Rheinmetall 20 mm Twin Anti-Aircraft Cannon

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File:20 mm Twin Anti-Aircraft Cannon IWM 3.jpg
An Argentine Rheinmetall 20 mm Twin Anti-Aircraft Cannon in the Imperial War Museum
File:Scale Rheinmetall 20 mm.JPG
The same gun, but with an adult male nearby for a reference of scale. Markings of "Fuerza Aérea Argentina" (English: Argentine Air Force) can clearly be seen on the side, in the background is a British Thunderbird missile.

Rheinmetall Zwillingsflak twin-gun anti-aircraft system under development since 1968, designed to match the mission of the low-level air defence units of the German Air Force, i.e. "to engage low and very low approaching enemy aircraft with all appropriate means in time to prevent them from firing their weapons or delivering their ordnance, or at least to prevent them from carrying out an accurate attack on an Air Force installation." The Budget Committee of the Bundestag approved the Zwillingsflak system in December 1969, and serial production began in 1972; the first serially manufactured systems reached units of the Bundeswehr on October 12 of that year. Rheinmetall delivered the last of these systems in 1976. It was used by the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War. Since 1981, it is used by the Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air Force.

Statistics

  • Calibre: 20 mm
  • Elevation: -5.5 ° to +85 °
  • Range: 2,000 m
  • Rate of Fire: 1,000 round/min
  • Traverse: 360 °
  • Weight: 2,160 kg
  • Crew: 3 or 4

Operators

References

External links

See also