After the end of World War II, when many secret laboratories and test sites of the Third Reich were discovered, the world was shocked by the direction in which the development of lethal weapons was not carried out in Nazi Germany.
Many superweapon projects have been revealed, both crazy and fantastic, as if they came out of films dedicated to Indiana Jones, and quite real and almost realized. Some of them were so incredible that one wondered why the German government was spending money and time on them at all. But, in spite of everything, these crazy projects are still worthy of attention, thanks to the scale with which absolutely everything was done in nationalist Germany.
V-1 Reichenberg
The V-1 "Projectile Aircraft" was, one might say, the predecessor of modern ballistic missiles - it had some kind of autopilot and the beginnings of a targeting function. In the originally unmanned Rechenberg, it was later decided to design a one-seat cab. The pilots of the projectile plane were essentially kamikaze and had to sign a document confirming that they were aware that they were going on a suicidal mission.
Anti-aircraft grenade launcher (Fliegerfaust)
Promotional video:
Imagine a 9-barreled Gatling machine gun. And now that all 9 of its barrels are firing rockets. On the planes. Known as the Air Fist, this grenade launcher had a range of 460 meters and could only hit low-flying aircraft. Apparently, due to the fact that this grenade launcher did not work as well as desired, only a few dozen experimental samples saw the light.
Rockets A9 / A10 - V-3
This "transatlantic" ballistic missile, which began development in 1940, was intended to bombard American cities. There were only two relatively successful tests of the A9 / A10, but even in them, the wing was destroyed on the descending branch of the trajectory. In 43rd the project was frozen. All forces were thrown into the development of the V-2.
Sound cannon
The cannon, designed to destroy groups of enemies at a distance with an infrasound beam, was not the most successful development of Nazi scientists. Under the influence of low frequencies, the personnel of the gun suffered most of all (loss of consciousness and panic attacks were frequent), and due to the short range (50 m), which could not be increased in any way, it was decided to curtail the project altogether - only one experienced person remained a reminder of it a sample of an acoustic gun.
Heinkel He 162
Designed and put into production in 1944, the He 162 was a slightly less insane project than the V-1 Reichenberg. The aircraft with wooden wings was intended for inexperienced pilots, but it turned out to be an order of magnitude more difficult to fly than conventional aircraft. About 120 aircraft were created, most of which crashed at the stage of training flights.
Schwerer Gustav (Fat Gustav)
"Fat Gustav" and "Dora" (named respectively after the director of the developer company and the designer's wife) were unique railroad artillery pieces. The Dora cannon was successfully used during the assault on Sevastopol in 1942. An attempt was made to make this weapon more mobile, called the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster, but the 1500 ton monster could hardly have become so mobile.
Panzer VIII Maus
Designed by Ferdinand Porsche, the Mouse was a super heavy tank that was three times heavier than any German tank. Due to its huge weight (188 tons), the tank could not use many bridges for crossings, but it could move under water, up to 13 meters deep. The Nazis never mass-produced it, and prototypes were captured by Allied forces.
Horten Ho 229
But the 229 was the first turbojet to be built using the Flying Wing aerodynamic design. Due to its shape, the bomber was almost invisible to radar during the Second World War, and in principle could fly to the coast of Britain, without arousing suspicion from enemy fighters. However, the three prototypes created did not have a real impact on the course of the war.
Curved weapon
The shotguns, whose muzzle was bent at an angle of 30, 45 or 90 degrees, allowed the German infantrymen to shoot in different directions. With the help of a mirror attached to the barrel of a rifle, Wehrmacht soldiers could shoot from the trenches without even leaning out of cover. For some reason, this brilliant idea did not receive widespread acceptance, possibly due to the fact that the curved weapon often wedged and it failed.
Sun cannon
Despite the fact that this idea could more likely belong to some super-villain from the comics, the ruling elite of Germany discussed it in all seriousness. The idea was to build an orbital station, with a huge mirror placed on it. The mirror was supposed to focus and reflect sunlight, striking enemies with a deadly sunbeam straight from space.