page_title: MG FF cannon
section_title: Technical data
hierarchical_section_title: MG FF cannon / Technical data
caption_attribution_description: English: Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 showing synchronised, propeller hub and wing guns
context_page_description: The MG FF was a drum-fed, blowback-operated, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, with the Oerlikon FF design itself a development of the Imperial German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in space-limited, fixed mountings such as inside aircraft wings, although it saw use as both an offensive and a defensive weapon, in both fixed and flexible format. It saw widespread use in those roles by the German Luftwaffe, particularly during the early stages of World War II, although from 1941 onwards it was gradually replaced by the Mauser firm's 20 mm MG 151/20. MG FF stands for Maschinengewehr Flügel Fest, which translates into "machine gun, wing, fixed"; this reflects the fact that in Luftwaffe practice guns of 20 mm or less were designated as "machine guns" as opposed to larger "machine cannons", or autocannons, which were "MK", for maschinenkanone The "wing, fixed" part reflects the fact that the primary motivation behind its design was to create a 20 mm caliber weapon that was compact and light enough to be mounted in the wings of aircraft, especially fighters.
context_section_description: Weight: 26.3 kg
  Length: 1.37 m
  Muzzle velocity:
  600 m/s (2,000 ft/s) (MG FF),
  585 m/s (1,920 ft/s)  (MG FF/M with AP or HE),
  700 m/s (2,300 ft/s) (MG FF/M with mine shell)
  Rate of fire:
  520 rpm (MG FF, FF/M with AP or HE),
  540 rounds per minute (MG FF/M with mine shell)
  Round types:
  armor-piercing (AP),
  high-explosive (HE), incendiary, all with or without tracer,
  high-explosive mine shell (HE(M)) (only MG FF/M)
caption: Bf 109E-3 with MG FF
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