Berezin B-20

The Berezin B-20 (Березин Б-20) was a 20 mm caliber autocannon used by Soviet aircraft in World War II.

Development

The B-20 was created by M.E. Berezin in 1944 by chambering his Berezin UB 12.7 mm machine gun for the 20 mm rounds used by the ShVAK cannon. No other changes were made to the weapon which was pneumatically or mechanically charged and was available in both synchronized and unsynchronized versions. In 1946, an electrically-fired version was created for the turrets of the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber until the Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon became available. The B-20 was a welcome replacement for the ShVAK because is was significantly lighter (25 kg (55 lb) vs ShVAK's 40 kg (80 lb)) without sacrificing rate of fire or muzzle velocity.

pecifications (B-20)

* Ammunition: 20 x 99 mm (0.8 x 3.9 in)
* Empty weight: 25 kg (55 lb)
* Muzzle velocity: 750-770 m/s (2,460-2,525 ft/s)
* Rate of fire: 800 rounds/min
* Mass of one-second burst: 0.95 kg (2.1 lb)

Related content

Related developments:
* Berezin UB machine gun

Similar weapons:
* ShVAK cannon
* MG FF cannon
* MG 151 cannon
* Hispano HS.404 cannon

References

* Широкоград А.Б. (2001) "История авиационного вооружения" Харвест (Shirokograd A.B. (2001) "Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia" Harvest. ISBN 985-433-695-6) ("History of aircraft armament")