and British squadrons on the Western Front. ![]() The heavily gunned warplanes were distributed in ones and twos throughout the French air corps with a handful finding their way into U.S. The following year, the Spad XII took to the skies - a dedicated dogfighter armed with a 12-shot, 1.46-inch cannon. Many of these early pusher-style bombers were equipped with 37 mm guns.(Image source: WikiCommons) In this case, the weapons were intended to fend off enemy fighter planes. The results were less than encouraging. The following year, France unveiled the Salmson-Moineau S.M.1, a three-man, long-range recon bird, armed with a pair of modified 37 mm field guns. In 1915, mechanics with the French air corps began outfitting the Voisin III with 37 mm cannons enabling the rickety single-engine biplane to attack targets both on the ground and in the air. ![]() Air Force) “Consider these ‘flying cannons’ (listed in order of ascending firepower)”ĪERIAL WARFARE was still in its infancy when aviation innovators devised history’s first ‘gunship’. An AC-130 Specter gunship carries a staggering assortment of cannons.
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