V-1 flying bomb (pulsejet cruise missile)
Bomba volante V-1 (misil de crucero con pulsorreactor)
- Date
- 1942-1944 · confidence high
- Place
- Peenemünde, Usedom, Germany
- Credited to
- Luftwaffe (Robert Lusser, Fritz Gosslau, Paul Schmidt)
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
A pilotless aircraft powered by an Argus pulsejet with a gyroscopic autopilot and a propeller-driven odometer that cut the flight after a set distance, carrying 850 kg of explosive. Launched against London from 13 June 1944, it was the first cruise missile used in war.
Its development involved Argus Motoren and Fieseler; the pulsejet has early 20th-century precedents (Karavodin, Marconnet); it was developed at Peenemünde and launched against London from 13 June 1944.
What it led to
- modern cruise missiles (Tomahawk)
- anti-aircraft defences and fighters against flying bombs
- the pulsejet and jet propulsion