[Milsurplus] WW2 German FM?

[Hue Miller]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William Donzelli" <aw288@osfn.org>

> > I have also seen German
> > radar tubes produced very near the end of the war - as if there were
> > flying German aircraft to maintain the radar in.
> 
> While the microwave aircraft sets were pretty much useless for the very 
> reason you give, there were some prototype ground radars that were (or 
> rather, could have been) of use. Still, from 1944 on, VHF radars for air 
> search were probably far more valuable to the Germans than microwave sets.

I meant tubes for uhf radar, the aircraft 400-MHz sets. The tubes were probably
still rolling off production lines til the day the factories stopped. I agree more
resources for ground radar, for protection from bombing, would have been
a better use of resources, as the remainder of the Luftwaffe was practically
grounded for lack of fuel.

> I suppose the Germans have been accused of trying to get out new 
> technologies at the end of the war - "wonder weapons" and such - but then 
> so did the Americans. I suppose we could afford  them.
> 
> William Donzelli
> aw288@osfn.org

Right, we could actually afford this application of resources. The German
( and Japanese ) hopes for wonder weapons that would turn the tide were
characteristic of their illogical, mystical approach to warfare. Germany spent
vast resources on their missile weapons, which generated a lot of terror among
civilian populations but did next to nothing to slow their enemy's actual 
production of war materiel. And Japan's Kamikazes and bayonet-training for
civilians couldn't do anything to prevent their cities from being wiped off 
the map, one by one. Supposedly, the recognition by the Japanese that 
"spiritual power" falls before "industrial power" spurred their post war
emphasis on science and engineering. 
I think the collapse of empires is very interesting. If there was any logical
process in place, the masters at some point would see the logical outcome,
and decide to pack it in. Instead, you see the denial of reality, and the wheels
ignorantly, mindlessly grind on, til the power is switched off. This also goes
for politics, religion, and business.
Hue Miller