Best tank killer aircraft of WW2

[kiwimac]

Well, actually

The Stuka was, surprise, surprise, a damn fine DIVE-BOMBER. The German's mistake was to believe that ANY dive-bomber could protect itself against fighters without some kind of cover.

Interestingly the Japanese made the same discovery with the Aichi 'Val'

Kiwimac

[bronzewhaler82]

Yes the Stuka was a fine dive-bomber....as long as there wasn't any of the following in the immediate vacinity...

A) An enemy fighter
B) Anti-aircraft guns
C) A soldier with a rifle
D) A soldier with a pistol
E) A child with a peashooter
F) An OAP with a really dirty look on their face

because any one of the above could have crippled a Stuka with one fell swoop because lets face it....a plane thats easy to shoot down during wartime...is not much good at all - even if it can cause alot of damage given the oppurtunity....like clear skies for 100miles!

Sad but very very true

[kiwimac]

And yet, Whaler, there is Rudel whose 'score' seems to give the lie to your statement. Could it be that in the hands of a superior pilot even a very ordinary machine can become more than its makers concieved?

Kiwimac

[cheddar cheese]

[aussie jim]

And yet, Whaler, there is Rudel whose 'score' seems to give the lie to your statement. Could it be that in the hands of a superior pilot even a very ordinary machine can become more than its makers concieved?

indeed...but if you guys are looking for the best tank killer of the war ... and not a fighter- i really think the Stuka is it. A tank killer would normally operate under a fighter escort cover anyway as its role is ground attack and not fighter to fighter engagement. As i said before the IL2 was ok as was the p47 and Typhoons in ground attack BUT the stuka was conceived way before any of these as primarily a ground attack weapon and performed perfectly in this role...and lasted the whole war still getting kills in the hands of novices as late as April 1945.

[kiwimac]

I agree Aussie. The Stuka & the Val FTM were designed, pre-war, for a role that quickly disappeared when WW2 got underway.

I think, as well, that it is important to remember that when the Typhoon was used in the Ground-attack role, it required fighter cover to protect its butt, it wasn't just a "Stuka" thing.

Kiwimac

[GermansRGeniuses]

u know what germans needed? ROCKETS! like mini v2's or something...

[kiwimac]

Didn't the Germans pioneer the use of air to ground missiles?

Kiwimac

[GermansRGeniuses]

if so they didnt use them much as far as i know...

[aussie jim]

u know what germans needed? ROCKETS! like mini v2's or something...

what they needed was good leadership...and lucky for us they didnt get it

[GermansRGeniuses]

what they needed was tanks for rommel after normandy

[kiwimac]

Did a spot of research, found the following

Fritz X was a German air-launched anti-ship missile, deployed during World War II. Fritz X was an allied code-name; alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X .

History

Development began in 1938.

Inventory

Combat Performance

Fritz X was using in combat in 1943.
It sank the Italian battleship Roma , seriously damaged the British battleship HMS Warspite , and hit the American cruisers USS Philadelphia and USS Savannah . It sank the British light cruiser HMS Spartan .

Characteristics

Primary Function: air-launched anti-ship missile

Contractor: Ruhrstahl

Power Plant: HWK 109-507B rocket engine

Length: 3.32 m

Diameter: 85.3 cm

Wing Span: 1.49 m

Launch Weight: 1362 kg

Speed: 343 m/s

Warhead: 320 kg amatol explosive, armour-piercing

Range: 5 km

Fuzes:

Guidance system: Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS

Unit Cost:

Date Deployed: 1943

Users:

Germany: carried on Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 217

See also:

German missiles of WW2

Henschel Hs 293

===============================

The Henschel Hs 293 was a German guided glide bomb used against ships during World War II.

History

The Hs 293 project was started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" glide bomb which was designed in 1939.

Varients

Hs 293A . The original version

Hs 293B was wire guided to prevent jamming; it was never put into production, because jamming was never serious enough to prevent the radio-guided version from being effective.

Hs 293C had a detachable warhead (also designated Hs 293A-2 )

Hs 293D was television-guided. 20 were built and tested. It was never used operationally as it was unreliable.

Hs 293E an experimental model with different control surfaces; never put into series production.

Hs 293F a tailless varient; never got firther than the design phase.

Hs 293H an experimental varient designed to be launched from one aircraft and controlled from another.

Hs 293V6 designed for launch from the Arado Ar 234 jet bomber.

Inventory

Over 1000 were built, from 1942 onwards.

Combat Performance

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships. (Compare with the Fritz X, which was intended for use against armoured targets, i.e. warships).
One drawback of the Hs 293 was that, after the missile was launched, the bomber had to fly in a straight level path, and thus could not manouvre to evade anti-aircraft guns.
On August 27, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, sinking the British sloop HMS Egret.

Characteristics

Primary Function:

Contractor: Henschel

Power Plant: liquid-propellant rocket motor, 600 kgf thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target

Length: 3.82 m

Diameter: 47 cm

Wing Span: 3.1 m

Launch Weight: 1045 kg

Speed: maximum 260 m/s

Warhead: 295 kg explosive

Range: at 2.2 km altitude 4.0 km; at 4.0 km altitude 5.5 km; at 5.0 km altitude 8.5 km;

Fuzes:

Guidance system: Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS

Unit Cost:

Date Deployed: 1943

Users:

Germany: carried on Heinkel He 111, Heinkel He 177, ****e-Wulf Fw 200, Dornier Do 217.

See also:

German missiles of WW2

Fritz X

Kiwimac

[aussie jim]

Thanks for taking the time for that info Kiwi The He111s that used the Fritz were hunted by a group formed by the RAF that were equipped with Mosquitoes which did very well and shot down 80 percent of the planes they intercepted...many of these at night and low on the water heading for the England coast so they werent an easy target .

Lucky the allies were so advanced in Radar and the Germans were far far behind us in that area.

[bronzewhaler82]

what the germans needed was a miracle

[the lancaster kicks ass]

they were behind but they also saw radar as more of a naval technology, hot really a land one

and the germans did fit a few 262's with air-to-air rockets, there were 6 under each wind fired in quick succession