Schwerer Gustav

Schwerer Gustav (black) compared to an OTR-21 TochkaSRBM launcher (red) with human figures for scale.

Hello, this blog will be taking a trip into WWII and one of my favorite parts of that time.  The experimental Nazi weaponry. More precisely experimental artillery. The Schwerer Gustav, my new favorite artillery piece. It was the largest-calibre rifled weapon ever used in combat, the heaviest mobile artillery piece ever built in terms of overall weight, and fired the heaviest shells of any artillery piece. This thing is a monster designed with the battle of France in mind but was never finished until after that battle was over.

The Schwerer Gustav weighted 1350 tonnes, was 155 ft. 2 in. long with a barrel of 106 ft. 8 in.  And was 38 ft. 1 in. tall. This behemoth fired a 31 inch caliber (800 mm) 1,500 lb. bullet at an effective range of 48 Km. upon impact it exploded causing a 30 ft. wide by 30 ft. deep crater. It could fire these projectiles at a rate of 1 every 30-45 minutes. It was very effective once it got into place.

800 mm shell next to a Soviet T-34-85 tank at the Imperial War Museum, London

The problems were many and the reason there was only 2 built.  The cost in 1941 when it was completed was 7 million Reichsmark which I can’t find a conversion to today’s currency but 7 million anything in 1941 would be a lot now.  The next reason is it took a team of 2,500 to lay track and dig embankments. 2 Flak battalions to protect the gun from air attack.  It was a crazy idea but effective the only other things that could deliver that much firepower were bombers but they took longer to get to the target.  If the reason it failed is not clear the price was ridiculous and you needed a small army to work the thing. But that’s the reason I love it so much. It’s just ridiculous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerer_Gustav

V-3 cannon

Welcome, I will be talking about some WWII experimental artillery again more precisely a super long range artillery piece built by the Nazis. It was called the V-3 cannon (Vergeltungswaffe 3) also known as the Hochdruckpumpe ("High Pressure Pump", HDP for short), which was a code name intended to hide the real purpose of the project.  The V-3 was built with a goal of firing over the English Channel at London all the way from France, however that purpose was never fulfilled due to it being destroyed by allied bombings.

The V-3 cannon 430 ft. in length and was a very particular design. It was a multi chamber weapon. Meaning the cannon had multiple solid fuel rocket boosters all going off at once to use the explosive energy from all of them to launch the 5.9 in. caliber 310 lb. projectile a range of 165 Km. to add to that it had a fire rate of 300 an hour. Compared to other artillery of the era it was quite good except for one little detail.

The problem was the fact that the V-3 had to be built into the ground and could not move after it was built. The elevation could not change making it a hit the target on your first try or someone is getting fired type weapon. This also was bad due to the fact that if the Germans had to retreat they would have either had to disassemble the gun or blow it up so the allies couldn’t get their hands on it.  I personally think that this weapon, had it been operable during the blitz would have been a massive game changer. The Germans would have been able to bomb London without risking the lives or their pilots. Cause damage with 0 risk of casualties on your side. However the fact it had to be built into a stationary position was its downfall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-3_cannon

Armatix Smart system iP1

Hello, this time I will be talking about a more recent firearm design that seems quite interesting. It’s called the Armatix Smart system iP1. The idea is it is a gun that connects to a watch you wear around your wrist and it locks the gun unless you have the watch within 10 inches of the gun and you enter a pin code to unlock it. Think of it as James bonds gun but instead of scanning your fingerprints it connects to a watch. What that technology is supposed to help with is to reduce the number of accidental discharges and keep the gun from being used if stolen.

The Armatix Smart system iP1 is a semi-automatic .22 caliber handgun with a 10 round magazine. Which is great for plinking but it’s supposedly a defence handgun. I’ll get back to that in a minute.  Let’s say your 14 year old son figures out the combination to your bedside safe and grabs a regular gun loads it and maybe shoots a hole in the wall. The iP1 will stop things like this from happening by electronically locking the gun making it impossible to fire. The gun is an amazing idea for that reason… And that reason only.

I don’t think it is a good idea for a defence handgun because of two big reasons. One its .22 caliber. I have nothing against .22’s and wouldn’t want to be shot by one but there are other options out there that are the same size, maybe smaller, that pack more of a punch.  The reason it is .22 is because the recoil of anything more would shake the electronics apart.  Also its strength is its weakness. The fact you need a passcode to operate the gun is good unless you need the gun quickly.  Imagine yourself at night after hearing a bump downstairs. You put the watch on open your safe try to remember your code hopefully punch it in right all while someone is running around your house. It’s a good idea there are just better options out there.  All in all it is a pioneer, and like the first apple computer it has a long way to go before it is a hose hold name. I love the idea but it just needs more work. Next time I talk about a REALY big gun from WWII.

http://www.armatix.de/iP1-Pistol.779.0.html?&L=1