A4 / V2 Rocket in detail: A72 launch switch

June 15, 2024 Robert J Dalby A4-V2 missile technology, Anatomy of the V2, Video post 0

A72 rocket launch switch — The A72 or FLE 19-5826 'End-stop switch' by Stotz Apperatebau G.m.b.H.

Switching on the V2 at the instant of lift-off

Rightly called a robot bomb during WWII, the V2 rocket was the world’s first fully cybernetic weapon—a war robot. Nothing illustrates the V2 robot’s autonomous character better than the A72 launch switch. It’s a small, almost invisible part of the missile, but as our video shows, it leads us to the deepest secrets of the V2’s function.

About Robert J Dalby 9 Articles

Born Ilford, London, the last V2 missile attack on England missing him by 25 miles and 14 years. Read philosophy for nearly a decade - and so naturally pursued a career in astronomy optics and engineering design. Career highpoints: co-inventor of the LRGB imaging method now in use by serious amateur and professional astronomers worldwide. Responsible for the design of a host of devices used in the field of telescopic astronomy. And once ate nine pancakes without passing out. Spends too much time in shadowy corners fiddling with old missile parts to be socially acceptable, but was once described as a geek's idea of a geek. [email protected]