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Smithsonian Institute
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Rheintochter R1 Anti-aircraft Missile (Rhine Maiden)

by Russ Lockwood



Rheintochter (Rhine Maiden) R1 was an experimental German two-stage anti-aircraft missile tested in the last years of WWII. Built by Rheinmetall-Borsig company for the Luftwaffe, it was one of the largest solid-fuel rockets of the war. The R1 was to be supplanted by the R3, a liquid-fueled missile, with two side-mounted soldiid-fuel booster rockets so it could reach high altitudes. Only six R3s were ever launched, and only 82 R1s were launched before the war ended. The Smithsonian acquired this R1 from the US Navy in 1969. It was displayed at the National Air and Space Museum from 1976 to the early 1980s. This was restored in 2002 to original condition and paint scheme for display in the Udvar-Hazy Center.

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