Home

 › 

Uncategorized

 › 

World War II Weapons That Completely Failed

World War II Weapons That Completely Failed

Boulton Paul Defiant

RAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A13 Mk Covenanter III

Official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cultivator No. 6

Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Japanese war balloons

National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Kamikaze planes

Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Luftwaffe heavy bombers

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Maginot Line

John C. Watkins V, uploaded to en.wikipedia.org by en:User:Jorge1767, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

USAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Panjandrum

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

War dogs

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Wind Cannon

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Boulton Paul Defiant
A13 Mk Covenanter III
Cultivator No. 6
Goliath
Japanese war balloons
Kamikaze planes
Krummlauf
Luftwaffe heavy bombers
Maginot Line
Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus
Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
Panjandrum
Schwerer Gustav
Smith Gun
TOG
V-2
V-3
War dogs
Wind Cannon

World War II is considered the deadliest and most destructive conflict in history. Not only were there an incredibly high amount of casualties, both civilian and military, but the physical and economic destruction was astronomical. The war began in 1939 but it wasn't until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that the United States declared their involvement, battling alongside the Allied Powers until the war ended in 1945.

The Second World War catapulted the United States from a midlevel global power to the leader of the free world, per the National World War II Museum. It was a period of rapid innovation, and industrial growth, and a time that saw the most economic growth in history. The war may have spurred revolutionary advances in fields like radar, propulsion, and nuclear energy that have shaped the postwar era, but the conflict also saw the development of several significant failures in weapons technology. 

Many failed weapons didn't account for the advancement of battle style from static trench warfare to the Blitzkrieg-style combined arms assaults that would characterize the conflict. Nothing illustrates this more than the Cultivator No. 6, designed to burrow toward an enemy line while boring a trench wide enough for a troop of soldiers to follow behind it. This demonstrated how certain weapons are often too bulky for combat use.

Then there was the French Maginot Line, a 300-mile series of fortifications along the eastern border of France, which failed to anticipate the all-terrain battery of bombers and armored vehicles that Germany would amass in the leadup to the war. It was ultimately penetrated in May 1940. Numerous weapons failed due to outdated design thinking, but others, like the Goliath, were too far ahead of their time. This remote control vehicle could carry bombs with up to 100 kg charge but was largely worthless in the field.

To compile a list of World War II weapons that completely failed, 24/7 Tempo reviewed WWII weapons object records from the Imperial War Museum. Weapons and weapons programs that are considered failures are ranked alphabetically. Although some weapons failed due to outdated design thinking, others were too far ahead of their time, like the Goliath, a remote control vehicle that could carry bombs with up to 100 kg charge. Tethered by wires easily cut, the Goliath was largely ineffective in the field, despite being the precursor to modern-day drones and other radio-controlled military vehicles. (Thankfully, not all equipment was a failure. Here are 33 iconic weapons of World War II.)

To top