PropertyValue
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Besa machine gun
rdfs:comment
  • The Besa Machine Gun was a British version of the Czechoslovak ZB-53 air-cooled, belt-fed machine-gun, which in the Czechoslovak army was marked as the TK vz. 37. It was used extensively by the armed forces of United Kingdom during the Second World War, as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles, to replace the heavier, water-cooled Vickers machine gun. Although it required a rather large opening in the tank's armour, it was dependable and reliable. The name came from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), who signed an agreement with Československá zbrojovka to manufacture the gun in the UK. The War Office ordered the weapon in 1938, and production began in 1939, after modifications.
owl:sameAs
Era
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/property/wikiPageUsesTemplate
Rate
  • 500
Platform
  • vehicle
Name
  • Machine Gun, BESA
Type
  • Tank Medium machine gun
Caption
  • Besa machine gun
prod design date
  • 1939
Cartridge
  • 7.920000
Wars
Weight
  • empty
Caliber
  • 7.9
Manufacturer
is UK
  • yes
is ranged
  • yes
Action
  • gas automatic
serv design date
  • -1950.0
design date
  • 1936
Variants
  • 15.0
  • Mark II
  • Mark III, III*
feed
  • 225
Designer
  • Vaclav Holek
abstract
  • The Besa Machine Gun was a British version of the Czechoslovak ZB-53 air-cooled, belt-fed machine-gun, which in the Czechoslovak army was marked as the TK vz. 37. It was used extensively by the armed forces of United Kingdom during the Second World War, as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles, to replace the heavier, water-cooled Vickers machine gun. Although it required a rather large opening in the tank's armour, it was dependable and reliable. The name came from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), who signed an agreement with Československá zbrojovka to manufacture the gun in the UK. The War Office ordered the weapon in 1938, and production began in 1939, after modifications.