Ba 349 Natter

The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (English: Colubrid, grass-snake) is a German rocket-powered point-defence interceptor that was developed during the latter portion of the Second World War. The Ba 349 was to be deployed in a very similar way to a manned version of the surface-to-air missiles under development in the Reich. A typical mission profile started with a rapid vertical take-off (the time to altitude being 62 seconds to 12 km (39,000 ft), which eliminated the need for conventional airfields, while the majority of the flight towards Allied bombers was to be controlled by an autopilot, making it feasible to be flown by relatively untrained pilots. The primary role of the pilot was to aim the aircraft at a target bomber and to fire rockets housed in the aircraft's nose cone. After completing their attack run, the pilot would dive their Natter to a lower altitude before, using separate parachutes, the pilot and the fuselage containing the rocket engine would land separately and be recovered. The nose section was disposable, hence the aircraft being classified as being semi-expendible. The Natter was first conceived of during August 1944 as the BP-20 by Erich Bachem amid a pressing military need to counter the Allied strategic bombing offensive being waged against Nazi Germany. While not designed to fulfil the specification for the Emergency Fighter Program, it was designed for the same purpose. Accordingly, the Natter was designed to be constructed by unskilled labourer using low-tech tooling and affordable materials wherever possible, being largely composed of wood. After securing the backing of the Reichsführer-SS, the BP-20 was quickly refined into the Ba 349; the first experimental prototype Natter, Versuchsmuster 1 was completed on 4 October 1944. Several prototypes underwent testing in level flight, towed and free gliding, and unmanned vertical flights. The first and only manned vertical take-off flight, conducted on 1 March 1945 near Stetten am kalten Markt, ended

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