Mistel

Mistel (German, 'mistletoe', a parasitic plant) was the larger, unmanned component of a composite aircraft configuration developed in Germany during the later stages of World War II.

The composite comprised a small piloted control aircraft mounted above a large explosives-carrying drone, the Mistel, and as a whole was referred to as the Huckepack ('Piggyback'), also known as the Beethoven-Gerät ('Beethoven Device') or Vati und Sohn ('Daddy and Son').

[1] The most successful of these used a modified Junkers Ju 88 bomber as the Mistel, with the entire nose-located crew compartment replaced by a specially designed nose filled with a large load of explosives, formed into a shaped charge.

The first such composite aircraft flew in July 1943 and was promising enough to begin a programme by Luftwaffe test unit KG 200, code-named "Beethoven", eventually entering operational service.

[2] Initial experiments in Nazi Germany concerning composite aircraft of any type were performed with the DFS 230 troop glider as the "lower" component and using established, piston engine-powered Luftwaffe aircraft, such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 56 or the Messerschmitt Bf 109E, as the upper component in an attempt to provide the troop glider with a longer range than if it were simply towed in the conventional manner.

A second opportunity to use the Mistels, in Scapa Flow in 1944, was abandoned after the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz led to the departure of all of the Royal Navy's major surface units from the target.

As part of Operation Iron Hammer in late 1943 and early 1944, Mistels were selected to carry out key raids against Soviet weapons-manufacturing facilities—specifically, electricity-generating power stations around Moscow and Gorky.