WWII: annual production of artillery guns 1939-1945, by country

The use of artillery guns, including cannons and Howitzers, became more important than ever during the Second World War. The increased role of tanks, armored vehicles, and planes meant that defending forces would require advanced technology to withstand enemy attacks, with anti-vehicle and anti-aircraft guns coming to the fore. As the war progressed, guns grew larger in caliber in order to deal with improvements in tank armor, with such developments most obvious between the German and Soviet forces where the supporting role of tanks and guns played the largest role in the conflict. In the early stages of the war, the German 8.8cm Flak anti-aircraft gun proved so successful and versatile that it was also used as anti-tank artillery, before it became the standard gun mounted on the Tiger tank series.Guns and cannons were also mounted to warships or aircraft, accompanying weapons such as machine guns and torpedo launchers - around half of all guns produced by the United States were used in a naval or aerial capacity.

在第二次世界大战期间，火炮的使用，包括加农炮和榴弹炮，其重要性达到了前所未有的高度。坦克、装甲车辆和飞机的日益凸显的角色意味着防御力量需借助先进技术以抵御敌方的攻击，其中反坦克和防空火炮成为了战场焦点。随着战争的推进，火炮口径逐渐增大，以应对坦克装甲的提升，这一变化在德国与苏联军队间的对抗中尤为显著，坦克与火炮的支援作用在冲突中扮演了至关重要的角色。战争初期，德国8.8厘米Flak防空炮因其卓越的成功与多功能性而备受瞩目，不仅被用作反坦克火炮，后来更成为Tiger坦克系列的标准装备。火炮和加农炮还被安装在战舰或飞机上，与机枪和鱼雷发射器等武器一同配备——美国生产的约一半火炮被用于海军或空军领域。