National Geographic Channel - The Nazi Stealth Plane that Never Was

Printed on August 27, 2007 National Geographic Channel

The Nazi Stealth Plane that Never Was

By Greg Chapman

June 25, 2009 5:21 PM

Oliver Atlas

Digital Marketing

Hitler's Stealth Fighter Premieres Sunday June 28 2009 at 9p

After seeing Hitler's Stealth Fighter, it brings to mind all the what-ifs associated with the war. The scary thing about World War Two is how many close calls there were, and how these could have swung the war in a drastically different way. The Germans nearly captured most of the British Army in France, but delayed their pursuit and allowed them to escape through Dunkirk. The Battle of Britain hung on a razor's edge until the Germans abandoned their campaign when perhaps victory could have been had. And pivotal battles like Stalingrad were practically coin flips. With this in mind, the Horten-229 stealth fighter is an example of a technology that, if available earlier in the war, might have made a major difference, especially in the Battle of Britain. Even more scary is the potential combination of the stealth plane with atomic weapons, which the Nazis planned to have completed by 1946. It's a really good thing that many physicists who were influential in the creation of America's atomic bomb, including Albert Einstein, were able to escape to America in the 1930s under fear of Nazi oppression.

With that said, I wonder whether the Horten 229 would have been available en-masse in time for it to make a difference (say, 1942) because it was the progress of the war itself that created the necessity for risky new technologies. The Germans entered the war using conventional aircraft and still nearly captured all of Europe, but had to adapt their strategy when Britain weathered the blitz and the US joined the war. It was no longer an option to out-muscle their enemies, they needed to get creative. Thus, they developed the world's first stealth aircraft (Ho-229), rocket-powered interceptor (Me-163), and jet fighter (Me-262). The Me-262 was actually remarkably effective - the most dominant fighter of the war - but by the time it saw action, it was too little, too late. One can only wonder what would have happened if the Germans had perfected the jet engine a few years earlier, but then again, it was the war's course that dictated the need for it and accelerated its development.

The war itself also kicked weapons production into high gear. One must realize that, even though Germany was on the path to war in the 1930s, it wasn't producing anything near the number of weapons in 1939 that it was in 1944. Its industrial production was at its highest late in the conflict, even when Germany's war machine was being bombed round-the-clock. In order to have stealth/jet technologies in place prior to the pivotal Battle of Britain in 1940, Germany would have needed to have accelerated R&D by many years and put them into full-scale production during peacetime. Which, even despite Germany's militarization, would be a tall order.

But who knows, it's all speculation. Hitler's Stealth Fighter does a great job of posing hypotheticals. What if the Nazis had operational stealths and the a-bomb? It's a good thing we never found out.

0 Comments

0 TrackBacks