"Missiles in WW2" Topic

Recently the governor of New York said something like "Ventilators are to the coronavirus fight what missiles were to WWII"
I would have thought bullets, shells and bombs were more important in WWII than missiles, unless he meant the broader meaning of missiles which means something you throw at someone. Thoughts? ;-)

The term missile implies guided or ballistic missiles, as opposed to rockets, which are just pointed and launched.

There were rockets in WW2, mounted on early MRLs and under aircraft wings, but the only missiles I know of were the V-1 and V-2, and they had no effect on the outcome of the war.

That's what I thought. If you're going to make a clever statement in a press conference, making sure you're facts are correct is recommended!

My guess is he isn't a student of military history.

The Germans used the Hs-293 and Fritz-X anti-shipping guided wweapons during WW2 with some success.
link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_X

Yes, Shardik And Thresher01, and in addition, I suspect he just wanted a smart phrase which included, first, a powerful, modern weapon immediately familiar to everyone in his audience (and we've all heard of missiles, naturally), and secondly, a major recent war which America won (with regard to the fronts in which U.S. Forces participated, obviously). He then just put the two together to his own satisfaction. How many, I wonder, would realise that this satisfactory rhetoric is actually nonsensical? You certainly can't fool all of the people all of the time. Good Luck.

How much sleep do you think the governor is getting?

Let's keep our eye on the ball, people.

American navy used the ASM-N-2 Bat in WWII.

American AAF used the GT-1 in WWII.

Both were meant and used as pinpoint accuracy weapons.

I'm guessing that is what he meant by his statement.

Dan

If you were to ask your typical WW2 gamer about the ASM-N-2 and the GT-1 you would probably get a puzzled look.

I see the HS-293 and Fritz-X as glide bombs more than missiles.

Of course, there was the wire-guided X-4 "missile", which might qualify perhaps, but to me is more of a primitive, wire-guided "rocket" instead, due to its rather slow speed, and primitive nature.

I concede the V-2 point though.

Hmmmm Next question,how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?

That depends on at least three things.

The Hs-293 was powered so not a glide bomb unlike the Fritz-X.

I would interject something here regarding the, ahem, governor. It would be quite insightful, very humorous, and pithy, very very pithy…but it would just land me in the dawghouse.