View source for Bofors 37 mm

{{Infobox Weapon
|name=Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun
|image=[[Image:Armata przeciwpancerna wz 36.jpg|280px]]
|caption=Polish [[wz.36]] anti-tank gun.
|origin={{flag|Sweden}}
|type=[[Anti-tank gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
|is_ranged=
|is_bladed=
|is_explosive=
|is_artillery=yes
|is_vehicle=
|is_UK=
<!-- Service history -->
|service=
|used_by=See ''Operators''
|wars=
<!-- Production history -->
|designer=
|design_date=1934
|manufacturer=[[Bofors]]
|production_date=1935 - 
|number=
|variants=
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight=370 kg (816 lbs)
|length=3.04 m (3.32 ft)
|part_length=45 calibers
|width=1.09 m (1.19 ft)
|height=1.03 m (1.12 ft)
|crew=
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications --> 
|cartridge=37×249 mm. R
|caliber=37 mm (1.45 in)
|action=
|rate=12 rounds per minute
|velocity=800-870 m/s<br>(2,625-2,854 ft/s)
|range=4,000 m (4,374 yds)
|max_range=6,500 m (7,108 yds)
|feed=
|sights=
<!-- Artillery specifications -->
|breech=vertical block
|recoil=
|carriage=split trail
|elevation=-10° to 25°
|traverse=50°

}}
[[Image:Finnish bofors 37mm front.jpg|thumb|right|Finnish Bofors 37 mm gun.]]
[[Image:Finnish bofors 37mm rear1.jpg|thumb|right|Finnish Bofors 37 mm gun.]]
[[Image:37mm bofors antitank gun parola 2.jpg|thumb|right|Swedish gun displayed in [[Parola Tank Museum]].]]
[[Image:Dzialon armaty PPanc wz 36.jpg|right|thumb|Polish [[wz.36]] anti-tank gun during combat training.]]
The '''Bofors 37 mm gun''' was an [[anti-tank gun]] designed by [[Sweden|Swedish]] manufacturer [[Bofors]] in the early 1930s. Licensed copies were produced in a number of countries. The gun was used by some European armies during [[World War II]], mainly at the early stage of the war.

==Development history==
The gun was initially designed by [[Sweden|Swedish]] manufacturer [[Bofors]], mainly for export purposes. The first prototype was built in 1932; the development process continued until 1934. The [[Netherlands]] were the first to purchase the gun (order for 12 pieces was placed in 1935) and were followed by many other countries. Licensed copies were produced [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[Poland]].

The [[Gun barrel|barrel]] was of monobloc type, with semi-automatic vertical sliding [[breech block]] and small [[muzzle brake]]. It was mounted on a split trail carriage which had suspension and metal wheels with rubber tires. To give the crew some protection from firearms and shell fragments, the gun was equipped with a 5 mm thick shield, with a folding lower plate.

==Operators==
;{{DEN}}: A version with slightly more powerful cartridge was manufactured by the Danish state arsenal ''Hærens Vaabenarsenal'', as '''37 mm Fodfolkskanon m1937'''. In 1945 Danish units returning to their homeland brought with them a few Swedish model 1938 guns.
;{{FIN}}: As '''37 PstK/36'''. 114 pieces were bought from Bofors in 1938-39 (some of them were returned to Sweden in 1940), 42 Polish-made guns were received from Germans in 1940-41 and 355 were produced by local manufacters ''Tampella'' and ''VTT'' (''Valtion Tykkitehdas'' - State Artillery Factory) in 1939-41. When the [[Winter War]] began in November 1939, the Finnish Army had 98 guns of the type. The gun remained in the Finnish Army inventory listings until 1986.
;{{Flag|Germany|Nazi}}: Used Polish guns [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|captured in 1939]] as '''3,7 cm PaK 36(p)''' and Danish guns [[Operation Weserübung|captured in 1940]] as '''3,7 cm PaK 157(d)'''.
;{{NLD}}: 12 pieces were ordered from Bofors in 1935; in addition, a locally produced version existed.
;{{POL}}: As '''wz.36'''. 300 guns were bought in Sweden and hundreds more were produced by ''SMPzA'' (''Stowarzyszenie Mechaników Polski z Ameryki'') in [[Pruszków]], some of them exported. When World War II began, the Polish Army had 1,200 pieces. A tank variant, designated '''wz.37''', was mounted in [[7TP]] (single-turret version), [[9TP]] (prototypes) and [[10TP]] tanks. 111 of them were produced before the war.
;{{ROU}}: 556 pieces (former Polish ones) were bought from Germany.
;{{ESP}}: Some guns bought by the Republicans were used during the Spanish Civil War.
;{{SWE}}: Adopted in [[1937]] as '''37 mm infanterikanon m/34''' (infantry gun model 1934). Modernized version was adopted in [[1938]] as '''37 mm pansarvärnskanon m/38''' (anti-tank gun model 1938) and '''37 mm pansarvärnskanon m/38 F'''. The latter was also produced in a tank gun variant - '''37 mm Kanon m/38 stridsvagn'''; it was fitted to [[AB Landsverk|Landsverk]] [[Strv m/38]], [[Strv m/39]], [[Strv m/40]] light tanks and to the [[Strv m/41]], a Swedish version of the Czech [[Panzer 38(t)|TNH]] light tank.
;{{TUR}}
;{{UK}}: A number of Swedish m/34 ordered by [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]] were adopted as '''[[British ordnance terms#QF|Ordnance QF 37 mm Mk I]]'''.
;{{USSR}}: Several dozens of Polish guns fell into [[Soviet]] hands. Late in 1941 these pieces were issued to [[Red Army]] units to make up for the lack of anti-tank guns.
;{{YUG}}

==Employment history==
The Bofors gun saw combat for the first time in [[Spanish Civil War]], where it could easily pierce the armor of contemporary light tanks.

The Polish guns were actively used during the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|German invasion of Poland in 1939]]. For example [[Wołyńska Cavalry Brigade]] equipped with the Bofors 37 mm antitank gun beat the German [[Panzer Division]]s in one of the first battles of the invasion; the [[Battle of Mokra]]. At that time, the armored forces of the [[Wehrmacht]] consisted mainly of light [[Panzer I]] and [[Panzer II]] tanks, which were vulnerable to the Bofors gun. Early models of the [[Panzer III]] and [[Panzer IV]] could also be penetrated at ranges up to 500 m. After Poland was occupied, most of the guns fell into the hands of the German and [[Soviet]] armies.

Even though only one Bofors AT-gun was in action in the [[Invasion of Denmark]], it damaged two tanks, and shoot the tracks of another tank, before its crew were either wounded or dead. A German tank destroyed and drove over the gun. The gun is now at the [[Tøjhusmuseet]] in Copenhagen.

During the [[Winter War]], the Finnish guns were successfully used against Soviet tanks such as [[T-26]], [[T-28]] and [[BT tank|BT]]. However in the [[Continuation War]] the gun was found to be ineffective against the [[T-34]] and [[Kliment Voroshilov tank|KV]] and was relegated to an infantry support role.

The gun was used to equip the [[British Army|British forces]] in [[North African Campaign|North Africa]], where it made up for the lack of the [[Ordnance QF 2 pounder|QF 2-pounder]] anti-tank guns after the [[Fall of France]]. It was often carried ''[[portee]]'' on the back of a vehicle.

Bofors guns were also employed in World War II by Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Yugoslavia and USSR, but there are no detailed reports of their use.

==Summary==
When it was introduced, the Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun was an effective weapon, able to deal with contemporary tanks. Its performance, light weight and high rate of fire made it a popular anti-tank weapon in the pre-war Europe. However, introduction of better armored tanks early in World War II made the gun obsolete (as it made obsolete other similarly performing weapons such as the German [[PaK 36]] and the US [[M3 37 mm gun|37mm M3]].

==Ammunition==
[[Image:Amunicja Armaty przeciwpancernej wz 36.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ammunition.]]
*Ammunition: [[Shell (projectile)#Armour-piercing (AP)|AP]] with tracer, [[Shell (projectile)#High explosive (HE)|HE]], WP [[incendiary]]
*Projectile weight (AP):  0.70  kg
*Penetration (AP shell, meet angle 60 degrees):
**300 yards: 40 mm
**457 yards: 33 mm
**600 yards: 30 mm
**900 yards: 20 mm
**1,200 yards: 15 mm

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Shirokorad A. B. - ''The God of War of the Third Reich'' - M. AST, 2002 (Широкорад А. Б. - Бог войны Третьего рейха. — М.,ООО Издательство АСТ, 2002., ISBN 5-17-015302-3)

==External links==
{{Commons|Bofors 37 mm gun}}
*[http://www.tfd.chalmers.se/~m95perm/vapen/kanon/div/37mm_pvkan.html Bofors AT guns]
*[http://www.saunalahti.fi/~ejuhola/7.62/bofors37mm.html The Finnish Weapons Series: Bofors 37 mm AT Gun]
*[http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/AT_GUNS1.htm#37PstK36 Finnish Army 1918 - 1945, AT Guns: 37 PstK/36 Bofors]
*[http://derela.republika.pl/weap2.htm#37 Armament of Polish armoured vehicles 1918-39: 37 mm wz.36, wz.37]

[[Category:Weapons of Sweden]]
[[Category:World War II anti-tank guns]]
[[Category:37 mm artillery]]
[[Category:Bofors]]

[[Category:2Fix]]