Striking like Lightning, the Kugelblitz | Cursed by Design

Seemingly endless streams of bombers fly overhead destroying more German infrastructure with each passing day. Ground forces are constantly bombarded by allied air power causing massive losses of armor and equipment. Desperate to strike back at this devastation a design was presented for a new anti aircraft gun. This would become known as the Kugelblitz.
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Sources:
Outlines 8 Flakpanzers, John L Rue
Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War 2 (Revised Edition), Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle: amzn.to/2LVkuvy
tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-ge...
www.achtungpanzer.com/kugel.htm
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#cursedbydesign #kugelblitz #history

[@bobthebobman7457]

German: “this baby is an anti air gun” War Thunder: *”do you mean anti tank gun?”*

[@thekommunistkrusader3921]

*laughs in wirbelwind*

[@RhuBin02]

A N T I E V E R Y T H I N G (A.E.)

[@destroyerarmor2846]

R3 T20 FA-HS says hi

[@gnas1897]

ZSU-57: Am I a joke to you?

[@randomt-9034]

Gaz MM 72k when downtiered and hidden: Privet, Tovarisch, welcome to Gulag.

[@Bigma_Industries]

german words? german music? monetization: ima head out

[@Commrade-DOGE]

German video creators: bruh.

[@ilijacavic9049]

Lol

[@manwithapan1294]

@@Commrade-DOGE xD

[@stealthcone]

Kugelcanzer

[@jiggerdaddy2519]

The real Nazis were the zionists

[@thescotishclonetrooperecho7773]

Why does the intro sound like an actual documentary made in 1997

[@_aragornyesyes_7171]

More like an intro to Nazi Megastructures

[@thescotishclonetrooperecho7773]

@@_aragornyesyes_7171 you're not wrong

[@yanislahtal6253]

@@_aragornyesyes_7171 I used to love that show... then I turned 5...

[@_aragornyesyes_7171]

@@yanislahtal6253 its still ongoing I think

[@lutin_mi06]

@@_aragornyesyes_7171 was that show emmiting on visat history?

[@degenerate8029]

1:38 ah yes, the *bruh*

[@simonsenaviev7541]

bruh moment

[@lasagnaman6117]

*the bruh*

[@kayagorzan]

Brünn moment

[@samuelparker9882]

In war thunder it's a BEAST!!

[@bigmeme8464]

Codename: *bruh*

[@grimhunter42]

"Ball-lightning" the germans were very funny with naming things

[@smiesznywalenty658]

F U N I B A L L S

[@trashposting.mp4021]

I doesn’t sound that funny as a German Idk why

[@simonsenaviev7541]

*puts Berlin on tracks and make it a giant moving fortress* Das ist heavy, really heavy, let's call it feather

[@katroptisYT]

Kugelblitz is also a name of some old fireworks we loved to use on New year.

[@anyoneandeveryoneexceptyou6788]

@@katroptisYT Germans really call an anti aircraft tank "fireworks"

[@yanniklemm4108]

One of those vehicles was actually destroyed near my villiage in Thüringen in 1945, until a couple years ago we still found fragemts of metal on the sight were it was destroyed when we played there as Kids. Seeing this thing as a hole however was very interresting, thank you.

[@corsa701]

Grüße in die Nachbarschaft!

[@yanniklemm4108]

@@corsa701 grüße gehen raus

[@corsa701]

@@yanniklemm4108 Woher kommst denn, wenn ich fragen darf? Ich aus Creuzburg.

[@yanniklemm4108]

@@corsa701 ja moin, bin aus Berka

[@corsa701]

@@yanniklemm4108 Ach, da hinten. Siehst du mal, wie klein die Welt ist.

[@classy333]

war thunder: cursed by design?

[@taxidermypolarbear1724]

Brrruuhhh thoooo

[@gabork5055]

Cursed by dokumints.

[@taxidermypolarbear1724]

@@gabork5055 cursed by ebr To be honest the ebr seems about gone

[@stealthcone]

Kugelcanzer

[@betterdeadthanred6348]

I believe the main reason for the ostwind and whirbelwind tanks having open turrets, is due to the large amount of smoke from the gun(s). how would this tank deal with 2 guns with high rate of fire regarding the smoke?

[@MultiVulture]

or you know... to make it easier to spot planes

[@dankcheese274]

It's because of the sheer amount of gunsmoke from the guns

[@builder396]

The reasons why initial Flakpanzers had open turrets (or even just bare gunshields) was a mix of ventilation, crew comfort and spotting ability. All 3 of these can be achieved with a closed turret given extra cost for an active air circulation system, more space and periscopes. The Kugelblitz turret was remarked to be cramped, but given the cannons were belt-fed its a reasonable tradeoff given that you dont need a dedicated loader shoving new clips in every 2 seconds like on an Ostwind or Wirbelwind, you only need to switch belts every 200 rounds (100 per gun) if WT is accurate, which is inconvenient but doable.

[@lordterra1377]

Warthunder can't even get the crew amount of the Flakpanzers correct.

[@mikexf1647]

​@MultiVulture Exactly! You can't see shit in a Tank.

[@ulch11]

Slight correction for anyone interested in seeing the remaining turret: The museum in Rensberg was dissolved and until the collection can find a permanent home in Berlin it is stored at the Marinearsenal in Kiel. Unfortunatly the collection is curated by volunteers and prior arrangements are needed to be able to view it. It's not publicly available at the moment as it is technically in storage. (for over 10 years at this point...)

[@sol2544]

"....November 1944" Knew from the start that: how the hell they gonna build any when germany was a skeleton at that stage

[@broculee5218]

actually germany had the highest production numbers of panzer/stugs in 1944 due to improvements in the production line

[@heinzguderian628]

@@broculee5218 they were the only ones produzing panzers and stugs lol

[@arthas640]

@@heinzguderian628 he meant of all the years compared to WW1 through 1943

[@utzius8003]

@@heinzguderian628 Lmao, you have to be joking.

[@heinzguderian628]

@@utzius8003 indeed, I am

[@panzerkampfwagenviiimaus9571]

"Why have automatic cannons if you have a 128mm gun." Maus.

[@TR33ZY_CRTM]

Nah, Jagtiger.

[@panzerofthelake506]

@@TR33ZY_CRTM it had machinegun

[@davidty2006]

there was a 120mm anti air gun that was mounted on some massive flak towers in a few key cities and are super hard to kill. Mainly 2 in Hamburg 3 In berlin. and 3 In vienna. a few were knocked down after failed attempts to destroy them.

[@ISU-152-2]

"Why have a 128mm gun when you can have a 152mm gun!" ISU-152-2

[@batukarakus5100]

@@ISU-152-2 why have 152 mm when you can have 183 mm some british boi

[@smorgasbord9940]

“Bombing takes out antiaircraft production” Ironic

[@tmwarthunder1016]

Can't believe that I am this early. Also, I like your introduction for the "Cursed by Design". But I wonder, which documentary series did you get as an inspiration for your introduction. It gives out that "creepy" vibe

[@asiftalpur3758]

Thomas the tank Engine, The Series.

[@fernandomarques5166]

Sounds like Nazi Megastructures, at least it gives the same vibe

[@tmwarthunder1016]

@@asiftalpur3758 (-_-) Really, mate?

[@jirikajzar3247]

Actually Mk303 cannon development continued in Czechoslovakia and resulted in 30mm PLDVK vz.53/59 anti-aircraft gun, often mounted on armoured Praga V3S truck. Whole complet was than called "Ještěrka" and it was actually said to be equal to Soviet ZSU 57.

[@zlataribar9637]

Ah yes the german 6.7 tank destroyer, i hate it

[@phil7896]

Idk why in the world this thing is 6.7 its a bit ridiculous if you ask me

[@larshaas2658]

@@phil7896 yeah! I agree, it should be reserve.

[@paulhindenburg1460]

Well, it used to be 7.0, but then they moved it down due to them removing the other 6.7 AA, the Flakpanzer 341 AKA Coelian

[@paulhindenburg1460]

@@ewald3182 it used to be 6.7 as far as I’m aware, and to my knowledge it’s still 6.7 in arcade. This was a few years back tho, and ever since the Kugel was sent to 6.7 I didn’t use the Coelian much unfortunately

[@OtterTreySSArmy]

@@paulhindenburg1460 I use both in my 6.7 lineup. I have the Kugel if I need a late game AA that isn't as great at fighting planes but can fight tanks pretty well, and the Coelian mostly for AA duty or to just harass enemy tanks by shooting barrels

[@definitelynotjames]

this is the actual story there was a tiger without a turret standing near an AA gun the AA gun shot down a B-17 bomber the ball turret fell onto the tiger boom kugelblitz Yes i know i got the chasis wrong i'm american to me everything is a tiger

[@Commander_Koyke]

Did you mean panzer 4 Btw clever comment

[@CamCamJoeFungus]

Yeah what the guy/girl said above, don’t you mean panzer 4

[@AryaWibu]

shesh, it's how the american identifies german tanks

[@panzerofthelake506]

@@AryaWibu ooooo look I'm a tiger ooo don't look at my short gun it's a .... 150mm howitzer.

[@GeneralLee2000]

@@AryaWibu to be fair, the Germans called all T-34s KVs at first... But yeah, it's pretty funny. *sees panzer 3* OH LOOK JETHRO IT'S A TIGER!

[@safetyinstructor]

The "e" is still not silent. Even on the end of German words.

[@informitas0117]

Easily my favorite ww2 tank. It looks like a Star Wars turbo laser.

[@KimPossibleShockwave]

"Hans, don't you dare--" "I'm sorry, sir! The sauerkraut! It burns my bowels!" "Goddamnit, Hans! I'd rather be shot to death by Allied bombers than suffer from your--" *bangbangbangbang*

[@corsa701]

Its really nice to see a video about the tank. The most interesting part for me is, that i live only 5km away vom Sprichra, possibly the only known place where it was used in combat. It is really not much known about its usage there, but the defense seemed to be good enough to stop the US- troops from further advancing. In the end, the Americans had managed to cross the Werra river at another point. So despite the german defences where very weak they archived at least 2 days of delay to the US troops.

[@LoderryPlaysPVP]

This is in my opinion one of the best, if not the best series of videos on youtube. Amazing job man, I can't wait to see more!

[@wboquist]

It seems that this one was "cursed by logistics" rather than by design. The M42 Duster was not too different, and it performed well enough, I believe.

[@mbr5742]

M42 was open toüpped and good in a ground role. Not so much against jets. And the M19 and M42 had motorised traverse (and possibly high adjustment). There is a reason the next generation went for a tank with integral radar. Germany tried to build a closed turret, radar equiped 30mm armed AA tank post WW2 using a "up to 35to combat weight" platform (Marder IFV - the initial Marder was lighter) under the Matador project. They gave up and switched to a 45-50to platform (Leopard 1) for the Gepard.

[@norbertwerner6926]

There was a design based on Panther called Coellian. A bigger turret with 2*37mm gun, maybe later changed to the newer powerful 55mm AA gun. But build only in few prototypes or mockups.

[@thecanadiankiwibirb4512]

Awesome! I was always fascinated by the oscillating turret

[@aussieairconditioner8023]

Ah yes, KZbin. 1 comment that I cannot view, 14 likes and 7 views. These servers are perfect

[@paulhindenburg1460]

Almost as perfect as Gaijin’s servers.

[@aussieairconditioner8023]

@@paulhindenburg1460 pretty sure they are running of the same ones at this point -_-

[@jimmyjohn6504]

@@aussieairconditioner8023 Its normal what youtube does is you need to watch about a minute for it to count as a view so when you clicked on it some people liked before hiting the watch threshold.

[@aussieairconditioner8023]

@@jimmyjohn6504 interesting... I didn't know that

[@jimmyjohn6504]

@@aussieairconditioner8023 I think it's for if you click a clickbait video you can leave without giving it a view.

[@andreasleonardo6793]

Nice video..with clear explaining of situation of producing of this anti aircrafts and bombers of enemies. .thanks for sending

[@alanhoff89]

3 people inside a single ball turret? I bet Sauerkraut was their worst enemy

[@unknownplayer1766]

Cone!! Could we see a cursed by design of the T-95/T-28?

[@NikoD239]

We could, I mean it's right there kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKTSomCrgtObmas

[@Reddsoldier]

Hey Cone! Thanks for the video on this little known design (before the game). Also, very sorry about the game the other night.

[@christianletzerich6523]

Nice upload schedule lmao. Awesome video!

[@americanpatriot2422]

Great video!

[@pauld6967]

Ah, another good video. I did not know about the Kugelblitz prior to playing War thunder. I did not know about the woeful amount produced until this video. So, thank you.

[@Highlander_Red]

America 1967 German bomber found in Iowa having 5mm-20mm armour and has Ball turrets containing twin 30mm Mk 108 cannons

[@theeditingdepartment9421]

links or sources?

[@aquila3958]

are you just trying to make a funny meme?

[@Faeron1984]

The fuck

[@MrNebelschatten]

yes, give us those sources of yours

[@chechenfeels]

what?

[@julesdauphin2946]

this is a cool channel! its kid friendly and very informative.

[@Minboelf]

Shhhhhhh don't let COPPA find out

[@paoloviti6156]

Very interesting as I know next to nothing regarding the "Kugelblitz" as I always had vague articles. I didn't realise how narrow and cramped it could be for fitting a 3 man crew not to mention the eventual stowage of the ammo in the turret. In my opinion among many issues, are the optics that should be specifically made including a panoramic optic for the commander that at that stage of war it was certainly not available. Regarding the weak hydraulics to turn the turret where it would be installed a joystick or lever with all the connections to a more powerful hydraulic motor? Finally, the ammo for the guns? From the drawings I can see that there would be hardly any space to fit in the bulky and heavy ammo so it could be fed in a similar way like the ball turret of the B-17 but from the floor as there would be space under the turret. But how to replenish quickly the ammo boxes is the the real challenge? Anyway you did a good job and looking forward to see your new videos 👍👍👍

[@harbisonel7243]

4:16 in a hist. photo of these, you can identify the hull variant based on the exahust, as only Pzkpfw. IV Ausf. J had two vertical, Tiger-like exahusp pipes.

[@NickKirk-ei8gu]

Cool video, thank you,👍👊🇬🇧.

[@kriszkrutsch113]

Very interesting vehicle thank you for making this video!

[@Tundraviper41]

I feel that they could have had one of the twin cannons removed to give more space for other equipment and reduce the strain of the weight on the turret. Or at least they could have field tested a prototype with one cannon and see how it performed. Although I'm not a tank designer, but I feel that testing it with one cannon would make work better performance wise.

[@GTFORDMAN]

i've seen many times the effect a Kugelblitz has on enemy planes in WT, basically if your getting "Constant Air Spam" a Kugelblitz makes them fly for cover!

[@mrmoo8900]

I love the panzerlied in the background

[@panzerpanther7238]

Love this series

[@columc]

the intro never gets boring

[@Ausf.D.A.K.]

Love the "Der mächtigste König im Luftrevie" song in the background.

[@MrGeanfilms]

Exceptional video!

[@jasonz7788]

cool thanks

[@FAZMANFAZER]

Yeah, without a doubt this is the best version of the intro

[@majorkursk780]

Very interesting subject!

[@colemurphy2063]

*sounds of gunfire echoing intensely in the ball turret* “HANS, CAN YOU SEE ANY PLANES?” “WHAAAAAT?”

[@tvexpert_xd2388]

Nice Video I Lern much of you Make more 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@God-kt3ec]

I tried to lessen but I kept listening and singing along to the background music

[@ldjackaboy]

I am trying to find it, but I can't. Do you know what it's called?

[@God-kt3ec]

@@ldjackaboy kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpC3qX6In9hsr80 I got u

[@ldjackaboy]

@@God-kt3ec YES thank you

[@petergriffin9151]

@@God-kt3ec can you Tell me the Name please? The Link dont Work in my country :(

[@God-kt3ec]

@@petergriffin9151 panzerlied

[@GSF1935]

BALL-LIGHTNING!!! God I thought that the RAM 2 was a odd name!

[@brittakriep2938]

Kugelblitz means a version of lightning, from which weather scientists don't know if it exists or is only a myth.

[@seff1890]

@@brittakriep2938 we pretty much know it exists

[@danielgreen3715]

Thankyou never heard of it before but quite far sighted for the time

[@haydentenno9821]

The kugelblitz is also a reverse black hole: a white hole. Which pushed things instead of pulling.

[@CMDRFandragon]

Germany in WW2: The player in an RTS game who keeps on playing to the last man, instead of just admiting defeat and alt F4ing, letting the opponent have the win.

[@gabork5055]

The turtle who tries to unlock everything in the tech tree before building the first late tier units but got the worst roll on resource nodes, so everything is horse-drawn with tier 1 tech.

[@bicok0073]

LOVE THE INTRO!!!

[@davidtapp3950]

Imagine how this might have gone with a Panther hull, a Flakvierling mount using the very high speed 30 mm motor cannons developed by Rheinmetall and Mauser right at the end of the war, and proper munitions storage in the hull. Each of these 30 mm munitions had the blast effect of a hand grenade. I would not have fancied flying into a cloud of these!

[@mbr5742]

Thankfully the germans rushed Panther into production so it never became what the had PLANNED it to be - a replacement for Panzer III and Panzer IV. They DID put a lot of optimisation work into the production and could build one almost as fast as a Panzer IV. Had they fixed the final drive (using the OLVAR from Tiger as done in the Panther II prototype) and engagement speed (Using a stereoscopic range finder as seen in the "Schmallturm" studies) stuff like a Coelian (twin 30 or 55mm guns) would have happened. Given that some Flakzüge (Railroad trains with 88mm guns) employed Würzburg radar on the train and at least one played around with a scavenged "Lichtenstein" AI Radar - my guess is within 3-6 month of Coelian going into service someone WOULD have juri-rigged the antler antennas of a Lichtenstein radar to one. Sure this is not a modern fire control radar. But it will make range finding faster/more precise and that increases the dangers to the planes (And the Mustang/Lightning/Tempest etc did not carry chaff or jammers). Adding the Mauser Revolverkanonen (Post-war versions include the BK-27 of the Tornado, the ADEN of various british planes, M39 of a couple of US planes, DEFA) would be "icing on the cake"

[@pilotwhaleproductions5880]

Essentially a ball turret on a tank chassis. Kind of an interesting inversion of the turrets on allied bombers

[@fadlya.rahman4113]

Kugelblitz turret is like a B-17 ball turret mounted upside down.

[@victorpelini5995]

I love these vids

[@vaclavcervinka65]

This is like a crash course in late-war Germany supply issues

[@mentosswagolini4634]

We need the bob semple tank for this series

[@gamermelon5689]

Love the intro

[@InevitableD34th]

These are your best videos so far. #tonkgang

[@oceanhome2023]

Does anyone know any info on these sites on how the Flak Guns were placed, aimed and co ordinated around cities and factories ? Thanks !

[@markdougherty9917]

I knew I had heard the name in a Vsauce video way back. Great vid and info!

[@calessel3139]

It would be nice to see that remaining turret restored and mated to a Pzkpfw-IV chassis. Of course theyd have to fabricate a new superstructure.

[@deanhankio6304]

hey it's cool. with that turret angle you can shoot & sleep in the same time !

[@viaferrata2769]

you know. i did enjoy that.

[@emillall854]

You should do a video about THE tsar tank

[@lilhrabinator2283]

When does this get to netflix? Seriously tho this series is really well done.

[@Commander_Koyke]

Do the cursed by design the Kranvagn 1:33 nice gun

[@sopmodtew8399]

Emil is the real name of the tank

[@Commander_Koyke]

@@sopmodtew8399 I know but Kranvagn is a nice name for a swedish tank

[@CaptainGrief66]

@@sopmodtew8399 Wasn't Kranvagn a codename? It means crane vehicle or something like that

[@sopmodtew8399]

@@CaptainGrief66 probably that.

[@honeybadger6755]

Episode 2 of petitioning for cone to do the TOG 2

[@theresaapocalypse9283]

Gotta love how he put a navy song in a video about an SPAAG

[@wilfriedklaebe]

The Heeresflugabwehrschule (Army Anti Aircraft School) has been closed down in 2012, after being moved to Munster in 2010. Both Barracks in Rendsburg have been closed and the areas sold off. I guess the Kugelblitz turret has not been in Rendsburg since at least 2010.

[@sander3236]

Good vid

[@vladimirchechelnikov612]

do the Wirbelwind

[@Arbys_Enjoyer]

So this thing is basically a ball turret on tracks

[@johnsatan117]

When I searched up Kugelblitz, the first image was the tank, the second was the Black he thing, and the description was the black hole

[@sinisabalentovic9617]

This reminds me of b 17 ball turet

[@wwiiinplastic4712]

I know this video is old, but yesterday I was at HobbyTown with my wife and she bought me Takom's 1/35 release of this vehicle for my birthday, which is today. And after playing some online games I logged out to find a video of said vehicle in my suggested feed. I almost went with Tamiya's M551 Sheridan which I'm pretty sure there is no video for as it wasn't all that cursed.

[@sidsucksatplaying]

The engineering is very smart ngl

[@davidty2006]

Yes. Good concept but shortage on everything

[@mohamdmlg9027]

Intresting

[@osmacar5331]

We need more ngl

[@S1nwar]

1:08 that definition of kugelblitz sounds sonsensical where did you get it from?

[@mawalt_5250]

7:23 Its close to Kiel :D

[@MrAmerilias]

I think I saw one on picture from Kubinka museum in Russia.It was ball shaped turret without hull.

[@franciscoantoniocamachomen8717]

Last time I saw a video in this channel, it was very, very different (like, I'm talking about before the name was changed to ConeOfArc). Kudos for you, fella

[@nacho.tatical]

Bro, i live in Rendsburg and the Heeresfliegerabschwehrschule was decomissioned in 2009, so i assume the Turret isnt here any morw

[@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG]

great freaking video! love me some WWII tanks! is there anywhere that you explain the meaning of your YT name? cheers!

[@lestra5]

Do one on the Flakpanzer 341 if it even existed

[@KuDastardly]

Kugelblitz apparently became the Gepart's grandfather.

[@omnianti0]

this kind of vehicule was already needed in 1939 and none considered it important versus the massive harasement of aviation in all the battle especially those who first raised this strategy

[@sushiknith1851]

can you do the german flammpanzer II flamingo / pzKpfw II(F)?

[@nowhere683]

How would you spot and properly aim at Aircrafts with this turret?

[@rembramlastname3631]

whirbelwind ostwind

[@lhoffmann1999]

Your Informations are incorrect. In Minute 7:20, you are talking about the Lehrsammlung der Heeresflugabwehrschule in Rendsburg. The army anti-aircraft school was resolved in 2012. The Lehrsammlung (as we say in Germany) or, as you would say, the teaching collection was transfered to the Marinearsenal (Naval arsenal) in Kiel. Anyways, I really love your videos and hoping for more. ^^

[@guillermowinthorpe450]

huh I wonder where he got the footage from

[@ValentineC137]

Tiger turret ring you say? :D

[@colinterry7261]

Where are the “How I Play” map videos?

[@jfangm]

This might have worked with a Panther, where the increased space would have been a boon.