Nazi Germany (1944)
Piloted flying bomb: 175-200 built
Despite the major advances in military aviation during the 1930s, one persistent problem still lacked a truly satisfying solution: the accuracy of aerial bombing. Hitting a ground target from an aircraft was never easy, and given the technical limitations of the time, accuracy could only be improved to a certain extent through the use of more sophisticated bombsights.
When the Second World War broke out, this issue became even more important. Striking and destroying enemy strategic targets, such as industrial centres, military installations, shipping, or rail communications, was crucial. This was usually attempted using high-altitude bombers that dropped large payloads over the target area, using saturation to overcome the inaccuracy of their weapons. Despite the sheer number of bombs released, these aircraft often missed their intended objectives.
Alternatively, ground-attack aircraft could engage targets somewhat more precisely through the use of rockets, bombs, and gunfire, but they were highly vulnerable to ground fire during such operations and could not carry enough ordnance to destroy larger targets in a single strike.
Near the closing stages of the war, in desperation and hoping to create a system that was both accurate and carried a heavy payload, the Germans tried to modify their V-1 flying bomb into a man-guided missile known as the Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg. Fortunately for the pilots who were supposed to fly these bizarre contraptions, the entire idea was abandoned, even though around 175 examples had already been built.
History
With the rise of Nazism in Germany during the 1930s, large funds were poured into the development of Germany’s armed forces, including the Luftwaffe (Eng. German Air Force). This allowed for the rapid development of new technologies and a series of modern aircraft designs. Like other air forces of the period, the Luftwaffe employed twin-engine bombers capable of delivering heavy payloads against enemy targets. Conventional bombers, which released their payloads from straight and level flight, were effective against large, stationary targets such as urban centers, industrial facilities, and infrastructure. However, this method proved far less effective against smaller, hardened targets such as bunkers or bridges.
The Germans also showed great interest in improving the precision of bomb strikes. In particular, the concept of dive bombing attracted considerable attention from high-ranking Luftwaffe officials. Through extensive study and testing during the 1930s, the Germans developed a specialized class of dive-attack aircraft known as Sturzkampfbomber, more commonly known as Stukas. Earlier designs came in the form of the biplane Henschel Hs 123. Eventually, however, the focus shifted toward designing a more modern aircraft for this role.
After a series of experiments and experience with the light Hs 123, the Junkers Ju 87 was ultimately adopted as the Luftwaffe’s primary diver bomber. It was specifically designed to attack enemy targets at angles approaching 90 degrees while still being able to safely pull out of the dive after releasing its bomb. These aircraft proved notoriously effective against enemy ground targets and were also devastating to enemy morale. However, once more modern and better-equipped opposing air forces appeared, the Ju 87 became an easy target for enemy fighters when flying without a heavy escort.While they remained in use up to the last days of the war, by late 1941, it was becoming evident that a more precise aerial-attack solution would be necessary.By 1944, the rapid advance of both the Allies’ fronts, combined with the depletion of the Luftwaffe’s strength, meant that there were fewer and fewer options for attacking strategic targets in enemy territory. A particular example was the Luftwaffe’s growing inability to hit targets in the United Kingdom, where Allied air power dominated, and their bombers were steadily reducing German industry to rubble with constant air raids.
Unable to strike back effectively, the Germans turned to alternative solutions. One of these was the creation of a cheap flying bomb, better known as the V-1, launched from occupied territories in Western Europe against various targets across the English Channel. However, these were not precise weapons. Carrying a heavy warhead, they were unmanned aircraft that, once launched, could not correct their course to hit targets more accurately.
By late 1944, the idea emerged to use these flying bombs as manned missiles. Essentially, engineers would add a small cockpit with the minimal instruments necessary to guide the weapon as closely as possible to the target. Once the missile was aimed at its objective, the pilot was expected to bail out.
A New Weapon
The history of the V-1 flying bomb dates back to 1939, when the Reichsluftfahrtministerium short RLM (Eng. German Air Ministry) began showing interest in jet-engine development. One of the companies involved in these early efforts was the Argus Motoren Gesellschaft of Berlin. Argus was particularly interested in developing the so-called pulsejet engine, a simple form of jet propulsion that operated through a series of rapid combustion pulses within a tube-shaped chamber.
In this engine, a mixture of air and fuel was ignited repeatedly, producing a sequence of explosions that expelled hot gases through the exhaust and generated the necessary thrust. As each explosion created a brief vacuum that drew in fresh air, the pulsejet did not require complex compressor assemblies like standard turbojets, making it significantly cheaper and easier to produce. However, it also had major drawbacks: it consumed far more fuel than a turbojet and was incapable of producing comparable levels of thrust, limiting its potential speed and altitude.
By 1941, Argus had completed its first operational pulsejet and needed to find an appropriate application for it. The opportunity came in 1942, when the RLM proposed using the engine to power a new project, an unmanned, automatically guided flying bomb. Argus was to supply the engine, while the Fieseler aircraft company would design and construct the airframe.
The new weapon, designated the Fi 103 (also referred to as the V-1), was a very simple and rugged design. It consisted of an aerodynamically clean fuselage carrying an 850-kg warhead, along with short, straight wings and a basic tail unit. To prevent heat damage from the pulsejet exhaust, the engine was mounted above the fuselage on a short pylon. Although the design work was largely completed by 1942, it took additional time to refine the weapon for reliable mass production. It finally entered large-scale service around the time of the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944. Thousands of V-1s were launched from sites along the occupied coasts of Western Europe, aimed at a variety of strategic and civilian targets, with mixed operational success. While they drew Allied resources from other efforts to try and shoot them down, their inaccuracy prevented them from doing serious damage to any strategic targets.
A Piloted Variant
While work on the V-1 was being carried out during 1943, a new idea began to take shape within parts of the German armed forces: using a piloted guided flying bomb. It should be specified that the V-1 was not initially considered for this purpose. Who exactly first proposed this concept is unclear. Today, there are two versions of its development history, both of which are quite different from each other.
Hanna Reitsch’s Proposal
One of the two leading versions regarding the historical event and the explanation for this report is closely connected to Hanna Reitsch. Born in 1912 into a wealthy family in Silesia, Hanna Reitsch developed a strong interest in aviation early on, beginning in 1930 when she joined a gliding school.
By the mid-1930s, she had become a skilled and nationally renowned pilot. Over the next few years, she was involved in various test flights and participated in numerous German and foreign aviation exhibitions across Europe and even in Brazil. She was also one of the first pilots to fly over the Alps and was among the first to fly the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
When the war broke out in Europe in 1939, she joined the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS; Eng. German Institute for Glider Research) as a test pilot. She became immensely popular in Germany and even developed a close relationship with Hitler, who praised her highly.
By 1943, the situation for Germany was slowly becoming desperate, with huge losses in both men and materiel that could no longer be easily replaced. To make matters worse, there were growing fears that the Allies might open a new front by landing in France. As a result, many within the German military began theorizing about how best to stop, or at least inflict as much damage as possible on, a potential Allied landing.
This was the question that Reitsch and her two companions, one was Theo Benzinger, a medical research officer at Rechlin; the identity of the second remains unknown but is described as being a skilled glider pilot ,asked themselves when they met in August 1943 in Berlin.
They theorized that if the Allies intended to land in occupied France, they would have to do so using a huge number of ships. These vessels would be a vital part of the invasion, transporting troops and matériel. If sufficient damage could be done to them, the Allied invasion force would be greatly diminished, potentially to the point where they could be easily defeated in combat. The question, however, was how to attack them given the overwhelming Allied superiority on the ground and in the air.
They came up with the initial idea of using pilots to fly a specially designed, man-piloted bomb directly toward a vital Allied installation, ship, or other target. The pilot would guide the aircraft onto the designated objective and then bail out shortly before impact. Although its proponents insisted that this was not intended to be a desperate, suicidal tactic, in practical terms, it essentially was.
Over the next few months, as she spoke with more people, the idea began to gain traction. Soon a volunteer group of around 70 to 80 pilots who were willing to fly the proposed “flying bomb”, was formed. Although Reitsch never claimed to have initiated the creation of this group, nor to have been a member of it, she strongly supported the idea. Her belief was that her vocal support might help accelerate the realisation of the proposal.
The next step was to present this idea to Luftwaffe officials for approval, but they had little success in that regard. This idea was eventually presented to Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch, the Luftwaffe’s Inspector General, who was responsible for deciding which projects would be approved or rejected. After reviewing the pilots’ proposals, he firmly opposed the notion of using such aircraft, seeing it as a suicidal mission. Even though Reitsch rejected the idea that it would be a one-way trip, the reality was clear. It is important to understand that while German military leaders accepted that soldiers died in war, they were neither willing to endorse nor incorporate suicide missions into German military doctrine.
Possibly due to the urging of several test pilots, the DFS became involved in the project. Although the DFS was primarily focused on designing and constructing gliders, it played an important role in training early German pilots and also participated in projects such as the rocket-powered Me 163.
Its representatives, together with others from related fields, held a meeting to discuss the possibility of using a piloted bomb. While they ultimately concluded that such attack operations were technically feasible, they avoided using the term suicide mission. It appears that many saw potential in the concept, but few were willing to overlook the fact that the pilot’s chances of survival were very low and their chances of recovery by friendly forces non-existent.
However, with an Allied landing in France expected at any moment, the idea of a high-speed attack aircraft capable of striking targets with much greater precision became an appealing option. Eventually, Hitler was informed of the concept at the end of February 1944. After discussing it with Reitsch, even though he was not a particularly enthusiastic supporter, he nonetheless permitted development to begin.
To test the concept, KG 200 (Kampfgeschwader 200), a special Luftwaffe unit responsible for covert operations and the testing of new technologies, conducted a series of flights in April using Fw 190s. These aircraft were loaded with the heaviest bombs that a pilot could theoretically deliver in a steep dive. Tests showed that the pilot could escape from the cockpit in time to survive the attack. However, since Allied fighter cover was expected to be too strong, the proposal to use the Fw 190 in this manner was rejected
The first aircraft chosen for the role of piloted flying bomb was the Me 328. The idea was that this small and inexpensive pulse‑jet‑powered fighter was already in an experimental stage, and that the necessary tooling and equipment for its construction could be assembled quickly. Initial proposals regarding the use of the Me 328 in this role suggested outfitting it with a torpedo for attacking enemy ships, but this was dropped early on. In the concept of using the Me 328 as a guided bomb, it was intended to be carried aloft by a larger bomber. Once near the designated target, it would be released and, at high speed (estimated to reach nearly 710 km/h), it was supposed to strike the target with a warhead weighing up to one tonne.
Despite promising early expectations, the Me 328 proved to be a disappointing project and was eventually abandoned. Although preparations were made to develop this variant, all work on it was discontinued by May 1944.
What happened next is not entirely clear, especially regarding who first proposed that the V‑1 should be employed in this manner. However, given that it was cheap to build, available in large numbers, and capable of carrying a substantial payload, it appeared to be an excellent candidate for a piloted bomb.
According to some accounts, Reitsch later contacted the head of the DFS, Professor Walter Georgi, requesting that he and his team of engineers design such a device. After fourteen days, the team managed to construct four prototypes for testing.
Otto Scorceny Side Of The Story
A second version of the story portrayed the German commando Otto Skorzeny as the inventor of the entire concept. He was one of the best-known German commando officers, most famous for rescuing Benito Mussolini from his imprisonment at the mountain hotel on Gran Sasso in September 1943. The following text is sourced from his personal memoirs, and we must take some of the information with a grain of salt, as it may have been exaggerated or even fabricated.
In early 1944, Skorzeny became involved in finding ways to delay or cause damage to the Allied preparations for the invasion of France, which the Germans knew was coming soon. During this period, he became interested in the idea of using man-piloted flying bombs to strike vital Allied installations and targets during the anticipated invasion. He even had the opportunity to speak with personnel from KG 200, who supported the concept, as well as with Hanna Reitsch. They all confirmed to him that such attacks, despite being suicidal, could inflict serious damage on key Allied targets.
Following this, during a visit to Peenemünde (a municipality in the Baltic region) where the Germans conducted secret research and testing of the V-1 and V-2 weapons, Skorzeny experienced a moment of inspiration while observing a V-1. He had previously been involved in another project that used small explosive boats against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean with some success. He theorized that the same principle could be applied to the V-1: it could be modified and equipped with a cockpit to be used as a more precise striking weapon. He immediately requested the technical specifications of the V-1 and assembled a team of aviation engineers to determine whether his idea had any merit. After a day of deliberation, they gave a positive answer, stating that the concept was theoretically feasible and that such an aircraft could be constructed fairly quickly and cheaply.
With this knowledge, Skorzeny approached Erhard Milch, who was previously firmly opposed to any such idea. However, after speaking with him, Skorzeny managed to mislead him by claiming that Hitler himself was quite interested in the project’s realisation, even though Hitler actually knew nothing about it.
This claim, combined with Skorzeny’s reputation, allowed him to secure approval after presenting the concept to a commission of aviation engineers that was to be formed the following day. Eventually, Skorzeny received permission and assembled a small team of engineers to design and build such an aircraft. After ten days of fifteen-hour shifts, the three prototypes were fully completed and ready for testing.
What is the truth?
So, is the whole account correct? Skorzeny does not mention the involvement of the DFS and instead claims personal credit for the construction of the first prototypes, alongside a small team of workers and engineers. Which of these two versions is true, we will likely never know, as either could be accurate—or entirely wrong.
Designation
Given that it was based on the V-1 project, the manned flying bomb was considered an extended variant of the V-1 and was designated Fi 103A-1/Re 4. The Re was short for Reichenberg and the number ‘4’ indicates that it was the fourth variant of the V-1. The 1 indicates a variant with an extended range of the original flying bomb, and 2 for a towed variant. The two-seat training variant was known as Fi 103A-1/Re 3. This information is according to by A. L. Kay (MonogramClose-Up 4 Buzz Bomb).
According to S. J. Zaloga (V-1 Flying Bomb 1942–1945), the designation system appears slightly different. He states that the experimental models were designated Fi-103 Re.1. The Re.2 designation was applied to an unpowered trainer version, while Re.3 referred to the powered variant of that trainer. Finally, Re.4 was intended to be the production version.
Another author, A-1, mentioned the following designations: Reichenberg 1, referring to a single-seat glider variant without an engine; Reichenberg 2, a dual-cockpit trainer version again without an engine; Reichenberg 3, a single-seat training variant equipped with a working engine; and finally Reichenberg 4, essentially the production variant.
For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to both collectively as the Fi 103R.
Initial Testing
The precise history of the testing phase and its chronological order remain unclear, depending largely on the sources used. According to Skorzeny’s account, these tests began in September 1944 at the Rechlin test center. The trials were conducted by launching the Fi 103R from a He 111 carrier aircraft. In contrast to the V-1, which was mostly launched from ground-based, specially designed ramps, the Fi 103R man-piloted bomb was intended to be launched exclusively from carrier aircraft. An He 111 could carry up to two such aircraft.
Problems appeared almost immediately. During the first flight test, the pilot was severely injured when the Fi 103R landed at high speed and lacked any form of landing gear beyond a simple skid. The next test also ended in a crash, again leaving the pilot badly hurt. This temporarily halted further flights until the design could be refined.
At this point, Hanna Reitsch, Willy Fiedler, and Heinz Kensche were requested to serve as test pilots. Skorzeny initially opposed this, as Reitsch was a well-known public figure in Germany, and her injury (or worse, her death) in an accident could have had serious consequences for everyone involved.
The second series of test flights was carried out in early November. These also caused further problems; during one flight, a stabilizing fin broke off. The test pilot, however, managed to bail out and land safely.
On the other side of the story, Reitsch claimed that she was initially rejected from flying the Fi 103R, being told that it was “a man’s job.” During the first test flight, the pilot mistakenly disengaged the Fi 103R from the He 111 too early, lost control, and crash-landed, surviving the landing but sustaining multiple injuries. In a second flight, the pilot made a miscalculation during landing and was severely injured. These setbacks may have caused delays or even cancellations of certain tests, prompting Reitsch to try flying the aircraft herself. She later reported that the controls were too sensitive and that the Fi 103 was difficult to land, as it possessed extremely poor low-speed handling and a high landing speed of 190 km/h. Of the six test pilots who flew the Fi 103R with Reitsch, two would die, and four were injured,
Production
While the initial tests were concluded, they did not provide perfect test results. Despite this, production was scheduled to begin as soon as possible. The production, or more accurately, the conversion of existing V-1s was carried out at two small Luftwaffe ammunition depots located in a concealed wooded area near the town of Dannenberg, and at a second site known as Pulverhof. The exact number of reproduced units is unclear, but it is known that when the Allies captured Dannenberg in April 1945, they found around 175 Fi 103Rs. With additional units produced at Pulverhof, it is estimated that more than 200 were built in total.
Training Variant
Despite the extremely low chance of survival, there were allegedly thousands of volunteers for these missions. These men were referred to as Selbstopfermänner (Eng. self-sacrifice men). From this large number, an initial group of only 70 was selected. They were intended to form the core training cadre for future pilots. A darker part of this history is that Heinrich Himmler went so far as to suggest that the pilots used in such attacks were recruited from people the Nazi officials considered “undesirable,” such as politically apathetic citizens, prisoners, and others deemed expendable.
To effectively train pilots to fly these missions, a special two-seat variant was developed, designated Fi 103 A-1/Re3. This training version consisted of two stations for the pilot and the instructor. The original pilot cockpit position was retained. The space for the warhead had been, an elongated nose section was installed contained the second cockpit.
In addition, because it was used for training, it needed to land after each flight. Since no landing gear could be installed, the Germans decided to use a simple landing skid instead. It was powered by an Argus 109-014 pulsejet, which provided approximately 350 kg of thrust.
Combat Use and Fate
Once the training process was completed and the produced Fi 103t were cleared for use, the next step was to pursue the designated targets. Being besieged on all sides, the Germans had plenty of options to choose from. However, even before any real operation could be launched, the project was constantly delayed. Shortages of resources and fuel prevented any deployment in combat. In addition, the idea of using the already obsolete He 111 bombers as a host aircraft was considered too dangerous, as the Allies had almost complete control of the skies. Even German-held territory was no longer safe from their air superiority.
The expected order for the first combat missions kept being delayed. Although some training was carried out, nearly half of the initial group of 70 volunteer pilots never even had the chance to fly the aircraft. As the months passed, the Fi 103 continued to be used in various experimental test flights. During one such flight in March 1945, both of the new shortened wings fell off an Fi 103R.
While the concept of a piloted Fi 103 was appealing to some of the officers involved, it failed to gain lasting support among higher-ranking officials, many of whom tried to shut the project down. The accident in March 1945 proved to be the final straw for KG 200’s new commander, Oberstleutnant Werner Baumbach. He went directly to Minister of Armaments Albert Speer in an effort to have the project cancelled for good. Both Speer and Baumbach later spoke to Hitler about it, and based on his earlier reluctance toward the idea, they managed to convince him to forbid any combat use of the Fi 103R. As a result, the roughly 200 completed aircraft were left scattered around the factories where they had been assembled.
By April 1945, Allied forces captured the production facilities at Dannenberg. There they found between 125 to 175 Fi 103A-1/Re 4 aircraft. In addition, an unknown number of two-seat versions were also captured. The U.S. Army was particularly eager to examine anything related to the V-1 program, including the manned flying bomb. At least one Fi 103 was shipped to the United States for testing. Although the U.S. spent some time evaluating the V-1, the idea of using this type of manned, suicide-style flying bomb held no interest and was not pursued by the Allies after the war.
Technical characteristics
The intended Fi 103R-4 was developed primarily based on the V-1 flying bomb; however, it differed in several significant ways. The overall fuselage shape was largely retained, but changes were introduced, most notably the replacement of the V-1’s front section with a new truncated, cone-shaped nose. At the nose, an 850 kg warhead consisting of a mixture of Amatol high explosive, connected to an impact fuse, was installed.
Here, it is important to note that, despite around 200 Fi 103s being completed, the precise shape of the cone-shaped nose is not entirely clear. Nearly all surviving photographs of it show little of its dimensions. Additionally, those Fi 103s assembled by the Allies after the war for examination often had their frontal sections taken from V-1s and fitted directly onto the Fi 103R airframes. It is also worth considering that although up to 200 Fi 103s were built, it is possible that their original warheads were removed and reused for the V-1, and therefore were not present when they were captured.
The V-1’s wings were modified to include ailerons so that a pilot could control the Fi 103 during flight. The rear tail section with its rudder and elevator remained mostly unchanged.
Given its specific role, the Fi 103R was not provided with a landing gear. Instead, the training variants were equipped with simple landing skids. Its design was fairly basic and simple, held in place by three rubber cushions. Early tests showed that it was sufficient for training purposes, but it was not suitable for operational use. It was only possible to land the aircraft when the fuel tanks were completely empty and at very low speed.
In addition, given the lack of landing gear, the Fi 103R could be brought into the air only by being carried by larger aircraft such as the He 111. While a special launch ramp with a steam catapult for the V-1 did exist, it could not be used for the training variant, as it generated too much G-force for a human pilot to survive.
It was powered by an Argus 109-014 pulsejet, which provided approximately 310 to 350 kg of thrust. With it, its maximum speed was around 644 km/h. However, the estimated maximum speed during a dive attack was expected to reach up to 850 km/h when released from an altitude of 2,740 m. The fuel load provided an endurance of 30 minutes, giving the aircraft a range of approximately 330 km.
Since the proposed manned version did not require many of the V-1’s internal components, several were removed, including the two spheres containing pressurized gas for its pneumatic controls, and the autopilot system. This created enough free space to accommodate a very cramped cockpit for the pilot. Additionally, a small air container for fuel-tank pressurization was installed.
The cockpit itself was quite crude and equipped only with basic controls: rudder, aileron, and elevator controls, a warhead-arming switch, an altimeter, a speed indicator, a clock, and other essential instruments. To allow communication between the He 111 carrier crew and the Fi 103R pilot, headphones and a microphone were provided. Because of the pulsejet’s position, the pilot’s canopy had to open on the starboard side. It was a straightforward design, intended to break away once it reached a 45° opening angle.
The canopy was held in place by curved prongs hinged to the right side of the cockpit. The left side was secured by two eyelets and sliding pins. To open it, the pilot needed only to activate a lever that disconnected the sliding pins from the eyelets. The last noticeable feature of the canopy was a set of painted lines intended to help the pilot estimate the angle of attack.
The pilot was then expected to jump out of the cramped cockpit at high speed. During this procedure, there was a significant risk that he or his parachute could be struck, damaged, or entangled by the pulsejet. In practice, escaping quickly enough from the cockpit was only theoretically possible. Proposals to equip the aircraft with an ejection seat were rejected. While an ejection seat would have offered a better chance of survival, there was no room to install one, nor were any suitable designs available. German engineers also calculated that such a mechanism might deflect the bomb from its intended course
Japanese counterpart
While conceptually similar, the Japanese developed their own variant of a man-operated flying bomb. It was designated the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka. The weapon was carried close to its intended target by a large bomber before being released. The pilot of the flying bomb would then activate a rocket propulsion system and guide the Ohka into the target.
The Japanese developed this weapon completely independently from the Germans, intending it specifically for attacks against Allied ships in the Pacific. Its effectiveness was limited, however, because the bomber aircraft carrying it were usually shot down before they could launch the weapon.
In contrast to the German designs, the Japanese made no effort to provide the pilot with any chance of survival, as the Ohka was deliberately built as a one-way weapon.
Surviving aircraft
While they were never used in combat, a few of them actually survived to this day. One can be found in the Swiss Military Museum in the Canton of Aargau. Another example is located at the Dutch National Military Museum (NMM). Several more can be seen at the La Coupole V-2 Museum in Helfaut-Wizernes, France. The last one was actually gifted to the city of Antwerp after the war by General Clare Hibbs Armstrong, who was the commanding officer of the 50th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade. This unit provided anti-aircraft protection against the German V-1. Although it was stored for many years, in 1998 it was loaned to the French museum.
Conclusion
The Fi 103R manned missile was a fundamentally flawed concept from the very beginning. While the idea of using a cheap flying machine capable of carrying a heavy payload which could be accurately aimed may have seemed appealing, the drawbacks were simply too great. It remains unclear whether those involved in its development ever seriously considered how this aircraft’s launch platform was supposed to bypass Allied protective air cover and overwhelming air superiority.
Although the Fi 103 could achieve high speeds, its carrier aircraft (the He 111) was an aging and slow design, an easy target for enemy fighters. Once released, there was no guarantee that the Fi 103R would be able to navigate toward its target effectively, let alone hit it accurately. As for the pilot, survival was essentially nonexistent. Even in the unlikely event that a pilot managed to endure the entire ordeal, they would almost certainly be captured behind enemy lines. In every respect, it was a one-way mission.
Despite growing desperation as the war drew to a close, Germany never embraced the level of fanaticism that characterized the Japanese kamikaze attacks. Even Hitler, who initially approved the concept, never fully supported it, and canceled it when its technical failings were brought to his attention. While some effort was invested in the project, it appears that many within the Luftwaffe and the organizations responsible for its production quietly worked to delay its implementation, allowing the project to fade away—a fortunate outcome for the pilots who would have been forced to fly it.
Fi 103A-1/Re 4 Specifications |
||
| Wingspans | 5.72 m / 18 ft 9 in | |
| Length | 8.8 m / 27 ft 2 in | |
| Height | 1.4 m / 4 ft 8 in | |
| Engine | Argus 109-014 pulsejet | |
| Empty Weight | kg / 3,483 lbs | |
| Maximum Takeoff Weight | kg / 4,310 lbs | |
| Maximum Speed | 850 km/h / 528 mph | |
| Cruising speed | 644 km/h / 400 mph | |
| Range | 330 km/ 205 miles | |
| Crew | 1 pilot | |
| Armament |
|
|
Illustration
Credits
- Article written by Marko P.
- Edited by Henry H.
- Illustration by Oussama Mohamed “Godzilla”
Source:
- R. O’Neill (2001) Suicide Squads, Salamander Books
- S. J. Zaloga (2008) V-1 Flying Bomb 1942-1945, Osprey Publishing
- A. L. Kay (1977) MonogramClose-Up 4 Buzz Bomb, Tien Wah Press
- Specijalna Misija Oto Skorceni (2007) Serbian translation by Ivan Jovanović, Algoritam
- Duško N. (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Nemacka. Beograd.
- D. Monday (2006) The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II, Bounty Books
- D. Myhra (2001) Fieseler Fi 103R, Schiffer Military History
USSR (1938-1940)
United Kingdom (1943-1944)
