A pair of Hs 129 B-3s in flight.
Henschel Hs 129 was a dedicated tank hunting aircraft of the Third Reich and one of its most interesting designs.
Background[]
The experiences of the Spanish Civil War were instrumental in the development of the precepts of modern warfare in Nazi Germany and aviation was no exception. The concept of a dedicated ground-attack aircraft, once balked at, was vindicated by the Kondor Legion and its use of the Henschel Hs 123 against Republican targets, spurring the development of dedicated aircraft.
The Henschel Hs 129 was the result of this program, created after three years of experimentation and iteration. It was built with survivability in mind, with the entire nose area enclosed in steel armored plating, angled to increase effective protection from anti-aircraft fire. The cramped cockpit was almost impossible to move in, with some of the instruments and the gunsight mounted outside the canopy. The pair of counter-rotating engines were also armored and provided an excellent, stable platform for tank-busting weaponry.
Models[]
B-1[]
A B-1 above France.
The B-1 refers to the initial production variant that entered production in December 1941, delivered at a steady trickle to the military. It originally mounted the 30mm MK 101 cannon in a centerline gun pod, but existing units were later rearmed with the much more effective 37mm Bordkanone 3,7 adapted from the FlaK 18, already proven on the Ju 87 G.
- Note: The Hs 129 B1 was produced in very small numbers, due to the low priority, with the B-2 version of the aircraft mounting the BK 3,7. The B-1 designation in the game likely refers to a refitted unit.
B-2[]
The B-2 variant of the Hs 129 entered service in May 1942, after just 50 units of the B-1 were delivered. At first indistinguishable from B-1, with a mix of changes between the two, the B-2 eventually accumulated enough to come into its own. It was continuously upgunned to keep pace with Allied and Soviet weapon development, replacing the original MK 101 with MK 103 30 mm cannon and eventually the famous BK 3,7 proven on the Ju 87G.
- Hs 129 B-2/R2 Tank Buster (Rou): The Rüstsatz 2 kit fitted the B-2 with a conformal gun pod with the MK 103 30mm autocannon and a supply of ammunition three times larger than normal, for ground support duties.
- Hs 129 B-2/R3 Tank Buster: The Rüstsatz 3 kit fitted the B-2 with a conformal gun pod with the BK 3,7 37mm.
- Hs 129 B-2/R4 Medium Bomber 250kg (Rou)
- Hs 129 B-2/R4 AP Cluster Bomber (Rou)
- Hs 129 B-2/R5 Recon Plane (Rou)
B-3[]
A B-3 flying over a French village.
The B-3 was the most effective variant produced, mounting a fully automatic 75mm PaK 40 in the ventral gun pod. Although theoretically capable of destroying any tank in the world, the excessive weight gave it poor air characteristics, which combined with the small production numbers (just 25) made it a footnote in the history of the war. However, it proved deadly whenever it was deployed, and the feat of mounting a gun this size on a plane this small was not surpassed until the introduction of the A-10 Warthog nearly 30 years later (not on larger planes; the United States managed to fit a similar gun on the B-26 during the same period).