Looking at the history of the Me262 I was shocked to see that it was under developement at the start of the war! It states that there were problems with the engine but german air-command diverted resources to convetional aircraft, believing they would win the war with these alone. Without the 18 month delay, could the Me262 have caused so much devastation that bombing Germany would have become too risky thereby causing stalemate? If not a war winner, could it have made the allies more amenable to a negotiated peace?
I've never heard of the Me262, but I do remember hearing that Hitler's scientists were working on an atomic bomb and ballistic missiles and were pretty close to getting them by the end of the war. Many German scientists came to America and worked with the American military and space program after the war was over.
In a word yes! it was further delayed because Hitler wanted it as a fighter bomber instead of a pure fighter. There are doubts however as to whether the Germans would have been able to produce it in sufficient numbers to do more than delay the end. A very good looking beast though. The engine of the British Gloster Meteor jet fighter was also under develpment before WWII broke out and also suffered due to lack of investment in it's early days. So if both countries had pursued jet engines with vigour both side might have had jet fighters by 1943. The ME 262 pictured below did have superior performance compared to the British machine. The Meteor was still a very good fighter
The problem with the Me 262 was that its engines only lasted short time before they needed repairs. The engines were made from mild steel. There are some interesting discussions on other forums that suggest if the Me 262 had been introduced earlier it would have pushed the Allies to bring out their jet fighters earlier, and any advantage would have been short-lived. Don't forget the FW 190 was superior to any allied fighter when it first entered operations but that didn't win the war for the Germans. Hitler's scientists were working on the atomic bomb in the USA, not in Germany. The best physicists were all refugees from the Nazi regime. The best the germans could have done is make a "dirty bomb" ie a bomb that spread radioactive particles when exploded using explosives.
It would prolong the war, but not drag it forever if Me262 was in mass production earlier. I'd say the war might become 2~3 years longer at most. It is simply due to the fact whatever new weapon systems you can come up with, the opposite side will try their best to come up with a counter as quick as possible (if) your new weapon system is effectively enough to be a game changer on the battlefield. However, consider develop a reliable jet fighter isn't all that easy, it would have taken a few years for the allies to come up with a good counter. Not to mention that a jet fighter would only be a part of the solution to counter German Me262, because the allies want the bombing campaign to go on which would require long range escort fighters or better yet ... jet engine powered bombers. It would take much longer to develop than a simple short ranged interceptor like Me262. But consider the resources available to Germany during the time of WWII, even mass produced Me262 a few years earlier would not enable them for mass counter offensive against Soviets or elsewhere. It would only save them from mass bombing campaign and that would only work for a few years until the allies come up with something to even the odds.
Really? That must be the Gloster Meteor was already in development long before the production of ME262. Usually counties do not start to develop something after the official introduction of a new weapon from a foreign country. They start to work on it the moment they get the information of the development program on the other side. Either way, ME262 should have come out a lot earlier if wasn't the interference in the development from Hitler who wanted a fighter bomber. If it was in mass production 18 months earlier, it might make a little more impact on the bombing campaigns against Germany. They were critical on fuel when ME262 was finally in production. It was a waste. 18 months earlier they would still have a lot more fuel.
Even if Hitler had not interfered and caused the eighteen month delay, the ME262 would not have changed the inevitable outcome of the war. It would have just delayed the end. Germany didn't have the resources to produce and maintain the ME262 for it to achieve air superiority. It was just too little too late. Even though it is a beautiful well designed bird.
If it had been produced in quantity,early enough,it would definitely have been a game changer.Just think of all of the strategic air strikes against German industry that would NOT have happened.
The point is that for the Me 262 to have been a game changer it would have to have overcome some design problems and have come out alot earlier than it did. It has already been mentioned on this thread that the Me 262 wasn't the only jet fighter in development. It has also been mentioned that the Russian front would not have been effected by the Me 262. The good thing about alot of the potential game changers for Germany (i.e. nuclear weapons, jet fighters) is that Hitler did not realize the potential and so they did not get the resources needed to become game changers.
Well,the ME-262 could've indirectly influenced the Eastern Front,by allowing a fair amount of piston engined aircraft in the west to be re-deployed east,providing much more CAS capability to the the Wehrmacht.As far as design problems,I'm sure the German engineers would've worked many of the bugs out,had this aircraft been given the priority it needed.
Fortunately it didn't There was a lot of potential game changers for Germany, and thankfully Hitler and his staff did not realize it. Also there were potential Allied responses in the works that were getting realized and so it would have balanced out.
Well,the ME-262 could have been a BIG game changer-Imagine it performing air strikes against against the invasion fleet on D-Day.....or going against the bombers at Ploesti.
The main reason for the deployment delay was hitlers 1941 order to end r&d on projects that could not be deployed in a year.Eric Brown believed the 262 was superior to the meteor,he flew both extensivly.He also belived the He-162 was superior to the 262.TheJumo 004was cutting edge technology thrust into frontline service,the teething problems having to be taken care ojt.
Like I keep saying, Hitler was the best thing and the worse thing for Germany LQL. He motivated them to conquer a good majority of Europe, but his pride and policies short circuited his objectives, the Germans have some of the best engineering of the world, but that ain't the only thing that wins wars. the ME-262 among other things is the proof of my point.
