[JulioMoc]

I was reading about air war tactics and discovered the very curious method of "ramming" the enemy aircraft. The germans and the japanese made use of this technic.
The germans call it "Rammjäger"; special units employed it, with some success. An example is Oberleutnant Kurt Welter (63 victories, 25 with Me 262), who knock down a de Havilland Mosquito by ramming it.
In Japan this technic was employed in the "Sentai Shinten" (body attack) units. Major Teruhiko Kobayashi (14 victories, most of them B-29s Superfortress) got some of his victories by ramming them.
My question is: did Regia Aeronautica developted some kind of "ramming" technic for it's use?? Did they actually use it??


Oberleutnant Kurt Welter


Major Teruhiko Kobayashi

[Vinman]

The ace Giorgio Graffer, used this tactic to shoot down an RAF bomber with his CR42, in August 1940 over the skies of Torino.
His guns jammed during the attack, then he rammed his CR42 against the bomber and it later crashed.
There are also other similar cases over Malta and North Africa.
Vinman.

[Håkan]

Hello!

To read some more about Graffer's attack on a Whitley on the night of 13/14 August 1940 please see: http://www.dalnet.se...aly_graffer.htm

Actually I think it was the Russians that first used the ramming attack systematically in WWII in their famous "taran" attacks - even it they wasn't organised in specially unit as the German and Japanese pilots were.

Best wishes/Håkan Gustavsson