The Solothurn ST-5 is a 20 mm
anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
designed by
Waffenfabrik Solothurn in Switzerland which ultimately was the design basis for the highly successful
2 cm Flak 30
The Flak 30 (''Flugzeugabwehrkanone 30'') and improved Flak 38 were 20 mm anti-aircraft guns used by various German forces throughout World War II. It was not only the primary German light anti-aircraft gun but by far the most numerously pr ...
series of guns used by Germany in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Solothurn was owned by the German firm
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
, which at the time was prohibited from developing certain weapons. It and other German manufacturers sought partnerships with foreign firms, often owning them outright, in an effort to circumvent the terms of the
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...
. The gun was initially developed by Germans engineers employed in a Dutch front company of Rheinmetall, ''Hollandsche Industrie- en Handelsmaatschappij'' (H.I.H., informally also "Haiha") which is better known as
HIH Siderius.
The ST-5 fired the 'Long Solothurn' ammunition, the cartridge
20 × 138 mm. B. The cartridge case was 138 mm long, making it the most powerful 20 mm round available.
Users
* - While Germany did not adopt the ST-5, the Kriegsmarine did acquire a version of the weapon for ship-board air defense. The weapon was designated 20 mm C/30 and equipped several German naval vessels during World War II. This weapon was further refined for the other German forces as the 2 cm Flak 30 described separately.
[Gander & Chamberlain, p. 132]
* - During the Second Sino-Japanese War (World War 2 in China), the Chinese Nationalist Army soldiers used the Solothurn ST-5 as the main AA gun. The Solothurn ST-5 firstly joined the
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai ( zh, t=淞滬會戰, s=淞沪会战, first=t, p=Sōng hù huìzhàn) was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during ...
and the
Battle of Nanking
The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing ( zh, c=南京, p=Nánjīng), the ca ...
. The Solothurn ST-5 was not only used for anti-aircraft and also used for destroying the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles, so it became the anti-tank gun in the
Battle of Taierzhuang and destroyed 15 Japanese tanks in this battle.
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See also
*
List of anti-aircraft guns
*
2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling
Citations
Bibliography
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20 mm artillery
World War II anti-aircraft guns
Artillery of Switzerland
Rheinmetall
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s
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