Background
Initially, anti-aircraft artillery guns of World War I were adaptations of existing medium-calibre weapons, mounted to allow fire at higher angles. By 1915, the German command realized that these are useless for anything beyond deterrence, even against the vulnerable balloons and slow-moving aircraft. With the increase of aircraft performance, many armies developed dedicated AA guns with a high muzzle velocity – allowing the projectiles to reach greater altitudes – and a high rate of fire. The first such German gun was introduced in 1917, and it used caliber 88 mm, common in the German navy.
After losing the war, Germany had been forbidden to procure new weapons of most types. Nevertheless, the Krupp company started the development of a new gun in partnership with Bofors of Sweden. The original design was a 75 mm model. During the prototype phase, the army asked for a gun with considerably greater capability. The designers started over, using 88 mm caliber.
Read more about this topic: 8.8 Cm Flak 18/36/37/41
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