S144035 GERMAN ROCKET V-2 - A4

The V2 (German: Vergeltungswaffe-2 - retaliation weapon No. 2) was a German ballistic missile from the Second World War. The V2 was a single-stage liquid-fuel missile with a range of 320-380 kilometers, capable of carrying a warhead weighing up to 975 kilograms. The first designs and theoretical assumptions of a vertical launch missile powered by a rocket engine were developed in Germany in the mid-1930s. The German armed forces became interested in the idea relatively quickly and began to spend large sums of money on research. From 1937, the work was focused on the island of Usedom, in the vicinity of Peenemunde, in a specially created and built from scratch research center, which was managed by Werner von Braun. The first successful V2 launches took place in 1942, and the construction of the missile assembly line began in 1943, but work on the new weapon was very effectively delayed by an RAF raid conducted in August 1943 on research centers in Peenemunde. The British were guided by the information obtained by the Home Army intelligence service. Despite this, the first V2s entered the line in early 1944, but their first combat use did not take place until September 1944. Their main goal was to attack British cities, especially London. It is estimated that between September 1944 and March 1945, approximately 5,500 missiles were fired, of which approximately 70% hit the target. Undoubtedly, the V2 was a revolutionary weapon that had a significant and clear impact on the development of ballistic missiles during the Cold War, but it also had many disadvantages: it was actually impossible to steer a V2 missile in flight, its accuracy was tragically poor (it could hit several kilometers from the intended target!), it was also difficult to determine the exact range of the rocket. Its influence on the course of World War II was marginal.