Defence Companies of Sweden - Bofors, SAAB, Bofors 40 MM, Stridsvagn 103, Archer Artillery System, Bofors 57 MM Gun, Bofors 37 MM, AK 5 (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 23. Chapters: Bofors, Saab, Bofors 40 mm, Stridsvagn 103, Archer Artillery System, Bofors 57 mm gun, Bofors 37 mm, Ak 5, Bofors scandal, CybAero, AB Landsverk, BAE Systems AB, IMINT Image Intelligence AB, Norma Precision, Saab Training and Simulation, Bofors 152 mm gun, 57 Mk3, Bofors 120 mm gun, Bofors Carl Gustaf, Bofors 283 mm gun, Saab Bofors Dynamics, Bofors IK, Saab Microwave Systems. Excerpt: The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, used by most of the western Allies as well as by the Axis forces. The cannon remains in service as of 2011, making it one of the longest-serving artillery pieces of all time. It is often referred to simply as the Bofors gun. The Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a more capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928. Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm (6-pounder) semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 1900s by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, to which was added a semi-automatic loading mechanism. Testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was strong enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired. This proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. In the summer of 1930 they began experimenting with a new test gun that did away with controll...