The Nazi scientists acknowledged that the project was beyond their conceivable reach for the sake of the war—speculating that it might be possible in 50 to 100 years.
During the Second World War, as the conflict was turning against the Axis Powers, Hitler’s Nazi Germany was working overtime to bring their remarkable technological capabilities into the forefront of what was then a losing war.
The so-called wünderwaffe—the attempt by Hitler’s scientists, such as physicist and space pioneer Hermann Oberth—to create ace-up-the-sleeve technologies that would return the balance of military power in the European Theater of World War II. One such “wonder weapon” was the fantastical-sounding “Sun Gun.”
Had Oberth and Hitler’s scientists managed to create such a weapon, it might have inflicted an almost science fiction-level of destruction on the Allies. Fortunately, the wildly implausible weapon never left the drawing board.
Adolf Hitler’s Fantastical “Sun Gun”
The Sonnengewehr, Sun Gun in English, stands out as one of the most audacious and speculative weapons of Hitler’s manic quest for winning WWII. A theoretical orbital weapon, the Sun Gun was designed to harness the sun’s limitless energy and redirect that weaponized energy onto Earth-based targets—theoretically boiling entire oceans or frying cities. While the Sun Gun never progressed beyond the conceptual stage, its origin, design, feasibility, and legacy reveal much about the dangerous and sometimes insane technological ambitions and ideological grandiosity of the Third Reich.
Hermann Oberth was the man from where the Sun Gun originated. In his 1929 book Wege Zur Raumschliffahrt (or, Ways to Spaceflight), Oberth proposed a space station equipped with a 328-foot-wide concave mirror to focus sunlight onto Earth for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity via steam turbines or aiding meteorological observations. Oberth’s vision was rooted in scientific curiosity and optimism about space exploration, envisioning space stations as platforms for astronomy, communication, and resource utilization.
During the Second World War, however, Nazi scientists at the Hillersleben artillery proving grounds, a research center in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, seized upon Oberth’s idea and reimagined it as a weapon of mass destruction. The Nazi adaptation, now called the Sonnengewehr, was envisioned as a massive orbital platform stationed approximately 5,100 miles above the Earth.
The concept involved a colossal reflector, reportedly 3.5 square miles in area and made of metallic sodium, which would concentrate sunlight into a focused beam capable of delivering intense heat to a targeted area on Earth. Nazi scientists claimed this beam could burn cities to ashes or even boil parts of an ocean, evoking apocalyptic imagery straight out of science fiction. The concept drew inspiration from the legendary “heat ray” attributed to Archimedes, who allegedly used mirrors to set Roman ships ablaze during the siege of Syracuse in 212 BCE.
The Sun Gun’s design, though, was much less science and more fiction. The proposed space station would have been a marvel of engineering—especially considering the era in technological development these designs were being crafted.
The Space Station from Hell
The proposed Sun Gun station conceived of by Hermann Oberth was to have living quarters for a crew, equipped with magnetic boots for working in microgravity, hydroponic gardens to produce oxygen via pumpkin plants, and solar-powered steam dynamos for electricity. The station would receive encoded orders via radio or telegraph and use rocket thrusters to orient the massive reflector, directing its deadly beam with precision.
Oberth’s mirror itself, made of metallic sodium—a lightweight, highly reflective material—was intended to focus sunlight into a concentrated point, theoretically capable of generating temperatures high enough to cause catastrophic destruction.
Of course, the Sun Gun faced insurmountable technical challenges. The V-2 rocket, Nazi Germany’s most advanced rocketry achievement during the war, lacked the payload capacity and range to reach the proposed 5,100-mile orbit, let alone deliver the prefabricated sections required for such a massive structure. Moreover, orbital construction techniques, such as assembling the station in space, were entirely theoretical at the time.
And the optics of the Sun Gun were highly dubious. Later analyses suggested that the beam’s intensity would likely dissipate over such a vast distance, resulting in a far less destructive effect. Some physicists at the time ruminated that the beam might produce the same environment as a “pleasant spring day” rather than a city-destroying apocalypse.
Can We Learn Anything from the Nazi Mad Scientists?
The Nazi scientists were not completely insane, and acknowledged that the project was beyond their conceivable reach for the sake of the war. They speculated instead that it might be possible in 50 to 100 years. It should be noted that many of the capabilities they envisaged are now either available to humans today or will soon be available—thanks in large part to those same scientists, poached from the ruins of Germany by America’s “Operation Paperclip” recruitment program.
For example, space-based solar power (SBSP) is now part of the ongoing great power race between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, with both countries looking for alternative, more sustainable sources of energy. While not the inferno-setting weapon that Nazi scientists hoped for, this is one of many systems that operates suspiciously close to the old Nazi Wünderwaffen that is only now becoming a reality.
We should all be grateful that the Sun Gun and the other ideas of Hitler’s mad scientists were merely the work of a delusional power on the brink of total defeat rather than workable systems. It is unlikely that anyone outside of Hitler and his inner circle ever believed that the Sonnengewehr was anything other than a fantasy.
Could the Sun Gun Have Been a Bargaining Chip?
In fact, the real value of the Sun Gun was likely in its ability to act as a great bargaining chip for Nazi scientists desperate to cut a deal with the advancing Allies, and avoid the pitfalls of being captured (or killed) by the Soviet Union.
The gambit of many Nazi scientists desperate for a reprieve from the Soviet onslaught emanating from the east—as well as for a second chance at life in the United States—appears to have worked. Many American agents involved with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the wartime predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), bought the line that Nazi scientists were building super-weapons. Naturally, the OSS wanted those designs for Washington, rather than letting them fall into the hands of the Kremlin.
In that sense, the ruse worked. Many Nazis were brought over to the United States on the promise that they’d produce similar wonder weapons in the deserts of America to counter whatever the Soviets were cooking in the Ural Mountains. And the rest, as they say, is history.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Marko Aliaksandr.
