V-2
Noun
Meaning
V-2 (plural V-2s)
(historical) An early long-range liquid-fuel ballistic missile used by Germany during the Second World War.
Alternative form: V2
V-2 (plural V-2s)
Alternative form of V2
V-2 (plural V-2s)
(automotive, engineering) Alternative spelling of V-twin
Examples
Assessment Unlike the V-2, the V-1 was a cost-effective weapon for the Germans as it forced the Allies to spend heavily on defensive measures and divert bombers from other targets.
A scientific reconstruction carried out in 2010 demonstrated that the V-2 creates a crater convert wide and convert deep, ejecting approximately 3,000 tons of material into the air.
At the speeds the V-2 flew at, this required guns of effectively infinite reaction time, or some sort of weapon with ranges on the order of dozens of miles, neither of which appeared possible.
Early designs from both countries were short-range missiles, like the V-2, but improvements quickly followed.
Early on, it was believed that the V-2 employed some form of radio guidance, a belief that persisted in spite of several rockets being examined without discovering anything like a radio receiver.
From mid-January to mid-February 1945, the mean point of V-2 impacts edged eastward at the rate of a couple of miles a week, with more and more V-2s falling short of central London.