8.8 cm Flak

The German 8.8 cm Flak AA gun was the most lethal anti-tank weapon in World War II, although it had not been designed for such a role. Manufactured by the German firms Krupp and Rheinmetall, it was used by the Wehrmacht on every front of the war. As the conflict raged on, it would be mounted in the turret of the Tiger I tank and on a two-wheeled split trail carriage as an infantry anti-tank gun.

The 8.8-cm Flak 18/36/37/41 gun had been developed and fielded in the last year of WW1, in 1918, and it was upgraded in 1936/37 and 1941. Although it was originally conceived as an anti-aircraft gun, it was at the end of Operation Barbarossa that it proved to be a vicious tank killer, being able to destroy the Soviet T-34 tank from a distance of 2,000 m.

Below, the German 88mm AA gun in the anti-tank role in July 1943, Kursk.

In 1943, the Wehrmacht converted the 88mm Flak AA gun into a powerful anti-tank gun, manufacturing the 8.8-cm Pak 43, which was fielded by the German Army infantry on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Rheinmentall also developed the the 8.8-cm KwKs 36 L/56 and the 43 L/71, which were anti-tank guns mounted on the Tiger I and II tanks respectively, from the 88mm Flak. As a matter of fact, all 8.8-cm (88mm) anti-tank guns were derivatives from the 8.8-cm Flak 18, which turned out to be a powerful and effective tank killer as well as an anti-bunker weapon. It was even employed as a naval gun mounted on German submarines and boats.

Technical Characteristics

The 8.8-cm Flak 36 was fitted with a 4.7-m-long barrel, whose bore contained 32 riflings (grooves). They imparted a fast spin to the armor-piercing ammunition, giving it precision. This German gun had a muzzle velocity of 840 m/s (2,690 ft/s), firing armor-piercing and high-explosive anti-tank shells. The mount was a circular steel pedestal, which was carried on two bogies for transportation to the front line. The leveling system had a range of 9°. The gun barrel had an elevation of -3° to +85° as it was fitted with a semi-automatic, horizontal, sliding-block breech mechanism.

Below, color photo of the German 88mm gun in the AA role on the Eastern Front.

 Below, a photo of the 8.8 cm Flak 36, the anti-aircraft gun being fielded in the anti-tank role by the German infantry.

 

Below, the breech of the German 88 mm Flak, with its different parts

Below, frontal view of the 88mm Flak gun barrel muzzle.

The best WW2 anti-tank gun in action (video)