german 88 flak gun max - German 88 Flak GUN anti-aircraft anti-tank artillery WWII by De Espona

The name applies to a series of anti-aircraft guns officially called the 8,8 cm FlaK 18, 36 or 37. FlaK is a German contraction of either Fl(ugzeug)a(bwehr)-K(anone) or Fl(ug)a(bwehr)-K(anone) (hence the capital K, nowadays one word) meaning anti-aircraft gun, the original purpose of the eighty-eight. In informal German use, the guns were universally known as the Acht-acht (8-8), a contraction of Acht-komma-acht Zentimeter ('German' 8.8 cm). The name could also describe newer and more powerful models, the FlaK 41 and 43, although these were different weapons. In general terms the gun was less capable in the anti-aircraft role than the British QF 3.7 inch AA gun or United States 90 mm gun models. Unlike those weapons, however, the 88 was built in very large numbers, widely deployed in the field, and could be found on every battlefield.

Success as an improvised anti-tank gun led to a separate line of guns for anti-tank use, the Panzerabwehr-Kanone (PaK) 88 (German: 'anti-tank gun') and as the main armament for tanks such as the Tiger I, the 8.8 cm KwK 36. The introduction of the FlaK 41/43 led to a similar series of anti-tank conversions with even higher performance, under the name 8.8 cm KwK 43. These later models were capable of penetrating the frontal armor of any tank of the period at ranges over 1000 m.