Schmetterling
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In 1941 a Professor Wagner conceived and designed the Schmetterling
(Butterfly) anti-aircraft missile and submitted it for appraisal and
approval to the RLM (Ministry of Aviation), which duly rejected the
design because its defensive purpose was considered weak and still
unnecessary in 1941. Official support finally came in 1943, when
Allied strategic bombing had accelerated the war to a higher pace, and
the Reich was feeling the pain. The Henschel company, which was also
developing several other types of missiles, was given the go-ahead and
development contract to begin production in February 1945. Experiments
and production were interrupted by Allied bombers and there were only
59 experimental launchings, 34 of them failed for different
reasons. Schmetterling was a bomb-shaped projectile with wings and fins. Two rocket boosters were attached to the outside for take-off. The external rockets were powered by solid fuel, while the internal motor was driven by a fuel composed of hydrocarbon and nitric acid. It could accelerate up to 859km and had an effective range of approximately 16km with a ceiling of 10,668m. A ground controller would guide the missile through radio signals and track its course visually. The warhead contained 250kg of high explosive and was armed with a proximity fuse called "Fox." |
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Technical data and/or diagram of Schmetterling. |