MK 115 cannon

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. It was an unusual development in that although it employed a locked breech, it also used a funnel to allow some of the propellant gases to escape out the rear in order to reduce recoil when firing, essentially being an automatic recoilless rifle. The MK 115 was chambered for a 5.5 cm round (in common with a few other late-war German designs), but used a partially combustible cartridge, leaving only the base of the cartridge to eject. The MK 115 was a gas-operated, belt-fed weapon, and its breechblock used a swinging lock mechanism. It had a rifled barrel with an 8°30′ twist. A single prototype in the late stages of development was captured by the Western allies.[1]

MK 115
Cutaway drawing of the MK 115 cannon.
Production history
DesignerRheinmetall-Borsig
No. built1 (prototype)
Specifications
Mass180 kilograms (400 lb)
Length3,300 millimetres (130 in)
Barrel length1,320 millimetres (52 in)
Cartridge55x318R
Caliber55 mm
Rate of fire300 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity600 m/s (2,000 ft/s)
Feed system100 rounds

See also

References
  1. George Chinn 1951, The Machine Gun: Development During World War II and Korean Conflict by the United States and their Allies of Full Automatic Machine Gun Systems and High Rate of Fire Power Driven Cannon, Volume III, Parts VIII and IX., p. 637
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