Jagdfaust
The Sondergerät SG 500 Jagdfaust ("hunting fist") or Jägerfaust ("hunter's fist") was an experimental airborne
.Design
The Jagdfaust design was based on the Schräge Musik, the manually triggered upward-firing air-to-air cannon extensively deployed with the Luftwaffe night fighter squadrons.[citation needed]
The Komet was so fast that pilots found it difficult to fire enough cannon rounds to destroy a bomber in a single pass. The Jagdfaust was developed to address this problem. A 5 cm shell was mounted in a launch tube held in place by a pair of thin pins. Four such tubes were mounted vertically (to fire upward) in each wing. To ensure it would be fired at the correct time, the weapon featured a simple form of automated trigger in which an optical photocell detected the dark silhouette of an Allied bomber replacing bright blue sky and triggered the firing of the armed Jagdfaust guns. When the weapon fired, the force of the launch would break the pins holding the tube in place and the heavy tube would be ejected downward to offset the momentum of the explosive force of the shell. As a result, the plane's flight was not affected.[2]
The Jagdfaust used a 5 cm
Operational history
The weapon system is credited with one kill: on April 10, 1945 Fritz Kelb downed an RAF Lancaster using it.[4] Though initial results were promising, the war ended before it could see extensive deployment. It is believed only two aircraft were ever outfitted with it.[5]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-4738-4738-5.
- ISBN 9781846039751.
- ^ "Komet weapons: SG500 Jägerfaust". Me 163 Weapons.
- ISBN 9781853676758.
- ISBN 9780702600128.
Further reading
- Ransom Stephen, Cammann Hans-Hermann, Jim Laurier: Jagdgeschwader 400: Germany's Elite Rocket Fighters (Aviation Elite Units). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84603-975-4.
- Mantelli - Brown - Kittel - Graf: Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe. Volume 23 of Aircraft of World War II. Edizioni R.E.I., 2015. ISBN 9782372972185.