Mitrailleuse d'Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm
heavy airplane machine gun
Mitrailleuse d'Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm (in English Browning Aircraft Machine Gun - F.N. Caliber 13.2 mm) more commonly known as the "13.2 mm FN Browning", but also 13.2 mm Browning-F.N., F.N. Caliber 13.2 mm, FN Browning M.1939 and similar, was a 13.2 mm (0.52 in) caliber, shell-firing, heavy machine gun for aircraft use, designed by Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Herstal, Belgium, as a private export venture during the final years prior to World War II.
Even though it gained great interest during its limited time on the export market, it was only exported to the air forces of Romania and Sweden prior to the German invasion of Belgium in 1940, although later in the war Finland commenced unlicensed production with help from Sweden.
Development and description
The 13.2 mm FN Browning was developed by FN as an improved version of the .50 in (12.7 mm) air-cooled Browning MG53 aircraft machine gun. Improvements to the original design included: making the weapon lighter, increasing the rate of fire and offering it in not just 12.7×99mm Browning, but also 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss, the latter cartridge effectively being a 12.7×99mm Browning cartridge but with a caliber of 13.2 mm (0.52 in). The 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss cartridge was the initial cartridge developed for the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun, being replaced by the 13.2×96mm Hotchkiss cartridge in 1935, and was thus used and produced by a wide variety of countries in Europe. To further improve on the design, FN developed a high-explosive shell against air targets for the 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss cartridge, purpose built for the 13.2 mm FN Browning.
In modern nomenclature, the weapon largely fits the definition of a heavy machine gun, as per its M2 basis, however, in period texts, the weapon is referred to as a "shell firing gun". This refers to the high-explosive munition offered for the system by FN Herstal. In Swedish service, it was designated as an "autocannon" (automatkanon), as the Swedish air force caliber range for cannons starts at 12.7 mm.
Interest & export
Due to the above-mentioned features, the 13.2 mm FN Browning drew a lot of interest from a number of nations when it entered the export market in 1939. Some interested countries of note were: the Finnish Air Force, the Royal Romanian Air Force, the Swedish Air Force, the Royal Netherlands Army Aviation Brigade and the Royal Belgian Military Aviation .
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