The Oct 14. 1943 raid on the Schweinfurt FAG and VKF ball bearing plants proved disasterous for the USAAF as 228 B-17s came up against the Luftwaffe Bf 109Gs with cannon AND deadly 210 mm Wfr.Gr 42 unguided rockets. In the battle, 62 bombers were lost outright, 17 more crash-landed in Britain upon return, and 121 were severely damaged! The Bf 109s carried two launch tubes (1 under each wing). The weapon was developed from the Heer's 21cm Nebelwerfer 42 rocket launcher. Range was up to 1800m but the Germans moved to within 800m for the kill on average. Because of the drag penalty and lower speeds, a rotary launcher was developed for the Me-410 (BR-Gerat). When the escort fighters arrived in strength the next year the larger rockets (up to 320mm) were later dropped in favor of smaller size 55mm R4M carried by the Me-262 jet. They were less effective due to numerical superiority of the enemy. Germans planned using FAE bombs but they sat unfilled for whatever reason. Usually, the latter Messers and Fockes carried more 20-30mm cannon installations or field conversions. Some heavy fighters carried huge BK cannons of 50-75mm!!! Small numbers- ineffective. The Luftwaffe received 17,000 launch tubes for the 21cm Wfr.Gr 42!

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