Polsten Anti-Aircraft Gun Print
Written by David Boyd   
Thursday, 01 January 2009 14:40

The Polsten Anti-Aircraft Gun

The British Army never held 20mm calibre weapons with much regard, feeling that they were not powerful enough to deal with the modern aircraft. The standard anti-aircraft gun of the British army had been the Bofors 40mm and while this was a powerful and reliable weapon something lighter and more mobile was required. The result was the Polsten 20mm anti-aircraft gun and the first guns were completed in November 1943. The Polsten was design to be as quick and cheap to produce as possible, which enabled it to be produced in large numbers with ease. Single and triple mountings were produced and a large number of the weapons were placed on the back of trucks. The Polsten added the needed light anti-aircraft capacity to the British army but by the time it entered service the threat of enemy aircraft had been greatly reduced.

Polsten Anti-Aircraft Gun Data

Rate of fire450rpm
Muzzle velocity2,725fps
Weight of gun126lb
Weight of barrel31.25lb
Weight of 60 round magazine64lb
Weight of 30 round magazine30lb
Overall length of gun7'
Rifling9 grooves

Production of Polsten Anti-Aircraft guns by year

 19431944
Polsten guns24013,588
Universal mountings4,5691,169
Airborne mountings300-
Triple mountings-38
Travelling platforms41,187
Polsten guns (Canada)17,051
Universal (Canada)2439,497
Polsten guns (Eastern Group)-470

Sources - Polsten Handbook, AVIA 22 456 - 514

Last Updated on Saturday, 03 January 2009 14:59