List of Aircraft Weapons - Guns

Guns

In World War I, aircraft were initially intended for reconnaissance, however some pilots begun to carry rifles in case they spotted enemy planes. Soon, planes were fitted with machine guns and there were different variations on mountings; the Airco DH.2 pusher plane had its gun in the front while the engine was in the back, some experimented with mountings on the (side) wing or on the biplane's upper wing (above the cockpit), and the latest fighter aircraft used Fokker's synchronizer so they could mount the machine gun behind the propeller for better accuracy.

In World War II, fighter aircraft carried wing-mounted machine guns and cannons as their primary armament.

While missiles are the primary armament since the early 1960s, the Vietnam War showed that guns still had a role to play and most fighters built since then are fitted with cannon (typically between 20 and 30 mm in caliber) as an adjunct to missiles. Modern European fighter aircraft are usually equipped with the revolver cannon, whereas the United States and to some extent Russia generally favor the Gatling gun.

• ADEN cannon (UK)
• 20 mm Becker (Germany)
• Berezin B-20 (USSR)
• Berezin BS (USSR)
• Berezin UB (USSR)
• Bordkanone BK 3.7 cannon (37mm) (Germany)
• Bordkanone BK 5 cannon (50mm) (Germany)
• Bordkanone BK 7.5 cannon (75mm) (Germany)
• Pak 40 (75mm) (Germany)
• Breda-SAFAT machine gun (Italy)
• Browning Model 1919 machine gun (United States)
• Colt Mk 12 cannon (United States)
• COW 37 mm gun (UK)
• DEFA cannon (France)
• GAU-7 cannon (United States)
• GAU-8 Avenger (United States)
• GAU-12 Equalizer (United States)
• GIAT 30 (France)
• Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L (Russia)
• Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23 (Russia)
• Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 (Russia)
• Gryazev-Shipunov/Izhmash GSh-30-1 (Russia)
• Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-2 (Russia)
• Shipunov 2A42 (Russia)
• Hispano 20 mm cannon (Switzerland)
• Lewis gun (USA/UK)
• M2 Browning machine gun (United States)
• M4 cannon (United States)
• M39 cannon (United States)
• M61 Vulcan (United States)
• M134 Minigun (United States)
• M197 Gatling gun (United States)
• MAC 1934 (France)
• Mauser BK-27 (Germany)
• MG 151 cannon (Germany)
• MG 15 machine gun (Germany)
• MG 17 machine gun (Germany)
• MG 131 machine gun (Germany)
• MG FF cannon (Germany)
• MK 103 cannon (Germany)
• MK 108 cannon (Germany)
• Parabellum MG14 (Germany)
• Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 (Russia)
• Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 (Austria-Hungary)
• ShKAS machine gun (Russia)
• ShVAK cannon (Russia)
• Maschinengewehr 08 (Germany)
• Spandau machine gun (Germany)
• Type 1 machine gun (Japan)
• Type 2 machine gun (Japan)
• Type 92 machine gun (Japan)
• Type 99 cannon (Japan)
• 1.59 inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun") (UK)
• Vickers machine gun (UK)
• Vickers K machine gun (UK)
• Vickers VGO (Vickers Gas-operated) (UK)
• Vickers S (UK)
• Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (USSR)
• 75 mm gun (US) (T13E1 / M5) (United States)
• Karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz.37 (PL)