German WW2 Projects Maus, Löwe E-100???

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Originally posted by Ginflas
To be added to this list though we should add German use of the helicopter, deployed at sea and on land as well

IIRC, the USN had started deploying helos on its carriers by the end of the war.

More or less agree with you about the wonder weapons in general.

You can add:

V1 was too inaccurate to be really effective (and was shot down in droves anyway).

V2 just wasn't cost-effective with HE warheads.

Wasserfall SAM was a good idea, but how long would it have taken to develop into a usable system?

I'll still stand by the Me-262 despite its 10-hour-lifetime engine and the type XXI U-boats, though.

 

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Originally posted by Ginflas


...Contrast this with Allied superiority in radar, and the atom bomb.

Germans also had very, very good radars, but they dont used them as effectively as allies.

 

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The Germans never had centimetric radars, which means they never had FC radars worth mentionning.

Frederick Pile in his memoirs claims more than 50% (IIRC, he actually claims 70+% but I'm not sure and please could the guy I lent my copy of Ack-Ack to give it back? thanks) of V-1's reaching the British coast were shot down by the radar FC + proximity fuse combination.

That was more effective against propeller planes than any missile built before the mid-60's so maybe the Wasserfall was a sexy toy but the Allies (read, the US) FIELDED better AA stuff in 1944!

Also, radar FC dramatically improves surface naval fire, as Cape Bon and Kolombangara did show.