Henschel Hs 123 with MG FF ?

[SalothSar]

The rugged and reliable Henschel HS 123s fought as ground support planes till mid-1944.
I read since the beginning of the seventies that, during the war, the plane was improved with a field modification, installing two MG FF guns. I think it's a war legend, because I've never been able to find a photo of the plane mounting MG FF cannons. Perhaps a proposal which didn't proceed beyond the prototype stage?

 

[lastdingo]

My most comprehensive (50 pages on the Henschel Hs 123) source on the Hs 123 is Flugzeug Profile #42.

It mentions that literature mentions 20 mm guns, but the author found no primary source for it and concluded it was no serial production armament.

 

[Colonial-Marine]

Would it have been a possible field modification? Though unless you could fit them into the places the MG17s went I don't know where else you would put them. MG-FF was a pretty small 20mm cannon but probably not that small.

 

[SalothSar]

Yes, it was a field modification, if it really happened. Cannons wouldn't have placed above the engine but in under-wings housings.

 

[Avimimus]

I don't recall seeing any photographs myself. However, I do remember forum discussions concluding that the 20mm cannon equipped Blenheim's didn't exist, only to have both written evidence and photographs of the installations appear later! So evidence might still be out there.

On the whole though, it seems on the balance of probabilities that photos may not survive.

 

[lastdingo]

Would it have been a possible field modification? Though unless you could fit them into the places the MG17s went I don't know where else you would put them. MG-FF was a pretty small 20mm cannon but probably not that small.

MG FF (or rather MG FF/M) were even used in ground combat late in the war, but I am under the impression that there was a shortage of them in 1942/43.

The Fw 190 needed two each and the Schräge Musik of night interceptors used two each as well.
Most Bf 109F and G series planes were underarmed due to deletion of the MG FF/M from the wings. I suspect they were deleted not just for performance, but also due to production shortages.