13.2 mm twin machine gun Hotchkiss 1929 on a tripod light mounting R3b

In 1922, Hotchkiss began work on large-caliber automatic systems, intended mainly for arming aircraft. At the same time, the company was working on the creation of a new cartridge, very powerful in order to fight both aircraft and armored vehicles. The result of the development was the cartridge 13.2x99 Hotchkiss (13.2 Hotchkiss Mod. 1923), which appeared at the end of 1923. The cartridge was launched in parallel with the developed Hotchkiss Model 1929 heavy machine gun. In France, the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun was officially adopted in 1930, a wide range of machines and installations was developed for it - from the simplest infantry tripods to complex twin and quad installations installed on trucks and marine vessels. The machine gun had gas automatics with a long stroke of the gas piston located under the barrel. The barrel itself had air cooling, was equipped with ribs. Power was supplied in two ways: from a rigid clip (tape) with a capacity of 15 rounds inserted on the right or from a box magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds inserted from above. Food from stores of limited capacity reduced the combat rate of fire - 90-100 / 180-200 rounds per minute.