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8.35 cm PL kanon vz. 22
8.35 cm PL kanon vz. 22
	Posed shot of a PL kanon vz. 22 preparing for action
Type	Anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	Czechoslovakia
Service history
In service	1924-1945
Used by	Czechoslovakia; Nazi Germany; Slovakia; Yugoslavia
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Škoda Works
Manufacturer	Škoda Works
Produced	1924-37?
Specifications
Mass	8,800 kilograms (19,400 lb)
Barrel length	4.6 metres (15 ft) L/55
Shell	83.5 x 677mm R
Shell weight	10 kilograms (22 lb) (HE)
Caliber	83.5 millimetres (3.29 in)
Elevation	0° to +85°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	12 rpm
Muzzle velocity	800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	11,300 metres (37,100 ft) vertical ceiling

The 8.35 cm PL kanon vz. 22 (Anti-aircraft Gun Model 22) was a Czech anti-aircraft gun used during World War II. Those weapons captured after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 8.35 cm Flak 22(t). Some guns were reportedly captured in Yugoslavia as well. 144 were in Czech service during the Munich Crisis in September 1938 of which Slovakia seized between twenty-five and twenty-nine when it declared independence six months later.^[2]^[3] One hundred seven were in German service in August 1943, declining to twenty by October 1944.^[4]

Description

The PLK vz. 22 was mounted on a pedestal which was fixed to a circular firing platform that was mounted on a wheeled carriage. It was fired from the carriage once the side outriggers were swung into position to support the carriage. The carriage's metal wheels limited its towing speed to 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph).^[3]

Notes

^ "78- MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES". www.quarryhs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ "Statistické údaje výzbroje Čs. armády v roce 1938". 24 March 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
^ ^a ^b Kliment and Nakládal, p. 124
^ Gander and Chamberlain, p. 153

References

Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1979). Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-15090-3.
Kliment, Charles K.; Nakládal, Bretislav (1997). Germany's First Ally: Armed Forces of the Slovak State 1939-1945. Atglen, PA: Schiffer. ISBN 0-7643-0589-1.