The transfer and exploitation of German air-to-air rocket and guided missile technology by the Western Allies after World War II

During World War II, the German military-industrial complex under the national socialist regime made pioneering strides in the development of aircraft armaments for the Luftwaffe. Through the application of scientific knowledge in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, ballistics, aerodynamics, and rocket propulsion, German armaments manufacturers evolved aircraft cannon technology to the automatic revolving aircraft cannon, to small unguided solid propellant rockets, and by 1945 Germany was on the threshold of starting series production of the world’s first guided air-to-air missile system. Towards the conclusion of the war in Europe and in the months afterwards, the four occupying powers produced scientific and technical intelligence on these developments for the purpose of exploitation. This article provides previously unpublished details about these activities by the Western Allies – the United States, United Kingdom and France – historical events which have traditionally been overshadowed by the Allies’ transfer and exploitation of other German guided weapons, such as the V-1 and the V-2.