During World War II, not only did Britain and the United States develop many alternative weapons, but Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union and other countries also developed many exotic weapons that were renovated. Germany, in particular, is "happy with this". Hitler himself was a fanatical, bizarre war maniac, very enthusiastic about "alternative weapons", naturally led the Germans to develop many "alternative" weapons such as V-1, V-2 missiles, "Rat" super heavy tanks, Navy electric submarines and so on.
The German "stealth gun" referred to here as the "stealth gun" is not a popular "stealth weapon" today, but only a weapon of the concealed gunman (infantry).
In June 1941, after the start of the Soviet-German War, the German offensive was met with stubborn resistance from the Red Army, and german soldiers suffered heavy casualties. In order to reduce the casualties of soldiers, German gun designers came up with a whimsical idea to design a device that would allow the gunner to shoot hidden underneath. The method is to install a special wooden base on the bottom of the Kar98K assault rifle, and install a periscope on it. Of course, it is also necessary to modify the corresponding firing device. The unit was also fitted to the MG34 machine gun for test firing. During the test, the gunner was indeed able to carry out the shooting in a hidden place. However, due to the narrow field of view and dim target image of the reflective periscope, it was inconvenient to use and ultimately failed to be mass-produced.
The peculiar curved rifle is another "stealth gun" designed by the Germans to conceal the gunner, and it is more avant-garde and cleverly designed than the previous "stealth gun". The designer was a well-known German arms company, Rheinmetall, which completed the design and experimented with it between 1942 and 1943.
Its theoretical basis is based on the "theory of the spread of gunshots" studied by the Germans, and even the theory that the bullets turn at a slight angle in the internal ballistic trajectory. This is done by attaching a flat, 30-degree angled extension to the top of the barrel of the St G44 assault rifle, followed by a reflective scope. In order to adapt the projectile to the curved internal trajectory, the strong charge of the bullet must be changed to a weak charge. The results of the actual test firing were basically successful. Originally planned to produce 20,000 sets of curved gun bodies, only 500 sets were actually produced, and they were not used in actual combat.
In order to adapt the German combat vehicles to the soviet ice and snow combat environment, the Germans modified several specially designed snowmobiles.
The VW 155/2 snowmobile, which was converted from the V W 8 2 jeep, is famous. The practice is to remove the two rear wheels of the jeep and replace it with a complete set of tracked walking devices. note! Its load wheels use the alternating arrangement of load wheels that the Germans are accustomed to, while the tracks are quite wide, which can reduce the unit pressure when driving in the snow. There are many different models of similarly modified snowmobiles that can be applied to different wheeled vehicles. In fact, this snowmobile is very similar to the half-track armored vehicle commonly used by the German army in World War II, but its tracks are wider.
The experimental VW166 snowmobile, without removing the wheels, but adds 4 wide solid wheels on the outside of the 4 wheels, the wheel width is 50 cm, and there are 12 long convex teeth on the wheel rim, which not only increases the ground adhesion, but also reduces the ground unit pressure, and the driving performance in the snow and ice is good. However, the 4 additional wheels were cumbersome to swap back and forth, and coupled with its low speed on snow, it ultimately failed to mass-produce.
During World War II, a 38(t) modified amphibious tank, the Germans captured many Czechoslovak-produced 35(t)/38(t) light tanks. In order to make the most of it, the Germans converted these two tanks into other types of armored vehicles, converted into "Duck" amphibious tanks, which is just one of the attempts. Specifically, a special set of float boxes is added to the front and rear of the body to increase buoyancy; Two sets of propeller-type water thrusters were added to the rear of the hull. This practice is very similar to japan's special type II internal fire boat. However, due to the improvised design, the performance could not catch up with the special Type II internal fire boat of Little Japan, and it could not be modified in large quantities.
"Minefield Behemoth" - Giant "Rauma" S-type minesweeper At the end of World War II, the German company Krupp developed a giant minesweeper - "Rauma" S-type minesweeper. One look at the physical photos and you know that this guy is two people tall, and it's a behemoth. Its total combat weight is up to 130 tons, and the mine sweeping roller at the front of the hull is up to 2.7 meters in diameter, which can crush mines on the road like a giant roller; It is also equipped with a coulter-type minesweeper that can plow mines to both sides of the vehicle. Because this kind of minesweeper guy is too bulky, only a few have been built, and they have not been practically used on the battlefield. After the end of World War II, the Yankees captured a "Rauma" S-type minesweeper, which was transported back to the United States for a treasure in the Chariot Museum.
From the autumn of 1944, the Germans began to attack Britain with V-2 missiles. In order to prevent the Allied air force from counterattacking, the command launch and fuel refueling devices used by the Germans to attack the British V-2 missiles were maneuverable, that is, the command launcher and the fuel refueling vehicle.
The command launch vehicle is an 8-ton half-track armored vehicle with a four-pointed diamond-shaped command tower, which looks very peculiar. Before firing the V-2 missile, drive the launch command vehicle to a concealed launch position, issue a command, and direct the launch of the V-2 missile.
Germany's diving tanks The diving tanks developed by the Germans in the middle of World War II can be regarded as "a must". Because, in terms of diving depth alone, none of the various main battle tanks developed in the 70 years after World War II can surpass it. The cause of the incident was this: the Germans secretly formulated the "Sea Lion Project" in order to be able to cross the English Channel and attack the British mainland. The core equipment for the implementation of the "Sea Lion Project" is the Type II amphibious tank and the Type III diving tank. The Type II amphibious tank is floating, while the Type III diving tank is submerged underwater, which is more secretive.
The Type III diving tank was modified on the basis of the Type III tank. The focus of the modification was to seal all the holes in the tank; The top of the turret is equipped with a flared interface, and then a 18-meter-long, 200 mm diameter snake-shaped rubber hose is connected as a snorkel, and a float is added to the top of the hose to ensure that the top of the hose is always floating on the water; It is also necessary to install a one-way valve at the exhaust pipe port of the engine to prevent backfilling. It's quite difficult to retrofit.
In order to implement the "Sea Lion Project", the Germans modified a total of 168 Type III diving tanks, which is quite a considerable number; And it can dive to a depth of 15 meters, which is a record. Due to the premature death of the "Sea Lion Project", these submersible tanks did not come in handy, becoming a "short-lived" alternative tank.
In the middle and late period of World War II, due to the heavy bombardment of Allied aircraft and the cutting off of sea transport lines, both the German and Japanese troops felt the huge pressure of the depletion of oil resources. To this end, both robber states have invariably developed power units that can replace the internal combustion engine, and with great fanfare developed power units for tanks and aircraft that burn charcoal and alcohol. The charcoal-burning tanks developed by the Germans are one of them.
The principle is not complicated, that is, a large boiler burning charcoal or wood is installed on the rear of the tank body, and the engine is driven by the gas generated. The picture on the right shows the large boiler test device installed on the German Type II tank. Obviously, this boiler-internal combustion engine is a kind of improvisational method, and it is okay to run on the flat road, but it is not possible to climb hills and drive at high speeds.
Attack aircraft with rockets mounted to hit tanks seem to be commonplace today, and it is common for attack aircraft to launch air-to-ground anti-tank missiles to hit tanks. However, it was a new thing during World War II. At that time, the German army hung 4 "Chariot Iron Fist" anti-tank rockets under the wings of the "Junker" 181A training aircraft, and conducted a live-fire test. It can attack enemy tanks at a low altitude of 30 to 80 meters. There is no problem with its power, but, because it is a rocket, not a missile, the hit accuracy is not high, and it is only made in a small amount for actual combat, and it has not been used in large quantities.
The V-1/V-2 missile developed by Germany in the late World War II was Hitler's secret weapon. At that time, the Allies had landed in Normandy, opening up a second battlefield. At this time, the V-1 missile had also been successfully developed, and Hitler tried to use this secret weapon to save the fate of the inevitable demise of the Third Reich.
The V-1 missile is a flying missile with a total mass of 2,200 kg, a warhead loaded with 700 kg of explosives and capable of flying a distance of 370 km. On June 18, 1944, the Germans first attacked the Wellington barracks in the United Kingdom with V-1 missiles, killing 121 officers and men. From June to the end of August 1944, the Germans fired 10,500 V-1 missiles at Britain, forcing 1.45 million londoners to evacuate, killing and wounding 21,000.
The I-400 - the "hybrid" diving carrier of submarines and aircraft carriers, is both a submarine and an aircraft carrier, which can be called a "hybrid" of the two. At the end of World War II, little Japan wanted to build such a peculiar weapon to attack the "life gate" of the United States- the Panama Canal. The I-400 submarine aircraft carrier was created to realize this delusion.
The I-400 submarine aircraft carrier was built in early 1945, and the I-401 and I-402, a total of 3 diving aircraft carriers, were organized into a special submarine force. The I-400 has a base displacement of 3,590 tons and an underwater displacement of 6,560 tons, the highest of the submarines. The crew is 213 people, carrying 3 "Qinglan" attack aircraft, and a variety of weapons such as 140 mm guns, 25 mm machine guns and torpedoes. The maximum speed on the water is about 20 knots, 7 knots in the water, and it can be sailed for 120 days and 30 000 nautical miles. The most important thing about the I-400 diving aircraft carrier is that the "Qinglan" aircraft is a folding wing, and when sailing in the water, it is necessary to "turn butterflies into pupae" into the hangar of the submarine; When reaching the waters near the attack site, it takes 4 people and 45 seconds to tow the aircraft out of the hangar and unfurle the wings; The aircraft is launched by an ejection device; When recycling, the plane falls to the surface of the water and is then retrieved by a crane on the mothership.
The Special Submarine Force was originally used to attack the Panama Canal, but due to the rapid deterioration of the Japanese war situation, it had to be used only to attack the American fleet in the Caroline Islands. As a result, before the special submarine fleet could sail to the attack site, Little Japan surrendered, and the I-400 diving aircraft carrier became the spoils of war of the US military and was transported back to Japan under the escort of the US ships.