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Selbstopfer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Selbstopfer (German for self-sacrifice) was a late-World War II German project, first proposed by Otto Skorzeny, leader of the German commandos, and Hanna Reitsch, the famous test pilot, to develop a "smart weapon" for attacking high-value targets such as bridges and command centers.[1] They suggested modifying V1 Flying Bombs by the addition of manual controls and a tiny cockpit for a pilot.[2]
About 100 pilots, drawn from KG 200 were trained, and about 175 of the modified V-1 (named Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg) were built. Unlike the somewhat similar Japanese Kamikaze Ohka, pilots of the new Fi 103R were intended to bail out just prior to impact, although in reality this would have been difficult because of the cramped cockpit, the sharp angle of the final dive, and the fact that the cockpit was located just below, and immediately forward of, the pulsejet intake.
Tests were carried out by KG 200 on several occasions, in which the Fi 103R was dropped from a modified Heinkel He 111 bomber; Hanna Reitsch herself piloted an unpowered version equipped with a wooden landing skid.[3] The Fieseler Fi 103R was never used in combat. After several accidents, including one where a modified example came apart in mid-air, the program was stopped due to intervention from Baumbach who felt that these missions would be a waste of valuable pilots.[citation needed]
- Leonidas Squadron part of KG 200 formed to fly the bomb
- Fieseler Fi 103 Reichenberg (by Joe Baugher from Aircraft Of The World)
- The 'Aerial Target' and 'Aerial Torpedo' in Germany, Fieseler (The Argus Newspaper, State Library of Victoria).
- U.S. Military Intelligence article on German Kamikazes (June 1946)