Eventually, these tactics are not that crazy. In war, lives and machines are expended to reach a goal. If some tactics seem crazy, then only because that fundamental fact is harder to ignore.
I think it is important to add, that, in contrast to japanese tactics, the german pilots were not necessarily expected to die. It was “just” extremely risky and a bunch of them did actually survive.
The pilots were expected to parachute out either just before or after they had collided with their target.
The fighter pilots ramming bombers were expected to bail out. There were survivors.
The pilots of the Leonidas squadron were expected to “self-sacrifice” in their attacks on bridges. They faced rather less social pressure than Japanese pilots, though.
There were a small number of kamikaze attacks against Oder bridges in conventional planes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_Squadron#Oder_bridge_attack_missions,_April_1945
There also was a squadron of conventional fighters dedicated to fly ramming attacks against bombers, which was used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderkommando_Elbe
Eventually, these tactics are not that crazy. In war, lives and machines are expended to reach a goal. If some tactics seem crazy, then only because that fundamental fact is harder to ignore.
I think it is important to add, that, in contrast to japanese tactics, the german pilots were not necessarily expected to die. It was “just” extremely risky and a bunch of them did actually survive.
The fighter pilots ramming bombers were expected to bail out. There were survivors.
The pilots of the Leonidas squadron were expected to “self-sacrifice” in their attacks on bridges. They faced rather less social pressure than Japanese pilots, though.