Page 320 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

318 BOMBS AND MISSILES

1914–1945 OF WORLD WAR II

Initially, aerial bombs were simple iron cylinders filled
with explosives and fused to detonate on impact; sometimes

ARS they had rudimentary fins, but were still only suitable for hitting ▲ BLOHM & VOSS
areas rather than specific targets. Aerodynamic casings and more
effective fins made flight paths more predictable, but even the best
BV246 HAGELKORN
bombs were far from accurate. As soon as appropriate technologies
Date 1943
ORLD W became available, bombs were fitted with guidance systems, some Wingspan was Origin Germany
of them built-in, others requiring a controlling hand in the launch
Charge 960lb (435kg)
21ft (6.4m)
aircraft. By 1944, following much experimentation with rocketry,
Length 11 ⁄2ft (3.5m)
1
the first generation of “surface-to-surface” missiles appeared
The Hagelkorn (“Hailstone”)
THE W (i.e. launched from the ground to strike ground targets), and Stabilizing fins glide-bomb was an unpowered
air-to-surface missile, its gliding
promised to change the very nature of the war in the air.
ability allowing it to be dropped at
a distance from the target rather
than above it. Its development
Dodecahedral shroud
program was curtailed in favor
of the V-1 flying bomb.

Warhead contained
705lb (320kg) of
Amatol high explosive
▲ RUHRSTAHL/KRAMER The most successful guided bomb of
X-1 “FRITZ X” the war, the “Fritz X” was steered to
Date 1943 its target by an operator aboard the
launching aircraft. It was a marked
Origin Germany success, with the Luftwaffe’s specialist ▼ FIESLER FI103 (V1) The first long-range surface-to-surface
missile, the FI103 was launched from
Charge 705lb (320kg) unit, Kampfgeschwader 100, sinking the Date 1944 a ramp by a steam catapult, and was
Length 11ft (3.3m) British ship HMS Warspite at Salerno. Origin Germany powered by a simple pulse-jet motor. It
Charge 1,830lb (830kg) was deployed from June 13, 1944 against
1
Length 27 ⁄3ft (8.32m) targets in the UK and later against Antwerp.

Ranging device

▶ HENSCHEL HS 117H
SCHMETTERLING Warhead contained
Date 1944 1,874lb (850kg)
of Amatol high explosive
Origin Germany
Antenna for radio
Charge 55lb (25kg) Wingspan was 6½ft (2m) guidance
Length 13 ⁄4in (4.2m)
3
The Henschel Schmetterling
(Butterfly) was a surface-to-air
and air-to-air radio-guided
anti-aircraft missile. Its latter
form, the HS 117H, dispensed
with the rocket boosters fitted to
the surface-to-air missile variant. Detonator
Its maximum range was 6 ⁄4 miles Light alloy fuselage
1
(10km), and it traveled at contained liquid-fuel
585mph (940kph). rocket motor