12/31/2023 0 Comments Scariest medieval weaponsA technique that involved air dropping Jeeps that would descend like an autogyro was embarked upon to solve this problem. Yet getting such a vehicle there in the first place may prove to be an unduly dangerous, or simply insurmountable challenge. Military operations, particularly those behind enemy lines, may benefit greatly from the use of a vehicle suitable for difficult terrain. Jeeps might be a staple of American military transport, but British scientists working in Manchester actually succeeded in getting something as likely as a pig to fly in the bid to develop a new, novel war machine. Huge four-engined Avro Lancaster bombers were used by the Royal Air Force to deliver the flood-making payloads. The strange barrel shape allowed them to skip along the water like a wheel before the explosion. The barrel-shaped devices were spun via a belt apparatus in the aircraft and then released in low level flight, where they would bounce across the water before going off at great expense to the structural integrity of the dam in question. The entire system was very complicated, but the mechanism was based on the behavior of a very simple shape. Defined by great innovation and hazardous bombing runs, the “Dam Busters” combined unique engineering and military aviation skills to drop specially designed bombs that would bounce along the surface of the water before detonating and taking dams with them. Invented by British Engineer Barnes Wallis, the bouncing bomb is known for being used to take out dams in Germany during the Royal Air Force Operation Chastise that was commenced in May 1943, and which would ultimately form some of the most memorable WWII history. What looks like a barrel but can ricochet off water and take out a dam? None other than a bouncing bomb. Worse yet, the falling contraptions could breeze their way back onto the ships that launched them and explode. Once launched, the parachutes and lines were obvious and easy to avoid as they descended. However, the machines were complicated, taking time to launch. The hope was they’d catch hold of enemy aircraft as they slowly descended by parachute. Firing a barrage of rockets from non-rifled (hence the term unrotated) tubes, the machine worked by having the rockets release the mines and cables. Upon reaching a sufficient height the machine would explode, releasing a veritable “flock” of airborne mines attached to cables, to snare enemy aircraft and detonate. As weird as its name sounds, the convoluted machine was intended to be used to deadly effect, but was apparently entirely ineffective against enemy aircraft. But did you know that for a time in WWII, due to a British engineering project, it was at least possible to accidentally fly into an aerial minefield? During WWII, British engineering efforts culminated in the creation of a bizarre weapon intended for the Royal Navy known as the Unrotated-projectile Rocket Launcher. Anti-tank, anti-shipping, and anti-personnel mines are all notorious due to their extreme danger and, especially in the case of anti-personnel mines, ability to inflict grievous harm after the end of hostilities.
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