Ju-87G Stuka

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Furio

Then why use 88mm and larger calibre cannons in tank warfare? And why build tanks at all, if it was so easy to knock them off with a light gun?

Small caliber guns only work against armored targets if you get really close. For a tank or an AT gun, that's not always possible, or desirable.

A gun like the 88mm KwK 36 mounted on the Tiger I could score kills on a T-34 at 1,500 m, and could reliably punch through any portion of its armor at 1,000 m. By contrast, a 37mm gun might need to get within a few hundred meters to have any chance of working.

For aircraft, weight and weapon size are huge problems, so you need a smaller, lighter weapon - which means a lower caliber gun. To compensate for the smaller caliber, you increase muzzle velocity, increase rate of fire, and possibly use special ammunition. But, even then, you have to get close to your target - both to hit reliably, and to punch through armor.