German tech and design in WW2

German had many crazy design but some of them was break down in world technology.

What kind crazy WW2 design you know?

First pic show plain that german have on paper in 40s. Now USA plain like that what to use for transporting people around the world

i know that the US had a fighter that looked like a saucer and needed a short runway to take off there is a thread on here about that.

if the germans had left the russian alone they peobally could of gotten some of those weird projects working, or maybe even worse, they maybe might of even had the bomb. helll they coulda had long range bombers that coulda hit the eastern US. look at the first pic in the first post. thats New York City in the back round. scary what woulda happend if D-Day failed

Here's an entire page on weird German plane designs: www.luft46.com...

This one's my favorite (a cookie to the first person who can name the PC game that ripped off the design):



[edit on 25-6-2004 by Aviator]

My guess would be Crimson Skies...

The History Channel had just recently run an all day marathon of secret weapons of WWII, including Axis aircraft.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
i know that the US had a fighter that looked like a saucer and needed a short runway to take off there is a thread on here about that.

Is this the one you mean?

www.avroarrow.org...

The Horten Ho-229 was really built before the war ended and northrops inspiration for his flying wing design. They had plans for a larger version that could have bombed the US. One pilot wanted to bomb the US using the HO-229 that plane could not have made a return trip to germany but he had plans to bail out of the coast of america and be picked up by a uboat.

HO-229

Or how about there concept for a orbital bomber back in WW2

Silver Bird

Germans are credited with much inovative technological designs , but they have a curious history. It seems that some of the best tech was ignored because Hitler didn't believe in it...until the war was lost and he needed 'just one more V weapon to win the war'...last desprite pleas of a dictator

FOr example the work on jet engines began before the war and progressed and could have been fielded mid war had it been given the priority that it deserved. Missiles designed for shooting down planes or even ships may sound unacceptably expensive but consider the alternative. In 1943 British estimated it took ~ 1000 flak rounds [88 or larger] to down one bomber, which cost > 300,000 Rm , by late 1944 this had spiraled to 3000 rounds. TO put that in perspective a Tiger I or II tank cost about 300,000 Rm....so every bomber shot down in 1944 was the same cost as 3 x TIger II tanks.

So had such weapons been developed they could have saved the germans lots of money to spend on other weapons.But Hitler thought jets were unnessesary and repeately passed over their development.

Heres another more obscure example. PAW-600. THis was a low pressure gun developed from the basic 80mm mortar to fire HEAT tiped grenades with fins , in late war and actually fielded in 1945. It weight as much as a 37mm ATG but fired a PzSchreck type HEAT shell [145mm penetration] out to 1km and beyond. At only 600kg of low stressed metal it could have been easly built at a rate of 10,000 to 15,000 guns per year from 1942 on.

That would have solved one of the critical weakness in german defence on the eastern front...ineffective infantry AT defence. Infact plans to rachet up assault gun production in 1945 to 15,000 units per year were based on the assumption that this weapon would become the main weapon since its recoil would be very small and a 105mm diameter version was in development that would have boosted range and penetration [ 200mm @ 1.5km].

Finally One of the most serious problems that plagued german tank programs was the lack of special ammo to deal with heavy armor. In allies camps the solution to this centered around heavymetal tungsten carbide versions of AP shots, fired through 'sabot's [carriers] out to velocities 50% higher than possible with full caliber ammo. THis penetrated obsene amounts of armor at short range, but lost velocity and penetration rapidly. This was due to the poor carrier design.

Initially the germans attempted the same but ran out of supplies of Tungsten carbide...until later in the war when they discovered that Uranium could be used as an adequate substitue. Had they recognised that earlier it would have helped them, however they had a more devistating solution right under their noses.

Part of the answer to subcaliber super penetration was a sabot that discarded. THe allies followed a french design [Brandt] and developed the APDS for 6lb and 17lb guns. But these had problems with accuracy that turned out to be the way in which the pelts seperate. THis was finally solved by the Canadian research after the war and lead to the 20lb & 105mm APDS in the mid 1950s.The solution envolved using "pot sabot" instead of "pelt sabot".

But the germans had already developed a series of "pot sabot " round during the war...but they were for the Luftwaffe inorder to extend the range and ceiling of their heavy flak. In practice an 88mm round was mated to a 105mm gun/charge through a pot sabot and a 105 or 88 was mated to the 128mm flak gun to achieve very high Muzzle velocities and ceilings. Only later in the war did they consider doing the same for AP rounds but none were ready when the war ended.

Further more the germans developed finstablized AP rounds decades ahead of every one else. At the start of the war they developed a low velocity long rod penetrator for their super heavy howitzers [210 & 350mm], that punched through obscene amounts of concrete and steel fortifications [2-3m of steel equivilent]. Although they had a velocity of 700m/s they used a simple wooden cage sabot that worked so well that they produced 6000 rounds for the heavy howitzers for the invastion of France. After their astounding performance Hitler forbade their use incase the design fell into enemy hands

Had they made the simple connection this could have been the basis of a series of very effective long rod penetrators [APFSDS] for german tank guns through out the war. In modern research penetration efficency is defined by projectile lenght and the originals penetrated almost 100% of there lengths [12 x 220 cm = 2 meters penetration]. Now a subcaliber projectile for say a 75mm gun on the Pz-IV would get a penetration efficency of close to 50% . Such a projectile would have a muzzle velocity of around 1000m/s and a geometry of 38 x 3.9cm and achieve estimated penetration of 12cm @ 0� at 2km range and almost >5cm @ 60� [Based on modern research]. That would be enought to penetrate the T-34/85 frontal armor at 2km range. This is the same penetration as the Panthers gun.

Like wize the Panthers gun penetration would be raised to the level of the Tiger II, 88L71 gun.

The same round on a 88L71 gun on a Tiger II should penetrate the frontal armor of the IS-II at estimated range of 2.5-3km and the IS-III at ~600-1500m range. The adding of a small uraninum slug in the nose would extend this penetration into the IS-III to a estimated 2-3km.

Again given actual rounds were in use in howitzers in 1940 its logical that they could have been ready for use in 1942/43 when the supplies of Tungsten Carbide dried up.


[edit on 29-6-2004 by psteel]

I've heard of a guided missle. I heard some prototypes were sent to Japan. I doubt that guided missles would have had a major affect on the war at that stage since they were only first gen. Then the Japanese were working on a large plane with a bunch of engines to reach the US coast. Like it would have worked (fuel requerments would have brought it down as far as Hawaii.
BTW my guess for a game that ripped of the disign would be Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII.

[edit on 6/29/2004 by cyberdude78]

image links are 404 now, does anyone else know anything about these things, I was just reading through ufo reports from 50's *love FOIA* and it came up..
It said it was small like 45-50m (which is weird because alot of UFO sightints in that time had eyewitnesses saying they lookedroughly that size, even some recent ones) kinda weird

So anyone got info or pics?

documents.theblackvault.com...
(check page 79) (Also page 70-71, they speak of some guys prediction in Aug about a tidal wave hitting hawaii, one hit in Nov, not as big as he said though)
[edit on 6-8-2010 by KingAtlas]

[edit on 6-8-2010 by KingAtlas]OMG EDITS!!

[edit on 6-8-2010 by KingAtlas]

I think Arado takes the cake for pushing the boundaries in WW2
www.luft46.com...

One of my favourites is the Focke-Wulf Fw Triebflügel...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/081df5c2945b.jpg[/atsimg]

The design was particularly unusual. It had no wings, and all lift and thrust were provided by a rotor/propeller assembly in the middle of the craft (roughly halfway between cockpit and tailplane). When the plane was sitting on its tail in the vertical position, the rotors would have functioned similarly to a helicopter. When flying horizontally, they would function more like a giant propeller.

reply to post by Aviator


I couldnt see your link but a blind guess would be Turning point fall of liberty
with the Arado 555

Not a German design but a Russian one from WW2 called K-7, flying fortress. This makes even the AC-130 look small.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/aba3bd6649e2.jpg[/atsimg]

Although I was wondering why the site "Gizmo" shows a saucer in one of their pics.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0e43bd900132.jpg[/atsimg]

Link

Yeah that is real weird.... it looks like photo shop but still..

Weird... why put that up there in the middle of everything and not make anymention, like the plane on the left is...
well neat though

*edit * there ar etwo pics like that i like the other one!!
*edit again* haha = check ot the laser turrets in the other pic HAHAHA
[edit on 6-8-2010 by KingAtlas]

[edit on 6-8-2010 by KingAtlas]

how about the nazi bell? some think that's the first ufo.. WWII german era.

how about the maus tanks?

and the ratte tanks?

massive things, of course, it was just design, a tank that large couldn't be used as it didnt fit anywhere! aha

reply to post by pushkin

link not working, message 404, on both, thought you should know, will be back later to see if link is working

reply to post by bekod


This thread King Atlas resurrected is more than 6 years old, the links will never work again.