Guest Mike Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I've been stocking up on books about Soviet a/c in the last few weeks (whoda' thunk it huh??!! ), and have come across one little peculiarity (so far) - the initial armamanet of hte LaGG-3 aircraft. My references of long standing (Soviet fighters of WW2" by William Green and Gordon Swanborough, & various others) all list the armament of LaGG-3's as 1 x 20mm cannon firing through the prop hub, and 2 x 7.62mm SHVaK machinegunes mounted on the engine cowl - one or both of these later being replaced by 12.7mm UB machineguns sometimes - more so as the war went on. However the Squadron/Signal book "LaGG fighters in Action" has a slightly different story. (Incidentally the book is only about LaGG-3's, and not so much about them in action as about the various modificatiosn the aircraft went through until it stopped being produced in 1944) According to it the armement starts as 3 x 12.7mm machineguns (1 in prop hub, 2 on engine cowl) AND 2 x 7.62mm machineguns also on the engine cowl under prominent blisters. The 7.62mm machineguns were no longer fitted at the factory once the 20mm cannon was adopted to replace the 12/7mm in the prop hub. Another publication I received recently on LaGG and LA aces also has a drawing on a LaGG-3 with only 1 x 12.7mm machinegun fitted with the cannon - being the one of the port side of the cowl. So there are 3 armament variations: 3 x 12.7mm and 2 x 7.62mm machineguns, or 1 x 20mm cannon + 2 x 12.7mm machineguns, or or 1 x 20mm cannon + 1 x 12.7mm machineguns. Added to that are those from the Fact File series - 1 x 20mm and 1-2 total of 7.62mm or 12.7mm machineguns. There are sites all over the web that mention all of these combinations. There are limited numbers of photos available showing the upper cowl are of LaGG-3's in any detail, and they generally aren't detailed enough to spot exactly how many gun muzzles are there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanadu Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 My William Green's WARPLANES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, Vol 2 for LaGG.3 list just a "typical armament" of 1x20mm, 1xHMG and 1xRCMG. Bill Gunston's FIGHTING AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II describles LaGG.3 armament as "extremely varied. Mentions the above as 'typical' and describes the version with 3xHMG and 2xRCMG as being "used for Il.2 escort". Most likely, the Sovs put in whatever weaponry was most available at the time the individual a/c was built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Originally posted by Zanadu: Most likely, the Sovs put in whatever weaponry was most available at the time the individual a/c was built. I don't think they were THAT disorganised!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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