It would be no exaggeration to say that the American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a real thunderstorm and the pride of the US Air Force during the Second World War. However, among our compatriots, few people know that these machines fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the bloodiest conflict in the history of mankind. How did it happen that the aircraft made in the USA were in the service of the Germans?
The Flying Fortress Boeing B-17 has been designed since 1934 as a heavy 4-engine bomber. We assembled cars at the Douglas and Lockheed factories. On the 17th itself, the Americans collected 5,745 units. However, if you count all the models created on its basis, the US aviation industry has produced 12,726 aircraft for the entire time. The Flying Fortresses were used for a very short time from 1934 to 1945. The cost of one such giant was $ 238,329.
The name of the aircraft "Flying Fortress" speaks for itself. A distinctive feature of the bombers was their high structural strength and solid armament. On the one hand, the aircraft was positioned as a bombing machine. On the other hand, first 9 and then 12 M2 Browning heavy machine guns were installed throughout the aircraft to counter enemy fighter aircraft. The bomb load could reach 7.9 tons, although in practice the B-17 was rarely loaded with more than 2.3 tons. At the same time, the speed of the aircraft could reach 400 km / h in cruise mode. The combat radius of the aircraft was 3.2 thousand km, and the service ceiling exceeded 10 km.
The British were the first to use the aircraft back in 1941. They received B-17 aircraft from the Americans as part of the Lend-Lease program. Since 1942, the Americans themselves began to use the vehicle in combat operations, primarily in the European theater of operations. Bombers were used for their intended purpose. With their help, the Allied Air Force carried out raids with the aim of bombing German cities and destroying the industrial potential of Nazi Germany. In the Pacific theater of operations, the Flying Fortress was used until 1943, when it was almost completely replaced by a more advanced model of a heavy bomber.
American planes were also in service with the German Luftwaffe. They got there since 1942, just like any other military equipment of the belligerent parties - as trophies. Ironically, it was the incredible strength of the structure that ultimately played a cruel joke with the B-17. Even after a hard landing, the wrecked plane most often remained in a good, quite maintainable condition. In total, during the war years, the Germans captured about 40 US heavy bombers. They were used mainly for reconnaissance operations, as well as to lure out individual aircraft. Thus, the B-17 "werewolf" portrayed a lagging behind, forcing several other aircraft to also slow down to cover their comrade. As soon as this happened, German fighters appeared and dealt with all the stragglers. True, the Americans quickly figured out this tactic and developed a set of countermeasures.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about for which the Germans nicknamed the Il-2 "concrete plane" in World War II.