File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1975-117-26,_Marschflugkörper_V1_vor_Start.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Also known as Fieseler Fi 103, V-1 flying bomb, V-1 missile, buzz bomb, doodlebug
1944 cruise missile by Fieseler
Key facts
- Type
- Cruise missile
- Place of origin
- Nazi Germany
- In service
- 1944–1945
- Used by
- Luftwaffe
- Wars
- World War II
- Designer
- Robert Lusser
- Manufacturer
- Fieseler
- Unit cost
- 5,090 RM
- Variants
- Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg
- Mass
- 2,150 kg (4,740 lb)
- Length
- 8.32 m (27.3 ft)
- Width
- 5.37 m (17.6 ft)
- Height
- 1.42 m (4 ft 8 in)
- Warhead
- Amatol-39 , later Trialen
- Warhead weight
- 850 kg (1,870 lb)
- Detonation mechanism
- Electrical impact fuze Backup mechanical impact fuze Time fuze to prevent examination of duds
- Engine
- Argus As 109-014 Pulsejet
- Operational range
- 250 km (160 mi)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 2150
- Image
- CF15 V-1 replica 050415 01.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- service retirement
- 1945-01-01
- Commons category
- V-1
- Commons gallery
- V-1
- service entry
- 1944-01-01
- total produced
- 30000
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Article
The V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1, lit. 'Vengeance Weapon 1') was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was Höllenhund (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and Maikäfer (maybug).
The V-1 was the first of the Vergeltungswaffen (V-weapons) deployed for the terror bombing of London. It was developed at Peenemünde Army Research Center in 1942 by the Luftwaffe, and during initial development was known by the codename Kirschkern (cherry stone). Due to its limited range, the thousands of V-1 missiles launched into England were fired from launch sites along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts or by modified Heinkel He 111 aircraft.