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{{short description|Externally powered, 12-barrel rifle-caliber rotary cannon}}
{{infobox weapon
| name = Fokker-Leimberger
| image =
| caption = photo of the Fokker-Leimberger
| origin =
| type = Multi-barelled [[Machine gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged = YES
<!-- Service history -->| service = Trials only▼
| used_by = ▼
▲<!-- Service history -->
| wars = <!-- Production history -->▼
▲| used_by =
| design_date = 1916▼
| manufacturer = ▼
▲<!-- Production history -->
| unit_cost = ▼
▲| designer = A.H.G. Fokker & Heinrich W. Lübbe
| production_date = ▼
▲| design_date = 1916
| number = ▼
▲| manufacturer =
| variants = <!-- General specifications -->
▲| unit_cost =
| spec_label = ▼
▲| production_date =
| weight = ▼
▲| number =
| length = ▼
| part_length = <!--
| cartridge = [[8x57mm IS]]▼
▲| spec_label =
| caliber = 7.92 mm
▲| weight =
| barrels = 12▼
▲| length =
| action = ▼
| velocity = ▼
▲| cartridge = [[8x57mm IS]]
| range =
| max_range = ▼
| feed = [[Belt (firearm)|Belt]]▼
▲| barrels = 12
| sights = Iron▼
▲| action =
▲| rate = (claimed) 7200+RPM
▲| velocity =
▲| max_range =
▲| feed = [[Belt (firearm)|Belt]]
▲| sights = Iron
}}
The '''Fokker-Leimberger''' was an externally powered, 12-barrel rifle-caliber [[rotary cannon]] developed in [[Germany]] during the [[First World War]]. The [[Firearm action|action]] of the Fokker-Leimberger was fairly different from a [[Gatling]] though, employing a rotary split-breech design,<ref name="flight"/> which was also known as a "nutcracker".<ref name="Williams2005"/>▼
▲The '''Fokker-Leimberger''' was an externally powered, 12-barrel rifle-caliber [[
Fokker claimed the gun achieved over 7200 rpm, although this may be an exaggeration.<ref name="Williams2005"/><ref name="flight"/> Failures during the war were attributed to the poor quality of German wartime ammunition,<ref name="flight">Weyl, [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%200312.html "Motor Guns-A flashback to 1914-18"] ''Flight'', 8 March 1957, pages 313-314 </ref> although the type of breech employed had ruptured-case problems in a British 1950s experimental weapon.<ref name="Williams2005"/> Fokker continued to experiment with this type of breech after his post-war move to the United States. A different Fokker prototype in a US museum basically attests to the failure of this line of development.<ref name="moments"/>▼
▲Fokker claimed the gun achieved over
== Design ==
The Fokker-Leimberger used a rotary split-breech design known as the "nutcracker". In this design a temporary [[Chamber (firearms)|chamber]] is formed by joining the two cavities of touching, counter-rotating [[sprocket]]s.<ref name="Williams2005"/> The simplicity of the design was appealing, particularly because it contained no major parts using a [[reciprocating motion]], like the [[breechblock]] used in many other automatic weapons. Ignoring the various [[Strength of materials|material stresses]], the maximum rate of fire was thus theoretically limited only by the time needed to complete the burning of the propellant from each cartridge (although, practically, barrel heating is a far more serious constraint).<ref name="flight"/> Anthony Williams commented on this design that: "Fokker claimed that 7,200 rpm was achieved, but knowing Fokker, there is some reason to assume that that may have been slightly exaggerated. Problems occurred, of course, with cases bursting on the seam between the two cylinders."<ref name="Williams2005"/> Another "Fokker Split Breech Rotary Machine Gun, ca. 1930" was donated by [[Val Forgett]] to [[Kentucky Military Treasures]] in 1977; according to the museum record it "proved unsuccessful because of its inability to seal breech cylinders".<ref name="moments">{{cite web|title=
The Fokker-Leimberger used percussion ignition with the firing pins mounted on a [[swashplate]]. No [[Extractor (firearms)|extractor]] was employed; the spent cases were simply left on the outgoing belt. The gun would have had to be pre-rotated in flight in order to ensure that when the trigger was pulled it would have fired at its maximum speed at once.
==History==
The development program that lead to the Fokker-Leimberger prototype was apparently initiated by the [[Idflieg]] through a circular sent to German firearms manufacturers on 16 August 1916. This document,
As with his other machine-gun-related designs, Fokker collaborated with [[Heinrich Lübbe|Heinrich W. Lübbe]] and with another engineer named Leimberger for this project. Initially they developed a simple adaptation of the [[Maxim gun|Maxim action]] (itself widely used in Germany
No record survives for the gun's ballistic performance, beside the claim for over 7,200 rounds per minute. However, problems with ammunition were recorded, as "only too often the cases tore open in the gun".<ref name="flight"/> After the war, a Fokker-Leimberger prototype was claimed as personal property by [[Anthony Fokker|A. H. G. Fokker]], and he took it with him when he emigrated to the US in 1922.<ref name="flight"/> The donation record for the exemplar now found at the Kentucky Historical Society states that all other exemplars were destroyed.<ref name="moments"/>
== See also ==
*
*
* {{annotated link|Minigun|M134 Minigun}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
▲* [[XM214 Microgun]]
{{Modern Gatling Guns}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Early machine guns]]
[[Category:Medium machine guns]]
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[[Category:World War I aircraft guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of Germany]]
[[Category:Trial and research firearms of Germany]]
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