The V-1 did succeed in forcing a redistribution of defenses in the United Kingdom, but not in affecting support for the invasion of Fortress Europe.
The missiles deployed against London were the V1 cruise missile (also known as the Flying Bomb and colloquially as the “Doodlebug”), developed by the German Air Force, and the V2 ballistic missile (also known as the A4 rocket or the Long-Range Rocket Projectile) developed by the German Army.
The cruise missile concept ascended during World War I. The notion of a propelled missile formed centuries ago, when the Chinese first used such rocket-powered weaponry in the twelfth century. Missiles remained without in-flight guidance and long-range capability, simply being aimed and fired, until 1915.
Between 1898, when Tesla first demonstrated remote control via radio waves, and 1914, the start of World War I, inventors around the world tinkered with Tesla's revolutionary idea.
The first practical efforts on record began when Peter C . Hewitt, inventor of the mercury vapor lamp, approached Elmer A. Sperry of Sperry Gyroscope Company in April 1915 with the idea of a "flying bomb."
Together they developed and tested an automatic control system on both a Curtiss flying boat and a twin-engine aircraft. This particular system showed enough promise by the summer of 1916 to merit a test with an official observer.
The first iteration of the Sperry Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane system flew successfully in September 1917. On 6 March 1918, the longest flight of the Curtiss-Sperry flying bomb was only 1,000 feet long.
In early 1917, the Army asked Charles Franklin Kettering to design another unmanned “flying bomb” with long-range capabilities. The "Kettering Bug" was a similar but lighter biplane presented by the US Army in 1918. Similar to the "Aerial Torpedo", it was designed to carry an explosive payload of 82 kg.
Developed in Dayton, Ohio, the Kettering Bug used a small four-cylinder, air-cooled, 40-horsepower (at 2,000 rotations per minute) de Palma engine. It could fly at a speed of 55 miles per hour for a maximum range of 40 miles. The Bug had a wingspan of 15 feet and a length of 12.5 feet. The fuselage was made of plywood and cardboard; the spars, ribs, and so on were left over or defective pieces of spruce and the wing surfaces were covered in muslin paper.
In an attempt to surmount the shortcomings of the V-1, the United States committed its efforts to the guidance and launching element of this weapon. With the help of recovered German V-1 parts, the United States was able to design a variety of cruise missiles that had great potential.
Flying bomb cruise missile
