The 25 mm mle 1934 cannon was a French anti-tank cannon from the interwar period and World War II. Its first prototypes were made in 1932, and serial production continued in the years 1934-1940, ending with the production of about 5,600-6,000 copies of this weapon. The initial velocity of the missile oscillated around 900 m / s, and the rate of fire was up to 25 rounds per minute, with a maximum range of 1,800 meters.
The 25 mm mle 1934 gun was built by the Hotchkiss company on the basis of a tank gun of the same caliber. The new gun was characterized by a compact design with a semi-automatic breech and a relatively low weight. It also had good ballistic properties, allowing it to destroy enemy, mainly German tanks, of that period. Two variants of this gun appeared in series production. The first (mle 1935) was a shortened version, used in tanks and armored vehicles. The second variant, designated mle 1937, had an elongated barrel from 72 to 77 calibers and a reduced own weight. In addition to the French army, the Hotchkiss 25 mm cannon was used by the Turkish army and the British Expeditionary Corps, which used it in 1939-1940. Some numbers of these guns were also used by the Wehrmacht as captured weapons after 1940.
The Hotchkiss Mle 14 or Hotchkiss M1914 is a French 8mm heavy machine gun from the interwar period and both world wars. Serial production of the weapon started in 1914. The initial velocity of the projectile fired from this weapon was up to approx. 720 m / s, and the theoretical rate of fire - up to 600 rounds per minute. The weight of the weapon without a base or tripod is 24.3 kilograms. The Hotchkiss Mle 14 was developed in-house Societe Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie in Saint Denis, initially as a supplement and later a successor to the complicated and not very successful Saint-Etienne Mle1907 rifle. The new machine gun of the French army was characterized primarily by an air-cooled, not water-cooled barrel - as in rifles built under the Maxim license - as well as good ballistic properties. It also proved to be much less reliable than its predecessor (the Saint-Etienne Mle1907 rifle). It is worth adding that the Mle 14 was structurally very similar to the Hotchkiss machine guns exported to countries such as Belgium (M 1907 rifle) or Greece (M 1909 rifle). He became one of the basic heavy machine guns of the French army during the Great War (1914-1918) and remained in service until the 1940 campaign! It was also exported to many countries - including Poland.