Bachem Ba 349 V NATTER

The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (or "Viper") was another of the ingenious - if desperate - German designs in the ultimate defense of Germany against Allied bombers. The Natter design put to use the ever-developing study of rocketry by combining the usefulness of a liquid-fuel design with the temporary boost power of a solid-fuel design. The result was to be the Axis answer to the large formations of bombers pounding Germany daily.

The Ba 349 was a semi-expendable weapons system. Launching vertically, the Natter could quickly climb to an attack altitude suitable for engaging bombers. From there, the single-man system could fire off a full volley of 24 x 2.87 inch Fohn unguided rockets at a target area, almost assuring that proper aim would annihilate the unfortunate bomber. As with most rocket-propelled aircraft of the time, the system would eventually run out of fuel and the pilot would eject. Both pilot and aircraft (descending by parachute) could later be recovered and reused - at least in theory. Development consisted of simple glider trials started in 1944 with eventual unmanned vertical testing by February of 1945.

In the ways that the Natter system was cutting edge thinking, it was also quite primitive by today's turbofan standards. The fuselage was of a basic yet unorthodox design with simple wing and tail assemblies. Projectiles were fired from the nose. Propulsion was accomplished through one main liquid-fuel rocket booster mounted in the rear fuselage amounting to about just 70 seconds of flight use. Additionally, the four added booster rockets of solid-fuel type were used for the earlier part of the journey, jettisoned after they were spent of their 10 seconds of flight time.

In the end, the Ba 349 was made ready for combat action - at the expense of at least one German test pilot, Lothar Seibert. No fewer than 20 had been produced towards the end of the war. Fortunately for the Allies, only 10 were made fully operational and the single flight group at Kirchheim was shortly overrun by the advancing Allies - thusly the system would never see an proven combat action as intended.

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