The Second World War was not only the largest military conflict in the history of mankind. It also became the largest testing ground for the creation and introduction of new types of weapons. Much of what is used in modern armies was tested and put into service in those troubled years. As you might guess, Germany paid the most attention to its weapons program.
1. Me-262
During the war years, German industry made great strides in the development and creation of rocket and jet engines. Much of the success was due to the fact that the creation of jet engines did not fall under the bans on the production of weapons, which were imposed on Germany after the defeat in the First World War. Therefore, the first development of jet aircraft started in Germany long before the Nazis, in the 1920s.
German jet plane.
Germany's first jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, took to the skies on August 27, 1939. The machine, however, did not produce a furor. Engineers will achieve significant success only during the creation of the Me-262, the speed of which will be 870 km / h! The Germans expected that with a speed advantage of almost 25% relative to the fastest aircraft of the anti-Hitler coalition countries, they would be able to conquer the whole sky.
Did not help.
However, it was not possible to re-equip all the Luftwaffe with jet aircraft in 1942 at the height of the war. The idea of jet aircraft did not return until 1943. The Fuhrer insisted that the Me-262 should be converted into a bomber. Aviation commanders could not convince their commander-in-chief of this. As a result, rearmament began only in 1945. When the victorious march of the Red Army could no longer stop it.
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2. "Little Red Riding Hood"
The Germans made a great contribution to the development of the tank business, and at the same time made an equally great contribution to the development of the fight against armored vehicles. For these purposes, they had not only anti-tank guns and artillery, but also the "miracle weapon" of the Reich in the form of the first grenade launchers. Much more interesting is that in Germany during the war years, they also created the first ATGM - an anti-tank guided missile. It was not perfected, but it still represented a formidable weapon.
The first ATGM was created by the Germans.
Work on the first ever ATGM in Germany began back in 1941. However, the project was hampered by the blinding of the first successes on the Eastern Front. Most of the Soviet tanks at the beginning of the war blazed beautifully and without any "miracle weapons". In addition, BMW's management was never able to secure adequate funding. Only 800 thousand marks were allocated for the development of missiles (the same was the cost of 3 Tiger tanks).
Weapons interested everyone.
But then came 1943. It turned out that the Soviet tanks are not only not hopeless, but also quite successfully beat the German ones. In addition, a turning point began in the war. The project of "amazing" missiles was immediately remembered. The revived initiative was named X-7 Rotkaeppchen ("Little Red Riding Hood"). Resources for it were found with difficulty at that time. The missile weighing 2.5 kg was equipped according to the "panzershrek" principle and could burn through armor up to 200 mm thick. The ammunition was dispersed using a powder charge weighing 3.5 kg. The range was 1200 meters. At the same time, a wire was pulled behind the rocket, which made it possible to correct its movement.
3. Henschel Hs 293
Another "miracle weapon" of the Reich - Henschel Hs 293. This missile laid the foundation for two types of modern weapons at once, namely for anti-ship missiles (anti-ship missiles) and UAB (guided aerial bombs). Today you will not surprise the military with such contraptions, but at the time of the outbreak of World War II, nothing like this existed in the world. The idea behind Germany's new weapon was simple - an anti-ship bomb that could be dropped anywhere and then sent to an enemy ship, aiming it remotely.
The first of its kind.
Work on guided munitions began in 1940. The bomb was equipped with a rocket engine and could accelerate to 250 m / s. The missile warhead consisted of 500 kg of explosives. After the launch of the ammunition, five tracers caught fire in its tail, which helped the gunner in remote control of the missile. Work on the rocket dragged on until 1943. When the novelty could go into mass production, it was "a little late." The domination of the fleets of the Allied countries at sea was already overwhelming.
However, the Germans still managed to use the Henschel Hs 293 in World War II. In 1943, several dozen Allied ships were destroyed with the help of the latest weapons. It is good that such weapons did not appear in Germany at the beginning of the war.
4. Electroboot XXI
In 1943, Germany realized that she would not be able to win the war at sea. Especially if nothing is changed in the fleet. It was then that the command decided to take up the development of new generation submarines with renewed vigor. The new submarines were designated Electroboot XX.
Were almost twice as good as the submarines of other countries.
They swam faster and could dive deeper. At the disposal of the crew of such a submarine were 6 newest (at that time) torpedo tubes that could launch shells from a depth of 50 meters. Fortunately, the Germans were never able to organize the mass production of revolutionary submarines.