The Jagdfaust design was based on the Schräge Musik, the manually triggered upward-firing air-to-air cannon extensively deployed with the Luftwaffe night fighter squadrons.
[citation needed] The Komet was so fast that pilots found it difficult to fire enough cannon rounds to destroy a bomber in a single pass.
To ensure it would be fired at the correct time, the weapon featured a simple form of automated trigger in which an optical photocell detected the dark silhouette of an Allied bomber replacing bright blue sky and triggered the firing of the armed Jagdfaust guns.
Because it was intended for short range use, the shell had an aerodynamically inefficient shape that could be easily forged or stamped.
[3] The weapon system is credited with one kill: on April 10, 1945 Fritz Kelb downed an RAF Lancaster using it.