Franz Rudolf Thomanek

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Franz Rudolf Thomanek (born July 17, 1913 in Vienna , † November 21, 1990 in Schrobenhausen ) was an Austrian engineer and physicist who became known for his work on shaped charge warheads .

Live and act

Thomanek was interested in new technical developments early on. In 1931 he co-founded the Austrian Society for Rocket Technology. In that year he began studying technical physics at the Technical University of Vienna . He was also interested in military-technical issues.

In the interwar period , the technical advantage shifted between tanks and anti-tank weapons in the direction of tanks and the infantry desperately looked for suitable anti-tank weapons. In 1932, Thomanek designed a 70 mm tank rifle with shaped charge ammunition, albeit without taking into account the as yet unknown effect of the hollow charge lining. Up until now, anti-tank defense had focused on bullets , the effect of which was based on high kinetic energy . Thomanek submitted his draft to the armed forces, but they were not interested. After several attempts, Thomanek succeeded in building a prototype with the help of his friend Hellmuth von Huttern, who had contacts with a small German explosives manufacturer. The TG 70 / M34 tank rifle was the first weapon to exploit the effect of the shaped charge. Through political contacts, Thomanek succeeded in placing a punctured test plate in Hitler's private apartment in Munich , thus drawing attention to himself. A few weeks later he was invited to present his development to the Reich government on November 28, 1935 in Berlin . The presentation of the tank rifle was unsuccessful; the detonator reacted too slowly for the shaped charge and prevented penetration, and the rifle had enormous recoil . Nevertheless, the value of the concept was recognized.

Thomanek studied technical physics at the Technical University of Berlin , which he graduated in 1938 as a graduate engineer. At the same time he worked at the aviation research institute in Braunschweig . On February 4, 1938, he discovered the lining effect of shaped charges, which led to an increase in penetration performance. It is possible that the Swiss Heinrich Mohaupt , who claims to have observed this effect in late 1935, got ahead of him. However, the date of Mohaupt's discovery is controversial. While Thomanek's events can be well substantiated by documents, Mohaupt's only depend on his retrospective reports, which he wrote in 1966. Thomanek had the lined shaped charge patented in Germany on December 9, 1939, followed by an international patent in Hungary in 1943. Since the aviation research institute did not have the necessary high-speed cameras, Thomanek went to the Air Force Technical Academy in Berlin-Gatow in May 1938 , where he worked for Hubert Schardin . Instead of doing basic research, Thomanek wanted to work on specific weapons projects. Since the superiors denied him this, he protested. In the end, he was branded a troublemaker and lost his job. Thomanek then worked in a management consultancy and acquired business knowledge. In 1940 Thomanek founded Sprengstoff-Versuchs GmbH and was involved in the development and manufacture of almost all German shaped charges (e.g. for the Panzerfaust ) during World War II . In 1944 he was awarded the Dr. Fritz Todt Prize due to developments in the field of shaped charges .

After the war, Thomanek first gained a foothold in the construction industry . 1955 came from the political Bonn the request to Ludwig Bolkow if he could deal Thomanek and Thomanek was in the developments Bölkow KG hired. Thomanek developed the BO 810 COBRA anti-tank missile and liquid thrusters there . In 1958 he was responsible for setting up the Schrobenhausen plant, and in 1967 he was appointed managing director of Bölkow Apparatebau GmbH. After the merger of Bölkow GmbH with other companies to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm , Thomanek became head of the central technology department there in 1973. At the end of this year, he left the company in retirement .

Parallel to his work at Bölkow, Thomanek was also involved at the Technical University of Munich . In 1966 he received a teaching position for ballistics, since 1970 he has taught there as an honorary professor . In 1980 he did his doctorate in engineering on the subject of optimizing the cost of launch vehicles at the Department of Space Technology.

Thomanek married Christa Römer in 1947; In 1948 his son Franz Ulrich was born.

literature

  • Donald R. Kennedy: History of the Shaped Charge Effect , 1983 [5]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Helmut W. Malnig: Professor Thomanek and the development of the precision hollow charge in: Troop service , volume 289, issue 1/2006 [1]
  2. ^ Kennedy: History of the Shaped Charge Effect , 1983, p. 58
  3. ^ Olaf Glöckner , Julius H. Schoeps : Germany, the Jews and the State of Israel: A political inventory , Georg Olms Verlag , 2016, ISBN 9783487085807 , pp. 137-138 [2]
  4. ^ Kennedy: History of the Shaped Charge Effect , 1983, p. 58
  5. ^ Kennedy: History of the Shaped Charge Effect , 1983, pp. 9-10, 20
  6. ^ Kennedy: History of the Shaped Charge Effect , 1983, p. 60
  7. ↑ Process for the production of a mineral material with high tensile strength ... , Österreichische Bauzeitschrift, Volumes 7–8, Springer Verlag p. 88 [3]
  8. ^ A b Ludwig Bölkow , Brigitte Röthlein : Ludwig Bölkow: Memories , Herbig-Verlag , 1994, ISBN 9783776617474 , 1983, p. 163 [4]
personal data
SURNAME Thomanek, Franz Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian engineer and honorary professor
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1990
Place of death Schrobenhausen