The German eighty-eight is probably the best known artillery piece of World War II. It was not one gun, but a series of anti-aircraft guns officially called the 8.8 cm Flak 18, 36 or 37, and could also include newer and more powerful models, the FlaK 41 and 43, although these were different weapons. FlaK is a German short form of Flugabwehr-Kanone (hence the capital K, nowadays one word) meaning anti-aircraft gun, the original purpose of the eighty-eight.
Success as an improvised antitank gun led to a separate line of guns for anti-tank use, referred to as PaK 88 (Panzerabwehrkanone, anti-tank gun) and as the main armament for tanks such as the Tiger 1.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88mm_gun] Wikipedia [/url]
