Engine gun

An engine gun, or engine cannon (from German: Motorkanone, "motor cannon"), is an aircraft gun mounted behind and through the cylinder block of an inline aircraft engine (most often a V engine) with a reduction drive that displaces the propeller axle to be in line with the gun so that gunfire is allowed through the propeller hub. This allows for nose-mounted weaponry on aircraft without the need for synchronization gear while also permitting higher calibers for nose-mounted weaponry, which otherwise would be hard to adapt for synchronization gear.[1]

The first time this was done was during World War I when the French modified the Hispano-Suiza 8 engine to be able to install a 37 mm autocannon.[2] The concept was used widely before the Jet Age.

Historical engine guns

Finnish guns

French guns

German guns

Soviet guns

Swiss guns

Engine gun installations

French engines

German engines

Soviet engines

Swiss engines

  • Saurer YS-2
  • Saurer YS-3

Aircraft with engine guns

Czechoslovak aircraft

Finnish aircraft

  • Mörkö Morane

French aircraft

German aircraft

Italian aircraft

Soviet aircraft

Swedish aircraft

  • SAAB 23

Swiss aircraft

Yugoslavian aircraft

References

  1. ^ "PART V AUTOMATIC AIRCRAFT CANNON". ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
  2. ^ Thorsson, Nils (1975). Historik och kartläggning av vapenmateriel för flygplan. Arboga, Sweden. p. 25.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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