article · German
Frühe mechanische Rechner der Artillerie und Fliegerabwehr: Automatisierte Rechner für Geschossflugbahnen
A 24-page German-language historical article by André Masson (2017) examining pre-electronic mechanical analog computers used to calculate artillery and anti-aircraft projectile trajectories. The article surveys historical integrating gear mechanisms (friction-disc, cone, Amsler ball integrator, drum gear), then details two concrete devices: the Fösgen trajectory computer (Rheinmetall-Borsig / TH Aachen dissertation, 1937, possibly never built) and the Curti-Dubois-Amsler ballistic integraph 'Mariandl' (built 1948 by Amsler & Cie. Schaffhausen for the Swiss Army, later rebuilt). Appendices cover pre-electronic muzzle-velocity measurement, a chronology of the Curti device development through 1956, and unresolved technical questions.