An Erprobungskommando (EKdo) ("Testing-command") was a Luftwaffe unit tasked with the testing of new aircraft and weaponry under operational conditions.
Kommandos[]
Erprobungskommando 16[]
Erprobungskommando 16 was formed March 1943 in Peenemünde-West, as a test unit for the new Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket fighter. The unit was disbanded on 14 February 1945.
Commanding officers[]
- Major Wolfgang Späte, February 1943 - May 1944
- Hauptmann Toni Thaler, May 1944 - February 1945
Erprobungskommando 154[]
Erprobungskommando 154 was formed in November 1943 in Langenhagen, to test the new Focke-Wulf Ta 154 night fighter.
Erprobungskommando 162[]
Erprobungskommando 162 was formed in January 1945 in Rechlin-Roggenthin, to test the new Heinkel He 162 jet fighter.
Commanding officers[]
- Major Heinrich Bär, January 1945 - May 1945
Erprobungskommando 262[]
Erprobungskommando 262 was formed in April 1944 in Lechfeld to test the new Messerschmitt Me 262. The unit was disbanded on 26 September 1944 and used to form Kommando Nowotny.
Commanding officers[]
- Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder, April 1944 - 18 July 1944
- Major Walter Nowotny, 19 July 1944 - 26 September 1944
Kommando Welter[]
Kommando Welter was initially formed in November 1944 in Burg bei Magdeburg as Kommando Stamp, flying the Me 262A-1a, as an experimental nightfighter unit, but was soon renamed Kommando Welter. The unit was redesignated 10./NJG 11 on 28 January 1945.
Commanding officers[]
- Oberleutnant Gerhard Stamp, November 1944
- Oberleutnant Kurt Welter, November 1944 - January 1945
References[]
- "Messerschmitt Me 262 Arrow to the Future". Smithsonian Institution. 1980. ISBN 0-87474-275-7..
The original article can be found at Erprobungskommando and the edit history here.