4 military projects of the Third Reich that could change the course of history

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The Second World War was not just the largest military conflict in the history of mankind. It also became the largest training 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

German industry during the war years 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 prohibitions on the production of weapons that 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.

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 countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, they would be able to conquer the whole sky.

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 was not returned until 1943. The Fuhrer insisted that the Me-262 should be converted into a bomber. Aviation commanders were unable to 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.

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.

Work on the first ever ATGM in Germany began in 1941. However, the project was slowed down 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 (3 Tiger tanks cost the same).

But then came 1943. It turned out that the Soviet tanks were 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 the X-7 Rotkaeppchen ("Little Red Riding Hood"). The 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.

Interesting fact: At the end of the war, the Red Army captured about 300 experimental samples of the "hat". ATGM was quite real and working. If Germany had developed this weapon back in 1941-1942, the situation on the Eastern Front could have become much more complicated.

3. Henschel Hs 293

Another "miracle weapon" of the Reich - Henschel Hs 293. This rocket 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.

Work on guided munitions began in 1940. The bomb was equipped with a rocket engine and could accelerate to 250 m / s. The warhead of the rocket 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, using the latest weapons, several dozen Allied ships were destroyed. It is good that such a weapon 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. 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.