The following intelligence report on the German airborne 28-mm antitank gun was originally published in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 45, April 1, 1944. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN AIRBORNE 28/20 AT GUN Prior references to the German 28-mm AT Gun (M 41) will be found in Tactical and Technical Trends No. 5 p. 14, No. 26 p. 7. The 28/20-mm AT gun Model 41, s.Pz.B.* 41, has now been produced in a lighter mounting for airborne use. The carriage of the new model is made of light tubular metal and it is equipped with small pneumatic wheels. The weight of the barrel and the cradle is the same in both models, but the total weight of the airborne version is only 260 pounds as compared with 501 pounds for the older version. Other features of interest are: (a) A weakening at the junction of the body and trail leg (at which point there was a fracture on a mounting examined). (b) The sleigh and cradle complete with trunnion band are aluminum alloy casting (probably duralumin). (c) The gun has free elevation and traverse. (d) To absorb the kick due to breech preponderance on recoil, an elevation shock absorber is mounted between the cradle and the saddle. (e) The two wheels have about half the diameter of those on the heavier field mounting. They are mounted on swinging arms clamped by serrated disks. In the firing position the wheels are swung upwards, leaving the gun to rest on the tubular framework on the forward end. *schweres Panzerbüchse - heavy antitank rifle

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