In
World War I, aircraft were initially intended for
aerial reconnaissance, however some pilots began to carry rifles in case they spotted enemy planes. Soon, planes were fitted with machine guns with a variety of mountings; initially the only guns were carried in the rear cockpit supplying defensive fire (this was employed by two-seat aircraft all through the war). Seeing a need for offensive fire, forward-firing weapons were devised. The
Airco DH.2 pusher plane had its gun in the front while the engine was in the back, some experimented with mountings on the (side) wing or on the biplane's upper wing (above the cockpit), until by 1916 most fighter aircraft mounted their guns in the forward fuselage using a
synchronization gear so that the bullets did not strike the propeller. In
World War II, fighter aircraft carried
machine guns and
cannons mounted in the wings, engine cowlings, nose, or between the banks of the engine, firing through the propeller spinner.
Night fighters sometimes utilized guns
firing upwards as well. Bombers typically carried from one to 14 flexible machine guns and/or autocannons as defensive armament, while certain types added fixed offensive guns as well. While missiles have been the primary armament since the early 1960s, the
Vietnam War showed that guns still had a role to play and most fighters built since then are fitted with cannons (typically between 20 and 30 mm in caliber) as an adjunct to missiles. Modern European fighter aircraft are usually equipped with the
revolver cannon, whereas the United States and to some extent Russia generally favor the
Gatling gun. The Gatling gun quickly became the weapon of choice for most air forces. •
ADEN cannon (UK) •
20 mm Becker (Germany) •
Berezin B-20 (USSR) •
Berezin BS (USSR) •
Berezin UB (USSR) •
40 mm gun (Sweden) •
Bofors m/45 (Sweden) •
Bofors m/47 (Sweden) •
Bofors m/49 (Sweden) •
Bordkanone BK 3,7 cannon (37mm, a.k.a. 3,7 cm) (Germany) •
Bordkanone BK 5 cannon (50mm, a.k.a. 5 cm) (Germany) •
Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon (75mm a.k.a. 7,5 cm) (Germany) •
Breda-SAFAT machine gun (Italy) •
Browning Model 1919 machine gun (United States) •
Colt Mk 12 cannon (United States) •
COW 37 mm gun (UK) •
DEFA cannon (France) •
FN Browning machine gun (Belgium) •
GAU-7 cannon (United States) •
GAU-8 Avenger (United States) •
GAU-12 Equalizer (United States) •
GIAT 30 (France) •
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L (Russia) •
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23 (Russia) •
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 (Russia) •
Gryazev-Shipunov/Izhmash GSh-30-1 (Russia) •
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-2 (Russia) •
Hispano 20 mm cannon (Switzerland) •
Ho-1/
Ho-3 cannon (20mm) (Japan) •
Ho-5 cannon (20mm)(Japanese army) •
Ho-103 machine gun (12.7mm) (Japan) •
Ho-155 cannon (30mm), (Japan) •
Ho-203 cannon (37mm) (Japan) •
Ho-204 cannon (37mm) (Japan) •
Ho-301 cannon (caseless 40mm) (Japan) •
Ho-401 cannon (57mm) (Japan) • Ho-402 cannon (57mm) Japan) •
Karabin maszynowy obserwatora wz.37 (Poland) •
Ksp m/22 (Sweden) •
Lewis gun (USA/UK) •
M2 Browning machine gun (United States) •
M4 cannon (United States) •
M39 cannon (United States) •
M61 Vulcan (United States) •
M134 Minigun (United States) •
M197 Gatling gun (United States) •
MAC 1934 (France) •
Mauser BK-27 (Germany) •
MG 08 (Germany) •
MG 15 machine gun (Germany) •
MG 17 machine gun (Germany) •
MG 131 machine gun (Germany) •
MG 151 cannon (Germany) •
MG FF cannon (Germany) •
MK 103 cannon (Germany) •
MK 108 cannon (Germany) •
Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 (Russia) •
Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 (Austria-Hungary) •
Shipunov 2A42 (Russia) •
ShKAS machine gun (Russia) •
ShVAK cannon (Russia) •
Oerlikon KCA (Switzerland) •
Ordnance QF 6-pounder(DH Mosquito 57mm anti-submarine gun) (UK) •
Parabellum MG14 (Germany) •
Spandau machine gun (Germany) • Semi Automatique Moteur Canon d'aviation (37mm) (France) •
75 mm gun (US) (T13E1 / M5) (United States) •
Type 1 machine gun (7.92mm)(Japan) •
Type 2 cannon (30mm) (Japan) •
Type 2 machine gun (13mm) (Japan) •
Type 3 machine gun (13.2mm) (Japan) •
Type 5 cannon (30mm) (Japanese navy) •
Type 88 cannon (75mm) (Japan) •
Type 89 machine gun (7.7mm) (Japan) •
Type 92 machine gun (7.7mm) (Japan) •
Type 97 machine gun (7.7mm) (Japan) •
Type 98 machine gun (7.92mm) (Japan) •
Type 99 cannon (20mm) (Japan) •
1.59 inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun") (UK) •
Vickers machine gun (UK) •
Vickers K machine gun (UK) •
Vickers S (UK) •
Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (USSR) ==Air-dropped bombs==