Valkyrie Update:
Well, this has been a long time coming but I'm calling it done. Bit of a long backstory but there was a lot to say!
FactualThe W10 "Wasserfall" was a German guided, supersonic, surface-to-air missile project of World War II. Development was not completed before the end of the war and it was not used operationally.
The system was based on many of the technologies developed for the V-2 rocket program. Significant additional development was required, including design and test of an effective guidance system to allow interception of an air target, adoption of hypergolic fuels to allow the missile to stand ready for launch for days or weeks, and the development of a reliable proximity fuse.
Technical CharacteristicsWasserfall was essentially an anti-aircraft development of the V-2 rocket, sharing the same general layout and shaping. Since the missile had to fly only to the altitudes of the attacking bombers, and needed a far smaller warhead to destroy these, it could be much smaller than the V-2, about 1⁄4 the size. Engagement range was to be in the order of 25Km (15 miles) and to an altitude of 14,000m (46,000 ft).
Unlike the V-2, Wasserfall was designed to stand ready for periods of up to a month and fire on command, therefore the volatile liquid oxygen used in the V-2 was inappropriate. Dr. Walter Thiel designed a new rocket motor, which used Visol (vinyl isobutyl ether) and nitric acid. Motor burn time was 45 seconds and sufficient velocity was achieved to support a further 45 seconds of unpowered pursuit.
Several guidance systems were in development but none were completed by the end of the war. The simplest (code name Burgund) used a manually operated optical target tracker and a separate manually operated optical missile tracker, each with its own operator.
Because Wasserfall was launched vertically, rather from an angled launcher, it had to be steered to come within the line of sight between the missile tracker operator and the target. This flight path was calculated by an analog, electro-mechanical Einlenk Rechner ("Initial Course Computer"). The first six seconds of missile flight were vertical, under the control of the missile internal gyro stabilised autopilot. After this the Einlenk, taking input from the optical target tracker, automatically guided the optical missile tracker to describe the calculated missile path, as it would be seen by the missile tracker operator. Once the missile tracker sight and Wasserfall missile was within 0.5 degrees of the target line of sight, the Einlenk disengaged, allowing the missile tracker operator to maintain the missile on line of the sight with the target until the engagement completed. The missile tracker operator was provided with a control to detonate the missile warhead when the point of closest approach between missile and target was achieved.
Night-time or poor weather use was considerably more complex because neither the target nor the missile would be easily visible. For this role an alternative guidance system, code named Elsass, was under development. Elsass used a Würzburg or Mannheim radar for target tracking and a separate passive missile tracker that picked up a signal from a radio transmitter (known as Ruse) in the missile. As with the optically guided systems, the Einlenk computer directed the missile tracker to provide the missile tracking operator with a course to bring the Wasserfall from vertical launch to line of sight with the target. Once the missile was close to line of sight between the missile tracker and the target, it created a strong blip on the missile tracker operators CRT display. The missile tracker operator then used the joystick to guide the missile so that the blip representing the missile moves to the centre of the missile tracker display.
DevelopmentConceptual work began in 1941 and on 18 September 1942 the Inspector of Ant-Aircraft Artillery issued a programme for the development of new Anti-Aircraft Artillery. The first models were being tested in March 1943, but a major setback occurred in August 1943 when Dr. Thiel was killed during the Operation Hydra bombings, the start of the Allied campaign against German V-weapons including V-2 production.
The first test launch was on 29 February 1944 and thirty-five Wasserfall trial firings had been completed by the time Peenemünde was evacuated on 17 February 1945. (Note 1)
What IfThe setting for the Valkyrie is one that I postulated for a series of strategic wargames that I created many years ago – the essential nuance is that Germany survives WW2 after it drags on into 1946. It is the same AH reality in which my Thor MLRS and Griffon HAPC models exist in - the detailed whys and wherefores are not important, just accept it and move on!
DevelopmentThe W10 "Valkyrie" was a German short-range, supersonic, surface-to-surface, ballistic missile that saw service during the final stages of the 1939-46 World War and into the subsequent Cold War.
Given the considerable supporting infrastructure required for the operation of Wasserfall, particularly in its night/all-weather configuration, the intent was for the surface to air system to be constructed and operated in fixed defensive belts around Germany’s strategic assets – in much the same fashion as later Soviet SA-1, SA-2, SA-3 and SA-5 systems. It didn’t take the Germans long, however, to realise that a missile designed to fly out to a range of 25km and 46,000ft altitude might also have a significant ground -to-ground capability worthy of consideration.
Technical CharacteristicsValkyrie was essentially a ground attack development of the Wasserfall missile, sharing 96% of the same construct and varying only in its inertial guidance system and the homing seeker used in the Mk III variant. Maximum range was 50Km (30 miles).
VariantsMk I: The Valkyrie Mk I was nothing more than a ballistically fired Wasserfall missile that relied entirely on its integral inertial navigation system (INS) of gyroscopes, accelerometers and barometric pressure gauges coupled to an autopilot to navigate its way to the target. With a maximum flight time of only 3 minutes, the INS’s gyroscopic latent inaccuracies were negligible and, consequently, bearing of flight extremely accurate. However, by the designs of the day, the accelerometers and pressure gauges induced range errors that pushed the achievable Circular Error of Probability (CEP) to between 600-1000m. The missile’s large fuel-air explosive and radar proximity fuse in the nose minimised the effects of this inherent inaccuracy to a degree but the Mk I was only ever effective as an area weapon.
Mk II: The Valkyrie Mk II incorporated many of the fundamentals of the Wasserfall Elsass system and, in particular the incorporation of the Wurzburg D radar and a missile transponder to provide mid-course guidance (bearing, range and altitude) to the in-flight missile. This greatly improved the terminal accuracy of the Mk II missile and gave it a very respectable, if still not precision, CEP of 300-500m.
Mk III: The Valkyrie Mk III missile (sometimes referred to as the Mk II
Spezial), was a standard Mk II missile with a set of four forward facing receiver antennas in the wings. These, along with the coupled angle tracking receiver in the body of the missile and a UHF transponder beacon on the ground formed part of the UHF Volltreffer (
Bullseye) target illumination system. Similar to, and inspired by, the allied Rebecca/Eureka system, Volltreffer relied on agents/commandos to emplace the target beacon as close to the intended target as was tactically possible – no mean feat. The inbound missile would transmit an activation pulse as it started its terminal dive which would, in turn, cause the target marker beacon to respond. The missile would then use these transmissions to home into the beacon’s RF source. Theoretically, such a system could achieve a CEP of 5-10m, however, the real-time limitations of the day reduced accuracy to 50-100m. Whilst nowhere near the capabilities of modern terminal homing, the Volltreffer/Mk III missile combo, nevertheless, produced an extremely impressive degree of accuracy.
Operational CapabilityValkyrie was deployed in independent artillery battalions (Abteilungen) at Corps/Army level. Each Abteilungen consisted of a battalion HQ, an HQ battery, a service battery and 2 x firing batteries, each of 3 x firing platoons, with 2 x firing sections for a total of 12 launchers. In its Mk II missile configuration, each firing platoon had its own Wurzburg D radar and command transmitter to provide mid-course guidance updates to the in-flight missile.
Whilst the use of the Mk III missile and its associated Volltreffer target designation beacon was not without considerable risks to those emplacing said beacons, some notable successes were, nevertheless, achieved. On the night of 5 March 1946, a Mk III missile stuck the HQ of the US Army’s III Corps killing Major General John Millikin and most of his staff. Three weeks later on 27 March, two Mk III’s impacted an ammunition dump outside Paris with catastrophic effect. The resulting explosion being one of the largest no-nuclear detonations of the war.
SpecificationsMass: 3,700 kilograms (8,200 lb)
Length: 7.85 metres (25.8 ft)
Diameter: 0.88 metres (2 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 2.51 metres (8 ft 3 in)
Warhead: 306 kilograms (675 lb), based on a liquid explosive
Engine: Liquid-propellant rocket motor
Propellant: Mixed Acid (90% Nitric Acid 10% Sulphuric Acid) as oxidiser. Optoline as fuel.
Max range: 24 kilometres (15 mi)
Max speed: 770 metres per second (1,700 mph)
Guidance: Gyroscopic inertial navigation with later terminal radio homing.
Launcher: Panzer IV Ausf. K (Transporter Erector Launcher)
The model depicts TEL vehicle of the 1st Section of the 3rd Platoon of the 2nd Battery of Schwerer Raketenwerfer Abteilungen ‘Puma’ assigned to II Panzer Corps in May of 1946. It has been constructed from the hull of a Cyber Hobby Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz, a cults3d.com Wasserfall missile print, some leftovers from a Dragon Scud launcher, plastic card, aluminium tubing and some bits and bobs form the spares boxes.
Notes: 1. Extracted from Wikipedia Wasserfall page.
Traveling configuration
Preparing for firing
Firing Configuration
