Jagdgeschwader 400 (JG 400) was a

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

fighter-

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. JG 400 was formed on 1 February 1944 in Brandis with '' Stab'' only for the

Messerschmitt Me 163 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as ...

rocket fighter, as the only military aviation unit of any size in history, to actively use rocket-powered combat aircraft in wartime. Major Wolfgang Späte, of JG 54 was transferred into the experimental flying unit ''Erprobungskommando 16'' at Bad Zwischenahn in Northern Germany, where the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was under development and tactical testing. Once the Me 163B was declared operational in July 1944, Späte was given command of the formally raised JG 400, ultimately the only front-line unit to use the Me 163 operationally. Due to the meteoric rate of climb and limited endurance of the Komet, the Luftwaffe intended to locate individual ''Staffeln'' of Komets at strategic points in Germany to intercept Allied bomber formations en route to targets. JG 400 was initially based at

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, Netherlands, before moving to Brandis near

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Germany.

Operational history

The Me 163B-1a fighters first flew operationally on 6 August 1944, two Me 163s reportedly claiming three

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

s of the 352nd Fighter Group. JG 400 intercepted formations of

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

bombers for the first time on 16 August 1944. ''Leutnant'' Hartmut Ryll engaged the B-17s but was shot down and killed by two P-51s of the 359th Fighter Group. On 24 August 1944, several B-17s were attacked, with Fw. Siegfred Schubert claiming two B-17s downed (another was claimed by other pilots). His wingman also downed a B-17. One Komet was shot down by bomber gunners. On 11 September seven aircraft attacked a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) bomber formation, and three B-17s were claimed shot down. On 7 October two B-17s were claimed, but two more Komets were lost. By 24 September JG 400 had eleven serviceable Me 163s available, but was short of competent pilots to fly them. The Komets flew operationally on five days during the month, but the highest number of rocket fighters involved was on 28 September, when nine were committed. During the same month the two main factories producing the volatile propellants were seriously damaged in bombing raids, and the resulting shortage of propellants would hamper JG 400 for the rest of the war.Last year of the Luftwaffe; Alfred Price, 1991 Tactics were soon developed; typically to zoom through the bomber formations up to an altitude of , and then to power-dive down through the formation again. This theoretically gave the pilot two chances to aim and fire a few bursts of 30mm cannon fire before gliding back towards the home airfield. Allied fighter formations countered the Komet in several ways; the extremely short endurance was soon noted, and once in a glide the Komet was highly vulnerable to any escort fighter. Brandis was quickly identified as JG 400's home airfield and strafing attacks curtailed operations. Many other tactical issues faced the JG 400 pilots apart from the inherent chemical instability of the aircraft's propulsion system and its

hypergolic A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. The ...

fuel/oxidizer combination. It was found very difficult to aim and fire the guns accurately at such high approach speeds. A number of solutions were tried out, the most innovative being fitting a battery of eight 50mm mortars, firing upwards. The mortars were fired by a signal from a

photocell Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are devices that detect light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation and convert it into an electrical signal. They are essential in a wide range of applications, from digital imaging and optical c ...

in the upper surface of the aircraft. When the Komet flew under the bomber, the shadow of the aircraft above triggered the photocell and the mortar rounds were fired. Research suggests this arrangement was only used once in combat, reportedly destroying a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF)

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

bomber. Although over 300 Me 163s were produced (including a few Me 163Cs with increased fuel), only 9 confirmed air victories were credited to JG 400 by the end of the war, for 14 Komets lost from all causes (mainly crashes and accidents). I./JG 400 was disbanded at Brandis in April 1945, while ''II. Gruppe'' disbanded at

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

Commanding officer

* Major Wolfgang Späte, 1 February 1944 – March 1945

References

{{Subject bar , portal1=Aviation , commons=y , commons-search=Jagdgeschwader 400 Fighter wings of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945 Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945