This text is a continuation of an abridged translation of the book Luftwaffe'45. Letzte Fluge und Projekte”by a colleague of NF68 who has translated many interesting topics related to the German Air Force. The illustrations are taken from the original book, the literary processing of the translation from German was done by the author of these lines.
Aircraft FW-190 with "Panzerblitz" and "Panzerschreck"
On April 9, 1945, the command of the 6th air fleet, in order to reduce losses from the effects of enemy fighters, gave its pilots the order to strike at enemy ground forces from a minimum height, for which, after takeoff, German pilots should keep at a minimum height and strike only at lightly armored or unprotected armor to targets, which gave hope for some success. However, the command of the fleet knew that it would hardly be possible to quickly install missile launchers on attack aircraft of all aviation units due to enemy actions. Further, it was planned to transfer to the assault air group 1 / SG 9 numerous squadrons armed with aircraft capable of carrying Panzerblitz and Panzerschreck missiles.
This concept, which was based on previous successes, was extended to other squadrons. It was planned to equip attack aircraft with rocket launchers, as well as pilot training. Now this concerned not only the pilot-instructors, but also the ground personnel at the airfields in Erding, Manching and other cities. On April 11, 1945, not only air groups equipped with attack aircraft, but also numerous air groups of fighters took part in air strikes against the enemy. In particular, 2 / JG 3, 3 / JG 6, 1 / JG 52 and 4 / JG 51, whose aircraft were supposed to bomb the enemy or accompany attack aircraft. The next day, the high command of the 6th Luftwaffe fleet ordered air strikes to disrupt the preparation of the Soviet offensive in front of Unien.
At the same time, an important role was assigned to squadrons of aircraft armed with Panzerblitz missiles, which were supposed to strike at the Soviet tanks that had broken through in the direction of the capital of the Reich. On April 14, 1945, the 3 / SG 4 assault aviation squadron still had 31 FW-190 F-8 and F-9 at its disposal, of which 21 were serviceable. Of the 23 FW-190 aircraft of assault squadron 1 / SG 77, 12 aircraft could carry Panzerblitz missiles, of which 10 were serviceable. In the 2nd air group of this assault squadron, of 9 aircraft capable of carrying Panzerblitz missiles, seven were ready to departures. In total, the 9th squadron of the SG 77 assault squadron had 13 aircraft of the FW-190 F-8 type, capable of carrying Panzerblitz missiles. The main problem was still the lack of fuel, which often made it impossible to carry out test flights after the aircraft had been repaired. Serviceable aircraft stood idle for a long time on the outskirts of airfields, and were mainly destroyed by Allied aviation, which was striking German airfields from low altitudes.
Despite heavy losses in conditions of overwhelming enemy superiority, battles with the use of German ground attack aircraft continued.
On April 14, 1945, 42 German attack aircraft and fighters attacked Russian tanks moving along the Reichsautoban between Breslau and Lienit, achieving hits on the attacked targets. On April 15, squadron 9 / SG 4, consisting of seven FW-190 F-8 aircraft, during the first attack, fired thirty-six Panzerblitz missiles at T-34 tanks, as a result of which four tanks were set on fire. During the second attack, three more T-34 tanks were destroyed. In a subsequent attack on the same day, the FW-190 F-8 troika fired another 16 Panzerblitz missiles, hitting the T-34 tank and self-propelled gun. In three subsequent attacks, 32 more anti-tank missiles were fired, destroying four T-34 tanks. On April 15, 1945, after retaliatory attacks by Soviet fighters, five German aircraft did not return to their airfields. One of the most successful measures using Panzerblitz missiles was the operation against Soviet troops near Köberwitz on April 16, 1945, when 12 heavy Soviet tanks were destroyed, another tank was damaged, and three artillery positions were also attacked. However, in the course of this operation, six German aircraft, including five FW-190 F-8s with Panzerblitz anti-tank missiles, were forced, shortly before approaching the enemy's formations, to refuse to take part in the strikes due to technical problems. Five more aircraft, for a number of reasons, mainly due to malfunctions in missile launch systems, were also forced to interrupt participation in the operation. Despite this, 12 pilots of squadron 9 / SG 4 managed to strike with Panzerblitz missiles at the artillery position of the Soviet troops and at a group of about forty vehicles. Four more German aircraft attacked the enemy train. In total, during April 16, 1945, 453 German aircraft took part in air operations on the Eastern Front, including 51 missile-carrying ones. During these operations, Soviet anti-aircraft artillery shot down two FW-190 F-8 aircraft from the air group 3 / SG 4, while the wounded pilots were able to escape capture. On April 17, 8 FW-190 F-8 aircraft struck in the area of the Soviet breakthrough in the front sector between Brünn and Troppau. During this strike, presumably, one enemy heavy tank was destroyed and one self-propelled gun was damaged. In addition, 22 unarmored enemy vehicles were attacked. During the attacks, pilots from the 2 / SG 2 air group successfully covered the place of accumulation of enemy tanks and vehicles near Weißwasser. Bombs and Panzerblitz missiles hit a large number of enemy vehicles. For a short time, these strikes led to the cessation of the movement of Soviet units in the attacked sector of the Reichsautoban.
According to reports from German fighter pilots and attack pilots, five Soviet aircraft were shot down during the strike. On 18 April, 15 pilots of Air Group 3 / SG 4, using Panzerblitz missiles, attacked moving Soviet tanks southeast of Cottbus and Spremberg. 25 FW-190 F-8s of 9 / SG 7 squadron near Weißenberg and south of Spremberg struck with fragmentation bombs and Panzerblitz missiles. Fifteen of the 72 FW-190 aircraft of the 2 / SG 2 air group tried to strike at the enemy's heavy tanks and thereby reduce the onslaught on the German units. On April 18, 59 capable of carrying Panzerblitz missiles and bombs from German aircraft launched a missile and bomb strike, hitting 27 enemy tanks and 6 self-propelled guns, and Oberfelfebel Fedler from anti-tank squadron 10 (Pz) / SG 2 successively hit four tanks and two self-propelled guns enemy. However, due to the strong air defense of the enemy, 23 pilots did not return to their airfields. On April 19, six FW-190 F-8 and F-9 aircraft of the 3 / SG 4 air group dealt a tangible blow to the enemy with Panzerblitz missiles near Brünn. 20 vehicles of the 2 / SG 77 air group launched missiles on enemy vehicles in the area between Görlitz and Breslau. At the same time, due to the lack of aviation fuel, the air groups could use only part of their machines. By April 20, a total of 320 German aircraft could carry a new type of weapon. 12 squadrons were armed with Panzerblitz missiles, two more squadrons were armed with Panzerschreck missiles.
At the end of April 1945, the aircraft of the anti-tank squadron 1. (Pz) / SG 9 were based at the Wittstock and Rechlin airfields. The bloody battle for the capital of the Reich was drawing to a close. Somewhat earlier, Soviet tanks entered the Friedland-Neubrandenburg-Neustrelitz-Rheinsberg line, finding themselves only 20 km away from the base of the 1 / SG 9 air group. So this air group could by no means be based in Mecklenburg, she was ordered to seek refuge in areas occupied by the Americans or the British. As a result, the pilots with their FW-190s first relocated to the Sülte area, and then to the Schwerin Lake area.) from anti-tank squadron 3. (Pz) / SG 9. When the aircraft of this air group began to land at the Sülte airfield, they were suddenly attacked by British fighters. the car capsized and the pilot suffocated before the nearby ground personnel could free the pilot from his seat belts. Izer managed to land the plane on his belly and managed to escape by getting out of the cockpit of his burning FW-190 F-8. Feldwebel Gottfried Wagners's car exploded in an oat field. The car of the commander of anti-tank squadron 1. (Pz) / SG 9, chief lieutenant Wilhelm Bronen, was also shot down, but Bronen, who was seriously wounded in the head, managed to leave the plane. His parachute caught on the roof of Schwerin Castle, and the pilot was rescued. Lieutenant Boguslawski managed to evade enemy aircraft and successfully land. Lieutenant Reiner Nossek could not receive a call for help from Lieutenant Josef Raitinger, whose plane was shot down by one of the 41st Squadron Spitfires. The same fate was shared by three non-commissioned officers, who also could not get away from the British. A few days before the end of the war, on May 3, 1945, anti-tank squadron 13. (Pz) / SG 9 was undergoing retraining at Welse, and at the same time the high command of the Luftwaffe issued an order to disband this formation. Air group 3 / SG 4 was based in Kosteletz and 2 / SG 77 in Schweidnitz. Air group 1 / SG 1 until May 3, 1945 was based in Graz-Thalendorf. At this time, most of the squadrons equipped with aircraft with Panzerblitz missiles were listed only on paper or were actually just links.
However, until the last day of the war, German attack pilots carried a threat to the enemy with their surprise attacks. The most significant case was the case that took place in the first days of May. Then the Soviet tankmen supporting their infantry units, considering the war already over, placed their tanks in front of the Brandenburg Gate in two rows, as if on a parade. Several pilots from the anti-tank squadron 10. (Pz) / SG 9, including Lieutenant J. Reitinger (Josef Raitinger), made one of their last attacks on the enemy. Rockets "Panzerblitz", as if in an exercise, were fired from a distance of 900 meters, then, while flying over the target, additional bombs were dropped. On the last drops of fuel, the FW-190s, the F-9s returned to their airfields at Rechlin Müritz. The last sorties included the sorties of the aircraft still in the ranks of the SG / 3 assault squadron, based at the Flensbeerg-Weiche airfield in Courland.
Tests "Föstersonde" and "Zellendusche"
In addition to the anti-tank missiles carried by the FW-190, other weapons systems that were being developed at that time were also tested at the beginning of 1945. The special device SG 113 "Föstersonde", considered the anti-tank weapon of the future, was developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig.
This weapon system consisted of numerous vertically mounted tubular launchers, the caliber of which was reduced during development from 5 to 4.5 cm.
First, the pilot of the aircraft carrier of this weapon system had to detect the target, then the system was launched, after which the automatic launch of five missiles in one salvo was carried out using sensors when the aircraft flew over the target.
The overall management of the development of this weapon system was carried out at the Graf Zeppelin Research and Testing Center (FGZ) under the leadership of a certified engineer Professor G. Madelung. On January 18, 1945, the Hs 129 and FW-190 aircraft were used as carriers of this weapon system, and the German Panther tank and the captured T-34 tank were used as experimental targets.
The missiles were launched during the flight of aircraft at a height of nine meters above the target. The thickness of the horizontal armor of a Soviet tank turret ranged from 17 to 30 mm. During the tests carried out in Rechlin, the armor of the American M4 A3 Sherman tank, which had a thickness of 48 mm, was also pierced. The vertically mounted launchers were tilted 8 degrees backward. During tests carried out in addition to Rechlin and also in Völkenrode, missile launches from minimum altitudes gradually made it possible to achieve a result of 90% of hits. At the beginning of February 1945, the equipment for five experimental aircraft was ready. The first such aircraft was prepared for testing at Stuttgart-Ruit. The second aircraft was prepared for testing on February 6, 1945. At the helm of this aircraft was Dietrich, a certified engineer, who flew the aircraft from Langenhagen, near Hannover, to Nellingen near Stuttgart. All the equipment necessary for testing was prepared for installation on a second prototype aircraft in the middle of winter, and on February 14, 1945, the aircraft was ready for testing by the representative of the Luftwaffe test center, Dr. Spengler (Spengler). The FW-190 F-8 aircraft was ready for testing a few days earlier, but the first test flight was performed on February 21, 1945. Although the second prototype had a larger FW-190 F-8 aircraft prepared for testing the SG 113 system than the first one prepared for testing the SG 113 system, weight, during the tests carried out on February 27, 1945 in Boblingen (Boblingen), four fired missiles managed to hit the captured KV-1 tank. The missiles were launched from a height of approximately 11 meters above the tank. Three of them hit the target, another rocket exploded close to the target. In general, during the tests, they came to the conclusion that this installation can be used in battles. However, it became necessary to improve the missile launch system. The sensor mounts were developed by Wandel & Goltermann, the electrical equipment by Siemens & Halske, the sensors were manufactured at the Graf Zeppelin R&D Center (FGZ). The armament by March 20, 1945 was manufactured by Rheinmetall-Borsig together with the Luftwaffe test center in Rechlin, and the elements for attaching the weapon system were developed by Focke-Wulf. Nevertheless, it was decided to abandon the use of this weapon system, since the Panzerblitz anti-tank missiles were easier to manufacture, and in practice the Panzerblitz 2 missiles of 8.8 cm caliber turned out to be capable of effectively hitting targets with a direct hit. At the same time, another special device was developed at the LFA Aviation Research Center, which received the designation SG 116 "Zellendusche". To produce this weapon system, which was based on vertically mounted 30 mm. MK-103 cannon with automatic descent, also should have been made by Rheinmetall-Borsig. The fire of the cannons of this system opened after the signal from the photocell was applied, simultaneously with the shot from the barrel of the gun, a counterweight was thrown backwards, compensating for the recoil. The SG 116 weapon system was installed on at least two FW-190 F-8 aircraft belonging to the JG / 10 fighter air group. These two vehicles were to be used to train the crews of heavy bombers. At the Luftwaffe EK 25 Parchim test center, the SG 116 system was installed on three FW-190 F-8 aircraft. The trigger system that gave the signal to open fire was developed at the Graf Zeppelin Research and Development Center (FGZ). According to F. Han (Fritz Han), shortly before the end of the war, he made several sorties on an aircraft equipped with the SG 116 system, but the details of the application of this system are not known to date.
After May 8, 1945, the Allies withdrew documentation and prototypes of the above weapons systems for the subsequent use of these innovative developments, as well as innumerable other promising German weapons systems.
