A captured Henschel Hs 129 B-1 at Freeman Army Airfield, Indiana, 1946 | |
Role | Attacker |
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National origin | Nazi Germany |
Manufacturer | Henschel |
First flight | 29 May 1939 |
Introduction | April 1942 |
Retired | 1945 |
Status | Retired |
Primary users | Luftwaffe |
Produced | June 1940 – September 1944 |
Number built | 865 |
By the mid-1930s, the German military, as well as its counterparts in other countries, had come to see the main role of ground-attack aircraft as the interdiction of logistics and materiel, a task in which targets were often poorly protected and less likely to have strong, well-coordinated defences. For high-value, well-protected tactical targets, the dive bomber was becoming the conventional solution.
Ceiling
Combat RANGE
Aircraft Speed
Max Crew
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It was anticipated that the main source of damage to such an aircraft would be small arms fire from the ground, meaning that the plane had to be well-armored around its cockpit and engines.
Henschel Hs 129 – Anti-Tank Aircraft SAVE an ENTIRE Army (19th July, ‘43)
Henschel Hs 129 – Anti-Tank Aircraft SAVE an ENTIRE Army (19th July, ‘43)