Did the Russians develop an AP round for the P39 since the Americans didn't supply any??

[novicebutdeadly]

Does anyone know the answer to this?

[ShamrockOneFive]

It sounds like they used the HE rounds only.

 

Contrary to popular myth, the P-39 was not employed as a "tank-buster" for two very good reasons: the M4 37mm cannon was slow-firing and only had 30 rounds of ammunition, and the Soviets never received M80 Armor Piercing Shot ammunition for this cannon through Lend-Lease. (Even had they received AP ammo, it was only capable of penetrating 1.0 inches of armor at 500 yards. After 1943 there weren't many German tanks that vulnerable, especially from the top quadrant.) Our government did deliver approximately 1.2 million M54 High Explosive shells, however, and Soviet P-39 aces put them to good use against both air and soft ground targets.

http://acepilots.com/planes/p39_airacobra.html

 

Another site also says the same thing: http://www.chuckhawks.com/airacobra_iron_dog.htm

 

Thirty rounds of high explosive 37mm doesn't sound too bad against aircraft or light ground targets.

Edited January 5, 2017 by ShamrockOneFive

[Finkeren]

Shamrock's got it right.

 

The P-39 was used by the VVS exactly the same as any other fighter. It was not a dedicated ground attack aircraft (the VVS already had such a plane and an overabundance of them)

 

The P-39 was always a fighter/interceptor, and that's how it was used.

[BlitzPig_EL]

The P39 was the first plane I got really good with back in the day of the original IL2.

 

The ballistics of the cannon were very different than the nose mounted M2 .50 Brownings, but once you figured it out, those HE cannon rounds were pretty darned good when they connected.

 

I'm really looking forward to the P39 when it comes out.