Rottkapchen air-air missile

[lippischh]

Since this source hasn't exactly been the most credible. I'm putting this topic in Speculative Projects as caution.

From "Oltre il Cielo 1958 09"

Crude translation from Google Translate :

In the autumn 1944 in the plant Wasag in Rheinsdorf near Wittenberg, in Westphalia, where 7,000 technicians and workers were working on developing new solid propellants, the prof. Oberth directed work on a powered counter-aircraft rocket from explosives. Such a rocket, if he could to reach the phase of employment in the war operations, could have assured to the German air force a relative superiority, however such as to be able to influence on the outcome of the biggest air battles. The huge formations of escorted allied bombers and, the scarcity of airplanes from hunting of the Germanic defense, had, in especially after the success of the Lufiwaffe at Schweinfurth with the launch of little ones rockets against the American bombers, encouraged the tactics of breaking the opposing formations from a cautionary distance.

Many projects flourished and a vast one range of counter-aircraft missiles was being prepared for short distance action; among these the "Rotkappchen", Little Red Riding Hood, for action against large aliquots of aircraft; in this case the effect of its explosion would have been terrible, causing a real emptiness in the enemy formations.

The "Rotkappchen" presented itself as a small monoplane plane carrying a considerable charge on the ogive explosive; in the central part were installed gyroscopes for stability and the radio guide apparatus and at the rear the charge. propellant in the form of nitroglycerin sticks, in number of 24. joined in groups of three, which were discharged through eight nozzles divergent. Half wings were composed of five ribs each, from a main spar and an auxiliary bearing the ailerons; the fuselage had the shell structure.

The rocket was to be carried in flight hanging under the fuselage of hunting twin-engine and unhooked at a distance ranging from five to eight kilometers and at a slightly higher altitude than that of the raiders; as soon as the rockets were automatically unhooked, the explosions could explode with an electric detonator or with a proximity spool.

An experiment on the ground was carried out against a dozen enemy bombers captured and arranged in formation of flight in a polygon: the rocket unhooked from an aircraft he flew on the planes exploding and destroying them all by violence of the outbreak

Dimensions: wingspan 3.80 m
length m 4.90 weight kg 720 - weight
explosive 250 kg km 830 km.

(author's description)

 

[Grzesio]

Very interesting find!
Although the drawing is not accurate for sure, as far as wigspan to fuselage lenght ratio is concerned.
The whole concept, real or not, looks pretty reliable, although the whole missile is big and heavy.
The effectiveness of the warhead seems to be overestimated, though, as the SC 500 RS I rocket, carrying a SC 250 demolition bomb as a warhead, had effective radius of up to 25 m, while it was expected that using 330 kg of nipolit instead would increase the radius to 40-45 m. So I wouldn't believe in destroying 12 bombers with a single missile carrying 250 kg HE (or a 250 kg warhead).

 

[stealthflanker]

Curiously i also found another Rottkapchen but this one is an ATGM. From "Secret Wonder Weapon of German Third Reich : German Missiles (1934-1945)" By Schiffer Publishing.

It does tested for Air to air application according to the description, but. The shape is just too different.

 

[Grzesio]

Yep, the ATGM Rotkaeppchen is well known.
It just has to be admited, that the lower variant in Justo's drawing is actually fictional, as it's just an inaccurate Allied reconstruction made already in 1945, based on partially preserved relics of destroyed missiles.