The Origins of Surface-to-Air Guided Missile Technology: German Flak Rockets and the Onset of the Cold War Hardcover – October 21, 2022

This is an extremely interesting technical review of the very significant and well coordinated research and development effort that took place in Germany during WWII for surface to air missile defense. The book reads a lot like an engineering summary given its technical depth and detail. Apart from the two well known surface to surface missiles (v1 and V2) the German effort to counter intensifying bombing raids through specialized missiles has been comparatively unknown. Though the effort failed to produce a fully functional defensive antiaircraft missile system it did succeed to create a vast technical knowledge that was quickly transferred from Germany after the war. The appendices, glossary, footnotes, and bibliography are extensive. Readers interested in additional technical details about the antiaircraft missiles could see a publication by the USA Military Intelligence Division War Department "Handbook on Guided Missiles of Germany and Japan" (1946).

Mills does an excellent job on researching the subject but then falls apart on deriving conclusions from that work. His thesis that postwar surface-to-air missile technology derives in large part from German wartime technology completely falls apart as he repeatedly shows how it wasn't particularly used by the Western Allies.His inclusion of French research stemming from German projects covers some new ground, but that on the Soviet Union is a bit less in depth.Overall not a great book, but definitely worth the price for the research data that is included.

I've seen many books slightly touch the subject, but this is the first time I've seen a book dedicated to the subject. After reading it will reside on my book shelve between the section on the Luftwaffe and the U.S. Air Forces Air Defense. We are very fortunate to authors such as this devote their time and effort to our history.

First off, I'm giving this book (The Origins of Surface -to-Air Guided Missile Technology) one star not because it's a bad book. I'm giving this book one star- or, more precisely, I'm giving Amazon and Kindle one star - because it's unreadble on the Kindle app on my iPad, and when I was able to open it on another device the text and formatting was a mess. The book itself my be excellent for all I know.After loading this book on my Kindle app and tapping on the book to open it the iPad displayed the message "Unavailable for Download...This item is not compatible with this device." I removed, updated and reloaded the Kindle app on my iPad in case that was the problem, but after reinstalling Kindle and uploading my library, I received the same message again. I attempted this on another, newer iPad in the household and had an identical experience.I was able to open the book on the Kindle app on my laptop, only to find the text is full of strange characters and formatting problems that render it nearly unreadable.Either Amazon or Casemate need to get it together and straighten this out before you buy an e-copy.I am nevertheless looking forward to reading this book - once I've obtained a hardback copy through a LOCAL BOOKSTORE specializing in military history subjects (Aberdeen Bookstore in Denver, CO, also highly recommended as the owner knows his subject and has a staggeringly large inventory of new and used books; you really have to see it to believe it. It's quite unique.)

This is a very good book on the development of German surface-to-air guided missile (“SAM”) technology and its post-WW II influence on US, British, and French projects. Chapter 1 summarizes the German SAM projects from around 1942 - 1945. It discusses the various research institutes, the industrial corporation organizations which developed the projects, and the overall Luftwaffe, Army, and government administrative bureaucracies. I thought the most interesting parts of the chapter were the discussions on the development of rocket engine designs and fuel systems (propellants and oxidizers). Keep in mind – today a high school chemistry whiz knows about rocket fuels but back in 1942 this was a new research subject. There is also a good discussion of the development of control and guidance systems. Again, this was a new field of technology. Appendix 1 provides information on dimensions and performance characteristics of the six major German SAM projects undertaken.Chapter 4 describes how the captured German technology influenced the US SAM development in the late 1940s – early 1950s. Chapter 5 describes how the captured German technology influenced the British SAM development, although the chapter mostly describes the use of German scientists and engineers who came to the UK under contract. Appendix 3 (14 pages) describes how the German technology influenced Soviet SAM development.An excellent book on the development of the Soviet SAM systems from the 1940s through about the 1980s is “Intercept 1961: The Birth of Soviet Missile Defense” (2015) by Gruntman. The book title is actually a bit misleading. This is not just a dry story of an event that occurred one day in 1961. It's a detailed history of the entire background to what the Soviets did to accomplish that item. It discusses personalities involved, design bureaus, scientific research institutes, Ministries, political leaders and their roles, and industrial organizations. It includes much description of the old USSR industrial, research, and organizational structure that evolved to become the Military Industrial complex. There is also extensive technical discussion of how the Soviets solved the theoretical, research, and engineering problems involved in developing the necessary missiles, tracking and scanning radars, communication systems, and computer systems.For more information on the Soviet missile programs of the 1950s through the 1980s, I recommend the 4 - volume series "Rockets and People" by Academician Boris Chertok. Volume 2 "Creating a Rocket Industry" is outstanding. Volume 1 describes the early Soviet efforts at SAM design and especially details the use of German scientists and engineers from late 1945 - 1946 in Germany (“Institute RABE”).Finally, a reasonably good booklet on the particular Soviet SA-2 missile program is the Osprey publication “Red SAM: The SA-2 Guideline Anti-Aircraft Missile” (2007) by Zaloga. The book mainly describes the evolution of the radar guidance system and its improved resistance to jamming over the decades. There is little on the development of the engine system. There is plenty of description of the deployment of the AA missile regiments in the USSR and in North Vietnam during the American – Vietnam War in the 1960s. It also describes the U-2 spy plane incident in 1959, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and the Middle East War of 1967 – 1973. The text is accompanied by many black and white photos, color renderings, and a couple of performance tabulations.

In concurrence with the other review. Just looking at the "free sample" on this web site will demonstrate the issue that the prior reviewer experienced as to unusual characters and formatting.