ZEPPELIN RAMMER

The Zeppelin Rammer was a WWII German rocket-powered fighter project. The drive was to be provided by a single engine Schmidding 533. The deck armament was to consist of 14 55mm R4M unguided missile launchers. The plane has never been tested, much less entered mass production. At the end of World War II, German airline companies, including the Zeppelin plant, developed many jet and rocket fighter designs that were to be a remedy for the overwhelming advantage of the Western Allies in the air. One of such planes was the Zeppelin Rammer project. The design of this machine first appeared in November 1944. This machine was to achieve a significant maximum speed of about 950 km / h, and its main task was to destroy Allied strategic bombers. A very unusual combat tactic was planned - in the first phase, the Zeppelin Rammer was to fire the bomber with a series of rockets, and then ram its vertical tail! Although such a maneuver was extremely dangerous for the pilot, the Zeppelin Rammer was not considered a suicide weapon, at least officially. However, the project was discontinued in January 1945, as a result of the bombing of the factory where the planes were to be built.