Oerlikon 35 Mm Twin Cannon - History

History

• 1982: The system was widely used by Argentine forces during the Falklands War. The Skyguard radar system was employed by the 601 Antiaircraft Artillery Group and the Super Fledermaus by the 1st Group of the Argentinian Air Force. The Skyguard succeeded in shooting down a Sea Harrier (XZ450) on 4 May 1982 at Goose Green. This resulted in a shift of tactics, so that British aircraft largely operated outside the weapons system's range. An RAF Harrier (XZ988) was shot down by these cannons again over Goose Green on 27 May. The system was also employed in direct fire mode against British paratroopers during the Battle of Goose Green, killing two and wounding 11 and stopping the advance of two companies. The guns were involved in two deadly friendly fire incidents during the campaign. The first took place on 1 May 1982, when a GADA 601 battery fired three burst of 35 mm rounds at an Argentine Mirage III attempting to make an emergency landing at Stanley, after the aircraft had been already targeted by Argentine Navy 30mm guns deployed along the town. The aircraft fell in flames north of the airport, killing the pilot. The other friendly shootdown occurred at Goose-Green, when one A4 Skyhawk flew by mistake over a banned zone, and was shot down with the loss of the pilot. The Argentine Air Force conceded that this time the incident was triggered by the pilot's navigation error. The Skyguard radars were targeted by the RAF during Operation Black Buck on May 31 and June 3. One Skyguard radar was destroyed by shrapnel from a Shrike missile strike and four operators died as a result. Another Harrier (XW919) was presumably hit by 35 mm splinters over Sapper Hill on June 12 and sustained heavy damage. The aircraft was later declared out of service. There was a further direct-fire mission conducted against British troops on Wireless Ridge, just hours before the Argentinian surrender. After being disabled by their operators the guns were captured by British forces. 15 guns and five Skyguard units were captured and later refurbished by BMARC in Britain. 12 guns and 4 Skyguard radars were put into British service operated by the Royal Auxiliary Air Force 2729 Squadron, based at RAF Waddington. The RAuxAF used these guns and radar for about 10 years but defence cuts forced disbanding of the very popular and reliable system.

• 12 October 2007: Nine South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers were killed and 14 injured by the system during a training exercise at the SANDF Battle School at Lohatla in the Northern Cape province. A line of 8 cannons were engaging a tank hulk in manual ground fire with the guns at low elevation and the maximum traverse of the barrels secured by safety poles and tethers. The rightmost gun jammed while firing and had to be repaired by technicians. Shortly after the gun was cleared to fire again, the gun malfunctioned, entered automatic mode, broke through the traversal-restriction safety mechanisms and began firing, striking the other guns along the firing line. Initial reports suggested that the malfunction was caused when the gun underwent an unexplained gang fire of the explosive 35mm ammunition in the magazines, causing the turret to swing uncontrolled through 360-degrees firing wildly until it exhausted its remaining ammo. A statement issued by the South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, however, stated that the gun had inexplicably traversed 90-degrees to the left, breaking through the safety mechanisms, and fired only a 1/8 second long burst, striking all of the soldiers located on the right hand side of their guns. The accident report published by the SANDF in January 2008 blamed "undetected mechanical failure—which the manufacturers of an anti-aircraft gun allegedly kept secret". The report says the gun malfunctioned because a spring pin, which is the size of a matchstick, sheared. Other sources blamed poor training and safety procedures in the SANDF.