German Weapons In Ww2 Essay

In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland essentially starting World War II. The German’s technological advancements before and during the war made them a fierce opponent for the Allied forces. Although many of Germany’s greatest weapons were developed too late to impact the war, they had tremendous influence on the world. In 1940 the Germans realized the need for a semi-automatic rifle to replace the traditional bolt-action rifle. The G41(M) and the G41(W) were developed, but the G41(M) completely failed and the G41(W) proved to be unreliable. Both guns used the “Bang” system in which gases from the bullet were trapped near the muzzle in a ring-shaped cone; this in turn pulled on a long piston that opened the breech and re-loaded the gun. Corrosive salts in the ammunition primers made this system very unreliable. Then the G43 was developed which emulated the Soviet Union’s SVT38. It was easier to mass produce and much more reliable then both G41’s, however it’s late development hindered its impact on the war. German developed many tanks before and during the war and although many were outclassed by allied forces their strategic use of them made them
The Stuka was a dive bombing plane that had many innovative features that made it successful. First were automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings which insured the plane would recover from dive attack even if the pilot blacked out from the extreme acceleration. It also had a fixed undercarriage which allowed it to take off from rugged airstrips close to battles. Finally the planes were equipped with sirens which sound when they attacked to scare their enemies. Another major development during the war was cruise missiles and rocket powered ballistic missiles. These were guided flying bombs with their own jet engine propulsion systems. Being in the early stages of development the cruise missiles were not yet effective by the end of the