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yep. greater firepower. like the 2 x Mk108 'Kannonboot' under the wings the nose Mk108. or the 2 x rocket tubes. on a -109. I wonder how effective those
rockets actually were..
MK108 gunpods were never used operationally afaik
couldn't the rocket tubes be Jettisoned? That would take care of the drag/weight problem after its use.What I read about the 21cm Werfergranate used with Fw 190s it seems noone was ever satisfied with the results and the added firepower was probably offset by the additional drag.
Why didn't gyro stabilized gunsights receive a higher priority for development?
Problem was human element. Also in decision making, but think little. Gyro stab sight gives lead element - based on what? Speed of angle, and distance data. Distance data was always input by pilot.. with errors. Sight computed prediction based on those errors, so it is not instant problem solver. As long as pilot gave wrong distance (easy - in combat) sight gave complete wrong information.. pilot is going to miss. In many ways this can worse than manual prediction.
These sights were not mature until Korea war. On US side - then pilot need not interfere, sight distance was given by measurement of radar in F-86. So in my opinion, this was useful advancement, but I think it is bit over rated effectiveness in WW2. It was not auto solution. Also I understand fear of introduce more complex expensive sight. Both sides - by 1941, British, German had working sight.. but introduction delayed until 1944... probably of fear of great ranking offizier.