Your idea for Bomber killing weapons in WWII

[Amsel]

The Luftwaffe tested different methods for destroying bomber formations including, dropping timed bombs, dragging objects through formations, and ramming bombers with fighters.

What would you come up with to destroy bomber formations using WWII era unconventional tactics? Allied or axis.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Hmm, interesting. no expert on this, but maybe have a formation of JU88's launching mass volley's of rockets, for example R4Ms. Have the fighters go after the escorts.

 

[SoD Stitch]

The "best" bomber-killing weapons I've seen were the air-to-air bombs developed by the Japanese at the end of WWII, especially the Type 5 No 25 Mk 29 bomb, which weighed 551 lbs. and contained 102 lbs. of phosphorus incendiary material and 1,100 pellets. The attacking a/c could actually stand off from a reasonable distance (approx. 100m+) and lob the bomb at an approaching bomber formation.

 

[MikeGazdik]

I cannot come up with any super weapons. But my idea is something I have thought about before. The Luftwaffe was doing a good job with flak and fighter intercepts until the USAAC provided full time escorts.

I think the Luftwaffe would have to stay on the offensive against any and all fighter bases in Great Brittain. Two fold affect. Obviously anything you destroy on the ground won't fly over your turf, and, now a large portion of the Allied fighter force must be utilized to protect the bases and cannot be committed to escort duties. Leave London alone and concentrate on military targets.

 

[Amsel]

The "best" bomber-killing weapons I've seen were the air-to-air bombs developed by the Japanese at the end of WWII, especially the Type 5 No 25 Mk 29 bomb, which weighed 551 lbs. and contained 102 lbs. of phosphorus incendiary material and 1,100 pellets. The attacking a/c could actually stand off from a reasonable distance (approx. 100m+) and lob the bomb at an approaching bomber formation.

I had not heard much about this but I was envisioning a weapon like this. Good info thanks. Was this effective? Or was it too late?

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

I never heard of this weapon either.

Sounds pretty interesting, and I wonder if the Allies even heard of this weapon during WWII.

Would the bomb have a fuse that would ignite the bomb to blow up among the bombers? Or would it have to actually hit a bomber to explode?

 

[ScOoTeR1992]

hmm mine would be roughly the same as the British during the BoB, some well trained pilots with radar stations dotted around the main area where the bombers would fly through

 

[davebender]

4 x Mk108 3cm autocannon, all mounted on the centerline. Plus a rack of 5.4cm R4/M folding fin rockets under each wing. A rocket salvo breaks up the bomber box. Then you slaughter the remaining bombers with cannon fire.

 

[magnu]

Air launched V1 with a more leathal war head tracked by radar and detonated when in contact with the bomber stream

 

[tomo pauk]

Think that a combination of guided anti-aircraft missiles some form of a Volksjaeger would be the best solution.

 

[TheMustangRider]

Erich posted in the B-29 thread that the Germans were beginning to develope surface-to-air missiles by the end of the war, if this deadly weapon would had been fielded and matched with sufficient numbers of Me-262s the allies would had been in serious trouble; fortunetly for the allies the third reich was falling on its knees by this time.

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Nice avatar Mustang Rider.

 

[Erich]

exactly ! salvo upon salvo of ground to air rockets coupled by fighters armed with the proven Mk 108 or 6 2cm weapons. forget twin seaters and twin engines except jets. High cover fighter protection en-masse as your going to get swamped by the Mustangs

 

[SoD Stitch]

I never heard of this weapon either.

Sounds pretty interesting, and I wonder if the Allies even heard of this weapon during WWII.

Would the bomb have a fuse that would ignite the bomb to blow up among the bombers? Or would it have to actually hit a bomber to explode?

IIRC, the air-to-air bomb was pre-set to explode after a timed delay, typically 5 seconds. The pictures I've seen show the bomb exploding in mid-air, and the phosphorus "tentacles" going out and down away from the point of detonation; it looks like the "tentacles" covered an area of about 100m x 100m at 100m below the detonation point.

Found this on Wiki under "List of Japanese World War II navy bombs":

"Type 4 No.25 Mk 29 Air-to-air bomb - - Explosive with white phosphorus filled steel pellets Sheet steel with wooden blocks in the nose - - - - D-2(a) fuze Under development at the end of the war to replace No.25 Mk 3 for use against bomber formations, having a larger explosive charge and less incendiary shrapnel."

And this:

"Type 3 No.6 Mk 27 145 lb A anti-aircraft rocket that replaced the Type 99 No.3 Mk.3 in air-to-air bombing. It consisted of a large rocket motor with a 5.5 pound incendiary shrapnel warhead triggered by a clockwork time fuze with an adjustable delay of up to 10 seconds. The rocket had a maximum velocity of around 270 m/s, and the warhead contained 140 iron pellets with white phosphorus embedded in them, these were scattered in a 60 degree cone when the warhead was triggered. The bomb was designed in January 1944 and adopted in February 1945."

 

[Erich]

Heinz Knoke and his II./JG 11 were using time fuzed bombs to drop on B-17 formations from their Bf 109G's in 1943 just a little note to add to your files.

II./JG 11 found the bomb worthless and went over to the underwing 2cm gondola weapons pod

 

[davebender]

I suspect that the Wasserfall AA missiles were expensive. If so then they cannot be used in signficant numbers even if the technology works well.

The Me-262 fighter and R4/M rocket are a different matter. Both were inexpensive and just starting to enter mass production during the spring of 1945. Extend the war another 6 months and the skies of Europe will become a heavy bomber graveyard.

 

[drgondog]

Heinz Knoke and his II./JG 11 were using time fuzed bombs to drop on B-17 formations from their Bf 109G's in 1943 just a little note to add to your files.

II./JG 11 found the bomb worthless and went over to the underwing 2cm gondola weapons pod

They were considered nuisance weapons but the r4/M combined with 262 was best possible application of technolgy - for bomber formations.

 

[TheMustangRider]

Nice avatar Mustang Rider.[/QUO] Thanks Soundbraker same here.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I suspect that the Wasserfall AA missiles were expensive. If so then they cannot be used in signficant numbers even if the technology works well.

The Me-262 fighter and R4/M rocket are a different matter. Both were inexpensive and just starting to enter mass production during the spring of 1945. Extend the war another 6 months and the skies of Europe will become a heavy bomber graveyard.

Of course they could have. Slave labor does not care how much something costs...

 

[BombTaxi]

Slave labour also increased the likelihood of receiving poorlmade and/or sabotaged equipment. That would have been problematic for deploying large numbers of new weapons rapidly.