Wasserfall

          Wasserfall (Waterfall) was a radio-controlled, supersonic guided missile for anti-aircraft purpose. It was designed to meet the demand for a missile to intercept hostile aircraft and to fly at 19,812m at 880km/h with ranges up to 48km. This specification was highly advanced for the 1940s and was not achieved by any major combat aircraft in the war. The intention was to position batteries of these missiles to defend population centers; about 200 batteries would be needed to cover Germany.
          Work and research were started at the Peenem�nde Research Station in 1942, and the design borrowed many concepts from the A-4 missile. The first launching tests took place across the Baltic in February 1944, and an altitude of 7,010m was reached by the rocket. Seven more prototypes were made and fired by July 1944. Research and development were terminated in February 1945. Some sources suggest that several of the trial missiles were actually deployed against Allied aircraft, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
          The missle weighed 3,545kg at takeoff, and contained a 306kg warhead of high explosive armed with a proximity fuze. Wasserfall would have been a powerful and fearsome addition to Germany's air defenses if only more were produced on time.

Technical data and/or diagram of Wasserfall.

A Wasserfall test rocket on the launch pad in 1944. This joint Luftwaffe-Army anti-aircraft missile became Peenem�nde's second major project in the last two years of the war.

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	Technical data and/or diagram of Wasserfall.
	A Wasserfall test rocket on the launch pad in 1944. This joint Luftwaffe-Army anti-aircraft missile became Peenem�nde's second major project in the last two years of the war.