Editing V-2 rocket (section)

=== Anti-aircraft gun system (proposed) ===
General [[Frederick Alfred Pile]], commander of [[Anti-Aircraft Command]], studied the problem and proposed that enough [[anti-aircraft gun]]s were available to produce a barrage of fire in the rocket's path, but only if provided with a reasonable prediction of the trajectory. The first estimates suggested that 320,000 shells would have to be fired for each rocket. About 2% of these were expected to fall back to the ground{{explain|date=January 2024}}, almost 90 tons of rounds, which would cause far more damage than the missile. At a 25 August 1944 meeting of the Crossbow Committee, the concept was rejected.<ref name=stock25 />

Pile continued studying the problem and returned with a proposal to fire only 150 shells at a single rocket, with those shells using a new fuse that would greatly reduce the number that fell back to Earth unexploded. Some low-level analysis suggested that this would be successful against 1 in 50 rockets, provided that accurate trajectories were forwarded to the gunners in time. Work on this basic concept continued and developed into a plan to deploy a large number of guns in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] that were provided with pre-configured firing data for {{convert|2.5|mi|km|1|adj=mid|abbr=off}} grids of the London area. After the trajectory was determined, the guns would aim and fire between 60 and 500 rounds.<ref name=stock25 />

At a Crossbow meeting on 15 January 1945 Pile's updated plan was presented with some strong advocacy from [[Roderic Hill]] and [[Charles Drummond Ellis]]. However, the Committee suggested that a test not be performed as no technique for tracking the missiles with sufficient accuracy had yet been developed. By March this had changed significantly, with 81% of incoming missiles correctly allotted to the grid square each fell into, or the one beside it. At a 26 March meeting Pile was directed to a subcommittee with [[RV Jones]] and Ellis to further develop the statistics. Three days later the team returned a report stating that if the guns fired 2,000 rounds at a missile there was a 1 in 60 chance of shooting it down. Plans for an operational test began, but as Pile later put it, "[[Bernard Montgomery|Monty]] beat us to it", as the attacks ended with the Allied capture of their launching areas.<ref name=stock25 />

With the Germans no longer in control of any part of the continent that could be used as a launching site capable of striking London, they began targeting Antwerp. Plans were made to move the Pile system to protect that city, but the war ended before anything could be done.<ref name=stock25 />