Off Target: American Guided Bombs, Missiles and Drones: 1917-1948

by William Wolf

Overview

Every week the TV news highlights the routine use of drones and guided missiles against terrorist enemies and the recreational use of drones has become commonplace. The Nazi WWII development of guided missiles and bombs is often given credit for America’s Cold War success in this realm. However, it was during that war that America, and the Air Force, in particular, also began the development of systems and weapons that laid the foundation for today’s technology.

Off Target relates in detail the then “secret” research, development, and combat employment of these early guided bombs, missiles, and drones from 1917 to 1948. Using formerly confidential manuals, reports, microfilm print outs, and photos, collected over 40 years, author Wolf gives the air war historian and enthusiast a detailed look at this unknown topic that progressed from biplane drones to sophisticated post-WWII guided missiles. Among the subjects discussed are Sperry’s aerial torpedo and the Kettering “Bug” of WWI to WWII’s early rudimentary GB Series Glide Bombs to the more sophisticated VB Series that evolved from radio, heat, light, or television guidance. The Aphrodite/Joseph Kennedy B-17, BQ, TDR, and target drones are discussed as are the SWOD, GLOMB, GORGON, and JB Jet bomb series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781558164
Publisher:	Fonthill Media
Publication date:	03/29/2021
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	6.77(w) x 9.76(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Wolf retired from dentistry at the age of 45 to pursue his lifelong fascination with WWII aviation history and outdoor pastimes of hiking, mountain climbing, road and mountain biking, and sea kayaking. He has authored over twenty-three books on WWII, including nine on American bombers, two on U.S. fighters, five on U.S. flying units, and three volumes on U.S. aerial armament. His personal WWII library, collected over 40-years, now contains over 25,000 + books and magazines; 10,000 + photographs; along with 2,000 reels of rare microfilm from original WWII sources; 1,000 + CDs of scanned manuals and books; and over 800 DVDs.

Table of Contents

Foreword 5

Acknowledgments 6

1 Pilotless Weapons: Early Development 1917: Pearl Harbor 15

Fathers of Remote Control 15

Sperry Aerial Torpedo/Flying Bomb 18

Kettering Aerial Torpedo/Bug 33

Dr. Henry Walden Almost Develops America's First Guided Missile 40

Sperry Messenger Aerial Torpedo (MAT) 41

U.S. Navy Post-War Witteman-Lewis Flying Bomb 43

Continued USN Radio-Controlled Aircraft R&D: 1920-1925 44

The British Influence American Unmanned Aircraft Development 50

Aerial Torpedo Resurrected Using Commercial Aircraft 54

Revival of Radio Control and Aerial Torpedo Development (1939) 54

General Motors A-l (GMA-1, Bug) 55

2 Guided Bombs 63

AAF GB Series Glide Bomb 63

GB-1 Glide Bomb 64

Grapefruit Practice GB-1 Missions 79

GT-1 Glide Pattern Torpedo 86

GB-2 and GB-3 Glide Bomb 93

GB-4 Television Controlled Bomb 95

GB-4 Production and Hammond Control Boxes 96

CTI-811 and the GB-4 96

GB-4 Television Installation and Testing 97

The GB-4 in Combat: Batty Missions 102

Conclusions 107

Advanced Guidance GBs 108

Light-Seeking GBs 108

GB-5A Photo-Electric Target-Seeker 109

GB-12/GB-5C Photo-Electric Light-Seeking Bomb 110

GB-13/GB-5D Photocell Flare-Seeking Bomb 111

GB-6 Infrared-Seeking Bombs 112

Radar-Seeking GBs 114

GB-7A 114

GB-7B Radar Send-Receive-Bomb (SRB) 115

GB-14 Radar Send-Receive-Bomb (SRB) 115

Radar-Homing Bomb (RHB) and Send-Receive-Bomb (SRB) Radar Development 117

GB-7A Continued Testing 120

GB-8 Radio-Controlled Bomb 121

The Quest for Better and More Exotic Guidance Systems 125

The Development of Television-Controlled Military Applications 126

RCA BLOCK TV Equipment 131

Later Television Systems Used During World War II 137

GB-9 Barometric-Seeking Bomb 138

GB-10 Television Glide Bomb 139

GB-11 Chemical-Carrying Guided Bomb 139

GB-15 Radar/TV Seeking Bomb 140

XBG Series 141

Conclusions: The Failure of the American Glide Bomb Series 141

Pigeon Bombs: First Touchscreen TV 141

AAF VB Series Vertical Bomb 146

Production, Tactical Testing, and Teething Problems 153

The Operational AZON 157

AZON Control: Television versus Directly Viewed Control 157

AZON Direct Guidance: AN/ARW-38 VB-1 (and VB-3) Guidance 161

Preparing the AZON for Operations 166

Adding the AZON Unit to the M-65 Bomb 166

Loading the AZON into the Bomber 168

Checking the AZON after Loading 168

Checking the AZON in Flight 169

Dropping and Controlling the AZON 169

AZON Aircraft 172

Tethered AZONS 173

AZON Operational Use in the MTO 174

AZON Operational Use by Medium Bombers in the MTO 179

AZON Operational Use in the ETO 180

ETO AZON Missions Paused 184

ETO AZON Missions Resumed 185

ETO AZON Missions End 187

AZON Operational Use in the CBI 188

AZON CBI Summary 194

VB-2 SPAZON Bombs 195

RAAZ 197

RAZON 198

Advanced RAZON Bombs 207

VB-11 Dove and Dove Eye 227

VB-13/ASM-A-1TARZON 229

Conclusions: Vertical Bomb Series 232

Guided Air-to-Air Fragmentation Bomb 233

3 Guided Missiles 234

Dragon: Visual Tracking and Radio Control 234

EMR Homing Device 234

U.S. Navy Development of Television-Controlled Missiles 236

Robin: The First Television-Guided and Radar Homing System Test Project 238

The Navy SWOD Project 239

SWOD Mk. 7 Pelican 241

Falcon 245

Moth 246

PMB 246

SWOD Mk. 9 Bat 247

Mk. 2 Radar Homing System: Description and Operation 251

Carrying Rack and Hoists 254

Testing and Operational Training 257

Balikpapan Bat Missions 257

Okinawa Bat Operations 261

Bat Operational Results and Summary 265

Bats in the Post-War USN Missile Program 266

Project TED and the Bat-0 267

Grounding the Bat 267

SWOD Mk. 10 268

Kingfisher 268

Kingfisher Series A through F 272

Aftermath 275

Gorgon Series 276

Gorgon II Models 280

Gorgon III Models 284

Other Gorgon Versions 287

JB: Jet Bomb Series 288

The AAF Re-engineers the German V-l and its Pulse Jet Engine 289

Northrop JB-1 Bat 289

The JB-2: America's Buzz Bomb 293

JB-2 Described 297

Pulse Jet Engine 299

Launching 302

Initial JB-2 Testing 305

JB-2 Air-Launching 308

JB-2 Testing Continues 311

JB-2 Tracking and Flight Control 312

Gen. Arnold Authorizes JB-2 Manufacture and Deployment 313

The Billion-Dollar American Bu/z Bomb 314

Post-War JB-2 Testing and Successors 318

Martin MGM-1 Matador 321

KUW-1 Loon: The Navy Initiates the Cruise Missile Age 322

Regulus, the Loon Successor 325

Hughes JB-3 Tiamat 325

JB-4 326

JB-5 327

JB-6 327

JB-7 327

Boeing JB-8/XSAM-A-1 GAPA 329

JB-9 330

Northrop JB-10 330

Project Bumblebee: The First SAM Missiles 331

KAN-1/2 Little Joe 333 Fairchild KAQ/SAM-N-2/CTV-N-9 and Convair KAY/SAM-N-4/CTV-N-10Lark 335

Project Bumblebee Ramjet Development 336

Cobra: Ramjet Engine and Vehicle 338

Talos and Terrier: Bumblebee End Products 340

4 Drones Before Drones: 1935-1950 342

GL-1/2/3: Early American Target Drone 342

Reginald Denny and the Radioplane 343

RP-1 345

RP-2 346

RP-3 347

RP-4(OQ-I?) 347

RP-5/OQ-2 and TDD-1 349

RP-5A/OQ-2A/2B and TDD-1 350

Navy TDDs 353

Marilyn Monroe and the OQ-2 355

OQ-3/TDD-2 356

OQ-4 356

OQ-5 357

OQ-6 (Radioplane RP-14, RP-15, and RP-16) 357

OQ-7 357

OQ-8 (RP-8) 357

OQ-9/10 (RP-10) 357

OQ-11 359

OQ-12 359

OQ-13 359

OQ-14 (RP-8A) 359

OQ-15 360

OQ-16 360

OQ-17 (Radioplane RP-18) 360

OQ-18 361

OQ-19 362

BTT/Shelduck/RP-71 362

Post-War Radioplanes 362

Radioplane Designations 364

The Radioplane: Its Structure, Equipment, and Systems 365

A-Series 1-8 Target Drones 375

Fletcher XPQ-11 (FBT-2) 386

Fleetwings PQ-12 387

Culver PQ-14 (USN TD2C-1) 390

Description 393

AAF PQ-14 Series Serials 397

USN Culver TD2C-1 397

Culver XPQ-15 (USN TD3C) 397

McDonnell TD2D Katydid 398

Assault Drones (AD): War-Weary Drones 399

USAAF Aphrodite Program 400

BQ-7/8 Radio Control Receiving and Transmitting Equipment 404

Aphrodite Mother and Baby Combat Technique 411

First Aphrodite Mission: August 4, 1944 412

Second Aphrodite Mission: August 6, 1944 416

U.S. Navy Anvil Drone Project 417

First Navy Anvil Mission: August 12, 1944 418

Second Anvil Mission: September 3, 1944 419

The AAF Castor Drone Contingent 422

First Castor Mission: September 11, 1944 423

Second Castor Mission: September 14, 1944 425

Third Castor Mission: October 15, 1944 425

Fourth Castor Mission: October 30, 1944 426

Fifth Castor Mission: December 5, 1944 426

Sixth and Last Castor Mission: January 1, 1944 427

Conclusion of the Aphrodite/Castor Programs 427

War-Weary Willie/Abusive Project 429

Types of Control 429

Target Suitability and Accuracy 431

Warhead and Fusing 432

Launching Systems 432

Autopilots 432

Fighter Baby Project 436

Shipboard Cottongrass 436

Hermit 436

XBQ-1/2/3/4 Series 437

Post-War Surplus Aircraft Drones 440

Post-War QB-17 Drones 448

QB-17: Further Post-War Deployment 450

Post-War F6F Hellcat Drones 453

5 U.S. Navy Drone Program Development 456

History 456

Name Confusion: Drone, UAV, UAS, RPA, RPV 458

The USN Begins its Radio-Controlled Aircraft Program 458

XTDN-1, TDN, and TDR 481

TBM/TDR Control: STAG-1 Control Aircraft 495

Fahrney/TDR Postscript 508

Interstate XBDR-1 509

6 GLOMB (Glider Bomb) Series 512

U.S. Navy GLOMBs 512

Early USN GLOMBs 512

Carrier-Based XLNT-1 GLOMBs 516

August 1943 Navy GLOMB Requirements 518

Gargoyle LBD-1 522

USN Cargo-Carrying Glider GLOMB Development 524

Demise of the Navy GLOMB Program 527

AAF GLOMBs 528

War-Weary Bombers and Fighters as Towed Gliders 531

The Demise of the AAF GLOMB Program 532

7 Conclusions on the American Guided Missile Program: 1917-1950 533

Bibliography 536

Index 540

Editorial Reviews

"This book contains unpublished photographs and diagrams, so it will be of interest to historians, modelmakers, and futurists who want to take a deep dive into one of less-covered airpower topics."

Air Power History