Wind cannon
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2025) |
| Windkanone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Anti-aircraft artillery |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1945 |
| Used by | Germany |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Mario Zippermayr[citation needed] |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 35 ft[citation needed] |
| Diameter | 3 ft[citation needed] |
| Effective firing range | 100–150 m[citation needed] |
| Maximum firing range | 200 m |
| References | [1][2] |
The Wind Cannon, Whirlwind Cannon, or Windkanone (not to be confused with Mario Zippermayr's vortex cannon), was an unsuccessful anti-aircraft cannon developed in Nazi Germany during World War II.[1][2] It was one of Adolf Hitler's wonder weapons and aimed to utilise powerful blasts of air to disrupt enemy aircraft. This weapon was developed by Mario Zippermayr but was different from the other vortex cannon he made.[citation needed]
History
[edit]During World War II, the idea of novelty anti-aircraft systems was explored by Hitler as the allied bombings of infrastructure were getting more frequent. Military historian Ian V. Hogg described Zippermayr's idea as sounding "like something out of a comic strip"; He also stated that given Germany's desperate situation, ideas that normally "would have been quashed as soon as they appeared" were taken into consideration.[3] The cannon was designed and produced at a factory in Stuttgart.[2] One cannon was deployed to a bridge crossing the River Elbe in 1945, where it was unsuccessful in disrupting enemy aircraft.[2][1]
Design
[edit]The wind cannon generated "slugs" of compressed air using combustion of hydrogen and oxygen inside of a long barrel that was bent at one end. These blasts were intended to destabilise aircraft in flight, making it difficult for them to maintain control and causing them to crash.[1][2] Researchers believed it could provide a strategic advantage by protecting key infrastructure from aerial attacks without relying on traditional anti-aircraft artillery. The cannon was tested at the Hillersleben gun range, resulting with the cannon breaking a 25 mm (0.98 in) wooden board at a distance of 200 m (660 ft).[2] According to Hogg, the Whirlwind Cannon could break 100 mm (4 in) boards at a distance of 180 m (200 yd). Ultimately the gun failed to produce the desired effect on enemy aircraft and the project was abandoned.[3]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Hogg, Ian V. (1999). German Secret Weapons of the Second World War: The Missiles, Rockets, Weapons, and New Technology of the Third Reich. London and Mechanicsburg, PA: Greenhill Books and Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-1-85367-325-2.