During the Second World War Germany was far in advance of
any other nation in rocket science, the first tentative steps
were taken early in the 1920s by German rocket enthusiasts
and engineers. As the war situation for Germany deteriorated
leaders poured unprecedented financial and manpower backing
into all manner of missile programs and projects. The first
ballistic missile was the A-4. More commonly known as V-2
rocket, developed at
Peenemünde
Airfield in 1930s and 1940s under guidance of
Wernher
von Braun. The first successful launching of a V-2 was
on 3 October 1942 and began operational use on 6 September
1944 against Paris, and on 8 September 1944 launched against
London. By the end of Second World War over 3,000 V-2s had
been launched. The first cruise missile was the Fieseler Fi
103. More commonly known as the V-1 flying bomb developed
at
Peenemünde
Airfield by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War under
the supervision of
Robert
Lusser from
Fieseler,
and
Fritz
Gosslau from
Argus
Motoren, The first V-1 flying bomb was launched against
London on 13 June 1944. The Taifun project originally started
on 25 September 1942, when
Hermann
Göring authorized the start of a number of anti-aircraft
projects, after all such advanced development had been frozen
by
Hitler.
Along with the Taifun, the Enzian, Rheintochter, Schmetterling
and Wasserfall were also given full funding.
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
