MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Well, one you would not think about would be the V-1/Fi-103/FZG-76.
The Buzz Bomb did not look nearly as impressive as the V-2 ballistic missile, but it was far more effective as a weapon, able to deliver explosives on the enemy much cheaper than any other method the Third Reich had available. The fact it could be intercepted was a plus, not a defect. Only the latest and fastest Allied fighters could intercept the V-1, thereby drawing off a significant portion of the fighter force away from the actual combat areas. Had the Luftwaffe been able to deploy really significant numbers of jet fighters, those machines intercepting the V-1's would have been vital to opposing that new capability.
The USAF and USN should have built on the V-1 technology immediately after WWII, adding radar homing (from the Bat missile) and TV Guidance (from Project Aphrodite) along with air launching from B-29's and PB4Y-2 (actual air launches of Loon copies did not go very well) to produce stand off weapons. We could have had them ready for Korea but in reality the fools did not even have them ready for Vietnam.
And of course today cruise missiles are a big deal and in actual combat have proved to be far more useful than ballistic missiles. Ship the UKR a few thousand cheap V-1's and let them drive the Russians nuts.
The Buzz Bomb did not look nearly as impressive as the V-2 ballistic missile, but it was far more effective as a weapon, able to deliver explosives on the enemy much cheaper than any other method the Third Reich had available. The fact it could be intercepted was a plus, not a defect. Only the latest and fastest Allied fighters could intercept the V-1, thereby drawing off a significant portion of the fighter force away from the actual combat areas. Had the Luftwaffe been able to deploy really significant numbers of jet fighters, those machines intercepting the V-1's would have been vital to opposing that new capability.
The USAF and USN should have built on the V-1 technology immediately after WWII, adding radar homing (from the Bat missile) and TV Guidance (from Project Aphrodite) along with air launching from B-29's and PB4Y-2 (actual air launches of Loon copies did not go very well) to produce stand off weapons. We could have had them ready for Korea but in reality the fools did not even have them ready for Vietnam.
And of course today cruise missiles are a big deal and in actual combat have proved to be far more useful than ballistic missiles. Ship the UKR a few thousand cheap V-1's and let them drive the Russians nuts.