Although rocket weapons have been known since the Middle Ages, before the Second World War they did not play any noticeable role on the battlefield, being considered rather a curiosity, a military “exotic”, and a purely auxiliary means. Everything changed at dawn on June 22, 1941, when the German Nebelwerfers unleashed a sea of fire on the Brest Fortress, and a month later the Red Army responded to the enemy with crushing volleys of the legendary Katyusha rockets. Since then, the roar and howl of rocket launchers has become a mandatory accompaniment to military operations.

Soon similar weapons were in the arsenals of all great powers - in addition to multiple launch rocket systems, air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles were developed , anti-aircraft and anti-tank, guided bombs with a rocket accelerator and the famous “Fau” - at the end of the war, no one had any doubts about what exactly should be considered the weapon of the future. Thus began a new era in military affairs, a new “jet era.”

This book is the first encyclopedia of missile and jet weapons of the Second World War, the most complete study of their capabilities, production and combat use on all fronts.