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Info Eduard - July 2010
The increasing allied bomber offensive against
Germany and the occupied countries during 1943-44,
prompted the Luftwaffe to search for ways of stopping the
four engined menace of the USAAF, that were gaining
a distressing amount of impunity in German airspace.
The impact on German industry, and unfortunately the
civil population, was catastrophic. Besides relying on
antiaircraft artillery, the brunt of the workload of defending
strategic centres fell on units integrated into the Defense
of the Reich.
One of the problems that the Luftwaffe faced in dealing
with this situation, besides escorts of Thunderbolts,
Lightnings and later, Mustangs, was the effectiveness
of concentrated defensive fire from the bomber gunners
from within their box formations.
It was evident to the German fighters early on that
the best way to combat the bombers was to break
up the formations into more vulnerable components,
damage individual bombers enough to keep them from
maintaining formation, and to dispatch them one at a time.
Many tactics were developed, which, however, attained
varying degrees of success. One solution that was tried
was the use of heavy twin engined fighters, such as the
Bf 110, Me 410 and Ju 88, equipped with heavy armament
effective against bomber formations. These aircraft were,
however, slow and often became victims of the defensive
fire from the bombers or their escort fighters. Another
solution was to use jet fighters, but their development
and quantity production were still distant.
Attention was then turned to the development
of tactics utilizing single engined fighters capable
of carrying sufficient firepower. This entity was
characteristically called ‘Sturm’, likely short for ‘Sturm-
angriff’ (storm, gale, or assault), which lead to the appro-
priate names of ‘Sturmbock’ (for the aircraft), Sturmjäger
(pilot), and ‘Sturmstaffel’ and ‘Sturmgruppe’ (for units).
The idea behind this tactic was to attack in groups
using modified aircraft against bomber formations at very
close range, during which concentrated firepower would
either bring individual bombers down, or at least damage
them to the extent that they lag behind the protective fire
of the combat box. Such an Fw 190 was to be developed
by way of the field modification known as R2, and the
model on which it was found most often was the A-8.
STURMBOCK: Panzerglass, Panzerplatte
and the Whites of the Tail Gunner’s Eyes
(A journey through the history and technical
oddities of the Fw 190A-8/R2)
Jan Zdiarský
So, what then was an ‘R2’?
Modifications identifying the ‘Sturm’ version of the
Fw 190A-8 involved first and foremost the installation of
more powerful weaponry, and an increase in pilot protec-
tion features for raising survivability during penetration
of box formations and their concentrated defensive fire.
The main modification involved the armament.
The standard Fw 190A-8 mounted two MG 131 machine
guns, and two MG 151/20 cannon in each wing. In the
R2 mod, the 20mm MG 151s were replaced with MK
108 30mm cannon in the inboard wing position. The
question of the MG 131 13mm fuselage guns mounted
above the engine in the Sturmbock is a debatable
one. Although technical documentation suggests their
installation, it appears that they were removed. This is
supported by photographic evidence, pilot memoirs, and
current examination of crash sites of several Sturmbocks.
The likely reason for the removal of these guns was in
an attempt to lighten the aircraft of weapons that, in the
given role, were virtually ineffective.
The method of combat and the tactics developed for
the Sturm attacks led to another important modification to
the aircraft. Use of the 30mm cannon with high explosive
shells (and consequently a low number of rounds carried)
required engaging the target at minimal distances
and exposing the aircraft and its pilot to concentrated
defensive fire. This precipitated the need for add-on
armor plating to improve survivability. In the R2, this was
5mm plating on the sides of the cockpit, 30mm armor
glass on the sides of the canopy, and (often neglected
by manufacturers and modelers alike) 30mm triangular
glass sections on the side portions of the windscreen.
Modifications to the interior, and thereby less obvious,
included the addition of 4mm and 15mm armor plates in
front of the instrument panel, and a 20mm strip in front of,
4mm strip above and 4mm below the ammunition box for
the 30mm cannon in the wings. The armor for the oil tank,
oil cooler, and the pilot back and head rests remained
the same as for the standard A-8 (partially uprated in the
A-8/R8 which, on the other hand, lacked other compo-
nents typical of the R2).
Fw 190A-8/R2 of one of the best known Sturmjäger, Hptm. Wilhelm
Moritz, Gruppenkommndeur IV.(Sturm)/JG 3, from the fall of 1944.
Eduard kit Cat.No. 8428 Fw 190A-8/R2 as a Weekend Edition
released in July, 2010 carries one of the earlier markings of this
pilot.
(J. Zdiarský, P. Štěpánek)
HISTORY
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