Goddard taken seriously, gets funding

In OTL Robert Goddard laid a lot of the groundwork for modern rocketry despite being ridiculed by many and notably underfunded. His also made developments into what would become the bazooka along with several other developments.

What would occur if the US decided to develop Goddard's ideas and back him with funding? Suppose the US saw the emergence of tanks as a potential threat on the battlefield and/or if rockets could be used for long-distance strikes without chance of interception (maybe dreaming of cruise missiles or ICBMs). How far could Goddard go with significant funding starting about 1916 and maintains at least some military funding over the next two decades? What effect does this have on World War II, if any?
 
IIRC, Goddard was rather a loner--more a reclusive Victorian scientist/tinkerer than a modern engineer. Compare to Von Braun or Korolev, who were by necessity skilled team players and people-manipulators.

Furthermore, the demilitarization of the United States compared to the revanchism of the Third Reich or the general paranoia in Russia meant that those dictatorships were rather more likely to invest in something that would give them the chance to strike at their enemies.

How to mitigate this? Get Goddard closer to the aviation and burgeoning Strategic Bombing crowd in the air corps. His alliance with Lindbergh is one way to get in. Billy Mitchell would seem the type who'd want to look into anti-ship missiles, assuming you can get him official support. Get Goddard early backing from these people after the war--that might defuse his suspicious nature.
 
IIRC, Goddard was rather a loner--more a reclusive Victorian scientist/tinkerer than a modern engineer. Compare to Von Braun or Korolev, who were by necessity skilled team players and people-manipulators.

Well if you want to make Goddard less reclusive and isolated you might want to look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard#The_New_York_Times_editorial

I think being called a crank in the NYT had a lot to do with him withdrawing, and he was not overly thrilled by the military applications of his work either.
 
The US Army did a lot of research on modern artillery during the early 1920s, before the bottom fell out of the budget circa 1922-23. The fundamental designs of the artillery used in WWII were laid on in those years. Goddard did do some design work during the Great War. The primary project seems to have been developing a lightweight replacement for the French built 37mm Infantry Gun. Goddard came up with a small rocket motor that could launch the current rifle grenade from a cheap tube. The rocket motor was electrically ignited & the caliber of the warhead approx 65mm or 2.6 inches. There was discussion of Goddard doing some post war development work & proposals outlined, but it ultimately went nowhere. Had Goddard actually been contracted 1919-1923 the US Army may have had a tested design for more than one rocket weapon on file when mobilization started in 1940. The Army might also have had a couple of ordnance engineers on hand with some practical amount of rocket motor knowledge in 1940, vs starting from effectively zero.
 
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