When were guided rockets invented?

[Helm]

Because I'm pretty sure they didn't have them in WW1, why do they have to make video games historically inaccurate?

[hellheaven1987]

??

V1 and V2 is probably the closest.

[conon394]

What do you mean - off the cuff I believe the remote guided missiles/rockets were WW2 vintage.

[Helm]

I've just played a WW1 flight sim game and you can fire a guided rocket with the right mouse button. I'm not sure if they even had them in WW2, at least not guided rockets.

[DAVIDE]

Henschel Hs 293B, july 1940

[conon394]

I've just played a WW1 flight sim game and you can fire a guided rocket with the right mouse button. I'm not sure if they even had them in WW2, at least not guided rockets.

As Davide just pointed out lots of guided/homing weapons in ww2 - missiles/torpedoes and such. But I am fairly sure not a one in WW1

[Gelgoog]

One of the first such devices, created during World War I, was a small propeller-driven aircraft called the Kettering Aerial Torpedo. This 530 pound flying bomb, nicknamed the "Bug," was launched off guide rails towards it's intended target. It's primitive in-flight guidance system provided only stability and no real directional control. Upon reaching it's destination a preset timing mechanism would cut the plane's four cylinder gas engine after which the wings would be disconnected and the bomb-bearing fuselage would fall to earth, detonating on impact.

Kettering "Bug" in preparation for launch


Germany also had radio controled air-to-ship bombs during the war which they would drop from light bombers onto ships.

Of the fifteen battleships lost to airpower, one of these—the 41,650-ton Italian flagship, Roma—was sunk by a Fritz X. The British battleship Warspite was put out of commission for 6 months by this weapon. Fritz Xs also hit the cruiser USS Philadelphia, heavily damaged the cruiser USS Savannah, and sank the Royal Navy light cruiser Spartan.

The Henschel Hs 293 was responsible for the world's first successful guided missile attack, sinking the British sloop Egret on August 27, 1943. The weapon initially possessed an 18-channel radio control system and was flown in the same way as a radio-controlled airplane. Wire guidance was subsequently adopted when it was discovered the bomb's radio receiver was vulnerable to electronic countermeasures.

[Helm]

I think what they may have done is re-skin a WW2 game, it all feels a little advanced for the era it's meant to represent. There's radio, radar, remote cameras, bombs and the planes handle very well indeed.

[DAVIDE]

Still dont know what missile you need info about.. first liquid fueled or first radio controlled?

[Helm]

Liquid fueled I should think, the kind you can just fire and forget. I should think the war would have been shortened if they had access to planes like this.

[Trax]

World War I

Rockets were used in World War I to engage observation balloons and airships. Success rates were low and the rockets were dangerous to handle in the early fighters built from highly flammable materials.[1] By the end of the war they were replaced by the incendiary Pomeroy bullets.[2] One of the notable rockets from World War I was the Le Prieur rocket which had a range of about 115 m (125 yd), limited by inaccuracy. It was first used in the Battle of Verdun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-to-air_rocket

Le Prieur rockets (French Fusées Le Prieur) were a type of incendiary air-to-air rockets used in World War I against observation balloons and airships.[1] They were invented by the French Lieutenant Yves Le Prieur and were first used in the Battle of Verdun on 1916. Due to great inaccuracy their range was limited to about 115 m (125 yd). They were fired electrically from the interplane struts supporting the wings of biplanes through a cockpit switch. The switch would launch all the rockets consecutively. It successfully brought down observation balloons, but never managed to bring down a Zeppelin, although it was used to defend the United Kingdom from Zeppelin bombings. Amongst users of the rockets were France, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany. After planes became equipped with tracer rounds and incendiary bullets which were highly effective against hydrogen filled aerostats, the rockets were gradually abandoned through 1918. Aircraft that were armed with the rockets included the Nieuport 11/16/17, SPAD 7/13, Sopwith Baby/Pup/Camel, Farman HF.20/21, and the B.E.2/B.E.12. They were usually armed with eight rockets but the SPAD 7 carried six and the B.E. 12 had ten.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Prieur_rocket

Are you sure that the rockets in your game were guided?

[Helm]

They seem pretty accurate though I'm using them from a short range. Those planes didn't carry heavy WW2 bombs though they just had a tube which they dropped grenades from.

[Dupplin Muir]

I read a book in the 70's which was called (iirc) something like 'Technology and War' which stated that Britain produced a pilotless aircraft with an IR homing system some time in the 20's. The only problem was that it preferred to home on the sun rather than its intended target!

DM