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Bofors 40mm
Bofors 40mm is the collective name for a series of 40mm autocannons produced by Swedish manufacturer Bofors AB (today part of BAE Systems) starting in 1934; the guns were seldom described with a singular name, generally being referred to by Bofors simply as "40mm Automatic Gun" with a series of descriptors detailing the mounting it came with, its intended role, and its barrel length (in calibers, as is convention for cannons - for example, the common L/60 variant has a barrel ostensibly 60 calibers, or 60x40mm = 2,400mm = 1.2 meters long; the "ostensibly" bit refers to how this nominal length includes the barrel and breech together, with the barrel itself being only 56 1/4 calibers long in most cases). The Bofors guns would end up being wildly successful in their primary intended role as AA guns, being used all across the world (in the form of both Bofors-made guns and license-produced foreign copies), and serving on both sides of World War II in a slew of configurations (in both stationary and wheeled ground mounts, on self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles like the M19 GMC, on submarines and ships in single-, double-, and often quadruple-mounts, et cetera). Post-war, their utility as AA guns would wane as planes began flying faster and higher with each passing year (even with the development of proximity-fuzed 40mm ammunition), though they continue to see use to this day, notably as the main gun of the Swedish CV9040 infantry fighting vehicle, and as one of the 3 principal armaments of the AC-130 "Spooky" gunship.
Mechanically, the Bofors gun is a long-recoil-operated, striker-fired autocannon with a vertically-sliding breechblock, fed by a somewhat unusual system: a 7-round mechanically-indexed magazine (driven by the movement of the barrel and breechblock) is mounted atop the receiver, which can be replenished at any time with either loose rounds or 4-round stripper clips. The theoretical advantage of this system is that it allows for a relatively continuous rate of fire without needing an overly large or bulky feed system (since the weapon can be quickly and easily topped up by its crew, even while it is actively firing); some variants forgo this in favor of more conventional systems, depending on the specific nature of the mount.
Specifications
(1934 - Present)
Type: Antiaircraft gun
Calibre: 40x311mmR (L/60), 40x364mmR (L/70)
Bore length: L60: Japanese versions 94.5 in (240 cm) (60 calibers), all other WW2 production 88.6 in (225 cm) (56.25 calibers)
Capacity: 7-round integral magazine loaded with 4-round cartridge clips; some versions use alternate feed mechanisms
Fire modes: Safe/Semi/Auto, cyclic rate 120 RPM (L/60), up to 330 RPM (L/70)
L/60
Film
Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Breakthrough | U.S. soldiers | 1950 | ||
The One That Got Away | British soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 1957 | |
Dunkirk | British soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 1958 | |
Reptilicus | Danish soldiers | Single AA mounts, twin mount of Danish Navy Flora | 1961 | |
Gorgo | Mounted on Royal Navy and US Navy ships in single, twin and quad mountings | 1961 | ||
The Longest Day | German soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 1962 | |
The Eye of the Monocle (L'oeil du monocle) | Mounted on French Navy L'Opiniatre | 1962 | ||
Operation Crossbow | Single ground mount | 1965 | ||
The Heroes of Telemark | German soldiers | 1965 | ||
Is Paris Burning? | Free French Forces soldiers | 1966 | ||
The Dirty Dozen | Single ground mount under tow, playing a German AA gun | 1967 | ||
The Bridge (Most) | Seen on partisans base | 1969 | ||
We Want the Colonels (Vogliamo i colonnelli) | Single ground mount under tow | 1973 | ||
The Tree of Guernica (L'arbre de Guernica) | Spanish Nationalists | Single mount on wheeled trailer | 1975 | |
The Eagle Has Landed | German soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 1976 | |
Soldier of Orange | German soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 1977 | |
1941 | Ned Beatty | Ward Douglas | Single ground mount | 1979 |
American soldiers | ||||
Concorde Affaire '79 | Single mount on French patrol boat P659 Canopus | 1979 | ||
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear | O.J. Simpson | Detective Nordberg | Single ground mount dressed up to resemble a giant Browning M1919 | 1991 |
The English Patient | British soldiers | 1996 | ||
Life Is Beautiful | American soldiers | 1997 | ||
Bullet Ballet | archive footage | 1998 | ||
The Thin Red Line | Naval twin mount | 1998 | ||
Stealth | American soldiers | Single ground mount | 2005 | |
Flags of Our Fathers | Marines | Naval Mk 12 quad mount | 2006 | |
Transformers | Mounted on AC-130U "Spooky" gunship | 2007 | ||
Lone Survivor | Mounted on AC-130U "Spooky" gunship | 2013 | ||
Tom of Finland | Finnish soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 2017 | |
Dunkirk | British soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 2017 | |
The Unknown Soldier | Finnish soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 2017 |
Television
Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Band of Brothers | British soldiers | "Currahee" (Ep.1) | 2001 | |
Ultimate Force | UN forces | Trailer mounted | 2002 | |
Foyle's War - Season 2 | British soldiers | "Fifty Ships" (S2E1) and "Among the Few" (S2E2) | 2003 | |
Foyle's War - Season 3 | "A War of Nerves" (S3E4); Mounted on Royal Navy destroyer | 2004 | ||
Dunkirk | British soldiers | single mount on wheeled trailer in AA version | 2004 | |
Sea Patrol | Single naval mount on Australian Fremantle-class patrol boat | 2007 | ||
Atonement | British soldiers | 2007 | ||
Ultimate Weapons | on AC-130 Spooky | 2010 | ||
Loki - Season 1 | USS Eldridge sailors | Mounted on USS Eldridge; "Journey Into Mystery" (S1E05) | 2021 |
Video Games
Game Title | As | Notes | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|
Battlefield: 1942 | 2002 | ||
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault | Single ground mount | 2004 | |
Civilization IV | "Road to War" scenario | 2005 | |
Company of Heroes | "Bofors 40mm Cannon" | 2006 | |
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | 40mm | mounted on AC-130H Spectre | 2007 |
Dark Sector | Single naval mount on a submarine | 2008 | |
Mare Nostrum | unusable | 2008 | |
Call of Duty: World at War | L/60 quad mounting | 2008 | |
Battlefield: 1943 | Single ground mount | 2009 | |
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | Single ground mount | 2010 | |
Medal of Honor | L/60 Bofers cannon | mounted on AC-130 Spooky II | 2010 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | 40mm | mounted on AC-130 Spooky II | 2011 |
Company of Heroes 2 | Single ground mount; The Western Front Armies 2014 | 2010 | |
Battlefield 4 | mounted in AC130 | 2014 | |
Battlefield Hardline | mounted to a grounded AC130 | 2015 | |
Civilization VI | 2016 | ||
Call of Duty: WWII | Single ground mount | 2017 | |
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown | mounted on AC-130U, unused | 2019 | |
Land of War: The Beginning | Single ground mount. Armata przeciwlotnicza 40 mm Bofors wz. 36. Polish variant. | 2021 | |
Enlisted | Single mount | 2021 | |
Twin mount | |||
Military Conflict: Vietnam | M2A1 40mm | 2022 |
Anime
Title | Character | Note | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Strike Witches 2 | Single mounts on Fletcher-class destroyers | 2010 | |
Strike Witches: The Movie | Twin mounts at Saint-Trond airbase | 2012 | |
Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow | Twin mounts at Saint-Trond airbase | 2014-2015 | |
Brave Witches | Twin mounts at Murman airbase | 2016-2017 | |
Strike Witches: Road to Berlin | Twin mounts at Saint-Trond airbase | 2020 | |
Luminous Witches | Twin mounts on Sangamon-class carrier | 2022 |
L/70
Film
Title | Actor | Character | Notation | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Seventh Company Outdoors (La 7ème compagnie au clair de lune) | Mounted on German patrol boat | 1977 | ||
April Captains (Capitães de Abril) | Mounted on Portuguese corvette | 2000 |