The wind cannon, or Windkanone (not to be confused with Mario Zippermayr's vortex cannon), was an unsuccessful anti-aircraft cannon developed in Nazi Germany during World War II.^[1][2] It was one of Adolf Hitler's wonder weapons and aimed to utilise powerful blasts of air to disrupt enemy aircraft. This weapon was developed by Mario Zippermayr but was different from the other vortex cannon he made.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, the idea of an anti-aircraft artillery was explored by Hitler as the allied bombings of infrastructure were getting more frequent. Mario Zippermayr, a scientist, eventually designed a cannon that could shoot air through a bent barrel at low-flying aircraft. The cannon was designed and produced at a factory in Stuttgart.^[2] One cannon was deployed to a bridge crossing the River Elbe in 1945, where it was unsuccessful in disrupting enemy aircraft.^[2][1]

The wind cannon generated "slugs" of compressed air using combustion of hydrogen and oxygen inside of a long barrel that was bent at one end. These blasts were intended to destabilise aircraft in flight, making it difficult for them to maintain control and causing them to crash.^[1][2] Researchers believed it could provide a strategic advantage by protecting key infrastructure from aerial attacks without relying on traditional anti-aircraft artillery. The cannon was tested at the Hillersleben gun range, resulting with the cannon breaking a 25 mm (0.98 in) wooden board at a distance of 200 m (660 ft).^[2] However, it likely would have been ineffective against flying aircraft.^[2]