Originally posted by Whisky58
The first operational IJN type to have cannons was A6M1 which first flew April 1939. Any ideas whether there were experimental models before this?
Ki-27 was main pre-war Japanese (army) fighter which had x2 7.7mm, & Ki-27 pilots claimed huge numbers of Chinese & Russian kills in 1939. Difficult to believe with those guns.
I think a big factor in the IJAAF doing so well against the Chinese and Russians was a combination of pilot skill (as rigorous as Japanese pilot training was in the '30s, their pilots were probably just as good at shooting as they were at flying) and the opposition. A lot of obsolete biplanes and ealry monoplanes, all open cockpit and most unarmored.
Really not much different that WWI, they weren't flying against the planes that would be found a few years later, with the exception of the early I-16s, and even the russians learned their lesson and eventually upgraded the Rat with cannons and better armor.
USAAF and USN seemed to decide pretty early on that a battery of guns with a high rate of fire was preferable to fewer guns with more hitting power. Also, smaller guns allow you to carry more ammo that a larger gun with larger ammo. Eight M2 .50s, firing 800 rounds a minute each (6400 in a minute, almost 110 rounds a
second), throws out a lot more lead in a hurry than four M2 20MMs firing 650 do (40 rounds in a second). Cannon might hit harder, but you stand a much better chance of multiple strikes over a target with that extra weight of fire. And if I was fighter pilot, I'd rather have 8 guns with 425 rounds per gun than 4 with 260.
