MarketMitrailleuse d'Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm
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Mitrailleuse d'Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm

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 the like, 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.

Development and description
The 13.2 mm FN Browning was developed by FN as an improved version of the Browning air-cooled 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 . 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 the Royal Belgian Military Aviation themselves. The Dutch planned to use the 13.2 mm FN Browning in their in-development Fokker D.XXIII fighter aircraft, R.38 However with the start of WW2, and the subsequent invasion and occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany in the summer of 1940, the 13.2 mm FN Browning was, in that limited time, only exported to Romania == Users ==
Users
Romania The few weapons that were sold to Romania were at first used on their SM.79 bombers but later saw use on their own indigenous IAR 80B fighter plane. In Romania the weapons saw combat and were considered equal to the 20 mm weapons used in the Romanian air force such as the MG 151/20. Sweden Sweden gained interest in the 13.2 mm FN Browning in 1938 and ordered it from FN in 1939, as well as a license to produce the weapon in Sweden. The last frontline military aircraft to use the 12.7 mm akan m/39s was the SAAB T 18B coastal attacker aircraft which left service in 1959. From the early 1950s onward however, the 12 mm akan m/39 started being used as a training weapon for jet fighters, such as the de Havilland J 28 Vampire and the SAAB J 29 Tunnan, where it could be mounted in place of the main cannon armament by the use of a small add-on. This use continued all the way to the early 2000s when its last training carrier, the Saab 37 Viggen, left service in 2007. Finland Finland never formally got the chance to buy the Belgian design before the invasion of Belgium, however through their connections with Sweden they managed to get hold of the manufacturing blueprints for the weapon which allowed them to produce it in Finland. Since Finland already was producing 12.7×99mm Browning ammunition it was decided to produce the weapon chambered for that cartridge. and Brewster B-239 Buffalo planes, but also to the indigenous Finnish VL Myrsky fighter aircraft. The weapon was also planned to be used on the VL Humu and VL Pyörremyrsky fighter aircraft if they were to enter production. It was occasionally fitted as a field modification, such as on Finnish Arado 196s, to increase firepower. After WWII the Finnish would use the 12,70 LKk/42 as training weaponry in aircraft such as the Saab 35 Draken and BAE Hawk. == Variants ==
Variants
• '''Mitrailleuse d'Avion Browning - F.N. Calibre 13,2 mm (13,2 mm Browning-F.N.''') – Original weapons built in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FN) in 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss • 13,2 mm automatkanon m/39 (13,2 mm akan m/39) – Swedish designation for weapons produced in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FN) in 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss • 13,2 mm automatkanon m/39A (13,2 mm akan m/39A) – Swedish designation for weapons license produced in Sweden by LM Ericsson in 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss • 12,7 mm automatkanon m/39 (12,7 mm akan m/39) – Swedish designation for weapons produced in Belgium by FN Herstal, re-chambered for 12.7×99mm Browning (.50 BMG) • 12,7 mm automatkanon m/39A (12,7 mm akan m/39A) – Swedish designation for weapons license produced in Sweden by LM Ericsson, re-chambered for 12.7×99mm Browning (.50 BMG) • 12,70 mm LentoKoneKivääri m/42 (12,70 LKk/42) – Finnish designation for weapons pirate produced in Finland by Valtion Kivääritehdas (VKT) in 12.7×99mm Browning (.50 BMG) == References ==
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