# Erprobungskommando > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erprobungskommando > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Erprobungskommando.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erprobungskommando > Source revision: 1232249634 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Variety of Luftwaffe special-purpose unit}} {{more footnotes needed|date=February 2013}} {{Italic title}} An '''''Erprobungskommando'' (EKdo)''' ("Testing-command") was a variety of [Luftwaffe](/source/Luftwaffe) special-purpose unit tasked with the testing of new aircraft and weaponry under operational conditions. Similarly-named ''Erprobungs-''prefixed squadron ''(staffel)'' and group ''(gruppe)'' sized units also existed at various times in the Luftwaffe during 1939-1944 to service-test new designs, usually numbered with the [RLM aircraft designation system](/source/RLM_aircraft_designation_system) airframe number matching the aircraft they were meant to test, with the three digit number following the "8-xxx" RLM airframe number designating the unit, as with ''Erprobungsstaffel 177'' (contracted to E-Staffel 177), charged with testing the A-0 production prototypes of the [Heinkel He 177](/source/Heinkel_He_177)A heavy bomber.{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 - 277 - 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |pages=55–62 }} The similarly-prefixed [''Erprobungsgruppe 210''](/source/Schnellkampfgeschwader_210) was meant to have service-tested the [Messerschmitt Me 210](/source/Messerschmitt_Me_210) twin-engined "destroyer" and light bomber, but that design's early aerodynamic problems caused the unit's transformation and expansion into [SKG 210](/source/SKG_210), a dedicated "fast bomber" unit using [Bf 110](/source/Messerschmitt_Bf_110)s instead. ==Kommandos== ===''Erprobungskommando 16''=== ''Erprobungskommando 16'' was formed March 1943 in [Peenemünde](/source/Peenem%C3%BCnde)-West, as a test unit for the new [Messerschmitt Me 163](/source/Messerschmitt_Me_163) rocket fighter, and later based at the Luftwaffe airfield in [Bad Zwischenahn](/source/Bad_Zwischenahn) for a considerable period of time. The unit was disbanded on 14 February 1945. ====Commanding officers==== * Major [Wolfgang Späte](/source/Wolfgang_Sp%C3%A4te), February 1943 – May 1944 * Hauptmann Toni Thaler, May 1944 – February 1945 ===''Erprobungskommando 154''=== ''Erprobungskommando 154'' was formed in November 1943 in [Langenhagen](/source/Langenhagen), to test the new [Focke-Wulf Ta 154](/source/Focke-Wulf_Ta_154) night fighter. ===''Erprobungskommando 162''=== ''Erprobungskommando 162'' was formed in January 1945 in [Rechlin-Roggenthin](/source/Rechlin-L%C3%A4rz_Airfield), to test the new [Heinkel He 162](/source/Heinkel_He_162) jet fighter. ====Commanding officers==== * Major [Heinrich Bär](/source/Heinrich_B%C3%A4r), January 1945 – May 1945 ===''Erprobungsgruppe 210''=== ''Erprobungsgruppe 210'' was formed on 1 July 1940 in [Köln-Ostheim](/source/Cologne), to test the [Messerschmitt Bf 109](/source/Messerschmitt_Bf_109) and [Bf 110](/source/Messerschmitt_Bf_110) in a [ground attack](/source/ground_attack) role. On 24 April 1941 the unit was redesignated I./[Schnellkampfgeschwader 210](/source/Schnellkampfgeschwader_210). ====Commanding officers==== * Hauptmann [Walter Rubensdörffer](/source/Walter_Rubensd%C3%B6rffer), 1 July – 15 August 1940 * Hauptmann Hans von Boltenstern, 24 August – 4 September 1940 * Hauptmann Martin Lutz, 7–27 September 1940 * Oberleutnant Werner Weymann (Acting-Gruppenkommandeur) -5 October 1940 (KIA) * Major Wilhelm-Otto Lessmann, 1 November 1940 – April 1941 ===''Erprobungskommando 262''=== ''Erprobungskommando 262'' was formed in April 1944 at [Lechfeld Air Base](/source/Lechfeld_Air_Base) to test the new [Messerschmitt Me 262](/source/Messerschmitt_Me_262). The unit was disbanded on 26 September 1944 and used to form [Kommando Nowotny](/source/Kommando_Nowotny). ====Commanding officers==== * Hauptmann [Werner Thierfelder](/source/Werner_Thierfelder), April 1944 – 18 July 1944 * Major [Walter Nowotny](/source/Walter_Nowotny), 19 July 1944 – 26 September 1944 ===''Kommando Welter''=== ''Kommando Welter'' was initially formed in November 1944 in Burg bei [Magdeburg](/source/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. ''Staffel'' of [''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 11](/source/Nachtjagdgeschwader_11) on 25 January 1945.{{sfn|Zapf|2018|p=218}} ====Commanding officers==== * Oberleutnant [Gerhard Stamp](/source/Gerhard_Stamp), November 1944 * Oberleutnant [Kurt Welter](/source/Kurt_Welter) (for whom the unit was named), November 1944 – January 1945 ===''[Zirkus Rosarius](/source/Zirkus_Rosarius)''=== '''''Zirkus Rosarius''''' (also known as the '''''Wanderzirkus Rosarius''''') was an ''Erprobungskommando''-style special test unit of the [Luftwaffe](/source/Luftwaffe), specifically of the [Luftwaffe High Command](/source/Oberkommando_der_Luftwaffe), tasked with testing captured British and American aircraft, all of which were repainted in German markings. ==References== {{reflist}} * {{Citation|surname=Boyne|given=Walter J.|author-link=Walter J. Boyne |title=Messerschmitt Me 262 Arrow to the Future|place=United States of America|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=1980|isbn=0-87474-275-7}}. * {{Cite book |last=Zapf |first=Andreas |year=2018 |title=Mosquitos über Berlin: Nachtjagd mit Messerschmitt Bf 109 und Me 262 |trans-title=Mosquitos over Berlin: Night Fighting with Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Me 262 |language=de |location=Zweibrücken, Germany |publisher=VDM Heinz Nickel |isbn=978-3-86619-134-1 }} Category:Military units and formations of the Luftwaffe --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Erprobungskommando](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erprobungskommando) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erprobungskommando?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.