The missile played a key role in the development of post-WWII tactical nuclear weapons.
Here s What You Need to Know: Corporal was considered “the embryo of the Army missile program.”
Six days after the Allies’ D-Day landings on the coast of Normandy in June 1944, Germany retaliated by launching its first Vergeltungswaffe, or Vengeance Weapon, at the city of London. The V-1 was actually a Fie-103 cruise missile designed by Robert Lusser of Fiesler Aircraft. Made from nonessential war materials and covered in sheet metal, the V-1 was powered by a revolutionary Argus As-14 pulse jet engine and carried a 1,870- pound warhead a distance of 150 miles. Although the Allies were never concerned that this buzz bomb could effectively turn the tide of war, they were disturbed that Germany could produce such an advanced weapon. They immediately considered countermeasures, with the American Army Air Force turning to a group of homegrown rocket enthusiasts for an answer.