fighting, it was d ...
*
MK 108 The MK 108 (German: ''Maschinenkanone''—"machine cannon") was a 30 mm caliber autocannon manufactured in Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall‑Borsig for use in aircraft. The cannon saw widespread use as an anti-bomber weapon during t ...
/sup> The official designation for ''MG FF'' and ''MG 151'' was ''Maschinengewehr'' but they are cannon.


Heavy aircraft cannon

(''Bordkanone'') * BK 3.7 *
BK 5 The Rheinmetall ''Bordkanone'' 5, or BK-5, was a WWII-era German 50 mm autocannon primarily intended for use against Allied heavy bombers, such as the United States Army Air Forces's (USAAF) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The shells had a hig ...
*
BK 7.5 BK is the common abbreviation for the Burger King chain of fast food restaurants. BK or Bk may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * The Bank of New York Mellon, the New York Stock Exchange symbol for The Bank of New York Mellon Corporat ...
(based on Rheinmetall's
7.5 cm Pak 40 The 7.5 cm Pak 40 (''7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40 -'' "7.5cm armour defence cannon 90") was a German 75 millimetre anti-tank gun of the Second World War. The gun was developed in 1939–1941 and entered service in 1942. With 23,303 ex ...
with self-contained twelve-round magazine)


Rockets and Missiles

* Kramer Rk 344, air-to-air missile (liquid-fuel, rocket-powered) * Henschel Hs 293, guided anti-ship, boost-glide missile *
R4M rocket R4M, abbreviation for ''Rakete, 4 kilogramm, Minenkopf'' ( en, Rocket, 4 kilogram, Mine-head), also known by the nickname ''Orkan'' ( en, Hurricane) due to its distinctive smoke trail when fired, was a folding-fin air-to-air rocket used by the ...
*
Werfer-Granate 21 The ''Werfer-Granate 21'' rocket launcher, also known as the BR 21 (the "BR" standing for ''Bordrakete'') in official Luftwaffe manuals, was a weapon used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and was the first on-board rocket placed into ...
heavy-calibre air-to-air unguided rocket


Bombs


High explosive

"Sprengcylindrisch"' (high-explosive) * SC 50 * SC 250 * SC 500 * SC 1000 "Hermann" * SC 1200 * SC 1800 "Satan" * SC 2000 * SC 2500 "Max" * SC 500J *
SB 1000 The SB 1000 (Spezialbombe) was a luftmine (aerial mine) used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. History The SB series of bombs were high-capacity bombs intended to create the largest lateral blast effect, in contrast to most oth ...
*
SB 1800 SB or Sb may refer to: Places * Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FIPS PUB 10-4 territory code SB) * Santa Barbara, California, US * San Bernardino, California, US * Solomon Islands (ISO 3166 country code SB) * South Burlington, Vermont * Sibiu County, ...
*
SB 2500 The SB 2500 (Spezialbombe) was a luftmine or aerial mine in English used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. History The SB series of bombs were designed to be high-capacity bombs that were intended to create the largest lateral blast ef ...


Anti-personnel

"Splitterbomben-Dickwandig"' (Shrapnel) * SD 1 * SD 1 FRZ * SD 2 * SD 4 HL * SD 4/HL RS * SD 9/HL * SD 10 A * SD 10 FRZ * SD 10 C * SD 15 *
SBe 50 The SBe 50 (Splitter Beton) or ''concrete fragmentation'' in English was a family of fragmentation bombs used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. History The SBe series of bombs were designed to be semi-armor piercing fragmentation bombs that ...
*
SD 50 South Dakota Highway 50 (SD 50) is a state route serving south central and southeast South Dakota. The current alignment begins at the junction of South Dakota Highway 34 at "Lee's Corner" east of Fort Thompson, and ends at the Iowa border near ...
* SD 70 * SBe 250 *
SD 250 The SD 250 (Sprengbombe Dickwandig 250) or ''thick walled explosive bomb'' in English was a fragmentation bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. History The second most used category of bombs was the SD series which were high-explosiv ...
* SD 500 * SD 1400 "Esau" * SD 1700 "Sigismund" * SD 500A * SD 500E


Armour-piercing

* SC 10 * SC 10 DW "Panzersprengbombe-Cylindrisch" (Armor-piercing bombs) * PC 500* 'Pauline' * PC 500 RS * PC 1000* 'Pol' * PC 1000 RS * PC 1400 'Fritz' (starting point for the ''Fritz X'' gravity precision-guided munition) * PC 1600 * PC 1800 RS 'Panther' *
PD 500 The PD 500 (Panzersprengbombe Dickwandig) or ''thick walled armor-piercing explosive bomb'' in English was an armor-piercing bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Design The PD series of bombs differed for the SC series because they h ...
* PD 1000


Cluster bombs

*
AB 23 The AB 23 (Abwurfbehälter) was a cluster bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Design The body of the AB 23 was constructed of mild sheet steel with four fins welded to the rear of the container. The AB 23 was composed of two long ...
* AB 250-2 *
AB 250-3 The AB 250-3 (Abwurfbehälter) was an anti-personnel cluster bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. AB 250-3 The AB 250-3 could be suspended horizontally within a bomb bay or fuselage or wing hardpoint. It also had trunnions s ...
*
AB 500-1 The AB 500-1 (Abwurfbehälter) was a Cluster munition, cluster bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. AB 500-1 The body of the AB 500-1 was constructed of mild sheet steel and was of clamshell construction and hinged at the tail. It w ...
* AB 500-1B * AB 500-3A *
AB 70-D1 The AB 70-D1 (Abwurfbehälter) was a cluster bomb dispenser used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Design Weapons container The AB 70-D1 contained fifty high-explosive fragmentation sub-munitions, was cylindrical in shape and was made o ...
*
BDC 10 The BDC 10 was a cluster bomb used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Design BDC 10 The BDC 10 was a cluster bomb unit which held five bombs horizontally together by a metallic band wide, and by a double spider mechanism at the front of ...


Prototype only

* the ''Düsenkanone 88'' rotary-magazine heavy calibre cannon, meant to largely be recoilless *
Henschel Hs 298 __NOTOC__ The Henschel Hs 298 was a 1940s German rocket-powered air-to-air missile designed by Professor Herbert Wagner of Henschel. Design and development The Hs 298 was designed specifically to attack Allied bomber aircraft and was the first ...
, air-to-air missile (rocket-powered) *
Mauser MG 213 The Mauser MG 213 was a 20 mm aircraft-mounted revolver cannon developed for the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. It was never put into service, but the principles formed the basis for several post-war developments by the Allies. A 30 mm ver ...
* MK 112 *
MK 115 The MK 115 (German: ''Maschinenkanone 115''—"machine cannon 115") was an autocannon developed in Germany in late World War II by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use in aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from ...
*
MK 214A cannon The MK 214A was a calibre auto-cannon designed by Mauser Werke AG, for use on Messerschmitt Me 262 and Messerschmitt Me 410, Me 410 bomber-destroyers. Intended for use on the Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a/U4, Mauser designed the MK 214, derived from ...
* SG 116 (Link is to german wikipedia page) *
Ruhrstahl X-4 The Ruhrstahl Ru 344 X-4 or Ruhrstahl-Kramer RK 344 was a wire-guided air-to-air missile designed by Germany during World War II. The X-4 did not see operational service and thus was not proven in combat but inspired considerable post-war work ...
*
Jagdfaust The ''Sondergerät'' SG 500 Jagdfaust ("hunting fist") or Jägerfaust ("hunter's fist") was an experimental airborne anti-bomber recoilless rifle designed for use in the Me 163 ''Komet'' rocket plane by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War ...


See also

*
List of weapons of World War II Japanese aircraft This is a complete list of weapons deployed on Japanese combat aircraft during the Second World War. Army aircraft Machine guns * Type 89 7.7 mm machine gun (copy of Vickers Class E) *Ho-103 12.7 mm machine gun (based on Browning M1921) ...
*
Schräge Musik ''Schräge Musik'', which may also be spelled ''Schraege Musik'', was a common name for the fitting of an upward-firing autocannon or machine gun, to an interceptor aircraft, such as a night fighter. The term was introduced by the German ''L ...
*


References


External links

{{WWIIGermanAerialWeapons
Weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...