Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 1, 2026

Engine gun

An engine gun, or engine cannon, is an aircraft gun mounted behind and through the cylinder block of an inline aircraft engine with a reduction drive that displaces the propeller axle to be in line with the gun so that gunfire is allowed through the propeller hub. This allows for nose-mounted weaponry on aircraft without the need for synchronization gear while also permitting higher calibers for nose-mounted weaponry, which otherwise would be hard to adapt for synchronization gear.

Last revised
Jun 1, 2026
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≈ 2 min
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Wikipedia ↗
French Hispano-Suiza 12Y aircraft engine (cylinders removed) with Hispano-Suiza HS.404 engine gun mounted source ↗
Luftwaffe soldier inspects the engine gun alignment of a Bf 109 fighter aircraft source ↗
Firing channel on a Daimler-Benz DB 605 for an engine gun. source ↗

An engine gun, or engine cannon (from German: Motorkanone, "motor cannon"), is an aircraft gun mounted behind and through the cylinder block of an inline aircraft engine (most often a V engine) with a reduction drive that displaces the propeller axle to be in line with the gun so that gunfire is allowed through the propeller hub. This allows for nose-mounted weaponry on aircraft without the need for synchronization gear while also permitting higher calibers for nose-mounted weaponry, which otherwise would be hard to adapt for synchronization gear.1

The first time this was done was during World War I when the French modified the Hispano-Suiza 8 engine to be able to install a 37 mm autocannon.2 The concept was used widely before the Jet Age.

Historical engine guns

Finnish guns

French guns

German guns

Soviet guns

Swiss guns

Engine gun installations

A geared-output shaft HS 8C engine for a SPAD S.XII WWI aircraft, showing the elevated intake manifold to clear the 37 mm cannon (shown to the right) mounted in the "V" between the cylinder banks. source ↗

French engines

German engines

Soviet engines

Swiss engines

  • Saurer YS-2
  • Saurer YS-3

Aircraft with engine guns

Czechoslovak aircraft

Czechoslovak Avia Bk-534, a biplane with a 20 mm engine gun source ↗

Finnish aircraft

  • Mörkö Morane

French aircraft

French SPAD S.XII, a World War I aircraft with a 37 mm engine gun source ↗

German aircraft

Italian aircraft

Fiat G.55 Centauro with engine gun (MG 151/20) source ↗

Soviet aircraft

Yakovlev Yak-9K with the 45 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-45 engine gun mounted source ↗

Swedish aircraft

  • SAAB 23

Swiss aircraft

Swiss EKW C-3604, an attacker with a 20 mm engine gun source ↗

Yugoslavian aircraft

References

References

  1. "PART V AUTOMATIC AIRCRAFT CANNON". ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
  2. Thorsson, Nils (1975). Historik och kartläggning av vapenmateriel för flygplan. Arboga, Sweden. p. 25.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links