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Strike Witches
Set in an alternate timeline World War II, Strike Witches focuses on Witches, elite pilots with innate magical ability, who fly Striker Units and fight against the alien Neuroi who have attacked Earth and devastated most of Europe. The existence of magic makes the world inherently different, however most events and history are largely the same until the Great War. During the World War I, powerful aliens attacked humanity, interrupting the war; although they were defeated, interruption of the war had lasting effects. Nazi-ism never formed in the Empire of Karlsland (based on Germany), the Bolshevik Revolution never occurred in Orussia (based on Russia), Ostmark (based on Austria-Hungary) still exists in full; also of note is that the Italian unification never occurred, leaving the Duchy of Romagna and Duchy of Venezia both on the Apennine Peninsula. Earth's geography differs slights as well, notably the coastline of North America, but as a whole the world can be defined as "alternate timeline Earth".
In 1937, the Neuroi attacked the Empire of Fuso (based on Japan), but thanks largely to the newly developed Striker Units and the Witches flying them, the Neuroi were repulsed. In 1939, several Neuroi hives formed over Europe, obliterating cities, killing thousands, and forcing humanity to retreat. Much like the real world Fall of Europe in 1939/40, humanity's last free bastion in Europe became the Commonwealth of Britannia (based on Britain), a safe haven only because Neuroi are averse to crossing bodies of water. Given this context, humanity's countries are not at war with each other, but united to defend against the Neuroi, and as such Witches and other military members from all nations work and fight alongside one another.
The story of Strike Witches picks up in early 1944, when Yoshika Miyafuji, due to her extremely strong magical ability, is recruited to by Squadron Leader Mio Sakamoto of the Fuso Imperial Navy to become a Witch. The story of the first season introduces the world and setting of the series, and follows Yoshika's struggles to become a Witch in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known as the Strike Witches. The 501st JFW's base is located in Folkestone Harbour, which in the real world was an important strategic port, especially notable for its involvement in the Dunkirk evacuation. All the Witches in the series are based on real world WWII fighter aces; those details will be noted for each character as they come up.
Warning: Some descriptions and images are potential spoilers for the series, read at your own risk.
The following weapons were used in the anime series Strike Witches:
Pistols
Walther PPK
A Walther PPK is issued to Sergeant Yoshika Miyafuji (inspired by Japanese ace Kaneyoshi Mutou) when she first arrives in Britannia, however she refuses the pistol, stating a dislike for guns. To explain Yoshika's mindset, Yoshika's father, Ichiro Miyafuji (inspired by Jiro Horikoshi, chief designer of many WWII Japanese aircraft), worked on and perfected the Striker Units the Witches use, but he was killed in an accident in his lab in the late '30s, and as such Yoshika, a young civilian in Fuso away from the war, always saw the conflict little more than a terrible, far away thing that stole her father from her. Yoshika accepts Mio's offer to come to Europe on the condition that she simply wants to help people, however Yoshika fairly quickly learns that to help the most people, one must fight the Neuroi. Official artwork for the series later shows Yoshika using a Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer as her sidearm.
Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke of Karlsland (inspired by German ace Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke) uses an identical PPK, which she either keeps on her person or pulled out for the occasion she is seen using it. It's possible its issued to all new Witches of the 501st, but it's not seen otherwise.
Submachine Guns
Sten Mk II
Sten Mk II submachine guns are used by Britannian troops under the command of Air Chief Marshall Trevor Maloney, ordering the 501st JFW be disbanded, intent on replacing Witches with his new mechanized Warlock aircraft/mech. Maloney and his actions are directly inspired by Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, and Leigh-Mallory's similar political moves during the Battle of Britain.
Rifles
Boys Mk I
Flight Sergeant Lynette Bishop of Britannia uses a Boys Mk I fitted with the muzzle brake of the Mk II and bipod removed. Lynette, along with her older sister Wilma, are inspired by the children of WWI Canadian ace Billy Bishop, William and Margaret Bishop, both of whom served in WWII, William as a Spitfire pilot. While Lynette is purely Britannian, in a reversal of the Bishop sisters' inspiration, Wilma enlisted and serves in the Faraway Land Air Force (Canada, but name inspired by Newfoundland). Wilma does not appear in the anime, but is the protagonist of the One-Winged Witches spin-off manga.
Machine Guns
Bren Mk1 (M)
A Bren Mk1 (M) with the bipod removed is carried by Flying Officer Pierrette-Henriette "Perrine" Clostermann (inspired by French ace Pierre Henri Clostermann) of Gallia (France). She would prefer to use a Chatellerault M1924/29, but uses the much more common (in Britannia) Bren due to Gallia being occupied by the Neuroi.
M1918A2 BAR
The Browning Automatic Rifle, with its bipod removed (this is a trend), is the preferred weapon of Flight Lieutenant Charlotte Elwyn "Shirley" Yeager of the United States of Liberion. Naturally, Charlotte is inspired by American ace (and later test pilot) Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager, while the USL is inspired by the United States of America. Shirley, ever the mechanic and tinkerer, isn't especially impressed with her BAR, but appreciates its durability despite its other drawbacks.
Browning M1919A6
The Browning M1919A6 is carried by Pilot Officer Francesca Lucchini (inspired by Italian ace Franco Lucchini) of Romagna. It was given to her by Charlotte, her best friend and combat partner, after Francesca misplaced the Romagnan weapons she had brought to Britannia with her. Francesca states that she likes the gun because of its high rate of fire, durability, and high ammo capacity. To allow Francesca to use it while flying, the M1919A6 has been modified with a fixed ammo box, with a handle on top she sometimes uses to hold the gun in a hipfire position.
MG42
The MG42, with its bipod removed like everything else, is used by the members of the 501st from Karlsland and Suomus (Finland). Due to her increased strength ability (on top of all Witches having better strength as a baseline), Flight Lieutenant Gertrud Barkhorn (inspired by German ace Gerhard Barkhorn, including both of them being the second-highest-scoring ace of the war) prefers using two MG42s at once, to devastating effect, Minna likes the gun's "balance of power and stability", while Flying Officer Erica Hartmann (inspired by German ace Erich Hartmann, also top ace of the war) prefers it to her MP40 sidearm because "it shoots fast and rarely stops working".
Flying Officer Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen (inspired by Finnish ace Eino Ilmari Juutilainen) of Suomus prefers the MG42 to her heavier Suomi KP/-31. Eila's magical trait of short-term precognition allows her to effortlessly dodge enemy fire (to the degree that she's never used a magic shield, the staple of every other Witch's combat abilities); this trait is inspired by her namesake having never been hit by enemy fire, despite being the highest scoring non-German ace in history.
All Witches' MG42s in the series are modified to use the 75-round Patronentrommel 34 drum magazine from the MG34; this is likely because it's far easier for an airborne Witch to simply swap a magazine than deal with replacing a belt in mid-air. This sort of fictional-but-entirely-plausible weapon design appears for several notable weapons in the Strike Witches universe.
Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai
A fictional iteration of the Type 99 aircraft cannon in its flexible mount configuration is the standard armament for Fuso Empire Witches. This iconic Strike Witches weapon is a fictional iteration of a real world weapon, much like the fictional iteration of the MG42 that can use MG34 drum magazines, but on a more substantial scale. It is used by both Yoshika Miyafuji and Mio Sakamoto (inspired by Japanese ace Saburou Sakai).
There are two versions of the real world Type 99 cannon, the Mark 1 and the Mark 2; the Mark 1 uses a 20x72mm RB round, while the Mark 2 was the same design scaled up to use a 20x101mm RB round. To further complicate matters, these two related guns also had their own variants, resulting in designations like "Type 99 Mark 1 Model 3" or "Type 99 Mark 2 Model 5". One variant of the Type 99 Mark 1 was outfitted for use on pintle mounts, giving it AA sights, a handguard, flash suppressor, stock pad, large ejection chute on top, and (crude) pistol grip. See pictures below for reference.
Back in the Strike Witches universe, the need for Witches to have an effective primary weapon arose, and out of this need came the Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, or Type 99 Mark 2 Model 2 Kai (Kai means improve/alter/modify); either translation is equally acceptable, the former is the official Strike Witches translation, the latter is the same designation using the established Western terms for the Type 99 variants. The Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai takes the infantry-rifle-like traits of the pintle-mounted Type 99 Mark 1 variant, improves them, and applies them to the larger Type 99 Mark 2. The notable improvements from the pintle-mounted design are a more traditionally-shaped receiver, deletion of the top ejection chute in favour of a traditional side-mounted ejection port, and a traditional pistol grip assembly; in short, it was made into a proper infantry rifle, albeit a very large and very heavy one.
To further complicate matters, while the original Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai prototypes were in the original 20x101mm RB cartridge, tests showed it was a bit too powerful to be practical, even for Witches. As such, it was redesigned to use the Japanese 13x64mm B cartridge. However once the war in Europe broke out, the Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai was rechambered again for .50 BMG, in the interest of ammo commonality with allied nations. This rechamber also reclassifies the weapon as a machine gun, rather than an autocannon. While the original Type 99 uses 100-round drum magazines, the smaller .50 BMG rounds would allow for a higher capacity than that, though the exact amount is unknown.
Launchers
Fliegerhammer
The Fliegerhammer is a fictional multi-barrel rocket launcher used by Flying Officer Aleksandra Vladimirovna "Sanya" Litvyak (inspired by Russian ace Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak) of Orussia. The Fliegerhammer, or "Flyer/Plane Hammer", was designed by Erica Hartmann's twin sister and genius Karlsland scientist Ursula Hartmann (named for Erich Hartmann's wife, Ursula Paetsch), and inspired by (both in-universe and from a story design standpoint) the Fliegerfaust. Like the Fliegerfaust, the Fliegerhammer is a nine-barrel, unguided rocket launcher, though Sanya and some other Witches are able to guide or partially guide the rockets with their magic. The launcher's large, boxy shape is also reminiscent of the more modern M202 FLASH.
Vehicle-Mounted Weapons
Browning .303 Mk II
Several Britannian Hawker Hurricanes are seen attacking a Neuroi hive in the prologue, firing their Browning .303 Mk II machine guns.
Type 97 aircraft machine gun
The Mitsubishi A5M fighters aboard the Akagi are armed with a pair of Type 97s each.
Assorted AA guns and cannons are seen on Fuso Imperial Navy ships.
Warlock
The Warlock, the flying mech that Air Chief Marshall Trevor Maloney intends to replace the Strike Witches with, is armed with four autocannons in its nose, as well as Neuroi-style beam weapons.
