The V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1,[a])—also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug,[3][b] and in Germany as Kirschkern (cherrystone) or Maikäfer (maybug)[5]—was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile.

The V-1 was developed at Peenemünde Army Research Centre by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. During initial development it was known by the codename "Cherry Stone". The first of the so-called Vergeltungswaffen series designed for terror bombing of London, the V-1 was fired from launch sites along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts. The first V-1 was launched at London on 13 June 1944[6]), one week after (and prompted by) the successful Allied landing in Europe. At its peak, more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was overrun by Allied forces. After this, the V-1s were directed at the port of Antwerp and other targets in Belgium, with 2,448 V-1s being launched. The attacks stopped when the last launch site was overrun on 29 March 1945.

The British operated an arrangement of defences (including guns and fighter aircraft) to intercept the bombs before they reached their targets as part of Operation Crossbow, while the launch sites and underground V-1 storage depots were targets of strategic bombing.

ype Guided missile
Place of origin Nazi Germany
Service history
In service 1944–1945
Used by Luftwaffe
Wars World War II
Production history
Designer Robert Lusser
Manufacturer Fieseler
Unit cost 5,090 RM[1]
Specifications
Weight 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
Warhead weight 850 kg (1,870 lb)
Engine Argus As 109-014 pulse jet engine
Operational
range
250 km (160 mi)[2]
Speed 640 km/h (400 mph) flying between 600 to 900 m (2,000 to 3,000 ft)
Guidance
system
gyrocompass based autopilot