Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun
Autocannon family by Bofors / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 (often referred to simply as the "Bofors 40 mm gun", the "Bofors gun" and the like,[3][4] see name) is an anti-aircraft autocannon, designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. The gun was designed as an intermediate anti-aircraft gun, filling the gap between fast firing close-range small calibre anti-aircraft guns and slower firing long-range high calibre anti-aircraft guns. For its time, the Bofors 40 mm L/60 was perfectly suited for this role and outperformed competing designs in the years leading up to World War II in both effectiveness and reliability.[5][3]
Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 | |
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Type | Autocannon |
Place of origin | Sweden |
Service history | |
In service | 1934–present |
Used by | See Users |
Wars | See Wars |
Production history | |
Designer | AB Bofors |
Designed | 1930 |
Manufacturer | Bofors Defence (1932–2000) Zastava Arms (1970–present) Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur (1960-present) United Defense Industries (2000–2006) BAE Systems AB (2006–present) |
Produced | 1932–present |
No. built | >60,000 (L/60)[1] |
Variants | See variants |
Specifications (L/60) | |
Barrel length | 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) |
Crew | 4[2] (dependent on use) |
Shell | 40 × 311 mm R |
Shell weight | 0.9 kg (2 lb 0 oz) |
Caliber | 40 mm |
Barrels | 1 or 2[2] |
Action | Automatic extraction and integrated cam-operated recoil powered autoloader |
Breech | Vertical sliding-wedge |
Carriage | 522 kg (1,151 lb) |
Elevation | −5°/+90°, 55°/s |
Traverse | Full 360°, 50°/s |
Rate of fire | 140 round/min at low elevation angles 120 round/min at high elevation angles |
Muzzle velocity | 850–880 m/s (2,800–2,900 ft/s)[lower-alpha 1] |
Maximum firing range | 7,160 m (23,490 ft) |
It entered the export market around 1932[5] and was in service with 18 countries by 1939.[6] Throughout World War II it became one of the most popular and widespread medium-weight anti-aircraft guns. It was used by the majority of the western Allies and some Axis powers such as Nazi Germany and Hungary.
In the post-war era, the Bofors 40 mm L/60 design was not suitable for action against jet-powered aircraft, so Bofors developed a new 40 mm replacement design with significantly more power — the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70, also known under the generic name 'Bofors 40 mm gun' — which was adopted by many nations during the Cold War and was selected as NATO-standard in November 1953.[7] The Bofors 40 mm L/60 would however continue to see service long after becoming obsolete as an anti-aircraft weapon due to the massive number of surplus guns from WWII, and a small number of Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns remain in service today. Some weapons saw action as late as the Gulf War and Yugoslav Wars.