Strange weapons wanted!

Actualy, at first sight, the Fliegerfaust does not look unusual, but it's intended use is a bit strange

 

Quite, I've always wanted a chance to have a go at cocking one. Your memory serves you well, it's also in "Paper Tiger" as well as featuring in Walt Disney's not-so-well-known "Stop That Tank!".

cheers

 

But was it any more ridiculous than the Holman Projector, an unguided anti-air HAND GRENADE launcher? Which allegedly (I'm taking this with a very large pinch of salt) was useful! It could also fire beer bottles and so on...

To be fair, the (giant, almost-impossible-to-cock, hazardous) spring was actually the firing pin/inside-out-barrel of a spigot mortar. Compared to its predecessor the Blacker Bombard it was almost mainstream. That in turn came from the same organisation that came up with the Sticky Bomb, a glue-covered glass ball full of Nitroglycerin paste. What could be more convenient in a stressful combat situation than a fragile container of highly volatile explosive with a five-second fuse and covered in contact adhesive?

I also recently came across the Lagonda flamethrower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - an anti-aircraft flamethrower! Truly bonkers. British, of course.

 

The Mistel deserves a place in this thread.

 

What about the pneumatic mortars used by the French and the Austro Hungarians at least.


edit, sorry these were ww i

Aglooka

 

The Liberator surely deserves "honorable mention".

See:

The Other Side of Kim - GGPs

As does the Navy’s "glove gun":

U.S. Naval Gun Factory Glove Pistol MK1, 9x20mmR (.38 S&W), USA, 1944 (Holdout +3)

Developed by U.S. Naval Intelligence, this weapon consisted of a heavy leather glove with a small metal plate riveted to the back of the hand. This mounted a very short barrel loaded with a single round and a striker assembly, which protruded slightly when the hand was balled into a fist. The weapon was to be used in hand-to-hand combat. The user was to strike the target with his fist, thus firing the bullet point-blank into whatever body part he had hit. Of course, the Glove Pistol's use was highly questionable, and it is unlikely that it was ever used in action.

See:

Pyramid: Secret Weapons in GURPS

Many weird and weirder things were considered in WW2.

 

Will,

Great website! This is the one I would have wanted to see in action... yeah right.

View attachment 6725

For all you Call of Duty World at War fans, this guy could be compared to the ray gun... hehe.

Mark

 

How about the extremely dangerous (to the pilot) Bachem Ba 349 Natter -

The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Adder) was a World War II era German experimental point-defense rocket-powered interceptor aircraft which was to be used in a very similar way as unmanned surface-to-air missiles. After vertical takeoff which eliminated the need for airfields, the majority of the flight to the bombers was radio controlled from the ground. The primary mission of the (inexperienced) pilot was to aim the aircraft at its target bomber and fire its armament of rockets. The pilot and the main rocket engine should then land under separate parachutes, while the wooden fuselage was disposable. The only manned test flight, on 1 March 1945, ended with test pilot being killed.
​

Bachem Ba 349 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bachem Ba 349 Natter: WWII Photos
Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Viper) - History, Specifications and Pictures

 

Not a weapon in the real sense , but the Germans had the "ice mine" . Basically a bottle filled with explosives and primed from distance with an electric cable. It was intended to be buried in the ice of frozen rivers and be blown up when the enemy tried to cross the frozen river.


edited for spelling

Aglooka

 

Take another look. There are at least two launchers. The second is to the right of the center launcher. I've seen a larger version of this pic and believe there is another one.

 

Thanks alot guys!!

 

lol, MP-45 looks very semi-modern in that link.

 

I was checking out that site, and you know what, it is strange that some of those weapons are that simple, and it would have taken months of time and the greatest scientists to come up with most of it. lol

 

I personaly think the multi-turreted tank is cool

 

That weapon has been on the market for several years in the US. IIRC it is chambered in .30 carbine(!), not 7.92x33. The seller won't allow an inspection prior to purchase. Oh yeah, asking price is $100k!

I take it you are referring to late war designs? In most cases you are correct. The German Armament Office established guidelines for any new weapon to be considered for adoption. It was called the 50% solution. The new design had to be 50% quicker and cheaper to produce than the weapon it was meant to replace. Not an easy task for the novice gun designer. Sheet metal weapons and roller-locked bolts were still in their infancy and required mathematicians and engineers to prove a viable design prior to a single prototype being made.
PS don't forget soldier-proofing.


ADDED
I searched my old HD and found a pic from the last known ad. The IRS (now ATFE) Form lists the caliber as 7.92x33. I believe the general consensus was that it is chambered for a round similar to the .30 carbine.

 

I am about to make your day

Strange Weapon of the Week

I write about a new strange weapon every day, ranging from WWII (where most of the stranger ones come from) to 15th century Korean weapons ( I just finished writing about the Hwacha)

 

A few German oddities you might not have heard about:

The S Bo 53 Seilbombe ("cable bomb"). Designed for dropping against high tension power lines

Winterballon and Summerballon: Two mines / bombs designed to attack hydroelectric power plants during their respectively named seasons. The Winterballon was an SC 1000 bomb with a special float arrangement using a CO2 filled balloon on the back to allow it to break the ice of a lake or river when dropped and then float under the ice up to the plant. A special cable cutting device was installed to allow it to avoid any net or cable that might be in place to prevent such weapons from getting to the plant.
Summerballon was designed similarly but had less bouyancy and was to move along the bottom of a lake or river with the current and attack the plant by being drawn into the turbines.
Both proved failures in testing as they generally went straight to the bottom of the lake or river and got stuck in the mud.

 

I'm actually going to be writing about the Liberator pistol for my next post. Those sure have an interesting history behind them.

 

Here's a bunch of strange weapons, mostly armoured, from 1900-1960.

 

View attachment 16118

nothing beats this odd contraptionIGEON guided missile, the idea was to project an image over a crosshair, and the pigeon would peck four levers(up down left right) to keep the target centre... you may think that this was doomed to failue in training well it wasnt, as a matter of fact our flying friends were very accurate and the US army commissioned several of these weapons, however they never took off since what ever the chiefs of staff had been taking had worn off and they realised using electronics would be alot easier