What If?

[Metal Alloy Man]

What do you think would have happened if the Horton Ho 9 had entered service during WW2?

 

[Commodore Nate]

Well there comes the problem of fuel, armaments, airspace, etc.
Likely it would have done one mission and scared the pants off of the allies or been ignored.

Now, if we assume that it actually does something...
It was designed to go over the pond and hit the US, so it's likely that sporadic US raids would be common. If you factor nukes into it (and assume Germany was able to somehow get one off the ground), then nuking NYC or something is plausible.

 

[Metal Alloy Man]

How about these two?

I mean I know they were way ahead of their time but still, they're pretty awesome.

 

[Disenfrancised]

What do you think would have happened if the Horton Ho 9 had entered service during

The allies would have had a good laugh when it tips over/catches fire ? Effective flying wing designs need a great deal of control mechanisms to remain stable, and that takes automation that was at least a decade beyond the German capacities.

 

[Lord Civius]

There used to be a series on the History Channel called What If? It was great and it went into all kinds of plausable events like Hitler getting a nuke first. It would have been devastating and could have ushered in the 3rd Reich, but like they say IF my Aunt had balls she'd be my uncle .

 

[ByzantinePerson]

I can't help but reply. This is my favorite plane.

I think it wouldn't have made a difference. By the time it would've been ready to enter action, it would be to late. Like the Me 262 or He 162.

 

[say1988]

IF Germany could make it reliable, then mass produce, fuel, and arm it. Best case scenario they regularly bomb US cities, to the sole effect antagonizing the US people (casualties and lost production will be insignificant compared to what is available). There was way to much industry spread throughout the continent to even contemplate that having an effect. Sure there might be some initial panic, but WWII proved terror bombing can not win you a war, not to mention that defenses will be developed.

IF Germany could produce nukes, then it wouldn't matter since peace will likely be achieved with blasting the UK to hell.

 

[privatehudson]

The chances of these planes being put into production given Germany's state at the time were miniscule. Even if they were produced simple maths shows us that even if the 40 ordered were used in one raid they still would only manage to drop 40,000kg of explosives. About 6 Lancasters could carry nearly as much when fully loaded.

Only Hitler or Goering could possibly believe that these "wonder weapons" could suceed where the entire might of Bomber Command (significantly more than 6 Lancasters) had failed and collapse a nation's morale.

I would agree that dropping a nuke on the USA was impractical, especially using this flying wing. Early nukes like the ones used at Hiroshima or Nagasaki weighed around 4000kg, well more than this plane could handle. You then have the problem that its still unclear as to whether the Nazis ever did develop a nuke or not.

Like most other Nazi "wonder weapons" the wonder is that anyone thought that investing the time and resources in such a concept would be better than producing more tried and tested machines that they could rely on.