The Henschel Hs 294 was a guided air-to-sea missile developed by Henschel Flugzeug-Werke in Germany during World War II.
The Henschel Hs 294 was a guided air-to-sea missile developed by Henschel Flugzeug-Werke in Germany during World War II.
The Hs 294 was a further development of the Henschel Hs 293 rocket powered glide bomb, but was of an elongated, more streamlined shape [1] . When launched from an aircraft, it was guided to its target with the same Kehl-Straßburg remote control system used for both the Hs 293 and unpowered Fritz X glide bombs. Just before it reached its target, it was guided into the water whereupon its wings would break off and then it then would run like a torpedo, propelled by its remaining kinetic energy so it would explode below the waterline of the vessel. The proximity fuze was that of a regular German torpedo. [2] [3]
Henschel & Son was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons.
A wire-guided missile is a missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected between the missile and its guidance mechanism, which is located somewhere near the launch site. As the missile flies, the wires are reeled out behind it. This guidance system is most commonly used in anti-tank missiles, where its ability to be used in areas of limited line-of-sight make it useful, while the range limit imposed by the length of the wire is not a serious concern.
A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rather than right over it, allowing a successful attack without exposing the launching aircraft to air defenses near the target. Glide bombs can accurately deliver warheads in a manner comparable to cruise missiles at a fraction of the cost—sometimes by installing flight control kits on simple unguided bombs—and they are very difficult for surface-to-air missiles to intercept due to their tiny radar signatures and short flight times. The only effective countermeasure is to intercept launching aircraft before they approach within range, making glide bombs very potent weapons where wartime exigencies prevent this.
Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternative names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400.
The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sinking at least 25 ships. Allied efforts to jam the radio control link were increasingly successful despite German efforts to counter them. The weapon remained in use through 1944 when it was also used as an air-to-ground weapon to attack bridges to prevent the Allied breakout after D-Day, but proved almost useless in this role.
The Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling was a radio-guided German surface-to-air missile project developed during World War II. There was also an air-to-air version, the Hs 117H.
The ASM-N-2 Bat was a United States Navy World War II radar-guided glide bomb which was used in combat beginning in April 1944. It was developed and overseen by a unit within the National Bureau of Standards with assistance from the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Bell Telephone Laboratories. It is considered to be the first fully automated guided missile used in combat.
Wunderwaffe is a German word meaning "wonder-weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by Nazi Germany's propaganda ministry to some revolutionary "superweapons". Most of these weapons however remained prototypes, which either never reached the combat theater, or if they did, were too late or in too insignificant numbers to have a military effect. The V-weapons, which were developed earlier and saw considerable deployment, especially against London and Antwerp, trace back to the same pool of highly inventive armament concepts. In the German language, the term Wunderwaffe generally refers to a universal solution which solves all problems related to a particular issue, mostly used ironically for its illusionary nature.
A guided bomb is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP).
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 LBD-1 Gargoyle was an American air-to-surface missile developed during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy. One of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles, it was extensively used as a test vehicle during the late 1940s.
Herbert Alois Wagner was an Austrian scientist who developed numerous innovations in the fields of aerodynamics, aircraft structures and guided weapons. He is most famous for Wagner's function describing unsteady lift on wings and developing the Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb.
The Blohm & Voss BV 143 was an early prototype rocket-assisted glide bomb developed by the German Luftwaffe during World War II.
The GT-1 was an early form of stand-off weaponry developed by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Intended to deliver an aerial torpedo at a safe range from the launching aircraft, the weapon proved successful enough in testing to be approved for operational use, and the GT-1 saw limited use in the closing stages of the war.
Television guidance (TGM) is a type of missile guidance system using a television camera in the missile or glide bomb that sends its signal back to the launch platform. There, a weapons officer or bomb aimer watches the image on a television screen and sends corrections to the missile, typically over a radio control link. Television guidance is not a seeker because it is not automated, although semi-automated systems with autopilots to smooth out the motion are known. They should not be confused with contrast seekers, which also use a television camera but are true automated seeker systems.
The HWK 109-507 was a liquid-propellant rocket engine developed by Germany during World War II. It was used to propel the Hs 293 anti-ship guided missile.
The Kehl-Straßburg radio control link was a German MCLOS radio control system of World War II. The system was named for Strasbourg, the French/German city on the Rhine and Kehl, at the time a suburb of Strasbourg. It was used by the Fritz X guided bomb and the Henschel Hs 293 guided missile, and would also be trialled in test of the Henschel Hs 298 MCLOS-guidance air-to-air missile.
The Pelican, also known as Bomb Mark 55 and, in one version, SWOD Mark 7, was a guided bomb developed by the United States Navy during World War II. Guided by semi-active radar homing, Pelican was produced in 1,000 lb (450 kg) and 1,500 lb (680 kg) sizes; the program reached the stage of live trials before being cancelled.
