The game LUFTWAFFE gives you two types of jets (He162A3 and Me262A1) and one type of rocket (Me163B1) to play around with. This article attempts to examine those and other jets, rockets and propeller-driven planes which Germany might have produced in quantity in late World War II by considering three things: hard data on the planes, when (or if) they could have been produced, and application to conflict simulations (mainly to the game LUFTWAFFE). Three comparable Japanese designs will also be considered.

Rockets

Rocket planes all use as fuel a mixture, primarily, of acids, therefore flying them does not affect the fuel index or the oil supply. Rockets may refuel at the bases of other rockets, but not at other bases. The "Maximum Speed" of a rocket is given as the highest speed it could attain in usual conditions; if launched from a plane at a high altitude, it could reach much higher speeds. "Maximum Range" is how far, after climb to a certain altitude, a plane can go at full power.

Rockets (except for the vertical take-off Ba349B1) travel far horizontally in the initial climb. They can maintain top speed without using power continuously, and they return to base after combat in a very long glide which is faster than the top speed of any propeller-driven plane (due to magnificent gliding configuration, high initial speed, and high altitude.)

Because this long glide is built into the movement factor in a game it is realistic to permit rockets to attack only in the first-halfplus-one of their movement factor (e.a., a Me263A3 with a movement factor of 8 can only attack during the first 5 hexes of that movement). Also, you might require that rockets can fly only if enough chemical centers are unbombed to supply their fuel, at the rate of 20 factors of rocket per chemical center.

Jets

Jets may refuel only at jet bases. They use petroleum fuels, but of a lower grade than those used by propeller driven planes This can be simulated by letting their flights not affect the oil Supply, or (as in FLYING FORTRESS), by counting jets as using half as much fuel as propeller-driven planes.

The armament of any plane except the Ba349B1 may be augmented by the addition of 24 R4M missiles. These may be fired only once per flight (though more missiles may be picked up when a plane is refueling), and they may be used only aqainst bombers which are being also attacked in the usual manner. Use the Air-to-Air Missile Table for the effects of the missiles, then carry out the regular attack. R4M missiles could have been Mass produced sooner than the Me262A1 was.

Any jet or rocket except the Ba349B1 may be equipped with a Jagdfaust, which is a set of 50mm rockets launched by the shadow of an overhead bomber activating a photoelectric cell. Use Column 6 of the Air-to-Air Missile Table. The Jaqdfaust rockets also may be used only once per flight, and a conventional attack may not be made during the same turn as a Jagdfaust attack.

The date I give for when a plane was developed refers to when a prototype of the same or essentially the same type was successfully flown. Note that I regard the Me163A1 as a different plane from the Me163B1.

Once a propeller-driven plane is developed, it can usually be mass-produced immediately at a small conversion cost. Mass production of rockets and jets, however, it is costly and takes time if rockets and jets have never been produced before. There may, however, be unforeseen delays in any production.

Planes of non-strategic materials and construction are built of cheap materials which are not scarce, and what is more important, they can be quickly built by relatively unskilled labor using available factories. Such planes can still be produced when a nation's industry is in a shambles, and their production is not halted by all industrial complexes of one type having been bombed, even if that type is a "critical industry."

Planes of strategic construction and design which are made of wood are not affected by all steel mills being bombed, even if steel is a "critical industry."

Planes of strategic construction take time to produce (from six months to one year.)

THE PLANES

1. Me262A1: This plane is as LUFTWAFFE describes it; rather formidable. William Green in his usually accurate work The Warplanes of the Third Reich, argues that this plane could not have been mass-produced six months earlier than it was, noting that the real problem in 1944 and early 1945 was mass-production of the turbojets. I feel, based mainly on what Speer says on the subject, that if mass production had been attempted seriously in early 1943, by mid-1944 there would have been results. The plane was unofficially called Schwabe (Swallow).

2. Me163B1 Komet: Conventional coverage, as in LUFTWAFFE, seems good.

3 He162A3 Salamander: This was the Volksjager or "People's Fighter" which was to be flown by the entire (sixteen year old) graduating class of the Hitler-jugend (Hitler Youth) in 1945. Actually, skilled pilots experienced great difficulty in flying the plane. Several solid sources have called the Salamander "aerodynamically unsound" and "rather unstable," So I feel that the LUFTWAFFE rating of 6 should be changed to 5. The plane was clearly of non-strategic construction as described above, and it went from first conception to first flight in less than 90 days.

4. Ba349B1 Natter (Adder): This plane is, as you can see, next to worthless (would you believe worthless?). However, it could be built out of what was essentially scrap in a short time (the airframe took only 250 man-hours per plane to make) in small workshops, and it alone could be flown by unskilled pilots. Note: though I give the Natter armament as 33 R4M 55mm rockets, it could also have been 24 Hs27Fohn 77mm rockets (which would have had a similar effect).

5. Do335B1 Pfiel (Arrow), unofficially named Ameisenbar (Anteater): This curiosity had propellers at both ends. But it was completely developed, and was (it is said) very maneuverable.

6. Ta154A1: This two-engined plane was dubbed Moskito after the also-wooden British Mosquito. Most of you won't have use for this plane in a strategic air warfare game , but it would have made a very good night fighter.

7. Go229A, also known as Ho9: The plane was just one 17-meter span wing - no fuselage. I feel that production of this one would have been harder than production of the Me262A1 by a considerable amount.

8. He280A: This was the first jet fighter to fly, and it was fully developed quite early. In March 1943 all work on the He280 was ordered dropped because of duplication with the Me262 and for other reasons. Had the work continued, it is probably that a zerstorer (Destroyer) model would have been produced, which I dub the He280C. which would have had a movement factor of 9, and an armament of three 30mm cannon (use the MeI10 CRT) or more. The He28OB1 model which was being proposed in early 1943 as fighter- bomber was planned to have a top speed of slightly higher than that of the Me262, and it was just a slight modification of the He280A (the power plants were to be changed to the Juno 004's which Me262's were to use).

9. Me263A3, also known as Ju248: This plane was a definite improvement over the Me163B1 in terms of endurance and overall design.

10. Me163A1: This plane was of an entirely different design from the Me163B1, though in performance it was similar (only a little inferior). Production of the A model could have occurred long before B mode; production was possible.

11. J8M1 (navy designation) or Ki-200 (army variant) Shusui (Swinging Sword): a Japanese design basically copied from the Me163B, built by Mitsubishi.

12. Ki-201 Karyu (Fire Dragon): a Japanese army plane based on the Me262, but larger; built by Nakajima.

13. J7W1 Shinden (Magnificent Lightning): a Japanese navy fighter of canard configuration (i.e., the propeller was in black); built by Kyushu.

Japanese industry was so devastated by 1945 that the problem was producinq one prototype, much less mass production. However, the Japanese were an expert people at copying, and they did (interservice rivalries excepted) make a rational attempt at conversion to rockets. The strategic situation of Japan being what it was (i.e., American bombers usually had to come from farther away than in the European air war), a few good rocket and/or jet units would have been of great aid, if introduced early enough. Even Me163A1's, if introduced in late 1943, would have helped.

CLOSING NOTES ON R4M MISSILES

The C.R.T. I gave for these missiles seems not too far off of what the Me262A1 could have done (and did do) with them. However, the Me109G could have done far less with them.

Why?

Because the Me262A1 came in and fired its rockets quickly, causing maximum havoc.

Because the missiles weren't primarily bomber- killers; they were formation-busters. Even if a Me109G would bust up a formation, it lacked the speed to exploit the situation, and, of course, did not have four 30mm cannons.

In FLYING FORTRESS, a plane armed with R4M missiles has its combat factor against bombers doubled. Of course, the Natter would renuire a special CRT, but then again, who needs the Natter?

Bibliography

William Green's Warplanes of the Third Reich (1970) is clearly the book for data on the planes of the Luftwaffe. Several of the Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II books were consulted, including Rocket Fighter by William Green and Japan: The Final Agony by Alvin Coox. Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich, Adolf Galland's The First and the Last, and Cajus Bekker's The Luftwaffe War Diaries are all recommended.