V1, V2 rockets
V1, V2 rockets (abbreviation for Vergeltungswaffen, vengeance weapons) V-1s, popularly known as doodlebugs, flying bombs, or buzz bombs, were pilotless aircraft, powered by a pulse-jet engine, with a guidance system composed of a distance-measuring device, a gyrocompass, and an altimeter. Launched by the Luftwaffe against se England in June 1944, they carried about one tonne of high explosive. Later the same year, England was subjected to attacks by the V-2, a long-range, guided missile carrying a one-tonne warhead to a range of 320km (200mi), at an altitude of 95–110km (60–70mi). It was powered by a mixture of liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol, and was the precursor of postwar missiles.
More From encyclopedia.com
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
V1, V2 rockets