Secret Air Force projects
The Natter Bachem Ba 349 – Hitler’s suicide interceptor
Illustration of a combat mission – in reality there was only one tragic start
© PR
The Nazis wanted to use the fighter emergency program to drive away the Allied bombers. The craziest project was the “Natter” – a suicide plane made of plywood and riddled with rockets. The Natter didn’t shoot down a single bomber, but it made it into the history of space travel.
Towards the end of the Second World War, more and more “future projects” were being worked on in Germany. From defense missiles to stratospheric bombers to 200-ton tanks. These projects had little chance of ever being built. The designers often only pursued these visions to protect their employees from being deployed to the front. But there were even flyable prototypes of the Bachem Ba 349 – better known as the Natter – so the interceptor was well past the planning stage. The project ended with the first flight of a manned rocket.
Conceptually, the Natter was a type of manned and armed rocket. Designed solely for the purpose of intercepting Allied bombers. A similar model already existed. The Me 163 Comet. It was also powered by a rocket engine. This allowed the 163 to climb faster than any conventional aircraft, reaching and exceeding the bomber’s altitude in just a few minutes. Then the fuel was used up and the plane went into gliding flight in order to attack the bombers.
Like Comet Me 163 on steroids
The adder also followed the same basic concept. However, she wanted to avoid the problems of the Komet and, above all, she had to forego materials that could hardly be obtained in the collapsing empire. So it happened that the Natter had very modern features such as an ejection seat, but was also made of plywood. Similar to the Volksjäger Heinkel He 162, the Natter was intended to be easy to build and in large numbers. Both machines were prioritized in the so-called hunter emergency program.
The design came from Erich Bachem. He had already been involved in the gliding scene before the war and then worked at the Fieseler aircraft factory. But he was far from being one of the first guard of German designers. A renowned aircraft designer would hardly have come up with the idea of a manned interceptor missile. The entire device was only six meters long and was launched vertically upwards from a frame. Because of its short range, it was only suitable for object protection. Four booster rockets helped with the launch, which were later dropped. The device reached 1000 km/h and was able to climb to 14,000 meters. The Natter had no machine guns or cannons. Her entire nose consisted of an unguided rocket launcher. It could carry either 33 55mm R4M “Orkan” rockets or 24 73mm RZ 73 rockets. This meant she could deliver a powerful blow to a group of bombers.
The Natter Bachem Ba 349: a plywood hunter
There were several changes compared to the Komet. The booster rockets were simple in construction yet powerful. The Comet should land in a gliding flight. But that was extremely difficult and dangerous even for excellent pilots. Even Hanna Reitsch was seriously injured. The adder, on the other hand, was a wear hunter, a disposable weapon. At the apex of the runway, she dropped the boosters and the cap above the rocket nose. Then she started the attack.
Then, once it had lost altitude, the adder was able to float down on a parachute. Now it should split into two parts. The nose with the burned-out rocket starter fell to the ground, the pilot ejected from the now open cockpit and was supposed to float to the ground with his own parachute.
In October 1944 the SS took over the project. Now General Hans Kammler supervised the project, he also managed the production of the V2 rocket and was prepared to sacrifice slave labor for his goals without hesitation.
The pilot Lothar Sieber had an accident during the test start
In fact, unlike the Volksjäger, the Natter was never used. Although 30 machines were built, the first test launch did not take place until March 1, 1945. About two months later, the war in Europe was over. Erich Bachem was against the start, he considered the manned start after just one test run to be premature. But the pilot Lothar Sieber was persuaded. The 23-year-old Sieber was an extraordinarily bold man. He was honored for using a transport plane to pick up German soldiers behind enemy lines. He is said to have been part of several commando operations. But because he drank while on guard duty, he lost his rank.
For the start he was promised that he would be made a lieutenant again. But that didn’t happen: the plane crashed immediately after takeoff, it “flew down to earth at great speed and exploded upon impact,” according to Bachem’s report. Lothar Sieber was killed. There are various theories about the possible cause. Nevertheless, the adder made it into history: the death flight was the first manned rocket launch ever.
Designer later built caravans
In retrospect, the whole concept was absurd and was not pursued by any nation after the war. Even in the Third Reich, unmanned interceptor rockets were used, some of simple designs and some even with remote control. Here the effort was much lower and a much heavier warhead could be launched. Erich Bachem was luckier than Sieber. After the war he fled to Argentina, presumably to avoid being deported to the USA as a rocket specialist. He abandoned the design of weapons and rockets and founded a factory to build guitars. He later returned to Germany and designed mine locomotives. At the same time, he dedicated himself to building camping trailers and even built a mobile home.