Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow

Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow (2014-2015)

In July of 1945, the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and allied naval fleet destroyed the Neuroi hive over Venezia, liberating the country (the climatic events of Strike Witches 2). After this victory the 501st JFW was disbanded. Most Strike Witches members were reassigned to fronts in or around their homelands, while Yoshika Miyafuji has entirely retired from service due to draining her magic reserves in order to destroy the hive over Venezia, and is now living a quiet, ordinary civilian life; Mio Sakamoto remains in IFN service, though as she's aged out of her magic abilities Mio is no longer a witch.

Operation Victory Arrow primarily follows three groups of Strike Witches members across its three episodes. Saint-Trond's Thunder is set half a month after the end of Strike Witches 2, with Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, Gertrud Barkhorn, and Erica Hartmann, along with night witch Heidemarie W. Schnaufer stationed at Saint-Trond airbase in the Kingdom of Belgica; they're also joined by Erica's twin sister, the genius engineer Ursula Hartmann. Goddess of the Aegean Sea involves the continued adventures of Francesca Lucchini and Charlotte Yeager, joined by Hanna-Justina Marseille and Raisa Pöttgen, as they attempt to take out a stubborn Neuroi that's hiding inside the island of Delos, and save the ancient ruins on the island; the commander of all witch forces in Africa, Edytha Neumann, as well as General Rommel himself also appear. Arnhem Bridge follows Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann and Lynette Bishop, along with Amelie Planchard as they continue to aid in rebuilding Gallia after its liberation in September, 1944 at the end of the first season; the story primarily revolves around the orphaned Dutch children Julius and Rose, who Perrine takes into her care.

Additionally, each episode features a short post-credits scene of Yoshika receiving or sending a letter to the witches featured in that episode. The last episode also features a post-credits cameo of Eila Juutilainen and Aleksandra Litvyak visiting the Brave Witches' frontline base, as well as Mio Sakamoto working on a certain pet project.

Chronologically, Operation Victory Arrow takes place after Strike Witches 2, and is followed by Strike Witches: The Movie, which was released before OVA, in 2012.

For more in-depth explanations of the lore and setting of the World Witches universe, see the first season's page.

Warning: Some descriptions and images are spoilers for the series, read at your own risk.

The following weapons were used in the anime series Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow:

Pistols

Gendarmerie Sidearm

A member of the Gendarmerie Nationale in Pas-de-Calais chases after Julius, an orphaned refugee from Nederland who stole some cold medicine for his little sister Rose. Given the variety of possible sidearms available at the time, it's impossible to say for sure what's in his holster.

The gendarme chases Julius around the dockyard. (Ep.3)

Running into Lynette, he gives her a salute and explains the situation. (Ep.3)

Shotguns

Over/Under Shotgun

In a flashback to the beginning of the Neuroi invasion, a group of Dutch civilians attempt to hold back the Neuroi on a bridge at Arnhem, Nederland, armed with nothing but double barrel shotguns.

Browning 5.25 O/U - 12 gauge

The civilians attempting to hold the line long enough to evacuate their children. (Ep.3)

A much younger Julius talking to his father, as a tiny Rose lies beside him in the truck. (Ep.3)

Julius's dad tells him not to worry, saying the witches will show up soon and drive the Neuroi back. (Ep.3)

The truck prepares to leave, as the defenders wait for the inevitable assault. (Ep.3)

A father waves goodbye to his children. (Ep.3)

But the witches never did show up in time... (Ep.3)

Assault Rifles & Rifles

StG 44

Ursula Hartmann arrives at the Saint-Trond base with loads of gifts and equipment to test, among them is an StG 44 fitted with a Krummlauf (curved barrel) attachment. A witch needing to shoot around corners in the sky seems rather questionable, but that's also the point of this scene, with a bunch of Ursula's fancy tech being various levels of silly. All of them are based on or inspired by real world experimental German tech, and are included in this same entry.

StG 44 with Krummlauf - 7.92x33mm Kurz

Erica looking rather confused at her sister's StG 44. (Ep.1)

Next up is a miniaturized version of the Ru 344 X-4 wire-guided air-to-air missile. Despite Erica's reaction, this would definitely have potential, as it did in reality. (Ep.1)

A flying flamethrower sure seems odd (though they were combat tested in reality on He 111s, Ju 88s, and Do 17s), but as Neuroi are made of a ceramic-like material that is hard but brittle, and thus susceptible to rapid temperature changes, a flamethrower might actually be useful. Maybe. (Ep.1)

A sonic cannon, complete with cork earplugs; very Luft '46. (Ep.1)

Of course, what Ursula actually came to test (again) is the Me 262 jet striker, its blueprints seen here. Note that everything is written in German; native languages seen in written form is consistently used in the series, which makes sense as the characters are only speaking Japanese for the audience, but in-universe they (in this case) would all be speaking German. (Ep.1)

Ursula tests the Ru 344 missile in official artwork, while flying a Fw 190 A-8 striker. (Art)

Boys Mk I*

Lynette Bishop continues to use a Boys Mk I* as her signature weapon, though in an ironic reversal, in Arnhem Bridge she uses one borrowed from Perrine, who normally uses borrowed Britannian weapons. The Pantaloni Rossi trio from the 504th JFW make a cameo in a slideshow briefing by Group Captain Edytha Neumann about the Neuroi on Delos; the Ardor Witches are seen attempting to attack it directly, with no success.

Boys Mk I* - .55 Boys

Boys Mk I* design artwork

Luciana Mazzei fires her Boys, as Martina Crespi and Fernandia Malvezzi fire their MG 42s. (Ep.2)

Another angle of the trio, showing part of the island. (Ep.2)

Cover artwork for Arnhem Bridge. (Art)

Every good mansion has a hidden armoury opened with a tilting book, after all. Perrine even keeps a Boys rifle handy, due to how much Lynette is around. (Ep.3)

The cavalry has arrived! (Ep.3)

The three-headed Neuroi takes cover in a water tower. The large hole in the bridge was from when it broke through minutes earlier, however that crater to the right of the tower was already there, and is exactly where Julius's father and the other civilians were defending the bridge... (Ep.3)

Lynette notes she can't hit the Neuroi accurately when it's hiding in the tower. (Ep.3)

The entrenched Neuroi opens fire, forcing Lynette to block. (Ep.3)

Lynette fires off a few shots with her Boys while evading beams, and scores a hit on one of its legs. (Ep.3)

However, as always the leg simply regenerates. (Ep.3)

After Perrine blows off part of the tower with the PIAT, Lynette takes aim... (Ep.3)

...and fires a massive 13.9mm bullet right through the main water pipe, dousing the Neuroi with water. (Ep.3)

After Perrine electrocutes the Neuroi with her Tonnerre lightning, Lynette fires another shot to destroy the core. Beautiful teamwork. (Ep.3)

A happy Lynette holds her rifle as she watches Perrine and Julius celebrate, in their own way. (Ep.3)

Machine Guns

Bren Mk 1 (M)

While Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann doesn't regularly carry around her Bren Mk 1 (M) at this point, due to being well behind the lines aiding in rebuilding Gallia, her butler Jean-Paul had a hidden weapon locker installed in the Clostermann residence in case of emergency.

Bren Mk 1 (M) - .303 British

Bren Mk 1 (M) design artwork; note the detailed cross-section of the rear sight aperture

Promo poster for Arnhem Bridge. Note Amelie using her Bren and VG.39 striker here, though she's not actually seen in combat in the episode. Amelie is one of the main characters of the One-Winged Witches manga, which also features Lynette's sister Wilma. (Art)

A stitched image of the bookcase armoury in all its glory. (Ep.3)

Julius and Perrine run from a pack of land-based Neuroi in Arnhem. (Ep.3)

Perrine turns and fires a burst into one of the Neuroi, destroying it. (Ep.3)

The two continue to run through the ruins, with more Neuroi in pursuit. (Ep.3)

Caught in between two Neuroi, Perrine grabs Julius and jumps over one of them. (Ep.3)

Having already destroyed the one they were jumping over, Perrine turns her Bren on the next one... (Ep.3)

...destroying both before they hit the ground, complete with heroic landing pose. (Ep.3)

Perrine holds her Bren one-handed as she watches the three-headed "boss" Neuroi wreck her jeep and block off the bridge. (Ep.3)

Unable to do much else, Perrine holds the trigger down. (Ep.3)

Perrine empties her Bren, but it has negligible effect on the behemoth. (Ep.3)

Out of ammo, Perrine discards her Bren and runs the other way, the pair taking cover in a basement. (Ep.3)

Browning M1918A2

Charlotte Yeager continues to use a BAR as her standard weapon, though she doesn't so much as fire a shot with it in Operation Victory Arrow, opting to use bombs, unconventional methods, and her mastery of mechanical devices instead.

Browning M1918A2 - .30-06 Springfield

M1918A2 design artwork

Cover artwork for Goddess of the Aegean Sea. (Art)

Charlotte and Francesca prepare to leave the Lucchini family home on Sicily, as Charlotte asks Francesca's mother to mind her bike and luggage while they're gone; Shirley's motorcycle later features prominently in the episode's closing credits. (Ep.2)

BAR strapped to her back, Charlotte asks Francesca why she's so intent on protecting Delos. (Ep.2)

Francesca and Shirley carry a pair of bombs to use against the Delos Neuroi, escorted by Raisa Pöttgen and Hanna-Justina Marseille. (Ep.2)

Charlotte holds up her bomb, showing the special carry device for witches. (Ep.2)

Shirley catches Francesca after she got a little too aggressive. (Ep.2)

A good shot of the M1918A2, as Francesca begs Shirley to try again, despite not having the firepower. (Ep.2)

With no more options in front of them, the quartet are forced to return to base. (Ep.2)

Shirley and Hanna fly over the fleet the next day. (Ep.2)

Holding her BAR, Shirley dodges beams as she tries to reach the wrecked Liberian ship. (Ep.2)

Charlotte makes her approach to the ship... (Ep.2)

...and drops her BAR on the deck on landing; her planned tool of choice isn't actually a weapon, but the ship's winch. (Ep.2)

Browning M1919A6

The Liberian-made Browning M1919A6, modified with a fixed and easily swappable ammo box, remains Francesca Lucchini's weapon of choice.

Browning M1919A6 - .30-06 Springfield

M1919A6 design artwork

Promo poster for Goddess of the Aegean Sea. (Art)

The Lucchini vineyard in Sicily, where the pair have been on vacation for a few weeks. (Ep.2)

Browning slung across her back, Francesca bids her mother farewell as she embarks on another adventure. (Ep.2)

Aboard the wrecked Liberty ship, Shirley and Francesca check their bombs while waiting for the opportune moment. (Ep.2)

Francesca holds her M1919A6, shocked that the Neuroi saw the bombs coming and swatted them out of the air with a pair of beam blasts. (Ep.2)

A very determined Francesca presses on harder and harder to get to the Neuroi. (Ep.2)

The next day, Raisa and Francesca fly over the fleet, with Francesca using the handle on the ammo box as a grip, as usual. This also gives an excellent top-down view of a Zara-class cruiser. (Ep.2)

Francesca drops in with a shield to protect Shirley and her winch cable. (Ep.2)

A great side shot of the M1919A6, as Francesca zooms along ahead of Charlotte, leading her safely to the Neuroi. (Ep.2)

Once the Neuroi realizes it's caught in the mechanical noose, it tries to attack the cable, leaving the witches to defend it with shields. (Ep.2)

Francesca and Raisa harass the sea-serpent-looking Neuroi with fire, as Shirley and Hanna drag it out. (Ep.2)

A wonderful stitched shot of Raisa and Francesca, as the Neuroi is finally pulled from its cave. (Ep.2)

MG 34

The Africa-based witches Hanna-Justina Marseille and Raisa Pöttgen of the 31st JFS, as well as Edytha Neumann, commanding officer of all witches in the African theatre use the MG 34 as their weapon of choice, as opposed to the MG 42 preferred by Karlsland witches in Europe.

MG 34 - 7.92x57mm Mauser

Hanna-Justina lays down fire on the Neuroi to keep it occupied while Charlotte prepares the winch. (Ep.2)

Hanna fires her MG 34 inverted, while dodging more beams. (Ep.2)

Hanna discovers her MG 34 is quite good at damaging the Neuroi's headdress-looking fins, severely weakening its ability to shoot beams (until it regenerates). (Ep.2)

On Rommel's orders, Raisa and Francesca move up to assist. (Ep.2)

The two Strike Witches and two Storm Witches move in on the Neuroi, showing some great detail on Hanna's MG 34. (Ep.2)

Hanna takes aim with her MG 34, fires a few short, controlled bursts, and utterly demolishes the Neuroi's laser fins. (Ep.2)

Raisa dives in to take over shield duty from Francesca. (Ep.2)

Tina (as Raisa calls her) showing good trigger discipline as a new ally enters the battle... (Ep.2)

...General Rommel himself, flying his personal Fi 156 Storch, escorted by Edytha Neumann and her MG 34. (Ep.2)

Hanna and Raisa watch as Rommel jump-starts the winch generator with a pair of jumper cables attached to his Fi 156. The Storch's identification code is DL+AW, the same as Rommel's in reality. (Ep.2)

With the Neuroi struggling fiercely against the winch, Hanna's MG 34 joins Shirley's BAR on the deck as the pair of them move to pull the cable. (Ep.2)

The Neuroi now extracted from its den, Edytha orders the fleet to open fire. (Ep.2)

MG 42

The witch-version MG 42, modified to use Patronentrommel 34 drums, continues to be used by all the usual witches, such as the Karlsland trio, Eila Juutilainen, and some of the Ardor Witches.

MG 42 - 7.92x57mm Mauser

MG 42 design artwork; the text at top-left describes the operation of the magazine release, comparing it to pulling the tab on an aluminum drink can

Cover artwork for Saint-Trond's Thunder. (Art)

Promo poster for Saint-Trond's Thunder. (Art)

Eila Juutilainen effortlessly dodging beams in the opening credits; Eila is not otherwise seen in combat in Operation Victory Arrow. (OP)

Erica Hartmann fires a training MG 42 in the skies over Belgica. (Ep.1)

Gertrud Barkhorn returns fire with her own pair of training MG 42s. (Ep.1)

Erica's MG 42, uniform, and Bf 109 K-4 striker sit by a river as she goes for a swim. Note the distinctive Hartmann black tulip paint scheme. (Ep.1)

Flying fast and low, Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke trades fire with Heidemarie Schnaufer. (Ep.1)

With the base's Neuroi alarm sounding, Gertrud and Minna take off to investigate. Erica is currently grounded due to her striker being broken, as a result of the failed test of Ursula's Bf 109 Zwei Link paired striker; it was entirely Erica's fault. (Ep.1)

As the Neuroi emerges, Gertrud opens fire; the dirndl was a gift from Ursula, and Trude was unlucky enough to be trying it on when the scramble alarm sounded. (Ep.1)

Minna hipfires at the Neuroi, discovering its armour is too strong for bullets at that range. (Ep.1)

Trude and Minna play defensively as they brainstorm how to deal with the troublesome Neuroi. (Ep.1)

Minna's MG 42 dumps brass as she harasses the Neuroi from range, causing it to retreat back into the cloud. (Ep.1)

Gertrud suggests they return to base and retrieve the MK 214 cannon and Me 262, as it would be effective at such a range. (Ep.1)

Minna stays to keep the Neuroi occupied, but a powerful blast hit hits her shield hard, and her chilling scream knocks some sense into Erica, who's been sulking back at base and listening to the battle on comms. (Ep.1)

Gertrud makes a run for Saint-Trond, asking the base to ready the jet striker and cannon, and to load the latter with armour-piercing shells. (Ep.1)

Dropping back to distract the small-types, Gertrud does a slo-mo flip over one and blasts it to bits. They may be "small-types", but Trude being within an arm's reach of one shows it's still pretty darn big. (Ep.1)

Alone and almost out of ammo, Minna empties her MG 42 into the group of small-types bearing down on her. (Ep.1)

Fernandia Malvezzi with her MG 42, as seen in Edytha Neumann's briefing. (Ep.2)

Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai

The iconic World Witches version of the Type 99 cannon only gets a cameo in Operation Victory Arrow, prominently held by Yoshika Miyafuji in the opening credits. With Yoshika having drained her magic, and Mio having aged out, there aren't any Fuso witches that appear who are capable of using it, at present. For the rather lengthy technical explanation of the witches' Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai variant, see its first season entry.

Type 99 Mark 1 in pintle mount configuration - 20x72mmRB

Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai (13.2x99mm Hotchkiss) design artwork; the text at lower-centre indicates the location of the charging button

A fairly close shot of the Type 99's receiver. (OP)

Early-Season-2-era Yoshika flies along the clouds in Mio's old A6M3a striker (tail code V-128), recognizable by its blue diagonal fuselage stripe and two horizontal tail stripes. Yoshika's original Season-1-era A6M3a (tail code V-139), which was sacrificed at the end of Strike Witches, had a yellow vertical fuselage stripe and a clean tail. (OP)

Yoshika and her Type 99 silhouetted against a cumulonimbus cloud in the distance. (OP)

Late-Season-2-era Yoshika zooms up from the cliffs when she's properly introduced in the credits, Type 99 in hand. (OP)

The J7W1 Shinden's canards have been turned into vertical stabilizers in striker form, which makes a certain amount of sense; improved directional stability is preferable, as that's presumably a striker's weakest axis. Horizontal surfaces that far back may also hamper a witch's ability to manoeuvre, as witches primarily pitch with their legs. Strikers do in fact have functional ailerons for roll. (OP)

Another good shot of the Type 99 as Yoshika climbs to rejoin the Strike Witches. (OP)

Launchers

Fliegerhammer

In Saint-Trond's Thunder, Ursula Hartmann uses the rocket launcher she herself designed, the nine-barrel Fliegerhammer; Aleksandra Litvyak is also seen with one in the opening credits. The Fliegerhammer was inspired by (both in-universe and out) the Fliegerfaust, while its boxy shape is reminiscent of the M202 FLASH. For additional details, see its first season entry.

Fliegerfaust (replica) with 9-rocket clip - 20mm

Fliegerhammer design artwork; the text at top-left describes the launch order in volley fire (white tubes first)

Sanya aims her Fliegerhammer in the opening credits. (OP)

Consistent with its previous depictions, the standard launch order for single fire is (shooter's perspective) top row to bottom row, right to left. This is very sensible, as this order ensures the Fliegerfaust's centre of gravity is always as low and as close to the shooter as possible. (OP)

A barrage of nine rockets bails Erica out of a sticky situation. (Ep.1)

Ursula arrives with perfect timing. Although the launcher is now empty, good trigger disciple is always commendable. (Ep.1)

One Hartmann dives down to help the other, as Erica has suffered a double engine flameout from messing with the Me 262's throttle too much. (Ep.1)

Ursula ditches the empty launcher so she can assist her twin. (Ep.1)

PIAT Mk I

Along with the Bren and Boys, Perrine's hidden armoury also contains a PIAT, with three rounds, which Perrine brings in addition to her Bren.

PIAT Mk I - 3.25 in

Perrine's PIAT makes its combat debut, with a close-up of the first shaped charge firing. The charge is drawn too wide here, as it's supposed to be loaded from the rear and slid through the ring (as Perrine does later). (Ep.3)

A rather badass stitched image of Perrine showing up to rescue Julius, having just fired the PIAT. (Ep.3)

After ditching her Bren and taking cover, Perrine recocks the PIAT's spring by hand, showing off witches' enhanced strength; the PIAT has a draw weight of 90kg/200lbs. (Ep.3)

Loading the second shaped charge into the launcher, using the correct method mentioned above. (Ep.3)

Perrine gives Julius a reassuring smile as they prepare to make another escape attempt. (Ep.3)

Taking aim at the three-headed Neuroi... (Ep.3)

...and firing. (Ep.3)

Knocked backward by a beam blast, Perrine loses the PIAT, and can't retrieve it due to her injured leg. (Ep.3)

Julius braves Neuroi fire without any ability to raise a shield, and brings the launcher back to Perrine. (Ep.3)

Perrine recocks the PIAT with her good leg. The PIAT is supposed to recock itself automatically after each shot, but in reality this wasn't always reliable. In addition, firing the weapon in the over-the-shoulder, rocket-launcher-style pose used by Perrine, with no pressure on the buttplate, would prevent this mechanism from working regardless. (Ep.3)

With Lynette now on the scene, Perrine takes aim at the top of the water tower the Neuroi is hiding in. (Ep.3)

The last shaped charge is fired, blowing a hole in the top of the building large enough for Lynette to hit the water pipe with her Boys. (Ep.3)

Autocannons

MG 151/20

Night witch Heidemarie Schnaufer uses an MG 151/20 cannon as her weapon of choice; she is only seen using a training MG 151/20 in Operation Victory Arrow. Similar to the other large cannons wielded by witches, the MG 151 has been modified with a top-mounted vertical pistol grip, a horizontal grip for the off-hand, and a detachable drum magazine; the weapon is otherwise essentially unmodified.

MG 151/20 - 20x82mm

Heidemarie races along the river in pursuit of Minna, giving a fairly clear look at the top of her MG 151/20. The two added grips and detachable drum magazine (left-feed) are all visible here. (Ep.1)

As Heidemarie zooms past Erica and Gertrud, the distinctive sight assembly of the MG 151 can be made out here. (Ep.1)

Heidemarie exchanges fire with Minna, in a high speed chase. (Ep.1)

Aiming the cannon... (Ep.1)

...and firing. (Ep.1)

Some residual muzzle flash, as well as a fantastic look at Heidemarie's Bf 110 G-4 striker. (Ep.1)

MK 214

A MK 214 cannon was brought by Ursula to Saint-Trond for testing, alongside a refined version of the Me 262 Schwalbe jet striker. This massive cannon is similar to the BK 5 that appeared in Strike Witches 2, as in reality both were developed in parallel as aircraft versions of the 5cm PaK 38 anti-tank cannon; the BK 5 was Rheinmetall's project, the MK 214 was Mauser's.

MK 214 A - 50x419mmR

Ursula introduces the MK 214, referring to it by name. (Ep.1)

As Gertrud readies for take off, Ursula lists two pieces of advice that also apply to the real Me 262: Do not adjust the throttle until airborne, and to prevent the engines from stalling, do not rapidly accelerate or decelerate. (Ep.1)

As Gertrud tests the striker and the cannon, Erica comments about how long it takes to accelerate and to climb, and how it has a poor turn radius, while Ursula points out that it has a very high max speed and can carry significant firepower. (Ep.1)

Shaken by Minna's scream over comms, Erica takes the 262 and 50mm cannon and makes a rather dramatic entrance. Look at that goddamn muzzle blast. (Ep.1)

Despite being loaded with non-explosive AP shells, the sheer power of the cannon causes several small types around the one directly hit to also shatter. (Ep.1)

Having never flown a jet striker before, and evidently not having paid attention to Ursula's briefing, Erica causes both engines to suffer compressor stalls by adjusting the throttle too rapidly. (Ep.1)

Twin sister to the rescue! This also gives a good sense of how massive the MK 214 is. (Ep.1)

Ursula has Erica practice breathing exercises as she tries to coax her into restarting the Me 262's engines. (Ep.1)

The Hartmann twins speed towards Minna. Ursula is using a Heinzel He 162 Spatz jet striker. (Ep.1)

Erica and Ursula make yet another perfectly-timed entrance, obliterating the last four small-types with a single shot. (Ep.1)

Minna tracks the main Neuroi inside the cloud with her spatial awareness ability, and provides precise targeting for Erica to fire into the cloud. (Ep.1)

Most of its "wing" blown off by the previous shot, the Neuroi leaves the cloud and tries to escape, but it doesn't stand a chance. (Ep.1)

506th Joint Fighter Wing, Noble Witches cameo

Four members of the Noble Witches appear in the smallest of cameos, as simple silhouettes flying far overhead. Given the composition of the 506th, this is certainly A-unit, stationed in Sedan, comprising of Heinrike Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (MG 151), Adriana Visconti (MG 42, or a pair of Fliegerhammers), Kunika Kuroda (MG 42), and Isabelle du Monceau de Bergendal (Boys). These four, plus Noble Witches commanding officer Rosalie de Hemricourt de Grunne, all make proper cameos in Strike Witches: The Movie.

Four contrails soar over the Gallian countryside. Formed after the liberation of Gallia in September, 1944 to protect Gallia, the brass had originally wanted Perrine to command the 506th, however she turned down the offer, preferring to focus on rebuilding Gallia. (Ep.3)

Vehicle-Mounted & Stationary Weapons

Breda-SAFAT 12.7mm machine gun

A pair of P.108B bombers are seen having attempted to take out the Neuroi on Delos in Edytha Neumann's briefing, however both were destroyed. The P.108B is armed with a total of six Breda-SAFAT machine guns chambered in 12.7mm, with one nose gunner, one ventral gunner, and a twin turret in each outboard engine nacelle, controlled remotely.

Breda-SAFAT machine gun - 12.7x81mmSR

Only the ventral turret of each P.108 is visible from this angle, and the turrets are currently retracted. (Ep.2)

Type 97

Having aged out of her magic, Mio Sakamoto is seen flying an A6M3 Reisen in the opening credits. The Zero is armed with a pair of Type 97 aircraft machine guns in the engine cowling, as well as a pair of Type 99 cannons in the wings.

Type 97 aircraft machine gun - 7.7x56mmR

Mio fires her Type 97 MGs at the Neuroi. (OP)

Mio pulls away after the run, Neuroi shards sent flying. The muzzle of one of the Type 97s can be seen just behind the black cowling. (OP)

Type 99 Mark 1

In addition to its Type 97 MGs, the A6M is armed with a Type 99 Mark 1 cannon in each wing. When equipped on Zeros, the Mark 1 can be identified due to not protruding from the wing (as seen here) while the scaled-up Mark 2 sticks out significantly.

Top: Type 99 Mark 1 Model 3 - 20x72mmRB / Bottom: Type 99 Mark 2 Model 3 - 20x101mmRB

The muzzle ports for the Type 99s should be visible here, in the larger square panels along the leading edge; it seems they weren't modelled, though they'd only be visible for a couple frames. The Type 97s are, however, very visible here. (OP)

Mio in the cockpit of her A6M3, the same model she used to fly in striker form. (OP)

MG 34 Panzerlauf

A Tiger I is seen in the opening credits, and while they're not visible from the rear, it would be armed with a pair of MG 34 Panzerlauf variants, one in the coaxial mount, one hull-mounted, as well as its 8.8cm KwK 36 main cannon. This Tiger is actually a pre-production version of the H1 variant, specifically marked as Tiger 100, with "100" and white elephant markings; this is the same model seen in The Movie.

MG 34 Panzerlauf with stock fitted - 7.92x57mm Mauser

A pre-production Tiger H1 in the streets of a burning city. (OP)

8.8cm FlaK 36

A trio of the iconic "eighty-eights" are seen in the opening credits.

FlaK 36 - 88x571mmR

Gertrud, Erica, and Minna at a base defended by a few FlaK guns. Note the two-piece barrels. (OP)

Bofors 40mm L/60

Saint-Trond airbase is heavily defended by large AA batteries which appear to be oversized twin-mounted Bofors guns.

Bofors 40mm L/60 twin mounting - 40x311mmR

The castle-style main part of the base features a twin AA gun on each turret, as well as two more along the front wall; the opposite side presumably has another two, making for a total of twelve twin cannons. (Ep.1)

A closer shot of some of the cannons, as Gertrud and Minna sortie. The distinctive barrels of the Bofors are visible here, albeit significantly larger. (Ep.1)

2cm Flakvierling 38

The Brave Witches' small frontline base near Petersburg is defended by several Flakvierling 38 quad-cannons. As Brave Witches is set before Strike Witches 2, this scene takes place much later than the events of Brave Witches.

Flakvierling 38 - 20x138mmB

Three Flakvierling 38s sit at the perimeter of the airfield's main building, as Aleksandra Pokryshkin, Nikka Katajainen, Sanya, and Eila play cards on the deck. (Ep.3)

Naval Weapons

A Venezian/Romagnan fleet appears prominently in Goddess of the Aegean Sea, as does the Liberty-class cargo ship SS Peter Skene Ogden. In addition, battleship Yamato makes a cameo in a post-credits scene at the very end of OVA, and several other battleships appear in the opening credits. The Liberty ship is armed with one 3-inch gun at the bow, one 5-inch gun at the stern, along with eight Oerlikon 20mm cannons. A full list of armament for the rest of the ships can be found on the second season page.

A Littorio-class battleship, Bismarck, Yamato, a King George V-class battleship, and HMS Prince of Wales in the opening credits. (OP)

Mio Sakamoto stands atop one of Yamato's turrets, as she draws her sword. (OP)

With Mio having lost her magic, so to did her personally forged katana, Reppuumaru, which is now simply an ordinary sword. (OP)

A top view of SS Peter Skene Ogden, with all her armament visible. A 3-inch gun is at the bow, with an Oerlikon either side of the forward mast, four surrounding the bridge, and two next to the rear 5-inch gun. Built as an emergency measure and technically civilian vessels, Liberty ships didn't have particularly standardized armament in terms of details; the deck guns were usually assorted leftover pieces from WWI, making any specific identification exceptionally difficult. (Ep.2)

The Neuroi on Delos peers out of its cave, preparing to strike its latest prey. The ship's 3-inch gun and one of the Oerlikons are visible here. (Ep.2)

A Navigatori-class destroyer is split in two by the Delos Neuroi, as seen in the mission briefing. (Ep.2)

The now-wrecked Peter Skene Ogden, her 3-inch gun and one of the Oerlikons visible. The ship was named for a Canadian explorer and fur trader, and her real world counterpart was torpedoed off Algeria in February '44 by submarine U-969, along with her sister ship SS George Cleeve; both managed to beach, but were declared total losses and scrapped. (Ep.2)

A rear angle of a Zara-class cruiser, this one flying a Romagnan flag. The fleet has the same composition as the fleet seen near the beginning of Strike Witches 2; this presents a bit of a problem, as with only four Zara-class ships built and Zara and Pola having been sunk during the second season, there should be at most two present here. The simplest explanation is they are merely reused assets (as with The Movie) and canonically at least one should be considered to be a different, similar class of cruiser. (Ep.2)

The fleet arrives at Delos, with the Neuroi already engaging the four witches. (Ep.2)

Charlotte flies past the Liberty ship's bow, giving a rather detailed look at the 3-inch bow cannon. (Ep.2)

A Navigatori-class fires her 120mm bow guns, with a Littorio-class in the foreground. (Ep.2)

One of the Zara-class ships prepares to fire her forward 203mm guns. (Ep.2)

SS Samwinged in Calais, with a couple more Liberty ships off to the right. (Ep.3)

Yamato being repaired at Kure Naval Arsenal. This shot is based off a historical photo of the real Yamato. (Ep.3)

For comparison, a photo of Yamato under construction in Kure, September 20, 1941. The position of the primary and secondary barrels, the covers on the barrels, and the small buildings on the deck are identical. (Photo)