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Type 99 cannon
Not to be confused with the Type 99 light machine gun.
The Type 99 cannons are a pair of related Japanese aircraft cannons derived from the Oerlikon FF series; the Type 99 Mark 1 and Type 99 Mark 2 were developed from the smaller FF F and the mid-size FF L, respectively. They were the standard 20mm cannon of the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II, mounted on many of their aircraft.
The two Type 99s being effectively the same weapon built at different scales, the guns also share development upgrades and sub-variant designations. The Type 99 Mark 1 Model 1 is virtually never mentioned, even in Japanese sources, but is generally assumed to be the original Oerlikon FF Fs imported for study; the Mark 2 did not have a Model 1 variant, instead starting with the production version. The Type 99 Mark 1 Model 2 and Type 99 Mark 2 Model 2 are the initial production versions, fed from 60-round drum magazines. The Type 99 Mark 1 Model 3 and Type 99 Mark 2 Model 3 were an upgrade to the Model 2 that swapped their compressed air cocking system for a hydraulic system, and they use 100-round drum magazines. The change in magazine is sometimes incorrectly stated to be the difference between the Model 2 and Model 3, however the larger drum was simply a parallel upgrade that came at almost the same time and is not actually related to the designation change; both models can technically use either drum.
The Type 99 Mark 1 Model 4 and Type 99 Mark 2 Model 4 were a significant change to the cannon, a redesign from drum magazines to belt-feed; the Model 4 was the final variant of the Mark 1, production ending in early 1945. The Type 99 Mark 2 Model 4 Kai ("kai" meaning upgraded/improved, a change that does not warrant a new designation) increased the gun's rate of fire by swapping to a stiffer recoil spring. The Type 99 Mark 2 Model 5, which further increased rate of fire, came too late to see full production or combat use, and was the last of the Type 99s.
The Type 99 Mark 1 also has a flexible mount variant, for defensive mounts in bombers and similar aircraft. As seen in its photo on this page, the flexible variant features substantial changes to make it usable in this role, such as a pistol grip and stock assembly, crank-style charging handle, ejection chute, a handguard, different muzzle device, and of course iron sights, as well as using smaller 45-round drum magazines.
The Type 99 cannon and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan's Longest Day | Mounted in A6M Zeroes | 1967 | ||
| The Final Countdown | Soon-Tek Oh | Japanese Zero pilot | Acetylene mockup, mounted in SNJ Texan mocked up as A6M Zero | 1980 |
| Imperial Japanese Navy pilots | ||||
| Pearl Harbor | Imperial Japanese Navy pilots | Mounted in A6M Zeroes | 2001 | |
| Unbroken | Imperial Japanese pilots | Mounted in A6M Zeroes | 2014 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medal of Honor: Rising Sun | not usable, mounted in A6M Zero | 2003 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault | not usable, mounted in A6M Zero | 2004 | ||
| Project Reality | Mounted in crashed A6M Zero, unusable | 2005 | ||
| The History Channel: Battle for the Pacific | mounted in A6M Zeros, unusable | 2007 | ||
| Call of Duty: World at War | not usable, mounted in A6M Zero | 2008 | ||
| Battlefield 1943 | mounted in A6M Zero | 2009 | ||
| Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | mounted in A6M Zeros | 2010 | ||
| Men of War | Mounted in A6M Zero | 2009 | ||
| Project Reality: Vietnam | Mounted in crashed A6M Zero, unusable | 2012 | ||
| Far Cry 3 | not usable, mounted on crashed A6M Zero | 2012 | ||
| Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm | not usable, mounted on crashed A6M Zero | 2013 | ||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | not usable, mounted in crashed A6M Zero | 2015 | ||
| Battlefield V | added with "War in the Pacific" (2019); mounted in A6M Zero | 2018 | ||
| Call of Duty: Vanguard | not usable, mounted in A6M Zero fighters | 2021 | ||
| Enlisted | Type 99 Mark 1 cannon | 2021 | ||
| Type 99 Mark 2 cannon |
Anime
| Title | Characters | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cockpit | mounted in Mitsubishi A6M "Zero"; Ep. 2 | 1993 | |
| 801 T.T.S. Airbats | mounted in Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" | 1994-1996 | |
| Lupin III: The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure | mounted in Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" | 1995 | |
| Strike Witches | Yoshika Miyafuji | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2008 |
| Mio Sakamoto | |||
| Gertrud Barkhorn | |||
| Aleksandra Litvyak | |||
| Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann | |||
| Strike Witches 2 | Yoshika Miyafuji | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2010 |
| Mio Sakamoto | |||
| Junko Takei | |||
| Mark 1 flexible variants mounted in H8K flying boat | |||
| Mark 1s mounted in A6M fighters | |||
| Strike Witches: The Movie | Shizuka Hattori | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2012 |
| Yoshika Miyafuji | |||
| Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow | Yoshika Miyafuji | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2014-2015 |
| Mio Sakamoto | Mark 1s mounted in A6M fighter | ||
| In this Corner of the World | mounted in Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" | 2016 | |
| Brave Witches | Hikari Karibuchi | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2016-2017 |
| Naoe Kanno | |||
| Sadako Shimohara | |||
| Takami Karibuchi | |||
| Miya Misumi | |||
| witch cadets | |||
| Mark 1s mounted in A6M fighters | |||
| The Magnificent Kotobuki | mounted on "Kawanishi N1K1-j Shiden", "Aichi B7A", "Mitsubishi J2M RAIDEN", "D4Y2 Suisei", A6M3 Zero and "A6M Zero" planes | 2019 | |
| Strike Witches: Road to Berlin | Yoshika Miyafuji | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2020 |
| Shizuka Hattori | |||
| Luminous Witches | Yoshika Miyafuji | Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, fictional rifle variant in 13.2x96mm Hotchkiss | 2022 |