AUM-N-6 Puffin

AUM-N-6 Puffin
AUM-N-6 Puffin
	Puffin on a JD-1 Invader launch aircraft
Type	anti-ship missile
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1948–1949
Used by	United States Navy
Production history
Designer	National Bureau of Standards
Designed	1947–1948
Manufacturer	McDonnell Aircraft
Specifications
Weight	1,300 lb (590 kg)
Warhead	torpedo or plunge bomb
Warhead weight	500 lb (230 kg)
Engine	McDonnell pulsejet
Operational; range	20 mi (32 km)
Speed	Mach 0.7
Guidance; system	Active radar homing

Last updated March 05, 2019

The AUM-N-6 Puffin, also known as Kingfisher F and AUM-6, was an anti-ship and anti-submarine missile developed for use by the United States Navy in the late 1940s. Pulsejet-powered and intended to allow an aircraft to launch a torpedo or bomb from stand-off range, it was flight-tested but failed to enter operational service.

Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way.

An anti-submarine missile is a standoff anti-submarine weapon. Often a variant of anti-ship missile designs an anti-submarine systems typically use a jet or rocket engine, to deliver: an explosive warhead aimed directly at a submarine; a depth charge, or; a homing torpedo that is carried from a launch ship, or other platform, to the vicinity of a target.

United States Navy Naval warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second largest and second most powerful air force in the world.

Design and development

In 1944 the U.S. Navy and the National Bureau of Standards initiated Project Kingfisher,^[1] intended to develop a family of missiles for attacking enemy ships and surfaced submarines with torpedoes or other weapons intended to strike below the waterline, while allowing the launching aircraft or ship to avoid exposing themselves to enemy defensive fire. Four missiles reached the development stage as a result of the program: the surface-launched Kingfisher E, and the air-launched Kingfisher C, D, and F.^[2]

Project Kingfisher was a weapons-development program initiated by the United States Navy during the latter part of World War II. Intended to provide aircraft and surface ships with the ability to deliver torpedoes to targets from outside the range of defensive armament, six different missile concepts were developed; four were selected for full development programs, but only one reached operational service.

The SUM-N-2 Grebe, also known as Kingfisher E and SUM-2, was a rocket- and pulsejet-powered anti-ship and anti-submarine missile developed by the United States Navy in the late 1940s. Intended to allow a ship to deliver a torpedo at a significant distance from the launch location, it proved impractical in trials, and did not enter operational service.

The AUM-N-2 Petrel, also known as Kingfisher C and AUM-2, was an air-to-surface missile produced as part of Project Kingfisher for the United States Navy. Intended for use against enemy surface ships and surfaced submarines, giving aircraft the ability to deliver aerial torpedoes from outside the range of defensive armament, it saw brief operational service in the late 1950s. The project was never considered a high priority by the Navy however, as it was useless against submerged submarines, which were considered the greatest potential threat.

Work on Kingfisher F began on 5 February 1947.^[2] Weighing 1,300 pounds (590 kg),^[1] the missile was of conventional small-aircraft design with a high-mounted wing and V-tail, a pulsejet engine being mounted in the rear of a streamlined fuselage.^[3] Guidance was by active radar homing; after release from the launching aircraft, the missile – redesignated AUM-6 in September 1947, and AUM-N-6 Puffin in 1948 – would cruise at an altitude of 200 feet (61 m),^[3] traveling up to 20 miles (32 km) at Mach 0.7.^[1] The onboard radar in the missile's nose selecting a target and steering the missile into position to release its payload, carried in the mid-fuselage;^[3] while some sources state that a torpedo was intended to be carried,^[3] the specification for Kingfisher F called for the missile to carry a 500-pound (230 kg) plunge bomb, intended to be dropped alongside the target ship and detonate underwater, holing the target vessel below the waterline and causing flooding.^[2]^[4]

V-tail aircraft tail configuration consisting of two stabilizers mounted at an angle from the fuselage

In aircraft, a V-tail or Vee-tail is an unconventional arrangement of the tail control surfaces that replaces the traditional fin and horizontal surfaces with two surfaces set in a V-shaped configuration when viewed from the front or rear of the aircraft. The aft edge of each twin surface is a hinged control surface which combines the functions of both a rudder and elevators.

Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously. NATO brevity code for an air-to-air active radar homing missile launch is Fox Three.

In fluid dynamics, the Mach number is a dimensionless quantity representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound.

The AD Skyraider, PB4Y Privateer, and P5M Marlin were among the aircraft intended to carry Puffin; the missile's constructor, McDonnell Aircraft, proposed that Puffin be qualified for carriage by B-47 Stratojet and B-50 Superfortress bombers of the United States Air Force as well.^[5]

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

Operational history

Construction of Puffin was contracted to McDonnell Aircraft;^[3] flight tests of XAUM-N-6 missiles began in 1948.^[1] Tests did not demonstrate that the weapon was suitable for service, and on 1 October 1949 the AUM-N-6 program was cancelled.^[2]

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References

Citations

1 2 3 4 Parsch 2003
1 2 3 4 Friedman 1982, p. 203.
1 2 3 4 5 Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p. 122.
↑ Cave Brown 1978, p. 111.
↑ Yenne 2006, p. 25.

Bibliography

Cave Brown, Anthony (1978). Dropshot: The United States Plan for World War III Against Russia in 1957. New York: Dial Press. ISBN 978-0-8037-2148-7.
Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Naval Weapons: Every gun, missile, mine, and torpedo used by the U.S. Navy from 1883 to the present day. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-735-7.
Ordway, Frederick Ira; Ronald C. Wakeford (1960). International Missile and Spacecraft Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill. ASIN B000MAEGVC.
Parsch, Andreas (6 January 2003). "NBS/McDonnell AUM-N-6 Puffin". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones. Designation-Systems. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
Yenne, Bill (2006). Secret Gadgets and Strange Gizmos: High-Tech (and Low-Tech) Innovations of the U.S. Military. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0760321157.

Anthony Cave Brown was an English-American journalist, espionage non-fiction writer, and historian.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

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[DS-1] 1 2 3 4 Parsch 2003

[Fried203-2] 1 2 3 4 Friedman 1982, p. 203.

[Ord-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p. 122.

[4] Cave Brown 1978, p. 111.

[5] Yenne 2006, p. 25.