German designations of foreign artillery in World War II

During World War II, Germany maintained comprehensive lists of enemy weapons which were given designations in German in a system that matched that of German weapons. When these weapons were captured and put into use with German forces they were referred to by these designations.

Background
Before the war began the German armed forces Heereswaffenamt compiled a list of known foreign equipment and assigned a unique number to each weapon. These weapons were called Fremdgerät or Beutegerät ("foreign device" or "captured device") and their technical details were recorded in a fourteen-volume set that was periodically updated. The Germans also captured large amounts of foreign equipment during WWII that they tested and cataloged using the same system. The Germans sometimes referred to these weapons as Kriegsbeute ("war booty") and the Fremdgerät numbers are sometimes referred to as Beutenummern ("booty numbers"). See also Glossary of German military terms.

Designation format
The format for these designations is made up of the following elements:
 * Calibre expressed in centimetres
 * The type of weapon
 * A model number (e.g. M23) or year (e.g. 1934)
 * In the absence of a model or year number, a unique number was assigned.
 * A subvariant is indicated with a number after a "/".
 * A letter indicating the national origin of the weapon.

As an example, "9 cm Flak M12 (t)" is a Czechoslovakian 90mm anti-aircraft gun Model 12.

Anti-aircraft guns
** Converted to use 88 mm ammunition.