A History of Rockets and Missiles

A HISTORY OF ROCKETS AND MISSILES The guided missile is frequently termed a "new" method The most notable 19th century employment of rocketry of destruction. Certainly the massive airframes, the thun occurred during the War of 1812 when British forces at derous power plants and the elaborate guidance mecha tacked Fort McHenry with ship-launched rockets. A brief nisms of modern automatic weaponry are new. In the historical reference to this incident was preserved for pos broader sense, however, the concept of unmanned and self terity by Francis Scott Key in his masterwork, the Star propelled weaponry dates back more than two centuries Spangled Banner: before the astronomer Copernicus laid the foundation for "And the rockets' red glare, modern space cartography. The bombs bursting in air, The earliest authentic records tell us that in 1232 A.D. Gave proof through the night the Chinese used rocket missiles, or "arrows of flying fire," That our flag was still there." against the Mongols in the siege of a city named Kai fung-fu. About the same time, rockets were introduced in Europe, where they gained wide acceptance by the mili tary forces of various Middle Age belligerents. A rocket of a more advanced type was developed in India circa 17 80 and in the second M ysore war ( 1792) rockets were used to considerable advantage by troops of Tipu Sultan of Mysore against British forces under Lord Cornwallis in the battle of Seringapatam. At the turn of the 19th century a new development in propellants credited to Britain's Sir William Congreve gave the rocket a consid erably increased range capability and led to its wider use as an artillery weapon. 1 The guided missile, as opposed to the aimed rocket, carne into being in 1915 as the result of a cooperative program between the U. S. Navy and a private contractor. Known as an "aerial torpedo," the missi le flew a pre-set course. Later, radio control was used as guidance. During World War I, the Army sponsored a series of experiments with a radio-controlled pilotless ai rcraft known ~~~~~;~~~~-:: as the "Bug." Although successfully test flown, the Bug did not see war duty. It did, however, demonstrate the About 1830 . potential of radio-controlled missiles and started a chain an eleme , an Amencan named Wiu· of development work in that area which continued into nt of b. 'am u nozzle v sta illty to the rocket by p . qaJe added the thirties. anes h. rov1d· . next two dec w . Ich caused It to spin rapid! In~ It with In the period between World War I and World War II, "th ades, however, other ballistic y. Within the a good deal of research work was accomplished on power up wr great eng· . advances in the range and Ineers came plants for missiles, although most of it was aimed primarily ventiOnal arnr1 accura . ery. As a result, the popula . cy of con- at aircraft power. In addition to the piston engines used in declined and . nty of th In 1866 the last rocket arnJ e rocket the early radio-controlled missiles, there was the turbojet e Iernent of th A . 1 ery for e ustnan army, was disband d ce, an engine, developed during the thirties by Frank Whittle in The researches of Orville and Wilbur w/ · . Great Britain and Hans von Ohai n in Germany. years of the 20th f Ight In the first century were o · utmost · There was also the ramjet engine, first proposed and missilery Alth . Importance to · ough the Wnghts were not think· . patented in France as early as 1913. In the late twenties of automatic Weaponry when they built th . ,I,ng In terms and early thirties, experiments with ramjet power were con eir Flyer " the ducted in France and Hungary without success, largely due mernora ble first powered flight at Kitty Ba\"k t ' d • • ·v s arte a to lack of information about high-speed air flow. The first contmumg program of research and devel · . opment m aero- successful ramjet was developed in the United States by the dynamics and propulsion which later contributed in great Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University measure to missile progress. and test flown in 1945. 2 During the thirties, the Germans experimented wi th an he flew the world's first successful liquid rocket. The Ger other type of power, the pulsejet. This engine was perfected mans were conducting parallel liquid fuel research in the during World War II and it became the power plant for late twenties and made a successful flight in March, 1931. the V-1 "buzz bomb." The following year, a German army captain named Modern rocket research started in the late days of World Walter Dornberger (later a major general commanding the War I when Dr. Robert H . Goddard introduced a new and experimental mi ss il e test station at Peenemunde and now more powerful solid propellant than had previously been with an American aircraft and missile manufacturer) se available. During the thirties, several nations developed cured approval from the German government to develop liquid fuel weapons. In 1936, the famed "Peenemunde powerful solid-fuel artillery rockets which saw considerable use in World War Jl. Project" was organized and the Germans built a large rocket research establishment staffed for the most part by members Searching for still greater power, Dr. Goddard turned of the German Rocket Society. Of special interest was his attention toward liquid propellants, and in March, 1926, 3 the specification laid down by the German army and trans which unreeled from the "mother" aircraft as the mtssile mitted to Dr. Dornberger at the start of the German rocket sped on its way. program. A model of simplicity and directness, it read: "To On the Peenemunde drawing boards even at that early develop in military facilities a liquid fu el ro cket, the range date were such projects as submarine-launched missiles and of which should surpass that of any existing gun and pro boost-glide rocket bombers with very long range capability. duction of which wQuld be carried out by industry. Secrecy Although the Germans were concededly most advanced of the development is paramount." in missile development, they had no corner on the market Some of Peenemunde's products became frighteningly during World War 11. The Japanese experimented without well known during World War II, for instance, the "Ven much success with rocket glide bombs launched from the geance Weapons" : the V-1 buzz bomb and the deadly air and controlled by radio. The Japanese also developed V-2. Others, in various stages of development and test, were the rocket-powered gliding "baka bomb," controlled by the not as well known. best guidance system yet discovered: a human pilot. They included the Rheinbote, a surface-to-surface missile Although not as far advanced as Germany, the United with a smaller warhead and less range than the V-2; the States made some efforts toward developing guided weapons Wasserfall, a radio-controlled supersonic surface-to-air during World War II. As early as 1941, work was initiated missile; the Schmetterling, a subsonic surface-to-air weapon with a proximity fuse; the Enzian, a liquid-plus-solid booster rocket designed for use against bomber formations; and the X-4, an air-to-air missile which was controlled by signals from the launching plane transmitted through wires 4 on controllable bombs. In 1943, the Azon, a vertical bomb In 1946, the USAF started work on an intercontinental which could be controlled in azimuth (laterally) but not ballistic missile program known as MX-774, but this work in range, was placed in production. The Razon, controllable was terminated in the sweeping defense budget cuts of 1949. both in azimuth and range, was started in 1942 but not An aircraft company carried on the project on a study basis completed until the war's end. Both were Army Air Corps with its own funds. projects. Development by the Atomic Energy Commission of The Navy developed a glide torpedo which was used in lighter and less bulky atomic warheads gave impetus to the Pacific in the closing days of the war. America's long range missile program in the early 1950's. The Air Corps also developed an unmanned explosive At the same time, work was accelerated on a wide variety laden bomber guided by remote control, using war-weary of other missiles, offensive and defensive, with rocket, aircraft. The "Weary Willies" saw limited service in the turbojet and ramjet power plants. battle against Germany. Today, there are scores of active missile projects in Other wartime projects included advanced versions of various stages of progress, and we are drawing heavily upon the Razon, a guided jet-propelled flying~wing bomb, an missile data in the development of our infant space tech American version of the V-1, a radio-controlled ramjet nology. missile, several types of glide bombs, experiments in heat A study of guided missile history makes one point clear: and-light seeking missiles, and research in television control. this weapon emerged through an evolutionary, rather than Practically all of these projects were dropped at the end a revolutionary, process. It evolved slowly, over a long of the war. period of time. The development cycle accelerated rapidly In the postwar era, both the United States and the Soviet in the last two decades, and this acceleration was due in Union profited from research data accumulated by the large part to the wealth of information on aerodynamics, Germans in Peenemunde and other centers. The Soviets propulsion and guidance obtained through development of apparently concentrated from the start on long range bal the airplane.

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