Guided at Last

The German V-2 rocket was not a real guided missile. Its control apparatus was set before firing. If the rocket went in the wrong direction, all that could be done was to cut off the fuel supply (by radio) and bring the rocket down.

Last week the Air Force announced that it has developed and tested two rockets that are really guided. One, the NATIV (North American Test Instrument Vehicle), is a small contraption 13 feet long, designed for high-speed aerodynamic studies. The other, the 774, looks like a formidable weapon (see cut). It is 32 feet long (the V-2 was 45 feet long), and, says the Air Force, "is potentially capable of attaining altitudes of more than 100 miles."

"These are true guided missiles," said the Air Force, "which can be launched in one direction, then changed in their flight to hit another target." The steering is done by the four fins in the rocket's tail. The Air Force did not explain how the fins are controlled from the ground, and admitted that the degree of control is "not great."

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