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 War Prizes. German Jets in Soviet Union |
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From: KavanaghNY (kavanaghny@aol.com) Did the Soviets get any German jet aircraft?
From: gustin@hhipe.uia.ac.be (Emmanuel.Gustin) The Soviets acquired the Ju 287 and DFS 346. Me 262 parts and tools captured by the Red Army were given to Czechoslovakia, that continued production of the Me 262 as the S-92. The Arado Ar 234, Me 262, Me 163 and He 162 were flown by allied pilots --- the Me 163 only unpowered. The USAF had an unit which flew several Me 262s.
From: agretch@aeroweb.lucia.it (Alexei B. Gretchikhine) According to Bombers of Luftwaffe, Ju-287(?) (forward swept wing bomber with six engines: four under wings and two on the fuselage) was evaluated in Soviet Union. At least two more were completed from german parts, captured at the factory and at least one was flown. I believe Ta-183(?) factory was overrun by Red Army as well, and some prototypes of this advanced jet fighter found their way to USSR.
From rec.aviation.military FAQ by Ross Smith
* DFS 346: A 1945 design for an aircraft with two 20 kN Walter rocket engines, swept wings and a prone pilot position. It had an estimated top speed of Mach 2.6 at 30500 m. The incomplete prototype was captured by the USSR and test flown, with one of the interned B-29s as launch aircraft. * Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg: Basically a manned version of the Fi 103 ("V-1") flying bomb (the first cruise missile). In theory, this wasn't a Kamikaze-style suicide weapon, since the pilot was intended to bail out after aiming the aircraft/missile at its target. In practice, this would have presented certain difficulties, since the cockpit was placed directly underneath the jet intake! The engine was the same one used on the V-1, one 2.94 kN As 109-014 pulse-jet. Versions planned were the Fi 103R-I and R-II training gliders, R-III powered trainer, and R-IV operational version. About 175 were built, and a few test flights were made by the R-III, but none flew operationally. Vital statistics (for the V-1; the Fi 103R-IV would have been very similar): length 7.90 m, span 5.30 m, weight 2180 kg, max speed 645 km/h, range 240 km; armament: 850 kg warhead. * Focke-Wulf Ta 183: Single-seat jet fighter powered by one 12.75 kN Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet. Planned versions included the Ta 183A-1 and A-2 fighters, and A-3 photo-reconnaissance version. It was selected for production in January 1945 over the Messerschmitt P-1101; it is not known how far it had progressed by the end of the war, but it is unlikely that any examples flew. Drawings and parts were taken by the Russians, and probably contributed to the design of the MiG-15, which was similar in appearance. Vital statistics (Ta 183A-1): length 9.20 m, span 10.00 m, max weight 4300 kg, max speed 954 km/h, range 722 km; armament: four 15mm or 20mm cannon or two 30mm cannon; 500 kg bomb load. * Henschel Hs 132: A dive bomber powered by a single 7.85 kN BMW 003A-1 turbojet, the Hs 132 was built along the same general lines as the He 162, with the engine mounted dorsally on the fuselage. The unique feature was a prone pilot position, intended to improve G tolerance. The factory was overrun by the Soviet Army shortly before the first flight was planned. Vital statistics: Max speed 700 km/h; armament: one 500 kg bomb. * Junkers Ju 287: A heavy jet bomber, unusual in having forward swept wings. A single prototype flew before the end of the war (a second was completed and flown in Russia after the war). The prototype was built largely from salvaged parts, including an He 177 fuselage, and was powered by four turbojets, one under each wing and one on either side of the nose; planned versions included several different arrangements of two, four, or six engines. * Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow): The first jet fighter to enter service with any country. First flight, 4 April 1941; service entry, 30 June 1944. The Me 262 was much faster and more heavily armed than the contemporary Gloster Meteor, and could have had a much greater effect on the war than it actually did if it had been produced in larger numbers in time. The story that delays were caused by Hitler's insistence that the promising fighter be used only as a bomber appears to be a myth. The Me 262 was designed as a versatile fighter-bomber from the start; delays were mainly caused by the difficulty of manufacturing the engines in large enough quantities in the face of materials shortages caused by Allied bombing (the service life of an engine was only about 20 hours!). The Me 262 was also the first aircraft in service with swept wings, although this came about by accident -- a redesign of the fuselage happened to move the centre of gravity further back than had originally been intended (an early design had the engines mounted in the wing roots), and the wings were angled slightly back to compensate; it was only later that it was discovered that this had fortuitously improved the aerodynamics. Not quite enough, though; transonic aerodynamics were not considered in the design, and the Me 262 became effectively uncontrollable in a shallow dive, some pilots having to jettison the canopy to recover from spins! Variants to see service were the Me 262A-1a fighter, A-2a fighter-bomber, B-1a two-seat trainer, and B-1a/U1 radar-equipped night fighter, all powered by two 8.83 kN Junkers Jumo 004B turbojets. Although 1433 Me 262s had been delivered by VE day, shortage of fuel (and pilots) meant that only about 100 of them ever saw active service. Plans included the Me 262B-2a night fighter with enlarged fuselage carrying more fuel and SchrŠge Musik upward-firing cannon, and Me 262C with rocket boosters (a few prototypes flew before the war ended). Vital statistics (Me 262A-1a): length 10.60 m, span 12.50 m, empty weight 4000 kg, max weight 7045 kg, max speed 870 km/h, range 1050 km; armament: four 30mm cannon. * Messerschmitt P-1101: Jet fighter powered by one Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet, mounted in the lower forward fuselage and fed by a nose inlet, in a design similar to the post-war Yak-17 or Saab 29. The unique feature was the variable geometry wings, the first time "swing wings" had been tried on an aircraft. Only one prototype was completed before the P-1101 was cancelled in favour of the Focke-Wulf Ta 183; it was never flown during the war, but was taken back to the US and fitted with an Allison J35 turbojet. Unfortunately it was damaged in the only attempt to take off. The Bell X-5 was based on the P-1101's design, and was successfully used to investigate variable sweep. The P-1101 prototype (like the X-5) lacked true variable geometry; the sweep angle could only be adjusted on the ground, and could not be varied in flight. The cancelled production version would have had true variable sweep. A few other projects are worthy of note. The A4b was a winged A4 ("V-2") rocket, with a gliding trajectory giving it a range of 750 km, compared to the A4's 33 km. It was test flown in 1945 but never used in the war. A winged rocket was reported to reach 4340 km/h (Mach 4.1), although it isn't clear whether this was the A4b or A10. The A9/A10 was a planned two-stage missile; the first stage (A9) was basically a scaled-up V-2, while the second stage (A10) was a winged skip-glide re-entry vehicle, based on the A4b, that could have carried a massive warhead (I don't know exactly how massive) to the United States. Prototype versions of the two components were tested separately, but not together. There were also plans for a manned version. [Most of the above is from Bill Gunston's _Encyclopedia of the World's Combat Aircraft_ and Kenneth Munson's _German War Birds_; also thanks to Steve Malikoff for further information on the Lippisch deltas, and Emmanuel Gustin and Bernd Felsche for much additional information]
From: makki@cix.compulink.co.uk (David Jackson) The germans had many jet designs both as prototypes and in service to put a figure to that would be hard but i will try:
Sources: War Prizes by Butler. |
