Fire hedgehog

[IDF_TANKER]

Terminal velocity. Look it up.

Up until an object reaches the terminal velocity it accelerates (when falling down), doesn't it?

[LRPV]

^^^

Yes. Thats how the "terminal" part comes in....

[Hispeed1]

Very interesting...

[Sergei]

I don't really know how useful this system was but with the density of fire like this I guess nobody really cared.

[Para]

The German Comet aircraft was fitted with upward firing rockets. these rockets would be set off by a photo electric cell when the shadow of the B17 went across it. It had recorded a few kills before they gave up using the Comet

[Para]

There was also a Hedgehog weapon on many Royal Navy ships that was used for Anti Submarine work

[LineDoggie]

I'm wondering that unless each PPsh41 has a different angle set to it that the beaten zone would be very narrow and not very useful.

The Ju-88 (A-4) had Podded MG81's set with different angles of fire for strafing ground troops. The Night Fighter Variant used the Schrage Musik MG151/20's set to fire obliquely forwards and upwards.

[orionhawk]

holy crap. this thing reminds me of the B-25J. 12 50-cal M2's in forward-firing fixed mounts for strafing...

[StukaJr]

Wow - that is most interesting... Thanks for the find!

[TR1]

good find, very interesting!

[orionhawk]

Up until an object reaches the terminal velocity it accelerates (when falling down), doesn't it?

Terminal Velocity for most, if not all, bullets is slower than their muzzle velocity.

[davidr]

Wow. Thats pretty overkill

i remember reading that the germans back then installed a similar mechanism on fighters like the 109ers to destroy allied bombers.
dont think it were THAT much guns installed, but it was similar.
the guns faced upwards and were activated through foto-cells.

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%A4ge_Musik for information on upward firing aircraft guns, called "Schrage Musik". It was also used for upward firing rockets, the GO 229 flying wing fighter was fitted with "Schrage Musik" - an upward firing array of rockets, triggered by an aircraft overflying a photo-electric cell in the upper side of the aircraft (Reference "Last Talons of the Eagle" by G Hyland and A Gill)

[MeiJoa]

Terminal Velocity for most, if not all, bullets is slower than their muzzle velocity.

Yes, but still enough to be deadly for most bullets. And veloicity decreases slower with gravity force in direction of firing.

Google "air dropped flechettes"...