WWII and infrared.

[Lucky13]

How far did the development of infrared go for the Germans? Was it as good as they say?

"Mid April 1945: More IR Panthers appeared towards the end of the war. Some were encountered by British armored units: one unit met some IR Panthers near Uelzen and after a one-sided fight, 1 British platoon of Comet tanks was annihilated."

"In April 1945 some of the solution B equiped Panthers were ordered to the Division "CLAUSEWITZ". In mid april these Panthers saw their only doctumented action near UELZEN, where they destroyed a full platoon equipped with the brandnew british Comet tanks."

Did the Allies have any systems themself under development, which they could have used should the war had continued for another 6 months? Which system was the better one?

Another thing did the "Fliegerfaust" ever see any use in combat

What's your take?

 

[Joe2]

Its say it was awsome against what the allies had, and wipeing out a platoon of comets,

 

[m kenny]

Its say it was awsome against what the allies had, and wipeing out a platoon of comets,

It is a myth, no destruction of Comets as described.
There was a large amount Allied IR technology ready to be used if the Germans used theirs.
Look in this thread:


Feldgrau.net :: View topic - Tiger II vs. Panther

the links in it should dispell all the hype

 

[Lucky13]

Here and there they contradict themself though....
It is an interesting subject though I have to say.

"The crew had one problem and it was to identify foe or friend throug the device - it was like looking on a old movie and you could not see if it was a T-34 or a Panther. Thats why they "hold" fire many times."

If they never saw any action, why would they hold their fire if they couldn't see if it was an enemy T-34 or a friendly Panther?

Oh well.....

 

[Erich]

I'm not going to quote or tell you anything about the what-ifs with the ground forces as it did not prove itself it already had as early as 42 with the German Luftw. NF force and then rekindled with the Ju 88G-6 against the RAF bomber streams in 1945 with no way to block/jam the nose unit..........it did what it was suppose to do but to late to cause any real effect-outcome

 

[Lucky13]

From the same website....

"Would you believe Russian infrared?

Changing tact slightly I read a post years ago that mentioned Russian infrared in the Finish 1940 winter war, and thought, not bloody likely but I'll keep my mouth shut until I find out (positively) sort of thing.
It did add to the suspicion the Russians had something on the go regarding infrared because they had such a large television industry before the war and that technology gives you IR capability.

A recent book on the Russian BT tank series (published in Russia) shows a couple of photographs of the Russian tank drivers infrared system, the 'DUDKA' which looks a lot like a modern helmet mounted system. It appears to be based on the Holst tube, similar to the British 'Tabby'. The quoted range is 50 meters on test 1939/40."