An HE-Frag shell with time fuse. From left to right: 90 mm shrapnel shell, 120 mm pig iron incendiary . By 1944, a large proportion of the American electronics industry concentrated on making the fuzes. So, why was the 8.8 FLAK in WW2 used by german troops against tanks? Measures 1 13/16 X 2 9/16 inches. [9] A breadboard circuit was constructed and the concept was tested in the laboratory by moving a sheet of tin at various distances. The bullets were at first scarce, and as a result, a mix of ball, AP, Mk IV incendiary tracer and Mk VI incendiary were used until production increased to sufficient levels.
How do AA cannon ammunition work - Occupation Pride [68], During WW2, pressure activated fuzes were developed for sticks (or trains) of bombs to create above ground airbursts. It uses Advanced Sniper Bullet for ammo. Work on the radio shell fuze was completed by Tuve's group, known as Section T, at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (APL).
3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 | Military Wiki | Fandom The 88 earned its reputation as the best overall gun of the war. These included planar electrodes and packing the components in wax and oil to equalize the stresses. ][clarification needed] radio doppler proximity fuze, which employed the Doppler effect of reflected radio waves using a diode detector arrangement that they devised. The British shared a wide range of possible ideas for designing a fuze, including a photoelectric fuze and a radio fuze, with United States during the Tizard Mission in late 1940. If the Luftwaffe had this shell the Allied bombing campaign would have been far more costly, or stopped altogether. [10], In September 1940, the Tizard Mission travelled to the US to introduce their researchers to a number of UK developments, and the topic of proximity fuses was raised. It had a low muzzle velocity and was only accurate to about 200 yards, assuming ammunition was available to fire - which was rarely. Additionally, this Quora page has a lot of good info and graphics explaining the use and necessity of this same fragmentation principle in air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. The War Office proved uninterested in the concept and told the two to work on other issues. Incendiary projectiles, in particular those intended for armor penetration, are more effective if they explode after penetrating a surface layer, such that they explode inside the target.
Steam Workshop::Flak Endurance Challenge - Steam Community [14][15][16] Adm. Lewis L. Strauss wrote that, .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, One of the most original and effective military developments in World War II was the proximity, or 'VT', fuze. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. There are few weapons (aside from shotguns and large game hunting rifles) which have been built that fire projectiles between .50 caliber (0.50 inches/12.7 mm, roughly 13 mm caliber) and 20mm caliber, though the 14.5 mm caliber is used by some Soviet machineguns such as the KPV and antitank rifles such as PTRS, PTRD, and . This allowed for aiming at night and in bad weather.. http://bit.ly/subAIRBOYD Timeless classic about anti-aircraft flak. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Ah. ; "Precision Radar,", Smith, Peter C. Kamikaze: To Die for the Emperor. Marines christened their new recruit "Reckless" for the work she would do in resupplying recoilless rifles, known as "reckless rifles" in Marine jargon. 3. Many postwar histories accepted the testimony of leading figures within the Luftwaffe that ground based AA defences achieved limited success in destroying Allied bombers. One hopes that they were prepared for a . What are Lock Patterns for Android phones? Proximity fusing is used on several types of ordinance to cause an airburst and greatly increase lethality against soft targets. A ship's propeller rotating in water produces a powerful hydroacoustic noise which can be picked up using a hydrophone and used for homing and detonation. It was justifiably feared by Allied airmen, tankers, and foot soldiers because of its accuracy, lethality, and versatility. Contrary to popular belief, flak jackets are not interchangeable with bulletproof vests. Feb 19, 2014 Jack Beckett, Guest Author. it's only used against airborne targets a cloud of tiny pellets "Shrapnel" shells, named for their inventor, are used to kill people with bits of metal even when those people are hiding behind walls, in a trench, etc. (Yikes! This wiki is dedicated to providing easy access to information on core mechanics of the mod, as well as information on weapons, ammunition and more. To craft you need a weapons box and some materials (Iron, wood, and gunpowder mostly). The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Don't Panic! ). The 88 mm gun (eighty-eight) was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. One may use a timed fuse in the shell. Because that flak did not actually "miss." By means of its fuzing, it exploded close enough to the aircraft to send an unseen shower of a thousand metal fragments flying out of it and into the aircraft. Finally the shot would be grabbed by the "grabbing things" (the heck are they called) you see on the moving barrel. So the changing phase relationship between the oscillator signal and the reflected signal complicated the measurement of the amplitude of that small reflected signal. Also, where the crewmen of these planes were most likely to be hit. [65], Hydroacoustic influence is widely used as a detonation mechanism for naval mines and torpedoes. Flak can refer to criticism or worse, explosive shells from an antiaircraft weapon. Allied AA defenses were also effective, one example being the battles against the V-1 flying bombs and the fact that they chose to defend Antwerp against the V-1 using AA guns along is testament to their effectiveness. I was wondering how such weapon could possibly work, how would cycling ammo work with such a shape and configuration, how does the weapon remove used cartridges from the barrel, how the heck does fresh ammo get in the barrel in the first place (you just see a new shot move magically into the firing chamber). However, British scientists were uncertain whether a fuze could be developed for anti-aircraft shells, which had to withstand much higher accelerations than rockets. Use a gun. Acting like a normal bullet in flight, then after a short delay, it will explode into 5 more bullets. Pye's group was apparently unable to get their rugged pentodes to function reliably under high pressures until 6 August 1941, which was after the successful tests by the American group.
How Germany's 88mm Anti-Aircraft Gun Introduced the FLAK Into the U.S. and German Field Artillery in World War II: A Comparison [40], In the US, NDRC focused on radio fuzes for use with anti-aircraft artillery, where acceleration was up to 20,000g as opposed to about 100g for rockets and much less for dropped bombs. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Most, if not all, of the histories deal with the great air battles strictly in terms of aircraft vs. aircraft; the great fighter aces and how many bombers were shot down by Spitfires, Bf 109s, Fw 190s and Me 110 and Ju 88 night-fighters. Flak is an acronym/initialism forthe German word, Flugabwehrkanone, meaning aircraft-defence cannon.
how does flak ammunition work - hazrentalcenter.com For production times check Crafting. As most of the British heavy anti-aircraft guns were deployed in a long, thin coastal strip, dud shells fell into the sea, safely out of reach of capture. Prototype fuzes were then constructed in June 1940, and installed in "unrotated projectiles", the British cover name for solid-fueled rockets, and fired at targets supported by balloons. This was only partially true. Soviet artillery and tanks weren't able to penetrate the huge concrete tower, allowing the Germans to keep shooting. World War I.
'That's the least expectation' - Ben Pearson lays out ambitions at It took away from the narrative of how successful the Allied bombing campaign was and the heavy price they paid. The 3D kit is a Sondernhnger Sd. Flak as we know it ( the exploding ordinance variety ) works by using fuses. Across the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, the initial combat load was intended to be carried in the M1923 Cartridge Belt. Log in or Sign up to interact with the community. It examines heavy flak defences, flak over the battlefield, the failure of ship AA defences early in the war; specifically the Bismarck and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse in 1941, AA . What were the big innovations in AAA in WW2? In December 1940, Tuve invited Harry Diamond and Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr, of the United States National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to investigate Berkner's improved fuze and develop a proximity fuze for rockets and bombs to use against the German Luftwaffe. I once interviewed a WWII flak veteran, who talked about how they used their cannons against enemy infantry and soon, that became a more common use of their cannons than actually firing at airplanes. While smaller shells without fuzes will need to actually hit the aircraft to damage it, most all other AAA will have some type of fuzing. The original flak jackets were nothing more than nylon vests with steel plates sewn inside.Nov 12, 2004. It is estimated that it increases the lethality by 5 to 10 times, compared to these other fuzes.[4][5]. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Proximity fuzes fitted to such weapons as artillery and mortar shells solve this problem by having a range of set burst heights [e.g. The idea of a proximity fuse had long been considered militarily useful. For alternate autocannon ammunition, see the Special Munitions category. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Acoustic proximity fuzes are actuated by the acoustic emissions from a target (example an aircraft's engine or ship's propeller). [28], Prior to and following receipt of circuitry designs from the British, various experiments were carried out by Richard B. Roberts, Henry H. Porter, and Robert B. Brode under the direction of NDRC Section T Chairman Merle Tuve. All of these earlier methods have disadvantages. In the post-World War II era, a number of new proximity fuze systems were developed, including radio, optical, and other means. Sign upfor our newsletterhere. The gun pits were arranged to enable the high altitude flak guns ( probably British army 3.7 in guns) fire in unison to create a box pattern when the shells exploded at the preset height and would follow the track of the bombers That was the means a lethal zone was put where the bombers were expected to be. Flak can refer to criticism or worse, explosive shells from an antiaircraft weapon. [39] It was not a fuze for anti-aircraft shells, the most valuable type. It was from the cannon shells and incendiary bullets that had hit my machineBullets were going between my legs, and I remember seeing a bright flash of an incendiary bullet going past my leg into the gas tankThen a little red tongue licked out inquiringly from under the gas tank in front of my feet and became a hot little bonfire in one corner of the cockpit.". Front shows a flak 88 artillery gun in the center with a German eagle clutching a swastika in his talons at the top. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such as planes, missiles, ships at sea, and ground forces. Both are surrounded by an oval oak leaf wreath. [9], Given their previous work on radio and radiosondes at NBS, Diamond and Hinman developed the first all solid-state[when? Not FLAK in particular but I wanted to clear up a bit about fragmentation shells in general. against light targets such as infantry and non-armored vehicles. [6] Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. You are at a gateway to WWII discussion, research, exploration, & analysis. When the target was far away, little of the oscillator's transmitted energy would be reflected to the fuze. With their moderate rate of fire, and typically inexpensive ammunition, they can make for good defensive weapons.
Second World War Weapons That Failed | Imperial War Museums This doesnt take into account the number of aircraft that were severely damaged by flak..