Wind Cannon

The Wind Cannon, Whirlwind Cannon, or Windkanone, was an unsuccessful anti-aircraft cannon developed in Nazi Germany during World War II. It was one of Adolf Hitler's wonder weapons and aimed to utilise powerful blasts of air to disrupt enemy aircraft. This weapon was developed by Mario Zippermayr but was different from the other vortex cannon he made.

History

During World War II, the idea of novelty anti-aircraft systems was explored by Hitler as the allied bombings of infrastructure were getting more frequent. Military historian Ian V. Hogg described Zippermayr's idea as sounding "like something out of a comic strip"; He also stated that given Germany's desperate situation, ideas that normally "would have been quashed as soon as they appeared" were taken into consideration. The cannon was designed and produced at a factory in Stuttgart. One cannon was deployed to a bridge crossing the River Elbe in 1945, where it was unsuccessful in disrupting enemy aircraft.

Design

The wind cannon generated "slugs" of compressed air using combustion of hydrogen and oxygen inside of a long barrel that was bent at one end. These blasts were intended to destabilise aircraft in flight, making it difficult for them to maintain control and causing them to crash. Researchers believed it could provide a strategic advantage by protecting key infrastructure from aerial attacks without relying on traditional anti-aircraft artillery. The cannon was tested at the Hillersleben gun range, resulting with the cannon breaking a wooden board at a distance of. According to Hogg, the Whirlwind Cannon could break boards at a distance of. Ultimately the gun failed to produce the desired effect on enemy aircraft and the project was abandoned.