Bf 109G armament options.

[Johnny .45]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Johnny, you do type a lot of words before you get to the actual question!

Incidentally, there wasn't much point in putting an MK 108 in a G-8 since it was a dedicated reconnaissance model. If the armament was altered on that machine, it was to reduce it (commonly to a singe MG 151 and no machine guns).

LOL, yes, I do like to hear myself talk, I guess. Or, "read myself typing", rather?
I figure stating the obvious can be useful for those who are just dropping in casually.
As for the G-8, I just used that as an arbitrary title...I don't really know a lot about all the different Bf 109G versions...there's too many of them!
I commonly hear that the 109's were (when possible) used to take on the escort fighters, while the Fw 190's were supposed to take on the bombers. I know that wasn't always possible, and I assume that those roles were assigned by virtue of the two fighters armament (or lack thereof), since the Fw always seemed to be a better dogfight (IMHO). Anyway, what does a 30mm-armed Bf 109 do against another fighter? I can't imagine it would be easy to shoot a fighter down with an MK 108.
So, now for the question(s)! Does anyone know how many of each type was built? Meaning MG 151 vs MK 108-armed Bf 109's, that is. And was a 30mm-armed fighter generally assigned to go after bombers, or did they actually try to take on the fighters (as official tactics)? It seems to me that the 30mm version was more of a stop-gap bomber-destroyer top fill in for the Fw 109 at higher altitudes, where the Fw lost power.