Rocket Hunter

January, 1945,

the last major German offensive of the war.

The Battle of the Bulge has collapsed.

Allied Forces in France prepare for the invasion

of Germany from the West, having been stockpiling men

and machinery since D-Day, June 6th, the previous summer.

From the east, Russian forces are pushing hard,

creating a vice grip from all sides.

Years of Allied bombardment have all

but crippled the once mighty military manufacturing capacity

of the Third Reich.

However, there is one facility

still assembling large quantities of the V-2 rocket,

the Kohnstein, a former gypsum mine,

located inside a mountain in Thuringia, Germany.

The Kohnstein is also

the only major manufacturing plant remaining for the ME-262,

the first operational jet fighter in history.

Here, protected by the subterranean environment,

the war continues on these advanced technological terrors.

Malcolm, who is that beautiful woman

in that picture on the wall behind you?

That's my daughter, my only child.

She was killed in a V-2 rocket attack.

So you see, Rob, this is quite personal for me.

The Germans are having severe problems

with their supply lines thanks

to your 17s and our Lancasters.

The most recent communications do not concern the V-9,

they concern the ME-262.

Well my boys are still seein' 'em.

Our enemy remains a group of clever individuals,

knowing we would destroy any convoy or train

with military applications,

the Germans have been using passenger trains

to transport their goods.

They simply cut the tops off of passenger cars,

fill them full of goods, fuel, entire engines at times,

reattach the roof, making them indiscernible

from an actual train carrying civilian passengers.

Well, what do you recommend?

A precision bombing raid using one of your 17s

without the usual escort.

Damn risky.

Most special operations are.

You have the routes and departure time?

I do.

Well, I'll have to put the word out for volunteers.

Of course, however, this pilot that lead the raid

on the mobile airfield...

Yes, Cole Philips, he's a good man.

Might he be available?

Well, I see you found your long-lost brother.

Yeah, can you believe it, sir?

Well, I was as surprised as anybody that he wandered in.

So you did cost Colonel Richards a P-38,

what you score for us?

Well, Colonel, your plan worked well.

A lot of planes were blown up on the ground, mostly 190s.

What about those 262s?

Yes, sir, three were there,

two were destroyed, one I didn't get to.

Well, I'd say pretty successful venture.

Thank you, sir.

Major Phillips, I filled your brother in

on this Luftwaffe Colonel.

Yes, sir, he chased me part of the way home

in one of his jets.

Really?

Yes, fast but not very maneuverable.

You got lucky.

I want you to spend some time with your brother.

Go out, celebrate, take a night out.

And I'll be back here tomorrow with Colonel Richards

and we'll set up the briefing for the next big bombing run.

I want both of you there.

Of course.

You ready to get back in the sky, Joe?

It's all I've been thinking about, Colonel,

that and my wife and little girl back in Georgia.

Yeah, Cole, I want you to sit this one out.

I've got something else for you.

Am I being taken out of the sky again, sir?

Well, we've got some intelligence,

some very good intelligence

on a new supply train for the 262s.

And I would say it's about 60% reliable,

but this could be a wild goose chase.

We believe those remaining 262s are being loaded

on a train heading east, deeper into Germany.

And we don't know exactly where they're going yet,

but we do know the route they're gonna take.

It's a slow-moving target, a bomb raid.

Well, not in the traditional sense.

The 262s are actually not yet assembled.

What's on the train are all the parts needed

to put these together, down to the nuts and bolts.

So you want to strike

before they get a chance to assemble them.

There's one wrinkle though.

The Germans are using a passenger train.

And so from a distance it's gonna look like

we're attacking civilians.

And the folks up at headquarters would not be pleased

if they saw us doing some barbaric things like these Nazis.

One good payload from a B-17 ought to take care of this.

But as you all saw walking over here, everyone's gone,

they're out on a mission right now,

I don't have anything for you.

When are they due back?

About three hours.

Considering re-fueling, re-arming,

take about four hours to take-off.

But we don't have that much time.

What about Lillian, sir, my old ship.

She's still sitting down there.

Oh, come on now.

Do you think that thing is really safe, that it would fly?

She made it home okay for me.

Doesn't matter, we don't have a crew.

Well, all we need's a bombardier.

And you could do that, Joe.

Hey, I'm just a tail gunner.

All you have to do is push a button.

Cole, I just got back from almost dying.

I mean I just got back.

Come on, Joe, you have to go!

Why do I have to go?

Because it's the big one, Joe.

Don't you remember the movie when we were a kids?

Why was it so important for us

to see that airplane movie, Joe?

Because it was our father.

That's right.

It was the story of our father and a lot of other fathers.

And that's who you and I are a continuation of that story.

Well, what we have is something that's very top secret.

And you're gonna have to come in really low

so that you can see who's on the passenger train.

If it's Nazi soldiers, take it out, blow it up.

If it's boxes and crates that you see, blow it up.

But if it's passengers, civilians,

just come on back home, forget about it.

Hey Joe, before we go I'm gonna grab a photographer

and have him take a picture of our plane.

Whatever makes you happy, brother.

I just gotta push a button, right?

Right.

Colonel, how do we find that train?

Well, according to the time table,

that train should be leaving the station any minute.

Thank you for meeting me, Herr von Braun.

Your reputation precedes you.

Colonel, I didn't want to introduce you

to this aircraft until I thought it could be of use to you.

These are the updated plans for the ME-163A,

they are calling it the Comet.

Yes, I have seen early plans for this years ago.

It is famous for the amount of pilots is has killed

during testing and training.

It took several years to work out all the problems,

from what I hear.

If they use the same engines as the 262,

then unfortunately, there isn't enough

to go around as it is.

They aren't Junkers engines.

This is a light aircraft, and it has no turbojets at all.

It uses a rocket.

That makes more sense.

This does not have the appearance of an airplane.

This has the appearance of a spacecraft.

We can only hope.

The rocket in the Comet uses a bi-propellant design

that Walker and his crew copied from my V-2.

Of course, they say it was vice versa.

I have a few questions.

What about armament?

30 millimeter cannons, the 108s the same as your jets.

But, two not four.

And handling?

Colonel, it will never turn on a dime like our 109s.

But the fuel delivery system is

actually much better than your 262s.

As you are more than aware,

quick throttle movements have resulted

in all manner of problems with your engines.

Flame outs, engine failure, et cetera, et cetera.

Yes, yes, but I make up for these issues

with the speed of the aircraft.

Refresh my memory, Colonel.

What is the top speed of your 262?

My jets regularly touch 700 kilometers per hour.

The last test flight for the 163-A

that I attended was in July.

I can verify that the pilot named Hitmar flew the Comet

to a speed approaching 1,300 kilos per hour.

You cannot possible approach that with this toy.

That is impossible.

I was there, Colonel.

I saw it with my own eyes.