Submarines and their Weapons - Aircraft of World War II

Introduction
Before we begin to examine the large and diverse
array of secret weapons produced in Germany
before and during World War II, we should perhaps
define what is meant by the term 'secret'. Most
weapons are developed in secret - or at least, under
conditions of stringent security - whether in times of
peace or war, if only because, as the old adage has it,
forewarned is forearmed. In Germany's case, there
was an added imperative: the Versailles Treaty which,
at the end of World War I, forbade her to develop (and
even to possess) certain categories of weapons, such
as aircraft and tanks. Development programmes for
these weapons had to be carried out in absolute secrecy,
since the ultimate risk (though probably a small
one by the time these development programmes were
under way) was the occupation of Germany by the
victorious Allies. In many cases, up until the moment
that Hitler signalled his intention to revoke the Treaty
unilaterally, the projects were actually based outside
Germany: in Holland, the Soviet Union, Sweden and
in particular Switzerland.
In the strict sense, then, when we address the topic
of German secret weapons of World War II, we are
faced with an enormous task. But the term 'secret
weapons' has a more precise meaning in general use:
it implies something which goes beyond the development
of a piece of more or less mundane equipment
in conditions of secrecy. It implies a genuinely new
concept, something truly out of the ordinary, which
simply could not work without a new understanding
of physical science or chemistry; a new mastery of
technology; or some great leap of creative, imaginative
invention. In the place and at the time in question,
there was certainly no lack of those.
WUNDERWAFFEN
Perhaps the alternative term frequently used in Germany
at the time - Wunderwaffen - comes closer to
defining the true nature of these secret devices, for
they were often truly things of wonder, being either
completely new and hitherto undreamed-of outside a
small select group, or achieving previously unthinkable
levels of performance thanks to breakthrough
innovations in science and technology. Some of them,
it is true, were 'ideas whose time had come', in that
the basic principle was understood, but had not yet
been successfully applied, and in these cases, teams
of scientists and engineers in America, Britain and
Germany (and sometimes elsewhere: there were several
significant advances made by Italy) were engaged
in a headlong race to get the first reliable working version
onto the battlefield. The development of the jet
aircraft and of radar, not to mention the development
of nuclear fission, stand out amongst those. But in
other areas, particularly in rocketry and the invention
and perfection of the all-important guidance systems,
Germany stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Left: The Junkers Ju 287, with its forward-swept wings,
was just one of a number of futuristic designs developed
by German scientists and engineers in World War II.