The German Secret Weapon Program

[Red_Marshal]

I recently have become interested in the secret weapons unleashed by Nazi Germany during WWII. Given the horrendous losses in Russia and the continual bombing of Germany I believe the Germans deserve credit for revolutionary and advanced ideas such as the Me-262 and the V-1,V-2, and the never completed V-3. I have been wondering if Hitler had not intervened in either of these projects whether they could have played a more significant role in the war. Your first thought is no, the V bombs were inaccurate and did litte while the Me-262 had design flaws and limited production. But could not a V-4 or V-5 fixed with a one ton warhead reach the US? Or in larger quantities disrupt the vast concentrations of Soviet troops? Could the Overlord buildup have occured under the constant barrage of missiles? I have also been looking for info on Germany's Atomic Bomb project. Thanks for your input!

[spidge]

Welcome Red_Marshal.

Hope we can help.

[BulgarianSoldier]

Does anyone hear about the Foo Fighter and the Tesla Gun ?
Of course its sound unbalivable but the Foo Fighters looks like alian space ship.And this airplane can go with 2500 km and the most unbalivable part is that this airplane can go in the space.
And the Tesla Gun is a weapon that shot electricaty.
PS I love mystical things

[jacobtowne]

But could not a V-4 or V-5 fixed with a one ton warhead reach the US? Or in larger quantities disrupt the vast concentrations of Soviet troops? Could the Overlord buildup have occured under the constant barrage of missiles? I have also been looking for info on Germany's Atomic Bomb project.

Firing an inter-continental missile from Germany across the Atlantic to the U.S. and expecting to hit anything requires a sophisticated guidance system. Even given that system and hundreds of such rockets, they would not have affected the outcome of the war.

Consider this: most American battleships were armed with nine 16-inch/50 caliber guns. Each gun fired a projectile weighing about one ton. These ships were used to support island assaults in the Pacific, and we know the effect they had on Japanese positions (which were, admittedly, entrenched and fortified).

Perhaps better for Germany had they developed heavy bombers like the B-17 and Lancaster.

JT

[Za Rodinu]

Quite frankly I find these debates on Nazi Super Weapons somewhat tiresome, it's almost wishing victory upon them. The super weapons they used had very limited success, they simply were unable to wring anything more out of them as they had no more resources. Besides with ever shrinking Reich borders, time for defeat was running short everyday.

Time for victory was long gone already, the war had been lost in 1942. A few jet fighters more or less in 1945 weren't going to remove the Red Army from the Oder or the Yanks from the Ruhr, were they?

[lancesergeant]

Fair comment Za, but necessity is the mother of invention and they came up with some interesting designs if not feasible because of lack of resources. If they had concentrated on their standard munition the war may have been prolonged by a few months. They had guided missiles on the Heinkel Grief with limited success. What's to say what would have happened if say surface to air missiles albeit in a primitive light were lined across the route to Berlin and other German cities.

If anything they were channelling vital resources away from industry, in a way they were doing the Allies a favour. Maus super tank anyone!!!

[Red_Marshal]

Some good points here but I am simply saying if they had had the resources and time to develop the current weapons. I'm not wishing victory on the Nazis, I doubt that any German secret weapon short of nuking Moscow with Stalin and Molotov in it would have guaranteed them victory. Also ICBM launched from say, an occupied Azores or Iceland would have forced the US to spend a considerable amount of homeland security (9/11 anyone?) Americans are generally a soft people having never suffered occupation, devastation, or even the threat of these until the Cold War.
Still no luck on the German Nuclear Weapon Program anyone know if they were even close? I know they had a heavy water plant in Norway up at Trondheim but thats about it.

Also I have read somewhere that the Me-262 jet fighter was ready for production in early 1943. Are you saying that control of the airspace over Northern France wouldnt have prevented the Overlord landings? The post about the SAM's lining German cities is a good thought. A logical step from the V-1 weapons would have been SAMs. Also the argument could be made that in my counter factual Reich that without the need for advanced weaponry the Super Weapons wouldnt have been developed...

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal

Still no luck on the German Nuclear Weapon Program anyone know if they were even close? I know they had a heavy water plant in Norway up at Trondheim but thats about it.

Depends if you believe this:

http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/6/3

[Za Rodinu]

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal

...I doubt that any German secret weapon short of nuking Moscow with Stalin and Molotov in it would have guaranteed them victory.

Yes, possibly. But let's put things in perspective; while the German scientists are dreaming these rosy dreams of Reich supremacy, the Allies were simply feeling no great need to nuke any German city as they were already reducing them all to ashes with a round-the-clock bombing campaign. Why bother with nukes?

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal

Also ICBM launched from say, an occupied Azores or Iceland would have forced the US to spend a considerable amount of homeland security (9/11 anyone?)

And how do you get to the Azores or Iceland in the first place? And when before Hitler commits suicide will Germany have a workable missile with range enough? The industrial giants of the time, USA and URSS took a decade of frustration to get to that stage. And no, US wouldn't do anything about Homeland Security which is only internal affairs, they would launch an island invasion something about which I'm sure they had acquired some expertise in another ocean.

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal

Americans are generally a soft people having never suffered occupation, devastation, or even the threat of these until the Cold War.

I'm sure the yanks in this forum will love to know they are a bunch of softies

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal

Also I have read somewhere that the Me-262 jet fighter was ready for production in early 1943. Are you saying that control of the airspace over Northern France wouldnt have prevented the Overlord landings?

Dreaming again. What control of the airspace? Weren't Allied fighters used to employ the correct tactics of loitering around the 262 bases and catch them low on fuel. Every measure has a counter-measure. What historically happened (that is: not a dream but real life) was that the Luftwaffe managed to put up two fighter sorties that achieved nothing over the beaches when invasion occurred. Sorry, control of the airspace was on the other side.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Red_Marshal
Also ICBM launched from say, an occupied Azores or Iceland

I think they Allied trops on Iceland would have had someting to say about that.