Lesson 01
The rocket as weapon
The German V-2 (1944) was the first long-range guided ballistic missile: unstoppable in flight, it pointed to a future where targets anywhere were minutes away.
Lesson 02
The ICBM and deterrence
Marrying the rocket to the thermonuclear warhead produced the ICBM: a weapon that could not be defended against, making survivable second-strike forces (submarines, hardened silos) the basis of deterrence.
Lesson 03
The high ground of orbit
Reconnaissance, navigation (GPS), early-warning and communications satellites made space the indispensable support layer of modern forces — and, increasingly, a contested domain of its own.