Mistel 1

The Mistel Strike Aircraft Complex was a high-powered guided attack aircraft. The combat component of the complex was the Ju 88 bomber, which was fitted with a large warhead with an explosive material weighing between 1,800 and 2,000 kg instead of a cockpit. The aircraft thus becomes a kind of giant bomb. The nose of the fuselage was equipped with a long tip with a detonator to create a cumulative effect during the explosion. Above the bomber was located a carrier aircraft, usually a single-seat fighter, whose pilot had to control the entire system from the moment of takeoff until the target was identified. Than the carrier had to be separated from the Ju 88 and return to its airfield, and the bomber was to hit the target in peak mode. In the summer of 1944, the Mistel 1 was used by specialised Luftwaffe units against Allied ships off the coast of France, and in the spring of 1945, such aircraft systems struck bridges and crossings to stop the advancing Red Army.