The was developed for aerial use for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

in 1932. The Type 92 is a light machine gun and not to be confused with the similarly named

Type 92 heavy machine gun was a Japanese heavy machine gun, related to the Hotchkiss machine gun series. It entered service in 1932 and was the standard Japanese heavy machine gun used during World War II. Known for its reliability, it was used after the war by various fo ...

Description

It was the standard hand-held machine gun in multi-place IJN aircraft during the most part of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. It proved to be seriously inadequate. Aircraft produced in the later part of the conflict often were equipped with weapons such as Type 1 and Type 2 machine guns or

Type 99 cannon The Type 99 Mark 1 machine gun and Type 99 Mark 2 machine gun were Japanese versions of the Oerlikon FF and Oerlikon FFL autocannons respectively. They were adopted by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in 1939 and served as their standard aircraft ...

. Essentially a copy of the shroudless post-World War I aircraft-mounted version of the British Lewis gun, the Type 92 was fed with a 97-round drum magazine and used on a flexible mount. It was chambered in a Japanese copy of the .303 British cartridge. The main external difference between the two models was the trigger guard, and cooling fins around the barrel and gas piston tube. Neither the post-World War I British aircraft Lewis nor the Japanese copy featured the distinctive thick barrel shroud of the original gun (although ground-based versions generally retained it). It was removed as it was found that the airflow past the aircraft was sufficient for cooling the barrel and eliminating the shroud reduced the mass.

Installations

* Aichi D1A *

Aichi D3A The Aichi D3A Type 99 Carrier Bomber ( Allied reporting name "Val") is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was involved in almost all IJN actions, including the a ...

* Kawanishi E7K2Collier, Basil ''Japanese Aircraft of World War II'' Mayflower Books (1979) pp.62-63 *

Kawanishi H6K The Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was Mavis; the Navy designation was . Design ...

Kawanishi H8K The Kawanishi H8K was a flying boat used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was "Emily". The Kawanishi H8K was a large, four-engine aircraft designed ...

Kyūshū Q1W The Kyūshū Q1W ''Tokai'' (東海 "Eastern Sea") was a land-based anti-submarine patrol bomber aircraft developed for the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The Allied reporting name was ''Lorna''. Although similar in appearance to the G ...

Mitsubishi F1M The Mitsubishi F1M ( Allied reporting name "Pete") was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 944 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Obs ...

2Collier, Basil ''Japanese Aircraft of World War II'' Mayflower Books (1979) p.101 *

Mitsubishi G3M The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II. The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosu ...

Mitsubishi G4M The Mitsubishi G4M was a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. Its official designat ...

Nakajima B5N The Nakajima B5N ( ja, 中島 B5N, Allied reporting name "Kate") was the standard carrier-based torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of World War II. Although the B5N was substantially faster and more capable than its Al ...

Nakajima B6N The Nakajima B6N ''Tenzan'' ( ja, 中島 B6N 天山, "Heavenly Mountain", World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name: "Jill") was the Imperial Japanese Navy's standard Aircraft carrier, carrier-borne torpedo bomber du ...

Yokosuka B4Y The Yokosuka B4Y, (Navy Type 96 Carrier Attack Bomber), carrier-borne torpedo bomber was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1936 to 1943. The B4Y replaced the Mitsubishi B2M2 and was the last biplane bomber used operationally ...

Yokosuka K5Y The was a two-seat unequal-span biplane trainer that served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Due to its bright orange paint scheme (applied to all Japanese military trainers for visibility), it earned the nickname ''"aka-tomb ...

* Various others

Notes

References

* * McNab, Chris. ''Twentieth-century Small Arms'' {{Japanese WWII infantry weapons Aircraft guns Machine guns of Japan World War II machine guns Military equipment introduced in the 1930s

Description

Installations

See also

Notes

References