Ho-203 cannon

Ho-203 was a Japanese autocannon that saw considerable use during World War II. It was a long-recoil automation of the Year 11 Type direct-fire infantry gun. It was fed by a 15-round closed-loop ammunition belt. It was operationally used only as the nose gun of the Kawasaki Ki-45-KAI heavy fighter, the anti-bomber workhorse of the Imperial Japanese Army, and tried out in the upper fuselage of the III-KAI variant of the Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah twin-engined warplane as a Japanese form of the Nazi Luftwaffe's Schräge Musik upwards-aimed armament system for heavy fighters.

Specifications

• Caliber: 37 mm (1.45 in)
• Ammunition: 37 x 112R (475 g)
• Weight: 90 kg (200 lb)
• Rate of fire: 120 rounds/min
• Muzzle velocity: 570 m/s (1,870 ft/s)