View source for Polsten

{{Infobox Weapon
 |name= Polsten
 |image=[[File:Canadian Tripe Polsten AA Carriage.jpg|300px]]
 |caption=A Canadian towed anti-aircraft mounting featuring three Polsten cannons.
 |origin= {{POL}}
 |type= Autocannon
 <!-- Type selection -->
 |is_ranged=yes
 |is_UK=yes
 <!-- Service history -->
 |service= 1944 - 1950s
 |used_by= {{UK}}
 |wars= 
 <!-- Production history -->
 |designer= 
 |design_date=
 |manufacturer=
 |unit_cost=
 |production_date=
 |number= 
 |variants= 
 <!-- General specifications -->
 |weight= 126 lb (57 kg)
 |length= 84 in (2.18 m)
 |part_length= 57 in (barrel)
 |width=
 |height=
 |diameter=
 |crew=
 <!-- Ranged weapon specifications --> 
 |cartridge= 
 |caliber=20 mm (0.78 in)
 |action= 
 |rate= 450 rpm
 |velocity= 2,725 ft/s (830 m/s)
 |range= 
 |max_range= 2,000 m (6,562 ft)<br>effective range: 1,000 m (3,281 ft)
 |feed= 60 round drum [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] or 30 round box magazine
 |sights= 
 }}

The '''Polsten''' was a low cost Polish development of the 20 mm [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Oerlikon gun]]. The Polsten was designed to be simpler and much cheaper to build than the Oerlikon without reducing effectiveness. When [[Nazi Germany]] invaded [[Poland]] in 1939, the design team escaped to England and resumed work together with Czech and British designers. The need for the Polsten was apparently mooted in June 1941. It went into service in March 1944 alongside the Oerlikon. Both the Oerlikon and the Polsten used similar 60 round drum [[Magazine (firearms)|magazines]], however, the Polsten could use a simpler box magazine with 30 rounds. It remained in service into the 1950s.

When compared to the Oerlikone cannon which was made out of 250 parts, the Polsten was made out of 119 parts, without sacrificing the effectivness or the realiability of the cannon. Simplification of the design of the Polsten cannon made it's production much cheaper. The cost of one Oerlikon cannon was about [[Pound sterling|£350]], while the cost of the Polsten was between £60 and £70. 

The Polsten was used as a substitute for the Oerlikon in the same roles, one of which was as an [[airborne warfare|airborne unit]] anti-aircraft gun. It was used on a wheeled mounting that could be towed behind a [[jeep]].
Various double, triple and quadruple mounts were developed.  John Inglis Limited of [[Toronto, Ontario]] in [[Canada]] produced many thousands of guns and some 500 quadruple mountings that saw limited service at the end of the war.  These multiple mounts were both trailered and truck mounted.

The Polsten gun was used for armoured vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft guns based on the [[Cromwell tank|Cromwell/Centaur]] tank.

The Polsten was also mounted on early models of the [[Centurion tank]] not coaxially with the main gun but in the left hand side of the turret.

The origin of the name is not entirely clear. Some sources suggest Poland and the "Sten Company" to give Pol-sten, though the [[Sten]] gun was not made by a Sten Company. Official (United Kingdom) sources indicate the name to have been a compound based on Poland and the [[Royal Small Arms Factory]] [[Enfield Town|Enfield]] in the same manner as the [[Bren]] gun ('''Br'''no + '''En'''field) or Sten ('''S'''hephard, '''T'''urpin + '''En'''field); also to reflect the gun design being mostly Polish (and the magazine mostly Czech) and the 8 Polish engineers in the design department. The "Sten" ending may also have linked in with the idea of the gun as a cheaper and quicker to produce weapon just like that gun was. 

==See also==
* [[Sten#Foreign built copies and derivatives|Polski Sten]], the actual Polish derivate of the [[Sten]] gun

==References==
* [[M. M. Postan|Postan, M. M.]], Hay, D. and Scott J.D. (1964). ''Design and Development of Weapons: Studies in Government and Industrial Organisation'' ([[History of the Second World War#United Kingdom Civil Series|History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series]]) London: [[HMSO]] & Longmans, Green & Co.
* [http://www.anti-aircraft.co.uk/polstenquad.html Anti-Aircraft: Polsten 20mm Quad]

==External links==
* [http://www.geocities.com/britsatwar/airborne_equipment.html Airborne Polsten gun]

{{WWIIBritishCommGuns}}

[[Category:World War II anti-aircraft guns]]
[[Category:20 mm artillery]]
[[Category:Automatic cannons]]

[[Category:2Fix]]