Henschel Hs 129

The Henschel Hs 129 was a World War II ground-attack aircraft fielded by the German Luftwaffe. In combat service the Hs 129 lacked a sufficient chance to prove itself; the aircraft was produced in relatively small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable to protect them from attack. Rudolf-Heinz Ruffer scored a large number of his 80 Soviet tank kills in the Hs 129.

Design and development

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 be protected by strong, well-coordinated defences. For high-value, well-protected tactical targets dive bombers had become the conventional solution. However, the experience of the German Kondor Legion during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) turned this idea on its head. Even though it was equipped with types unsuited to the role, such as the Henschel Hs 123 and cannon-armed versions of the Heinkel He 112, the Kondor Legion proved that ground attack aircraft were a very effective weapon. This led to support within the Luftwaffe for the creation of an aircraft dedicated to this role, and the Reichsluftministerium (RLM; "Reich Air Ministry") requested tenders for a specialized ground attack aircraft.