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[Trojita]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

Bat bombs were an experimental World War II weapon developed by the United States. The bomb consisted of a bomb-shaped casing with over a thousand compartments, each containing a hibernating Mexican free-tailed bat with a small, timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats, which would then roost in eaves and attics in a 20–40 mile radius. The incendiaries would start fires in inaccessible places in the largely wood and paper constructions of the Japanese cities that were the weapon's intended target.

The bat bomb was conceived by a Pennsylvania dentist named Lytle S. Adams, a friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Adams submitted it to the White House in January 1942, where it was subsequently approved by President Roosevelt on the advice of Donald Griffin.

The United States decided to develop the bat bomb during World War II as four biological factors gave promise to this plan. First, bats occur in large numbers (for example, four caves in New Mexico are each occupied by several million bats). Second, bats can carry more than their own weight in flight (females carry their young—sometimes twins). Load-carrying tests were conducted in the dirigible hangar at Naval Air Station, Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, CA. Third, bats hibernate, and while dormant they do not require food or maintenance. Fourth, bats fly in darkness, then find secluded places (often in buildings) to hide during daylight.

By March 1943, a suitable species had been selected. The project was considered serious enough that Louis Fieser, the inventor of military napalm, designed 0.6 ounce (17 g) and one ounce (28 g) incendiary devices to be carried by the bats. A bat carrier similar to a bomb casing was designed that included 26 stacked trays, each containing compartments for 40 bats. The carriers would be dropped from 5,000 feet (1,525 m). Then the trays would separate but remain connected to a parachute that would deploy at 1,000 feet (305 m). It was envisioned that ten B-24 bombers flying from Alaska, each carrying a hundred shells packed with bomb-carrying bats, could release 1,040,000 bat bombs over the target of the industrial cities of Osaka Bay.

A series of tests to answer various operational questions were conducted. In one incident, the Carlsbad Army Airfield Auxiliary Air Base near Carlsbad, New Mexico, was set on fire on May 15, 1943, when armed bats were accidentally released. The bats incinerated the test range and roosted under a fuel tank.

More tests were scheduled for the summer of 1944 but the program was cancelled by Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King when he heard that it would likely not be combat ready until mid-1945. By that time, it was estimated that $2 million had been spent on the project. It is thought that development of the bat bomb was moving too slowly, and was overtaken in the race for a quick end to the war by the atomic bomb project. Adams maintained that the bat bombs would have been effective without the devastating effects of the atomic bomb. He is quoted as having said: "Think of thousands of fires breaking out simultaneously over a circle of forty miles in diameter for every bomb dropped. Japan could have been devastated, yet with small loss of life."

I laughed and then realized this might have actually worked lol.

 

[nhlducks35]

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Make it happen, DCEU!

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

 

[SoundPulse]

Probably more effective than anti-tank dogs, at any rate.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

☑️ Dogs
☑️ Dolphins
☑️ Bats

 

[Kinyou]

"Wanted" did it with rats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKYkH8D1I9k

 

[zma1013]

 

[MikeHattsu]

I remember them talking about this on an episode of QI:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/qi/episodes/2/3/

 

[MMarston]

☑️ Dogs
☑️ Dolphins
☑️ Bats

Command and Conquer Red Alert wasn't so crazy after all.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

Just another awesome point to bring up when people whine about military spending.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I know Japan actually deployed some balloon weapons. Some actually reached the US mainland. One actually did result in casualties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon#Single_lethal_attack

 

[Sanjuro]

I know Japan actually deployed some balloon weapons. Some actually reached the US mainland. One actually did result in casualties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon#Single_lethal_attack

 

[StopMakingSense]

.

 

[Enduin]

☑️ Dogs
☑️ Dolphins
☑️ Bats

Don't forget pigeons as low tech guided missile CPUs, the US during WWII.

 

[lastplayed]

Don't forget pigeons as low tech guided missile CPUs, the US during WWII.

That was so nuts.

 

[Haly]

I think they tried to use cats in WWI.

Obviously canned because cats don't care.

 

[Moff]

Goddamnit, came to post this

 

[HardRojo]

I see now why they didn't go forth with this plan, so ineffective.

 

[Kinyou]

I know Japan actually deployed some balloon weapons. Some actually reached the US mainland. One actually did result in casualties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon#Single_lethal_attack

Wow, didn't expect this to be so gruesome. A whole family wiped out because of some idiotic balloon bomb.

 

[excelsiorlef]

This is actually brilliant if they could pull it off properly

 

[Enduin]

That was so nuts.

Bats make sense as they didn't require training, they were exploiting their natural inclination to seek shelter in overhangs, but all the others required so much perpetration and training just to kill them in the end. Why they went ahead with any of those is bizarre.

 

[Trojita]

Probably more effective than anti-tank dogs, at any rate.

The dogs were too smart.

The dogs, called "demolition wolves", were taught to run to a bunker, enter it, and sit whilst waiting for a simulated explosion. Each dog carried a bomb strapped to its body in canvas pouches, as with the Russian method. The program was terminated on 17 December 1943 out of safety concerns. During the training, dogs often returned to the senders without entering the bunker or waiting there for supposed period of time which would have caused friendly casualties in a live fire situation. It was feared that in the actual battle, dogs would return much more often, scared by enemy fire. Attempts to continue the program in 1944 and 1945 failed.

 

[Ithil]

 

[Mass Effect]

Weren't they planning something similar with pigeons?

Also, didn't they mention this on Project White Rabbit?

 

[StayDead]

Using fire as a weapon against people is disgusting

 

[TheBowen]

Pretty amazing how many warfare ideas where chucked against the wall during WW2 and especially in the Cold War.

 

[Enduin]

Weren't they planning something similar with pigeons?

Pigeon guided missiles. They would train pigeons to peck at a ship through a view finder which would then relay signals to adjust the missile trajectory. But it took way too much time to train them and was too expensive so they canned it. Was headed by the famed BF Skinner.

They even revived it after the war but canned it years later as electronic guided missiles made big advancements.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

This is one of my favorite "What If"s in history. What a strange and silly idea that, somehow, still seems kinda plausible.

 

[Slayven]

They were tossing a lot of shit against the wall.

 

[Enduin]

They were tossing a lot of shit against the wall.

I don't think anything beats the rocket wheel, aka Panjandrum. Designed to go ahead of beach landings to blow up barrier defenses and mines.

Turns out getting some dozen or two rockets to all fire simultaneously and with equal thrust as to not make the wheels go out of control was really really hard.

 

[Sesha]

Monstrous. Thankfully they scrapped it.

 

[Zekes!]

Yeah they have this in the Silverwing novel series

 

[NeoRausch]

I don't think anything beats the rocket wheel, aka Panjandrum. Designed to go ahead of beach landings to blow up barrier defenses and mines.

Turns out getting some dozen or two rockets to all fire simultaneously and with equal thrust as to not make the wheels go out of control was really really hard.

Yeah.. That worked out great! 😂


https://youtu.be/tFDf1_MCD9o

Skip to 1:55

 

[noire]

Found out via "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" that they were also thinking about a Flea Bomb:

http://www.ww2incolor.com/japan/fleabomb2_001.html

 

[Dyle]

I will forever be of the opinion that this would have been a more effective and humane option of forcing Japan to surrender than the atomic bomb. It would have been absolutely horrifying, waking up in the middle of the night to every building in your neighborhood mysteriously breaking into flames. Short of shooting down the planes dropping them, which Japan didn't have the capability to do with any certainty, there would be no way of stopping it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I don't think anything beats the rocket wheel, aka Panjandrum. Designed to go ahead of beach landings to blow up barrier defenses and mines.

Turns out getting some dozen or two rockets to all fire simultaneously and with equal thrust as to not make the wheels go out of control was really really hard.

 

[Kayhan]

I don't think anything beats the rocket wheel, aka Panjandrum. Designed to go ahead of beach landings to blow up barrier defenses and mines.

Turns out getting some dozen or two rockets to all fire simultaneously and with equal thrust as to not make the wheels go out of control was really really hard.

They see me rollin

They heilin

 

[paperboywriter]

Weapon R+d during ww1 and 2 was fascinating.

 

[Übermatik]

Thread title gave me visions of soldiers using baseball bats to slog incendiaries into enemy territory and I was like "Awesome."

 

[Flux]

Weapon R+d during ww1 and 2 was fascinating.

Bat shit crazy perhaps?

 

[Eaten By A Grue]

I think what the OP mentioned is on Episode 3 of White Rabbit Project with the former B team of Myth Busters.

The one weapon I thought was incredible from that episode was pigeon guided missiles. It was fascinating because it worked. Here is different video about it:

https://youtu.be/vIbZB6rNLZ4

Edit: ^ mentioned numerous times, I am blind.

 

[TheGameshark]

Came for the batman gifs.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

Dang man...
...every time I read about the so called "bat bomb" the history nerd within me is like "Neat! Weapons R&D in WW2 was fascinating.", while the animal welfare advocate within me is like "...that's pretty fucking cruel fam...:/".

 

[CLEEK]

Sounds like the "bomb dogs" that the IRA used during the Troubles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGTPqaNP710

 

[sTiTcH AU]

Literally thought about this when someone suggested Australia sent snakes and spiders in bombs to NK in another thread lol.

Its worth having a look at some of the crazy wartime inventions and plans that never saw the light of day. Suicide pidgeon rockets were actually a thing.

I think there is an episode about it on The white rabbit project on Netflix.