List of rocket-powered aircraft

Last updated

A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typically for at most a few minutes of powered operation, followed by a gliding flight. Unhindered by the need for oxygen from the atmosphere, they are suitable for very high-altitude flight. They are also capable of delivering much higher acceleration and shorter takeoffs. Many rocket aircraft may be drop launched from transport planes, as take-off from ground may leave them with insufficient time to reach high altitudes.
TypeCountryClassRoleDateStatusNo.Notes
Arado E.381 KleinstjägerGermany Air launch Fighter1944Project0Carried by an Arado Ar 234.
Avión Torpedo Peru VTOL Rocket plane1902ProjectAvant-garde design using liquid propellant rockets installed in the tiltwing when swiveled, capable of vertical or horizontal flight.
Avro 720 UK CTOL 1956Project0Mixed power.
Avro Z-101UK Air launch ResearchProject0Manned variant of the Blue Steel missile.
Bachem Ba 349 "Natter"Germany VTOL Fighter1945Production36Point defence interceptor. Never saw action (debatable footage, seems to show a Ba 349 in combat. [1] ). [2]
Bell X-1 USA Air launch Research1947Prototype7First aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight.
Bell X-2 USA Air launch Research1955Prototype2Supersonic.
Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 USSR CTOL Fighter19429
Bisnovat 5 USSRCTOL1948ProjectBased on captured DFS 346. Never flew under power.
Cattaneo Magni RR ItalyCTOLResearch1931Prototype
Cheranovsky RP-1 USSRCTOLResearch1932PrototypeTest in 1933 ended in engine failure.
DFS 194 GermanyCTOLExperimental1940Operational1Tailless, direct predecessor of Me 163 series.
Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket USA Air launch Research1953Operational3Supersonic.
EZ-Rocket USACTOLExperimental2001Prototype1Rocket-powered variant of Rutan Long-EZ.
Focke-Wulf Volksjäger GermanyCTOLFighter1944Project0Three rocket-powered variants under construction at the end of hostilities.
Hawker P.1072 UKCTOL1949Prototype1Mixed power.
Heinkel He 112R GermanyCTOLExperimental1937Operational1Rocket and piston engines.
Heinkel He 176 GermanyCTOLResearch1939Prototype1 Pioneering liquid-fueled rocket propulsion aircraft.
He P.1077 Julia GermanyCTOLFighter1944Project0
Ju EF.127 Walli GermanyCTOLFighter1944Project0
Korolyov RP-318 USSRCTOLResearch19401
Lavochkin La-7RUSSRCTOL19451Rocket and piston engines.
Lippisch Ente GermanyCTOLResearch1928Prototype Opel-RAK program1First rocket-powered aircraft, part of Opel-RAK program.
Lockheed NF-104A USACTOLTrainer19633Rocket and jet engines.
Martin Marietta X-24A USA Air launch Research1969Prototype1Lifting body.
Martin Marietta X-24B USA Air launch Research1973Prototype1Lifting body.
Messerschmitt Me 163 GermanyCTOLFighter1941Production10 A-subtype
~360 B-subtype
Tailless, B-version saw combat May 1944-May 1945.
Messerschmitt Me 263 GermanyCTOLFighter19443Also known as Ju 248, development of Me 163.
Messerschmitt P.1104 Germany Air launch Fighter1944Project0
Mitsubishi J8M JapanCTOLFighter19457Was to have been a licensed Messerschmitt Me 163 but the plans were lost so was only similar.
Mizuno Shinryu II JapanCTOL1945Project0Second aircraft developed in Japan to use a canard design after the J7W1.
North American X-15 USA Air launch Research1959Operational3Hypersonic. Later variants capable of sub-orbital space flight.
Northrop XP-79 USACTOLFighter1944Prototype1 Flying wing. Converted to jet power for first and only flight.
Opel RAK.1 GermanyCTOLResearch1929Operational1First purpose-built rocket-powered aircraft, Opel-RAK program.
Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor USACTOL19492Rocket and jet engines.
Rikugun Ki-202 JapanCTOLFighter19450Improved J8M/Ki-200 with the elongated fuselage.
RRL Mark-III X-racer USACTOLRacer20101 [3]
RRL Mark I X-racer USACTOLRacer20061Customized Velocity SE, prototype for Rocket Racing League. [4] [5]
Saunders-Roe SR.53 UKCTOLFighter1957Prototype2Jet and rocket power.
Saunders-Roe SR.177 UKCTOLFighter1958Project0Jet and rocket power. Development of SR.53.
Silbervogel GermanyCTOLSuborbital Bomber1941Project0Designed to reach very high altitudes and glide to targets in North America.
SNCASO Trident FranceCTOLExperimental1953Prototype8Jet and rocket power.
SNCASE SE.212 Durandal FranceCTOLFighter1956Prototype2Mixed power.
Sombold So 344 Germany Air launch 1944Project0 bomber box buster with a detachable explosive nose.
Sukhoi Su-7 USSRCTOL19441 Sukhoi Su-6 with rocket and piston engines.
von Braun Interceptor GermanyVTOL1939Project0Used a launch vehicle for take off from a hangar vertically similar to a V2 rocket.
Yakovlev Yak-3RDUSSRCTOL1945Prototype1Modified Yakovlev Yak-3 with rocket and piston engines.
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka Japan Air launch Attack1945Production Kamikaze aircraft.
Zeppelin Fliegende Panzerfaust Germany Air launch 1944Project0Towed behind a Messerschmitt Bf 109G.
Zeppelin Rammer Germany Air launch Fighter1944Project0Designed to use the aerial ramming technique against Allied bombers.

See also

References