MG 81 (officially in full: German 7.9 mm-Flugzeug m aschinen g ewehr 81 [2] ) - 7.9 mm German aviation machine gun MG-81 during the Second World War .
| MG 81 | |
|---|---|
 MG 81 (top) and two MG 81 Z in a shipping container (box). | |
| Type of | machine gun |
| A country |  Germany |
| Service History | |
| In service | Luftwaffe |
| Wars and conflicts | The Second World War |
| Production history | |
| Designed by | 1938 |
| Manufacturer | Mauser Werke AG [1] |
| Years of production | 1939 - 1945 |
| Characteristics | |
| Weight kg | 6.5 [2] |
| Length mm | 915/965 without / with Feuerdämpfer (flame arrester-compensator) |
| Barrel length mm | 475 |
| Cartridge | 7.92 × 57 mm [1] |
| Caliber mm | 7.9 (7.92 +0.04 ) [2] |
| Work principles | kickback |
| Rate of fire rounds / min | 1600 and more [2] |
| starting speed bullets , m / s | 705 (sS), 755 (SmK), 785 (PmK), 790 (SmKL) [1] [2] |
| Type of ammunition | cartridge tape for 50 or 250 rounds [1] |
Content
History
MG.81 was developed by Mauser on the basis of the design of the prototype MG.32 machine gun to replace the MG.15 and MG.17 aviation machine guns previously adopted by the Luftwaffe . The main tasks assigned to the developers were the unification of aviation weapons, improving the tactical and technical characteristics and manufacturability of the production of a new machine gun [3] .
Production began in 1939, mass production was mastered at the end of 1939 and continued through 1945 . Only in the period from the beginning of 1939 until the end of 1944, over 46 thousand MG 81 machine guns of all modifications were issued [3] .
Options and Modifications
- MG 81 aircraft machine gun [1] [2] - was produced in a turret, wing and synchronous versions. The first machine guns were produced with a barrel length of 600 mm, however, a variant with a 475 mm barrel came into mass production. Used on aircraft Do-217 , FW-189 , Ju-88 , He-111H , etc.
- MG 81 light machine gun - infantry version, equipped with a bipod bipod and butt. [one]
- MG 81Z [2] - introduced in 1942, a coaxial machine gun with double-sided tape power, having a mass of 12.9 kg, the same length and rate of more than 3200 rounds per minute, the distance between the barrel channels - 56 mm. [2]
Operator countries
- Germany - adopted by the Luftwaffe in 1938, mainly entered the arsenal of the Luftwaffe, but some MG.81 entered the Kriegsmarine , where they were installed in anti-aircraft installations on boats and transport ships [3] ; already in the spring of 1943, MG.81 light machine guns began to enter the arsenal of the “eastern” armed groups that took part in anti-partisan operations [4] ; since 1944, they began to enter the arsenal of the Luftwaffe airfield divisions , but by July 1944 there were still 33,164 units in storage. unused machine guns of this type (20 396 pieces of machine guns MG.81 and 12 768 pieces of coaxial machine guns MG.81Z) [1] ; after the creation of the Volkssturm in the fall of 1944 - also into its arsenal.
See also
- ShKAS
- Machine gun list
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Machine gun MG 81 // V. A. Kashevsky. Infantry weapon of the Second World War. Minsk, Harvest LLC, 2004. pp. 256-257
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 D. (Luft) T.6081, 1944 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 7.92 mm machine gun MG.81 // Weapon magazine, No. 1, 2005 (special issue “Infantry weapons of the Third Reich. Part VII. Machine guns”) p. 50-52
- ↑ No. 64. Protocol of a poll of Red Army Colonel F. G. Gavrilov on anti-Soviet organizations in Germany and the activities of A. A. Vlasov to create the Russian Committee and ROA of April 22, 1943 // General Vlasov: a history of betrayal. Volume 1 Nazi project "Aktion Wlassow" / Sat. documents and materials, redkoll., otv. ed. A. N. Artizov. M., ROSSPEN, 2015. Pp. 216-232
Literature
- D. (Luft) T.6081 MG81. 7.9 mm-Flugzeugmaschinengewehr 81 Waffen-Handbuch. Teil 1: MG81, Teil 2: Gurt 17/81, Teil 3: Waffenzubehör MG81 .. - Berlin: Technisches Amt (Luftwaffe), 1944 .-- 97 p.