If Hitler had developed nuclear weaponry, what would have been the target?

Pretending for a moment that the Nazi scientists had managed to develop and manufacture nuclear weapons, what would have been Germany's target?

I think it would have been London. If the Germans had managed to take England it would have removed most, if not all, of the opposition in Western Europe. I believe Spain would have been unwilling to allow American forces to base there. Portugal, while on the European mainland, would have been too much of an inconvenient target to be of any strategic effect. Germany would therefore be able to commit a large part of its forces from Western Europe to the African and Russian campaigns.

 

He would have dropped it on the search function. Right here:

http://www.ww2forums.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000212

 

London, Moscow, Stalingrad, Leningrad. Mostly non-military targets.

 

The more interesting question is how do they get it there? See the previous thread mentioned....

 

Your point about the delivery system is well taken. It was a tremendous load for airframes of the time. The development of the B-29 was what allowed the Americans to deliver their weapons and even that plane required special handling and modification.

I think that the German's best chance at a delivery method would be to design the weapon from the start to be an integral part of the airframe that delivered the weapon. It would be a suicide mission for the crew or the plane would be flown remotely by another chaser plane after the pilot who flew it part way bailed out. By making it part of the plane some weight would be eliminated and the pieces would be smaller as they were added, thus eliminating the need to modify the plane like they had to do with the B-29. I would have to defer to some of the more knowledgeable here to find out what airframes would handle such an idea.

Targets, lets see. After June 6, 1944 there would be a few military choices available with American troops. The British centers of population would be tempting and close, but the chance of a successful penetration of the air defences is pretty low. I think I would have to agree that the Russians would be the lucky recipients of a German nuclear weapon. If Hitler thought that he could catch Stalin somewhere that would be the place, otherwise Moscow or Stalingrad.

 

I read from somewhere that Stalin never left Moscow throughout the entire war, not very sure whether this is true or not.

if this is true, moscow would certainly be the target of the first atomic bomb.

 

If the pilot bailed out, then he would have to bail out relatively close to the target to ensure some degree of accuracy and when he did, wouldn't he be caught (or killed from the blast)? Unless, of course, there was an established system by the Germans to evacuate their surviving pilots.

 

The Germans had a system of remote controls that allowed them to guide some of their early missiles from the launching plane. It was not very successful but it proves they had the technology to remotely fly a plane after takeoff. My idea was to have the pilot of the bomb carrying plane take the plane off and to bail out before crossing the line into enemy territory. The closer to the target the better, but still able to be revcovered by his own troops.

 

Do you not think that the V2 could have been used? Accuracy was within limits for a nuke.

 

A V2 could have done the job. But since the V2 flies in a straight direction, could be easy to shoot it down before it reaches it's target.

 

V2 actually flies up and then straight down. Do not recall of any that were shot down. The V1 buzz bomb was in essence a pilotless flying bomb. That one was actually shot down. I believe over 400 were shot down heading towards London. The V2 was the forefather of today's missiles.

http://www.v2rocket.com/start/others/science.html

 

The accuracy was within limits but the payload, while adequate for the MIRV warheads of today, is not up to either the volume or weight of 1940s atomic weapons.

 

Good point. What aircraft would have been ideal for delivery?

 

In the previous forum Blazkowicz mentioned TA said this;

I have to admit that I don't know what a Mistel is, I will have to look that up.

 

Aah! You're in for a treat. Look up aircraft assigned to KG200.

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/mistral.html

 

Thanks for the link Pzjgr. That is cool and looks like it would do the job as long as the Luftwaffe could keep air supremacy in the vacinity.

 

The V-2 was not at all suitable for the job. It could carry a load of some 1.000 kg, versus the 4.000+ kg of any atomic device. Also, we must remember the seccurity problems, the potential mechanical failures, etcetera, etcetera.

After reading the book Enola Gay I realised how many, many, many things had to be considered and taken into account before dropping the bomb. The secrecy, the training, the strategy, the policy, the technology…!

Let's just mention that the B-29 was a plane far more advanced than anything the Germans produced. And even so, it had to be re-fitted to make it more efficient, reliable and adaptable.

 

Oops, i got confused with v1 & v2. sorry abotu that.

 

Machts Nicht!

 

Probably Moscow, put it in a "Maus" and drive it there.