Feuer Frei!
08-06-11, 10:30 AM
Igenious, for its time!
http://api.ning.com/files/1KIC*tBwn0wkxIDaA9sw38zk82gaZckfarD0AjaqZUhJpWRn*Q bU3TLKexxlq4T9JgL0iKyrXByUV4UcH0S3sAYNIQnaSZWG/fliegerfaust.jpg
When the United States entered the Soviet war with Afghanistan, they did so from the shadows. They helped arm and fund the Mujahadin fighters that would ultimately expel the Soviet bear. One of the more important arrow in the quiver of the Afghan fighters was the American supplied Stinger, surface to air missile. The man-portable SAM was a key piece in knocking down low flying Soviet aircraft and forcing helicopters in particular to higher, and less effective altitudes.
The idea of the man portable SAM has been around for decades, and it took until the 1980s to show it's potential in a complete theater of war. But it was in the 1940s when the Germans created one of the first viable man portable anti-aircraft weapons.
The Fliegerfaust was the final product. The first generation of the shoulder-fired weapon was essentially three tubes and a pistol grip. Each rocket was a 20 mm round equipped with a rocket booster charge. Fired in a volley, the Fliegerfaust was designed to strike a low-level Allied aircraft en-mass.
However, with relatively short launcher barrels, designers realized shot dispersion was horrendous. By the time these 20 mm rounds reached an effective range, they were all over the map. Soon after, the barrels were increased, in both length and numbers.
Now at nine barrels, the Fliegerfaust could launch its volley at a speed of 360 meters per second, with an effective group of 60 meters at 500 meters out. Each 20 mm round had a small explosive charge that could turn into a cloud of shrapnel.
Another change was a slight delay in the firing of the salvo. Instead of a single burst of rockets, the 20 mm rounds would fire in a pair of clusters 0.1 to 0.2 seconds apart.
Capable of reaching targets out to two kilometers, the Fliegerfaust was ordered in quantity of ammunition and launchers. This was late 1944 into 1945 and the tide had wholly turned against the German regime, as a result the order of 10,000 launchers and four million rounds of 20 mm ammunition was never realized.
A series of other multi-tube rocket launchers were developed by Germany in their death throws, but none ever saw completion.
SOURCE (http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/cloud-of-shrapnel-fliegerfaust)
http://api.ning.com/files/1KIC*tBwn0wkxIDaA9sw38zk82gaZckfarD0AjaqZUhJpWRn*Q bU3TLKexxlq4T9JgL0iKyrXByUV4UcH0S3sAYNIQnaSZWG/fliegerfaust.jpg
When the United States entered the Soviet war with Afghanistan, they did so from the shadows. They helped arm and fund the Mujahadin fighters that would ultimately expel the Soviet bear. One of the more important arrow in the quiver of the Afghan fighters was the American supplied Stinger, surface to air missile. The man-portable SAM was a key piece in knocking down low flying Soviet aircraft and forcing helicopters in particular to higher, and less effective altitudes.
The idea of the man portable SAM has been around for decades, and it took until the 1980s to show it's potential in a complete theater of war. But it was in the 1940s when the Germans created one of the first viable man portable anti-aircraft weapons.
The Fliegerfaust was the final product. The first generation of the shoulder-fired weapon was essentially three tubes and a pistol grip. Each rocket was a 20 mm round equipped with a rocket booster charge. Fired in a volley, the Fliegerfaust was designed to strike a low-level Allied aircraft en-mass.
However, with relatively short launcher barrels, designers realized shot dispersion was horrendous. By the time these 20 mm rounds reached an effective range, they were all over the map. Soon after, the barrels were increased, in both length and numbers.
Now at nine barrels, the Fliegerfaust could launch its volley at a speed of 360 meters per second, with an effective group of 60 meters at 500 meters out. Each 20 mm round had a small explosive charge that could turn into a cloud of shrapnel.
Another change was a slight delay in the firing of the salvo. Instead of a single burst of rockets, the 20 mm rounds would fire in a pair of clusters 0.1 to 0.2 seconds apart.
Capable of reaching targets out to two kilometers, the Fliegerfaust was ordered in quantity of ammunition and launchers. This was late 1944 into 1945 and the tide had wholly turned against the German regime, as a result the order of 10,000 launchers and four million rounds of 20 mm ammunition was never realized.
A series of other multi-tube rocket launchers were developed by Germany in their death throws, but none ever saw completion.
SOURCE (http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/cloud-of-shrapnel-fliegerfaust)