WW2 Weapon the Actually US Feared the Most

Thundering through World War 2’s war-torn skies, the German Flak 18, an 88-millimeter anti-aircraft cannon, marked its dominance against Allied Spitfires and Mustangs. As it evolved into the Flak 36 and then the formidable Flak 88, its 17-pound shells, propelled at over 900 meters per second, painted the skies with black plumes of smoke. Every explosion hurling shrapnel over 200 yards. This evolution extended its reach down from the skies and onto ground targets, devastating tanks like the Sherman and T-34 and crushing fortifications from a staggering 1.5 miles away. On battlefields from North Africa’s deserts to Russia’s icy fronts, the Flak 88, with its long imposing barrel, was adapted for use aboard armored vehicles such as the Elefant, Jagdpanthe, and even the menacing King Tiger tank. Starting as an Anti-Aircraft weapon, it repelled the Allies’ relentless aerial and ground assaults as one of the Third Reich’s most effective weapons.