sonderkommando elbe

Named "Special Command Elbe" after the river where it's headquarters was near to; this special unit of the Luftwaffe employed the exact opposite of the earlier Sturmböcke units; by using stripped down Messerschmitt Bf-109G fighters (excess armor and armament except a single MG131) for use as ramming USAAF heavy bombers.

The unit only saw one combat mission on 7th of April, 1945 with a sortie by 180 pilots, but recorded only 15 US bombers destroyed and 8 of their own planes lost.

Unlike the kamikaze units of the Japanese; Elbe pilots only had a lightly armored Bf-109G plus a 13mm machine gun with only 60 bullets (only a few Elbe pilots used this to successfully down US bombers) , but used the propeller of their aircraft to physically damage US bombers.