The V-2 missile was the precursor to ballistic missiles and was widely used by Germany during the latter stages of World War II, particularly against Great Britain and Belgium.

• The acronym V-2 stands for Vergeltungswaffe 2, (retaliatory weapon 2 in German, an idea of Joseph Goebbels for propaganda purposes).

The missile was designated by its designers as A4 (Aggregat 4): as early as 1927, members of the German Society began the first tests on liquid-fueled rockets.

In 1932, the Reichswehr (German National Defense) became interested in the development of these tests especially for the military sector, and a team led by General Walter Dornberger was very impressed by the test of a launcher designed and built by Wernher von Braun.

• The A-4/V-2 missile was uninterceptable.


• A weapon against which there was no defense.

To date, only a deployment of Patriots or SA-10s could parry an attack, and at enormous cost, against what was an ancestor of the current Scuds, similar in performance and warhead but more precise and half the weight.