Henschel Hs 129
Encyclopedia
The Henschel Hs 129 was a World War II
ground-attack aircraft fielded by the German
Luftwaffe. Its nickname, the Panzerknacker (tank cracker), is a deliberate pun—in German, it also means "safe cracker"
. In combat service the Hs 129 lacked a sufficient chance to prove itself; the aircraft was produced in relatively small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable to protect them from attack.
against ground targets had been widely understood to be of little use other than hurting enemy morale. Experiences during World War I
had demonstrated that attacking the combatants was generally much more dangerous to the aircraft than the troops on the ground, a problem that was only becoming more acute with the introduction of newer weapons
. For much of the 1920s and 1930s, the use of aircraft was seen primarily in the strategic
and interdiction
roles, where their targets were less likely to be able to fight back with any level of coordination. For high-value point targets, the dive bomber
was the preferred solution.
The German Condor Legion
experience during the Spanish Civil War
turned this idea on its head. Though equipped with generally unsuitable designs such as the Henschel Hs 123
and cannon
-armed versions of the Heinkel He 112
, their armament and pilots proved that the aircraft
was a very effective weapon even without bomb
s. This led to some support within the Luftwaffe for the creation of an aircraft dedicated to this role, and eventually a contract was tendered for a new "attack aircraft".
Since the main source of damage would be from rifle
and machine gun
fire from the ground, the plane had to be heavily armored
around the cockpit
and engines. Similar protection was also needed in the windscreen
, which required 75 mm (2.95 in) thick armored glass. The aircraft was expected to be attacking its targets directly in low-level strafing
runs, so the cockpit had to be located as close as possible to the nose in order to see the ground. One last requirement, a non-technical one, ended up dooming the designs: the RLM demanded that the aircraft be powered by "unimportant" engine
s of low horsepower
that were not being used in other designs, so the plane's production would not interfere with that of other types deemed more essential to the war effort.
Four companies were asked to respond, and only two of the resulting three entries were considered worthy of consideration: Focke-Wulf's conversion of their earlier Fw 189
reconnaissance
plane, and Henschel's all new Hs 129.
up to head level. Even the canopy was steel, with only tiny windows on the side to see out of and two angled blocks of glass for the windscreen. In order to improve the armor's ability to stop bullets, the fuselage
sides were angled in forming a triangular shape, resulting in almost no room to move at shoulder level. There was so little room in the cockpit that the instrument panel ended up under the nose below the windscreen where it was almost invisible; some of the engine instruments were moved outside onto the engine nacelles, as on some models of Messerschmitt's Bf 110
heavy fighter, and the gunsight was mounted outside on the nose.
Henschel's plane came in 12% overweight with the engines 8% underpowered, and it understandably flew poorly. The controls proved to be almost inoperable as speed increased, and in testing, one plane flew into the ground from a short dive because the stick
forces were too high for the pilot to pull out. The Fw design proved to be no better. Both planes were underpowered with their Argus As 410
engines, and very difficult to fly.
The RLM nevertheless felt they should continue with the basic concept. The only real deciding factor between the two designs was that the Henschel was smaller and cheaper. The Focke-Wulf was put on low priority as a backup, and testing continued with the Hs 129 A-0. A series of improvements resulted in the Hs 129 A-1 series, armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon
s and two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
s, along with the ability to carry four 50 kg (110 lb) bombs under the fuselage midline.
radial engine
, which were captured in some number when France fell
. This engine supplied 522 kW (700 hp) for takeoff compared to the Argus at 347 kW (465 hp). The Gnome-Rhone radials were also made in versions with opposite rotation for the propeller, and were installed on the Hs 129 with the port engine rotating clockwise and the starboard rotating counterclockwise—as seen from nose-on—thus eliminating engine torque
problems. The A-1 planes were converted into Hs 129 B-0s for testing (although it has been claimed that some As were sold to Romania
) and the pilots were reportedly much happier. Their main complaint was the view from the canopy, so a single larger windscreen and a new canopy with much better vision were added, resulting in the production model Hs 129 B-1.
B-1s started rolling off the lines in December 1941, but they were delivered at a trickle. In preparation for the new plane, I./SchlG 1
had been formed up in January with Bf 109 E/Bs (fighter-bomber version of Bf 109 E) and Hs 123
s, and they were delivered B-0s and every B-1 that was completed. Still, it wasn't until April that 12 B-1s were delivered and the 4th staffel (squadron) became ready for action. They moved to the Eastern Front
(to the Crimea
) in the middle of May 1942, and in June they received a new weapon, the 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 101 cannon
with armor-piercing ammunition in a midline pod
.
radio antenna
loop, and shorter exhaust stacks on the engines.
In the field, the differences seemed to be more pronounced. The R-kits were renumbered and some were dropped, and in general, the B-2 planes received the upgraded cannon pack using a 30 mm MK 103 cannon
instead of the earlier MK 101. These guns both fired the same ammunition, but the 103 did so at almost twice the rate.
T-34
tank
s. One obvious solution would be to use the larger Bordkanone BK 37
gun, recently adapted from ground-based Flak 18
. These guns had already been converted into underwing pod-mounted weapons for the Ju 87
and found to be a fearsome weapon. When mounted on the Hs 129, the empty area behind the cockpit could be used for ammunition storage, which would address the only problem with the Ju 87's mounting: a limited ammunition supply.
Few Hs 129s were actually installed with the BK 37 however, and the Rheinmetall
firm decided to adapt for the aircraft (as had already been done with the heavy-gunned Ju 88
P-1) their semi-automatic loading 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun into a lighter-weight, fully automatic aircraft-mountable version, with a completely different and more aerodynamic muzzle brake to produce the Bordkanone BK 7,5 model. A huge hydraulic
system was used to dampen the recoil
of the gun, and an autoloader
system with 12 rounds in the magazine was fitted in the large empty space behind the cockpit. This made for an easier design solution due to the PaK 40 already having a semi-automated firing mechanism. The gun and its recoil mechanism occupied a gun pod
under the fuselage and a hole in the rear end of the pod allowed spent cartridges to be ejected. The resulting system was able to knock out any tank in the world, but the added weight further hindered the already poor performance of the airplane. The Hs 129 B-3 version was a very poor handling aircraft.
B-3s finally started arriving in June 1944, and just 25 were delivered by the time the lines were shut down in September. A small number were also converted from older B-2 models. In the field they proved deadly weapons, but with only 25 aircraft available they had no effect on the war effort.
The 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon installation in the Hs 129B-3 was the heaviest forward-firing "big-gun" installation ever made for a series production military aircraft
, until the introduction of the Fairchild Republic A-10 "Warthog", with its General Electric GAU-8 Avenger
seven barrel 30mm caliber anti-tank Gatling
cannon
main armament coming in at a total weight of up to 1,830 kg (4,030 lb) with ammunition included.
Isotta-Fraschini Delta
engine that delivered 630 kW (850 hp). The engine installation ran into a number of delays however, and was still not ready for production when the plant was overrun by the Allies in 1945.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ground-attack aircraft fielded by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Luftwaffe. Its nickname, the Panzerknacker (tank cracker), is a deliberate pun—in German, it also means "safe cracker"
Safe-cracking
Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or key. It may also refer to a computer hacker's attempts to break into a secured computer system, in which case it may be shortened to "cracking" or black hat hacking....
. In combat service the Hs 129 lacked a sufficient chance to prove itself; the aircraft was produced in relatively small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable to protect them from attack.
Design and development
By the middle of the 1930s, the idea of using aircraftAircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
against ground targets had been widely understood to be of little use other than hurting enemy morale. Experiences during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had demonstrated that attacking the combatants was generally much more dangerous to the aircraft than the troops on the ground, a problem that was only becoming more acute with the introduction of newer weapons
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
. For much of the 1920s and 1930s, the use of aircraft was seen primarily in the strategic
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
and interdiction
Interdiction
Interdiction is a military term that refers to the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction...
roles, where their targets were less likely to be able to fight back with any level of coordination. For high-value point targets, the dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
was the preferred solution.
The German Condor Legion
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion was a unit composed of volunteers from the German Air Force and from the German Army which served with the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legion developed methods of terror bombing which were used widely in the Second World War...
experience during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
turned this idea on its head. Though equipped with generally unsuitable designs such as the Henschel Hs 123
Henschel Hs 123
The Henschel Hs 123 was a single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to mid-point of World War II...
and cannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
-armed versions of the Heinkel He 112
Heinkel He 112
The Heinkel He 112 was a fighter aircraft designed by Walter and Siegfried Günter. It was one of four aircraft designed to compete for the Luftwaffes 1933 fighter contract, which was eventually won by the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
, their armament and pilots proved that the aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
was a very effective weapon even without bomb
Aerial bomb
An aerial bomb is a type of explosive weapon intended to travel through the air with predictable trajectories, usually designed to be dropped from an aircraft...
s. This led to some support within the Luftwaffe for the creation of an aircraft dedicated to this role, and eventually a contract was tendered for a new "attack aircraft".
Since the main source of damage would be from rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
and machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
fire from the ground, the plane had to be heavily armored
Vehicle armour
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships....
around the cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
and engines. Similar protection was also needed in the windscreen
Windshield
The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued...
, which required 75 mm (2.95 in) thick armored glass. The aircraft was expected to be attacking its targets directly in low-level strafing
Strafing
Strafing is the practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. This means, that although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is very often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the...
runs, so the cockpit had to be located as close as possible to the nose in order to see the ground. One last requirement, a non-technical one, ended up dooming the designs: the RLM demanded that the aircraft be powered by "unimportant" engine
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
s of low horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
that were not being used in other designs, so the plane's production would not interfere with that of other types deemed more essential to the war effort.
Four companies were asked to respond, and only two of the resulting three entries were considered worthy of consideration: Focke-Wulf's conversion of their earlier Fw 189
Focke-Wulf Fw 189
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Brown, Capt. Eric . Wings of the Luftwaffe. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1978. ISBN 0-385-13521-1....
reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
plane, and Henschel's all new Hs 129.
Prototypes
The Hs 129 was designed around a single large "bathtub" of steel sheeting that made up the entire nose area of the plane, completely enclosing the pilotAviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
up to head level. Even the canopy was steel, with only tiny windows on the side to see out of and two angled blocks of glass for the windscreen. In order to improve the armor's ability to stop bullets, the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
sides were angled in forming a triangular shape, resulting in almost no room to move at shoulder level. There was so little room in the cockpit that the instrument panel ended up under the nose below the windscreen where it was almost invisible; some of the engine instruments were moved outside onto the engine nacelles, as on some models of Messerschmitt's Bf 110
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
heavy fighter, and the gunsight was mounted outside on the nose.
Henschel's plane came in 12% overweight with the engines 8% underpowered, and it understandably flew poorly. The controls proved to be almost inoperable as speed increased, and in testing, one plane flew into the ground from a short dive because the stick
Centre stick
A centre stick , or simply control stick is an aircraft cockpit arrangement where the control column is located conventionally in the centre of the cockpit between the pilot's legs...
forces were too high for the pilot to pull out. The Fw design proved to be no better. Both planes were underpowered with their Argus As 410
Argus As 410
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
engines, and very difficult to fly.
The RLM nevertheless felt they should continue with the basic concept. The only real deciding factor between the two designs was that the Henschel was smaller and cheaper. The Focke-Wulf was put on low priority as a backup, and testing continued with the Hs 129 A-0. A series of improvements resulted in the Hs 129 A-1 series, armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon
MG 151 cannon
The MG 151 was a 15 mm autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. It was in 1941 developed into the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon which was widely used on many types of German Luftwaffe fighters, fighter bombers, night fighters, ground attack and even bombers as part of or as...
s and two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
MG 17 machine gun
The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft.- History :...
s, along with the ability to carry four 50 kg (110 lb) bombs under the fuselage midline.
Hs 129 B-1
Even before the A-1s were delivered, the plane was redesigned with the Gnome-Rhône 14MGnome-Rhône 14M
|-See also:* Pratt & Whitney R-1535 a comparable engine sometimes fitted as an alternative to the 14M on French designs-References:* Danel, Raymond and Cuny, Jean. L'aviation française de bombardement et de renseignement 1918-1940 Docavia n°12, Editions Larivière...
radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
, which were captured in some number when France fell
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. This engine supplied 522 kW (700 hp) for takeoff compared to the Argus at 347 kW (465 hp). The Gnome-Rhone radials were also made in versions with opposite rotation for the propeller, and were installed on the Hs 129 with the port engine rotating clockwise and the starboard rotating counterclockwise—as seen from nose-on—thus eliminating engine torque
Torque
Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
problems. The A-1 planes were converted into Hs 129 B-0s for testing (although it has been claimed that some As were sold to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) and the pilots were reportedly much happier. Their main complaint was the view from the canopy, so a single larger windscreen and a new canopy with much better vision were added, resulting in the production model Hs 129 B-1.
B-1s started rolling off the lines in December 1941, but they were delivered at a trickle. In preparation for the new plane, I./SchlG 1
Schlachtgeschwader 1
Schlachtgeschwader 1 was a Luftwaffe ground- attack wing of World War II. The early two Schlachtgeschwader 1 and 2 were abbreviated SchlG, the reformed Stukageschwader in 1943 were abbreviated SG.-History:...
had been formed up in January with Bf 109 E/Bs (fighter-bomber version of Bf 109 E) and Hs 123
Henschel Hs 123
The Henschel Hs 123 was a single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to mid-point of World War II...
s, and they were delivered B-0s and every B-1 that was completed. Still, it wasn't until April that 12 B-1s were delivered and the 4th staffel (squadron) became ready for action. They moved to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
(to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
) in the middle of May 1942, and in June they received a new weapon, the 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 101 cannon
MK 101 cannon
The MK 101 is the designation of a 30 mm autocannon used in German combat aircraft during World War II. Although accurate and powerful, with a high muzzle velocity, it was very heavy, with a low rate of fire, which limited its production....
with armor-piercing ammunition in a midline pod
Gun pod
A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns or automatic cannon and ancillaries, mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns....
.
Hs 129 B-2
Deliveries of the new Hs 129 B-2 model began in May 1942, side-by-side with the B-1 (of which just 50 planes had been delivered at that point). The only difference between the two were changes to the fuel system – a host of other minor changes could be found almost at random on either model. These changes accumulated in the B-2 production line until they could eventually be told apart at a glance; the main differences being the removal of the mast for the radio antenna, the addition of a direction-findingRadio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
radio antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
loop, and shorter exhaust stacks on the engines.
In the field, the differences seemed to be more pronounced. The R-kits were renumbered and some were dropped, and in general, the B-2 planes received the upgraded cannon pack using a 30 mm MK 103 cannon
MK 103 cannon
The Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 103 was a German 30 mm caliber autocannon that was mounted in German combat aircraft during World War II. Intended to be a dual purpose weapon for anti-tank and air-to-air fighting, it was a development of the heavy MK 101. Compared to the MK 101, it was lighter,...
instead of the earlier MK 101. These guns both fired the same ammunition, but the 103 did so at almost twice the rate.
Hs 129 B-3
By late 1942 reports were coming in about the ineffectiveness of the MK 103 against newer versions of the SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s. One obvious solution would be to use the larger Bordkanone BK 37
BK 37
The Bordkanone BK 3,7 was a 37mm anti-tank/bomber autocannon based on the earlier 37 mm Flak 18 made by Rheinmetall. It was mounted on World War II Luftwaffe aircraft such as the anti-tank or bomber-destroyer versions of the Junkers Ju 87D-3 and G-2, Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3, Messerschmitt Bf...
gun, recently adapted from ground-based Flak 18
3.7 cm FlaK 43
The 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 were series of anti-aircraft cannon produced by Nazi Germany, which saw widespread service in the Second World War. The cannon was fully automatic and effective against aircraft flying at altitudes up to 4200 meters. The cannon was produced in both towed and...
. These guns had already been converted into underwing pod-mounted weapons for the Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
and found to be a fearsome weapon. When mounted on the Hs 129, the empty area behind the cockpit could be used for ammunition storage, which would address the only problem with the Ju 87's mounting: a limited ammunition supply.
Few Hs 129s were actually installed with the BK 37 however, and the Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defence company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß. The company has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces...
firm decided to adapt for the aircraft (as had already been done with the heavy-gunned Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
P-1) their semi-automatic loading 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun into a lighter-weight, fully automatic aircraft-mountable version, with a completely different and more aerodynamic muzzle brake to produce the Bordkanone BK 7,5 model. A huge hydraulic
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
system was used to dampen the recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
of the gun, and an autoloader
Autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery...
system with 12 rounds in the magazine was fitted in the large empty space behind the cockpit. This made for an easier design solution due to the PaK 40 already having a semi-automated firing mechanism. The gun and its recoil mechanism occupied a gun pod
Gun pod
A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns or automatic cannon and ancillaries, mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns....
under the fuselage and a hole in the rear end of the pod allowed spent cartridges to be ejected. The resulting system was able to knock out any tank in the world, but the added weight further hindered the already poor performance of the airplane. The Hs 129 B-3 version was a very poor handling aircraft.
B-3s finally started arriving in June 1944, and just 25 were delivered by the time the lines were shut down in September. A small number were also converted from older B-2 models. In the field they proved deadly weapons, but with only 25 aircraft available they had no effect on the war effort.
The 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon installation in the Hs 129B-3 was the heaviest forward-firing "big-gun" installation ever made for a series production military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
, until the introduction of the Fairchild Republic A-10 "Warthog", with its General Electric GAU-8 Avenger
GAU-8 Avenger
The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger is a 30 mm, hydraulically-driven seven-barrel Gatling-type rotary cannon that is mounted on the United States Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. It is among the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannons in the United States military...
seven barrel 30mm caliber anti-tank Gatling
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
cannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
main armament coming in at a total weight of up to 1,830 kg (4,030 lb) with ammunition included.
Hs 129 C
In order to address the poor performance of the aircraft, plans had been underway for some time to fit the plane with newer versions of the ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Isotta-Fraschini Delta
Isotta-Fraschini Delta
-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9*Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
engine that delivered 630 kW (850 hp). The engine installation ran into a number of delays however, and was still not ready for production when the plant was overrun by the Allies in 1945.
Operators
- LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
- Hungarian Air ForceHungarian Air ForceThe Hungarian Air Force is the air force branch of the Hungarian Army.- 1918 to Pre–World War II :Following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, a small air arm was established operating surviving aircraft from Hungarian factories and training schools...
- Romanian Air ForceRomanian Air ForceThe Romanian Air Force is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, four air bases and an air defense brigade...