Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

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ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II proposal over Krupp’s. The 10.5-cm Flak 38/39 fired a 33.2- pound shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,885 fps to an effective ceiling of 31,000 feet. In 1936, Rheinmetall also won a contract for a 12.8-cm gun designated as the 12.8-cm Flak 40 (fig. 17). It fired a 57.2-pound shell at 2,890 fps to a maximum ceiling of 35,000 feet. Compared with the 88 mm gun, the 128 mm gun used a powder charge four times as great and which resulted in a shell flight time only one-third as long. In late 1944, there were 116 105 mm flak guns mounted on railroad mounts, 827 on fixed mounts, and 1,025 on mobile mounts. For increased mobility, the Germans mounted about 5 percent of their 105 mm and 128 mm flak guns on railroad cars. Germany’s best flak gunners, who were correctly considered the cream of the flak arm, manned these potent guns (fig. 18). 54 In the early years of the war (1939–41), flak protected German troops from the few Allied aircraft that the Luftwaffe had not destroyed and supported the advancing armies as an antitank and direct support weapon. In the Western European campaign of 1940, flak units claimed 854 of 2,379 aircraft destroyed and over 300 armored vehicles. By October 1941, the German flak units credited their gunners with destroying 5,381 aircraft and 1,930 armored vehicles. One important German flak victory occurred during the evacuation of Axis forces from Sicily over the Strait of Messina in August 1943. Despite Allied air and sea superiority, almost 40,000 German and 62,000 Italian troops—and even their rear guard—got to the mainland with much of their equipment, including nearly 10,000 vehicles. Allied preoccupation with the upcoming Italian invasion and completion of the conquest of Sicily as well as the Axis employment of 500 heavy and light flak pieces helped to account for this Axis success. 55 The Messina evacuation was as much an Axis accomplishment as it was an Allied failure. During the early years, German home defenses faced light opposition as the British night raiders were few in number, ill equipped, and poorly trained (a bomber could rarely find its target, much less destroy it). But British airmen began to strike telling blows as dramatically seen in the first RAF raid of 1,000 bombers on Cologne in May 1942. Shortly afterwards, 28
Figure 17. German 128 mm AAA gun. The 128 mm gun was the most powerful antiaircraft gun the Germans put into service during the war. By the end of 1944, they had deployed about 2,000. (Reprinted from Imperial War Museum.)
Page 2 and 3: Report Documentation Page Form Appr
Page 4 and 5: Air University Library Cataloging D
Page 6 and 7: Contents Chapter Page DISCLAIMER .
Page 8 and 9: CONTENTS Chapter Page 7 BALLISTIC M
Page 10 and 11: CONTENTS Figure Page 30 George Pred
Page 12 and 13: CONTENTS Figure Page 70 Blowpipe .
Page 14 and 15: Foreword Dr. Kenneth Werrell’s hi
Page 16 and 17: About the Author Dr. Kenneth P. Wer
Page 18 and 19: PREFACE excluded from the original
Page 20 and 21: PREFACE always been a factor in air
Page 22 and 23: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Artillery Institute
Page 24 and 25: ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD
Page 34 and 35: Figure 7. British 40 mm light antia
Page 92 and 93: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES American air
Page 94 and 95: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES company deliv
Page 96 and 97: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES (discussed la
Page 98 and 99: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES flak rockets
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES 1953, the rat
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES to 1,285 in J
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 40. Ar
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES cember 1958,
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Figure 42. Nike Hercules. The Nike
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Airmen test-f
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Bomarc failed
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Despite knowl
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 47. Ha
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Army decided
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES The third fam
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES with both les
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES that fired ov
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 53. Br
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES The two-decad
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES A. H. Peterso
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES “SAMs Spur
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Chapter 3 Airmen versus Guerrillas:
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS the next y
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS war with t
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS Figure 56.
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS firings fr
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS and Navy c
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS American A
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS but modifi
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS In all, du
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS least an e
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS War Vietna
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS D.C.: Depa
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS 97, 121; a
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Chapter 4 Operations between Vietna
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OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE
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Chapter 5 Ballistic Missile Defense
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Army cons
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Figure 80
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Figure 81. Spartan launch. The Spar
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE a limited
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE these wer
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE ment to c
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE developin
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Radar Int
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE when the
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE casualtie
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE fluential
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE missiles
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE psycholog
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 6. Army O
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE April 196
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 54. Reiss
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 74. GWAPS
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Chapter 6 Ground-Based Air Defense
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GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENSE SINCE 1990
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Chapter 7 Ballistic Missile Defense
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN THE 19
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Figure 96. Arrow launch.The Arrow i
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Chapter 8 Summary, Trends, and Conc
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS ev
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS te
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS EC
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Index A-1, 128, 227-28, 232 A-4, 12
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INDEX Convair, 98 Crotale, 158 D-da
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INDEX Gulf of Tonkin incident, 115
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INDEX Remagen, 24, 57, 270 RF-4C, 1
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INDEX SAM, 34, 74, 81-82, 84, 87, 9
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Archie to SAM A Short Operational H
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