reply to post by hellobruce
A "few " problems with that list.... The He-277 was never even flown, and was abandoned
Orders were placed in May 1943. Actually six He-177 A-6 aircraft were converted to He-277 B-5/R2 standard (four 1,750hp DB603G engines) by Reichlin as
pre-production prototypes and at least three were known to have flown. Early in conception the He-277 was known as the He-177 A-8.
The He-274 built at Toulouse France was a different but externally similar aircraft with longer span wings for transatlantic bombing missions. This
was also designated the He-177 A4.
The He-277 V2 prototype was flown at Vienna-Schwechat 28 February 1944. Mass production was about to start and a large mass of parts were already held
when production was cancelled due to the Emergency Fighter Program of 3 July 1944, however Reichlin had eight completed He-277 airframes by this
time.
Completed airframes were alocated the following Stammekenzeichen (Stkz) codes:
Prototype Aircraft V-101: NN+QQ (destroyed March 45 Cheb)
Prototype Aircraft V-102: GA+QQ (flown Schwechat Feb 1944)
Prototype Aircraft V-103: NE+OD
Prototype Aircraft V-104: KM+TL (captured Prague Rusnye)
Production aircraft No,A-07: GA+QP
Production aircraft No,A-12: GA+QU
Production aircraft No,A-13: GA+QV
Production aircraft No,A-14: GA+QW
Production aircraft No,A-17 GA+QZ
Stkz codes were only allocated to completed and flying airrframes. Werke numbers were allocated to airframes under construction and Stkz were applied
when they joined units or were flown.
The Germans did not have tactical nukes no V2 was ever fired from a lafferenz capsule
I make no claim that the V-2 was fired from a Lafferentz capsule. A 500 ton Lafferentz capsule was trialed behind a U-boat in the Baltic. The Germans
realised that the use of Hydrogen Peroxide over such a long voyage was unsatisfactory therefore embarked on development of the A8 version of the V-2
rocket for the capsule using Diesel fuel with Nitric acid to overcome these issues, however that then required a bigger capsule. Three larger capsules
were built at Stettin shipyard, but were captured by the Red Army in 1945.
PRO file WO.208/4178 refers to transcripts of secretly recorded conversations by Major General Walter Dornberger during his internment by the British
at CSDIC camp 11 where hidden microphones detected his conversations. At Nuremberg the British attempted to prosecute him for War Crimes by citing
these recordings and thus the file is found in Nuremberg evidence. In that Dornberger refers to German efforts to arm the V-2 with a nuclear
warhead.
Edgar Mayer and Thomas Mehner, Hitler und die ,,Bombe" (Rottenburg: Kopp Verlag, 2002), pp. 110-114, cite the now declassified MAGIC decrypt of a
signal from Japan's wartime embassy in Stockholm to Tokyo, in which the writer described a German Uranium "atom smashing" weapon of devastating
power which weighed just 5 kilograms: "Stockholm to Tokyo, No. 232.9 December 1944 (War Department), National Archives, RG 457, declassified October
1, 1978.
The Office of Naval Intelligence issued a report before the war with Japan was over citing evidence that Germany had transferred technology in 1944
for a small "atom smashing" bomb, entitled "German Technical Aid to Japan: a Survey" dated June 15 1945.
There was no "Mistel Ar-234", the Mistel programme did not involve the Ar-234, and also the Ar-234 did not have internal stowage of bombs...
Allied intelligence reports refer to such a unit Fernkampfflugzeuge 76 aka Kommando Lukesch. Reports from 6 Oct 44 that Arado Ar 234 jet bombers
assembled at Kupper bei Sagan, Silesia (codenamed Reichlin 46) Jan 1945 identity confirmed. Activity from Sept 44.
I make no mention of internal bomb stowage: You do.
Given the Japanese refer to a a nuclear weapon with 5 kilogram warhead reported in the Stockholm signal of 12 December 1944, stowage on external bomb
racks was perfectly feasible. The aircraft itself was originally conceived as a fast bomber. The Do-217P whilst it had a large bomb bay was capable of
dropping large radio guided bombs from 53,000 feet hung from external racks. The He-177 also used external racks therefore the use of external racks
does not disqualify the Ar234C being used as a bomber.
...and again Germany did not have nuclear bombs.
Your opinion only.
