Most exotic plausible World War 2 standard-issue weapons?

Not for infantry but I wonder about the plausbility of on certain types of warships having collapsible/detachable lightly armored splinter shields that could be raised up and locked in place or taken out of storage carried to the ships side or such and then locked in place. Basically the idea would be to provide some protection against things like aircraft strafing, light shrapnel, and that sort of thing for certain types of warships. Basically don't need to have them up in in place all the time but capable of being rapidly em placed to provide protection against shell splinters to crewman.
Interesting idea.

Also, for a minute there, I thought you were going to say that there should be a rack of armored shields in landing craft to give the disembarking infantry moving cover to hide behind in landing operations, e.g., D-Day.
 
My thoughts:

Have the Monroe Effect discovered earlier thus getting the Bazooka, Panzerschrek and Panzerfaust in service sooner.

Have the IJA take more notice of Khankan-Gol and the need for better tanks, then fight the IJN for a bigger share of steel output to actually build them...
 

Sooty

Banned
The Italians did have something vaguely similar a carbine with a side mounted cup type mini mortar/grenade launcher. A lot more doable would be a M79 type breechloading single shot grenade launcher in the 30-45mm range of size. The weapon itself is in essence just a really big single shot breechloading break action shotgun that pretty much any gun company could make. The tricky part is the actual grenade.

Easiest would be combining the HEAT principle with a rifle grenade like the rather large ones that came out in the 1960s before disposable rocket launchers became too common and tank armor had continually improved meaning you needed a really big HEAT round to take one out with a rifle grenade.



The Swiss Flying carrots got huge. I think the largest were like nearly three pounds total. Huge fucking things.
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Have the IJA take more notice of Khankan-Gol and the need for better tanks, then fight the IJN for a bigger share of steel output to actually build them...

They did, hence the Type 1 Chi-He. However in early 1941 the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed and focus shifted to the navy centric go south option.
 
Interesting idea.

Also, for a minute there, I thought you were going to say that there should be a rack of armored shields in landing craft to give the disembarking infantry moving cover to hide behind in landing operations, e.g., D-Day.
I mean with higgins boats odds are there a lottle too far out and just sink in the water. Or if they make it to the beach they'd just get stuck in the sand. Much better would be better designed/ employed Sherman DDs. Provide some tanks for the infantry to advance behind. Or even copies/ similar designs to the amphibious Soviet early war tanks. They'd be one trick ponies but useful for the landings.

Or even just late Pacific War type armored Amtraks armed with machine guns and a 37mm turret. I wonder if you could fit a M24 Locust in a Amtrak. They'd be slaughtered against even light AT or light tanks but less bad then infantry advancing with no armor support.
 
The German PAW 600 anti tank gun could have been invented earlier. It’s much cheaper to make than conventional guns as it uses the high-low pressure case system. The same principle behind the M79 grenade launcher, which could also make an earlier introduction.
 
The German PAW 600 anti tank gun could have been invented earlier. It’s much cheaper to make than conventional guns as it uses the high-low pressure case system. The same principle behind the M79 grenade launcher, which could also make an earlier introduction.

From what I understand for the Germans the big problem was that the propellants for the PAW 600 recoilless rifle were much more expensive and industrially limited for the Germans then normal AT gun propellants. Might not be the same problem for the US. Similarly the US might have been able to get something like a 57mm/75mm recoilless rifle with appropriate funding pre war. Perhaps even a M40 or Carl Gustaf esque weapon.
 
For more fun with recoilless rifles, maybe this unit could have come into service earlier.

Vespa militare2.JPG


Thinking about.that: the Vespa scooter itself got introduced in the late 1940's and immediately.became a success because it was so easy to maintain and did not need any special motor cycle outfit for the driver. I wonder if any nation would have been able to produce something like the Vespa by 1939 and use it in his military as a mass infantry transport. I mean, up to the end o the war, many nations still had bicycle units.... Or would it just be easier and cheaper to use run-of-the-mill motorcycles
 

Driftless

Donor
The scooter ideas got me thinking on a couple of more robust paths: Off-road motorbikes (either conventional dirtbikes or fat tire trail motorbikes (i.e. Tote Goat): OR, an earlier appearance of the four or six-wheel ATV's. Those items are probably more of an option for a well-funded military accustomed to operating with limited roadways.
 
From what I understand for the Germans the big problem was that the propellants for the PAW 600 recoilless rifle were much more expensive and industrially limited for the Germans then normal AT gun propellants. Might not be the same problem for the US. Similarly the US might have been able to get something like a 57mm/75mm recoilless rifle with appropriate funding pre war. Perhaps even a M40 or Carl Gustaf esque weapon.

The recoilless guns wasted a lot of propellent but the PAW 600 was a totally different system. It has recoil just less. The ammunition actually use less propellent. It ignites inside a high pressure chamber in the case then fill the case with low pressure gas, at which point the projectile is fired through a thin smoothbore barrel made of cheap steel since it’s dealing with low pressure. Same principle as the M79.
 
Greater use of 'Canal defence lights' in WW2

Canal defence light tanks were older AFVs 'armed' with a very powerful light - intended to blind and disorientate enemy troops at night to allow for assaulting infantry to approach and attack a given position in greater safety

OTL they were rarely used in part because of the desire to keep them secret and many of the trained crews were rerolled

Not a weapon per se but capable of saving lives
 
The scooter ideas got me thinking on a couple of more robust paths: Off-road motorbikes (either conventional dirtbikes or fat tire trail motorbikes (i.e. Tote Goat): OR, an earlier appearance of the four or six-wheel ATV's. Those items are probably more of an option for a well-funded military accustomed to operating with limited roadways.
It's not as if motorcycles weren't in military use well before WW2. They seemed to perform perfectly well off-road too - any courier between front-line units needs to be able to cross terrain.
 
The wz. 1938M, it was developed to replace older Polish rifles. Only 250 where made of witch most where lost. It was approved for the army but never saw mass production due to the government denying it for mass production. 2 variants where made, a 9x7.92mm Kurtz variants and a 9x54mmR Mosin variant. It held 10+1 ammo and had disposable box ammunition magazines. It was reported to be accurate and cheap. Of it had entered mass production Polish Resistance would likely use it following the fall of Poland. In addition following WW2 many would likely be used by the Polish Peoples Republic as AK-47s and SKS rifles where not adopted until the late 1950s. I think that it is a cool rifle and also could've been used by the Lithuanians, Czechs, and Romanians if it was mass produced. In fact Romania has planned to buy production rights to replace their older rifles but never did because the wz. 1938M was never mass produced. Tough 17 ended up in Romania anyway. Any thoughts?
 
Additional Idea.
I need of a solid Rifle to replace the aging Mauser 88 used by Iran, they ask Russia (the empire) for some Mosin-Nagant 1908 Carbines to equip the royal guards with and some horsemen. The soldiers enjoy the new rifle, tough the horsemen remove the stock for better but otherwise thier good. So Iran buys a lot to arm their amy (Iran was modernizing their army from 1900-1920) and 65,000 arive. Eventually Iran decides to copy it, making it use the 9x7.62 Kurtz witch was cheaper, replacing the bolt to be S.Pull, and shortening the stock. By 1913 this new rifle is standard issue for Iran and production starts. The new rifles is advanced apon from 1913-1928 eventually making a 10 round bolt action rifle with the 9x7.62 Kurtz round and a short stock and barrel. By 1928 the rifle is adopted by Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and it used by Turkish and Indian brigades. In 1930 now experienced with guns they make a .22 LR SMG based off of it. The new rifles will shape arms development in the middle east seeing a modern middle east with domestic small arms.
 
Did we discuss the A24 Shrike, the US Army dive bomber? https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=491. Only a few hundred were cycled through a couple air groups in combat 1942 - 1943. In combat over Java, New Guinea & the Gilbert islands. Had Hap Arnold signed off of some sort of gonzo plan to put a three or four dozen bomber groups of these into combat we'd have seen Shrikes doing the Stuka thing over Africa, Italy and even France...
 

Driftless

Donor
It's not as if motorcycles weren't in military use well before WW2. They seemed to perform perfectly well off-road too - any courier between front-line units needs to be able to cross terrain.
Oh, to be sure, that was true with motorcycles. The off-road specialist cycles would be a niche use.

Some earlier forms of lightweight ATV could have been useful though. Ammunition carrier, short-haul ambulance, speedy recon; plus with their relatively lightweight and compact dimensions, improved air-transportability on cargo planes or gliders. (a higher performance level than the OTL Army "Mechanical Mule")
 
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marathag

Banned
Or one of my favorites, a small steam powered prime mover for the Heer, but with some armor and an MG151/15, used like the US did for trucks with the 50 Browning
 
Or one of my favorites, a small steam powered prime mover for the Heer, but with some armor and an MG151/15, used like the US did for trucks with the 50 Browning

The Germans did use a triple mounted 20mm cannon on halftracks as a counterpart to the US half tracks with quad .50s.
 
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