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But play with the thought for a moment if USA, Canada, UK or any of the other Allied nations/forces either got their first or even a bit after Germany. What potential targets from UK or other areas could it have been used? Would it have been possible at all to get the infrastructure and so forth built to be any use?
Are we assuming the same technology, only in Allied hands? If so, the rockets had only one use, as a terror weapon. It was not a guided missile, it could be aimed only at a large target, such as a city. The V-2 had a range of 200 miles, so the Allies would have had to wait until they advanced within 200 miles of a substantial sized German city.
The Allies had already been bombing the bejeebers out of German cities without causing the collapse of the German will to resist, and we know that using the rockets against Britain didn't break their morale, so I see no grounds for assuming they would have had any major impact on the war if used against Germany.
Between September 1944 and March 1945, V-2s killed about 4,500 people combined in London and Antwerp. Those two cities were the targets of more than 95% of all V-2s launched in combat. The Allies killed several times as many at Dresden in just two nights.
Strategically, the V-2s were at best an irritant to the Allies. They exacted a certain cost in trying to counter them - hunting the launch sites, deception aimed at targeting, and so forth. However, they did allow Germany to wreak some havoc were it was increasingly unable to do otherwise, and potentially to influence public opinion (which is why the British government initially concealed from the British public the source of the mystery explosions, and why so much effort was put into countering them). On the other hand, the Allies were able to bomb almost at will. When you can put hundreds of B-17s and/or Lancasters into the sky at once, each capable of carrying tons of explosives, the ability to deliver a V-2 with its single-ton warhead isn't particularly useful, especially since the V-2 was no more accurate than bombers. And the German dictatorship was less vulnerable to public opinion, which given the rain of destruction raining down upon in from a sky filled with bombers, probably wouldn't have been swayed to any degree by the occasional ballistic missile.
An Allied V-2 would have done nothing at all to enhance the Allied war effort.
The V2 was significant in the development of weapons because it was the first ballistic missile in use. The problem was one of targeting, and developing ordnance powerful but small enough to fit on the rocket and make a difference, and of course the cost of these weapons. The benefit is that it was difficult to defend against them and the fact that they were anonymous weapons capable of killing anyone anywhere within range. Thus it's value was strictly limited to it's use as a terror weapon. It would be wasteful for the Allies to develop that technology while they could just as well as focus on technology to develop long range aircraft and of course the atom bomb which, by the time of the Japan bombing, could be delivered virtually unopposed by bombers since the Allies had air superiority.
These nazi scientist that developed these weapons got gobbled up by both the Americans and Soviets at the end of the war because they knew what the value would be to ballistic missles once technology caught up - targeting systems and smaller but more deadly nuclear warheads. Even that technology took another decade or so to develop after the war. But in WW2 for the nazis - too little and too late to make a difference.
And there was really no defense against the V2. They were fired from mobile launching pads and moved around the countryside to avoid detection from aerial surveillance. They were not accurate against individual targets but fired into a large city they could be devastating.
Unlike the V1 because of the high speed vertical plunge achieved on impact they created both explosive and seismic shock waves that could tear apart buildings. The V1 could be shot out of the sky by antiaircraft fire and even intercepted by last generation piston engined fighter aircraft.
The V2 was significant in the development of weapons because it was the first ballistic missile in use. The problem was one of targeting, and developing ordnance powerful but small enough to fit on the rocket and make a difference, and of course the cost of these weapons. The benefit is that it was difficult to defend against them and the fact that they were anonymous weapons capable of killing anyone anywhere within range. Thus it's value was strictly limited to it's use as a terror weapon. It would be wasteful for the Allies to develop that technology while they could just as well as focus on technology to develop long range aircraft and of course the atom bomb which, by the time of the Japan bombing, could be delivered virtually unopposed by bombers since the Allies had air superiority.
These nazi scientist that developed these weapons got gobbled up by both the Americans and Soviets at the end of the war because they knew what the value would be to ballistic missles once technology caught up - targeting systems and smaller but more deadly nuclear warheads. Even that technology took another decade or so to develop after the war. But in WW2 for the nazis - too little and too late to make a difference.
The V stood for “Vergeltungswaffe” ....translation: vengeance....
V1 and V2 were vengeance weapon meant to strike psychological terror.
The Allies were very impressed with the technology involved with the V2,
the USA snapped up the best scientist ....Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977),
he ended up helping NASA....right through to the Apollo program.
The V stood for “Vergeltungswaffe” ....translation: vengeance....
V1 and V2 were vengeance weapon meant to strike psychological terror.
The Allies were very impressed with the technology involved with the V2,
the USA snapped up the best scientist ....Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977),
he ended up helping NASA....right through to the Apollo program.
Yes. I know this and referred to all of this, but you are adding detail so thanks. I forgot to add the peacetime significance - it's not all about finding a better way to kill your fellow man. Space flight and exploration had it's origin in the V-2 rockets.
Yes. I know this and referred to all of this, but you are adding detail so thanks. I forgot to add the peacetime significance - it's not all about finding a better way to kill your fellow man. Space flight and exploration had it's origin in the V-2 rockets.
Hence the reasons USA, UK and other Allied nations gave large numbers of Nazis a free pass after the war. This when after all they directly or whatever were responsible for slaughter of innocent thousands all over UK and Europe.
But as you say, bygones should be bygones when *other* more important things are on the table.
They costed the same as a 4 engined bomber. The bomber was reusable.
Correct. If the Allies were given a complete set of plans, tools and dies for the V-2, the only logical choice would have been not to use it. As it was, each launch weakened the German war effort.
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