Description
The Flak 40 was a German 128mm heavy anti-aircraft gun from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the guns were created in 1937, and in 1942 serial production began, ending with the production of about 600 guns of this type. The maximum vertical range was 14,800 m, and the initial velocity of the projectile was 880 m/s.
The Flak 40 was developed as part of the Rheinmetall project, which dates back to 1936, of a new heavy anti-aircraft gun. As the bombings on German cities were not perceived in the years 1937-1941, the work on Flak 40 was initially a very low priority, which however changed in 1942, leading to the implementation of a new gun into production. Originally, it was planned to create a mobile version of the Flak 40, but it was quickly switched to the production of only a stationary version, which was mounted on fortified sites or on the so-called “Flakturm Zoo”. An attempt was also made to produce a double Flak 40 gun (the so-called 12.8 cm Flakzwilling 40/2), but production ended with the production of about 40-50 pieces of this weapon.
