In Service:
First Flight:
Manufacturer: Wernher
von Braun, Kummersdorf
Number built:
Type: Surface-to-Surface Missile
Guidance system: Gyroscope
Length: 6.74 m
Wingspan: m
Diameter: 0.68 m
Weight: 748 kg
Engine: 1 × liquid fuel rocket engine producing
up to 1,500 kg of thrust
Maximum speed: km/h
Range: 12.1 km
Warhead:
Fuze:
Launch Platform: Mobile
Operators: Heer
Variants:
A-1
A-2
A-3
A-4
A-4 SLBM
A-4b / A-9
A-5
A-6
A-7
A-8
A-9 / A-10
Other: Missiles
Articles:
The Aggregate 3 (A-3) was the third in a series of ballistic
missiles designed and developed by Dr.-Ing.
Wernher
von Braun in 1937 under the leadership of Dr.
Walter
Robert Dornberger, at Kummersdorf south of Berlin.
The Aggregate 3 (A-3) ballistic missile was 6.74 m long by
0.68 m in diameter and had a takeoff weight 748 kg. The A-3
also incorporated a three gyroscope system to control the
missile during flight, the missile also had a parachute installed
to facilitate recovery. The rocket engine used in the
Aggregate
1 (A-1) and
Aggregate 2 (A-2)
was also used in the Aggregate 3 (A-3) with some minor modifications,
which was a pressure fed system using 25% liquid oxygen and
75% ethanol, to give a maximum thrust of 1,500 kg for 45 seconds
of burn time, which was designed by
Arthur
Rudolph.
There were numerous tests flights of the Aggregate 3 (A-3)
many ending in failures however the first launching took place
on 4 December 1937, another launch took place on 11 December
1937. The testing of the Aggregate 3 (A-3) took place at Kummersdorf
under the watchful eye of
Werner
von Fritsch, and at
Greifswalder
Oie,
Peenemünde.
Development of the Aggregate 3 (A-3) was abandoned in favour
of the
Aggregate 5 (A-5) which
was a scaled-down version of the
Aggregate
4 (A-4).
The Warplanes of the Third Reich.
ISBN-10: 0385057822
German Aircraft of the Second World War.
ISBN-10: 0370000242
Hitler's Luftwaffe.
ISBN-10: 051718771X
For a complete list of
sources
