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87-578: The North American SM-64 Navaho was a supersonic intercontinental cruise missile project built by North American Aviation (NAA). The final design was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the USSR from bases within the US, while cruising at Mach 3 (3,700 km/h; 2,300 mph) at 60,000 feet (18,000 m) altitude. The missile's name is an acronym North American Vehicle using Alcohol and Hydrogen peroxide and Oxygen . The original 1946 project called for

174-683: A TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments, the United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called the Kettering Bug . Germany had also flown trials with remote-controlled aerial gliders ( Torpedogleiter ) built by Siemens-Schuckert beginning in 1916. In the Interwar Period, Britain's Royal Aircraft Establishment developed the Larynx (Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine) , which underwent

261-446: A 2,000-pound (910 kg) payload, but on 26 July this was increased to 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg). A number of other designs were also accepted, but these were all cruise missile designs to fill the longer range requirements. These were Martin's MX-771 -A for a subsonic missile and -B for a supersonic version, MX-772 -A and -B from Curtiss-Wright , MX-773 -A and -B from Republic Aircraft , and MX-775-A and -B from Northrop . It

348-543: A 26 June flight lasted only 4 minutes, 29 seconds. Officially, the program was canceled on 13 July 1957, after the first four launches ended in failure. In reality the program was obsolete by mid-1957 as the first Atlas ICBM began flight tests in June and the Jupiter and Thor IRBMs were showing great promise. These ballistic missiles however would not have been possible without the liquid fuel rocket engine developments accomplished in

435-544: A Syrian airbase in retaliation for a Syrian chemical weapons attack against a rebel stronghold. The United States Air Force (USAF) deploys an air-launched cruise missile, the AGM-86 ALCM . The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM-86 and AGM-129 ACM . Both missile types are configurable for either conventional or nuclear warheads. The USAF adopted the AGM-86 for its bomber fleet while AGM-109

522-559: A bomber carrying the same payload. The main advantages were speed (although not sufficient to outperform contemporary propeller-driven interceptors) and expendability. The production cost of a V-1 was only a small fraction of that of a V-2 supersonic ballistic missile with a similar-sized warhead. Unlike the V-2, the initial deployments of the V-1 required stationary launch ramps which were susceptible to bombardment. Nazi Germany, in 1943, also developed

609-548: A conventional or a nuclear warhead, while smaller ones carry only conventional warheads. A hypersonic cruise missile travels at least five times the speed of sound ( Mach 5). These missiles travel faster than the speed of sound, usually using ramjet engines. The range is typically 100–500 km, but can be greater. Guidance systems vary. Examples: The United States, Russia, North Korea, India, Iran, South Korea, Israel, France, China and Pakistan have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles. These missiles have

696-636: A few flight tests in the 1920s. In the Soviet Union , Sergei Korolev headed the GIRD -06 cruise missile project from 1932 to 1939, which used a rocket-powered boost- glide bomb design. The 06/III (RP-216) and 06/IV (RP-212) contained gyroscopic guidance systems. The vehicle was designed to boost to 28 km (17 mi) altitude and glide a distance of 280 km (170 mi), but test flights in 1934 and 1936 only reached an altitude of 500 metres (1,600 ft). In 1944, during World War II , Germany deployed

783-563: A hypersonic cruise missile in August 2021, a claim it denies. The French Force de Frappe nuclear forces include both land and sea-based bombers with Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) high-speed medium-range nuclear cruise missiles. Two models are in use, ASMP and a newer ASMP-Amelioré (ASMP-A), which was developed in 1999. An estimated 40 to 50 were produced. India in 2017 successfully flight-tested its indigenous Nirbhay ('Fearless') land-attack cruise missile, which can deliver nuclear warheads to

870-559: A little later, the Tupolev Tu-123 . The first two types were also large rocket-boosted ramjets, while the third was a turbojet-powered machine. With the cancellation of the Navaho and the promise of ICBMs in the strategic missile role, the first two were canceled as well, though the Lavochkin project, which had some successful test flights, was carried on for research and development purposes, and

957-417: A missile flying 175 to 500 miles (282–805 km), another 500 to 1,500 miles (800–2,410 km), and finally one for 1,500 to 5,000 miles (2,400–8,000 km). Both subsonic and supersonic designs would be considered. The various proposals were sent to seventeen aviation firms on 31 October 1945. Of the many proposals received, six companies were granted development contracts. Submissions for

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1044-582: A non- ballistic , extremely low-altitude trajectory. The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in the British 1909 film The Airship Destroyer in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London . In 1916, the American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane , a small biplane carrying

1131-463: A range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph). They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation ; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems. Most recent versions can use satellite navigation . Examples: These missiles are about

1218-459: A relatively short-range system, a boost-glide weapon based on a winged V-2 rocket design. Over time the requirements were repeatedly extended, both due to the US Air Force 's desire for longer ranged systems, as well as competition from similar weapons that successfully filled the shorter-range niche. This led to a new design based on a ramjet powered cruise missile , which also developed into

1305-518: A series of ever-larger versions, along with the booster rockets to launch them up to speed. Through this period the US Air Force was developing the SM-65 Atlas , based on rocket technology developed for Navaho. Atlas filled the same performance goals but could do so with total flight times measured in minutes rather than hours, and flying at speeds and altitudes which made them immune to interception, as opposed to merely very difficult to intercept as in

1392-611: A strike range of 1,000 km. Nirbhay had been flight-tested successfully. India currently operates 7 variants of Brahmos cruise missile operational range of 300-1000 km. India is currently developing hypersonic BRAHMOS-II which is going to be the fastest cruise missile. The Israel Defense Forces reportedly deploy the medium-range air-launched Popeye Turbo ALCM and the Popeye Turbo SLCM medium-long range cruise missile with nuclear warheads on Dolphin class submarines . Pakistan currently has four cruise missile systems:

1479-482: A testbed for various launch concepts, including the original booster concept, as well as rocket-track launches and air dropped versions. Phase 2 would extend the range of the missile to 2,000 to 3,000 miles (3,200–4,800 km), and Phase 3 would further increase that to an intercontinental 5,000 miles (8,000 km) while carrying a heavier 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) warhead. The design evolution ended in July 1950 with

1566-462: A wide variety of post-war missile systems that varied from short-range ballistic missiles to long range flying bombs. After considerable internal debate among Army branches, in August 1945 these were codified in a classified document outlining many such systems, among them a variety of cruise missiles , essentially V-1s with extended range and the greater payload needed to carry a nuclear warhead. There were three broad outlines depending on range, one for

1653-515: Is actually just a sonic boom . The first human-made supersonic boom was likely caused by a piece of common cloth, leading to the whip's eventual development. It's the wave motion travelling through the bullwhip that makes it capable of achieving supersonic speeds. Most modern firearm bullets are supersonic, with rifle projectiles often travelling at speeds approaching and in some cases well exceeding Mach 3 . Most spacecraft are supersonic at least during portions of their reentry, though

1740-444: Is more complex. The main key to having low supersonic drag is to properly shape the overall aircraft to be long and thin, and close to a "perfect" shape, the von Karman ogive or Sears-Haack body . This has led to almost every supersonic cruising aircraft looking very similar to every other, with a very long and slender fuselage and large delta wings, cf. SR-71 , Concorde , etc. Although not ideal for passenger aircraft, this shaping

1827-533: Is quite adaptable for bomber use. Cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic , supersonic , or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on

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1914-488: Is that its users face difficult choices in target allocation , to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance, during the 2001 strikes on Afghanistan the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the weapon can not be blamed for poor target selection, and

2001-585: The AGM-28 Hound Dog , which was carried towards its targets on the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and then flew the rest of the way at about Mach 2. The guidance system was used to guide the first Polaris submarines . The booster engine design, spun off to NAA's new Rocketdyne subsidiary, was used in various versions of the Atlas, PGM-11 Redstone , PGM-17 Thor , PGM-19 Jupiter , Mercury-Redstone , and

2088-607: The Babur missile Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) have designed several cruise missile variants, such as the well-known C-802 , some of which are capable of carrying biological, chemical, nuclear, and conventional warheads. China has the CJ-10 land attack cruise missile which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Additionally, China appears to have tested

2175-544: The Black Rock Desert on 15 October 1997. The Bloodhound LSR project planned an attempt on the record in 2020 at Hakskeenpan in South Africa with a combination jet and hybrid rocket propelled car. The aim was to break the existing record, then make further attempts during which (the members of) the team hoped to reach speeds of up to 1,600 km/h (1,000 mph). The effort was originally run by Richard Noble who

2262-715: The Juno series ; it is therefore the direct ancestor of the engines used to launch the Saturn I and Saturn V Moon rockets. The Germans had introduced a number of new "wonder weapons" during the war that were of great interest to all the allied forces. Jet engines were already widely used after their introduction in the UK, but the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket represented technologies that had not been developed elsewhere. In German use these weapons had relatively little strategic effect and had to be fired in

2349-469: The Mistel composite aircraft program, which can be seen as a rudimentary air-launched cruise missile, where a piloted fighter-type aircraft was mounted atop an unpiloted bomber-sized aircraft that was packed with explosives to be released while approaching the target. Bomber-launched variants of the V-1 saw limited operational service near the end of the war, with the pioneering V-1's design reverse-engineered by

2436-625: The Pakistan Army since 2010, and Pakistan Navy since 2018. Russia has Kh-55SM cruise missiles, with a range similar to the United States' AGM-129 range of 3000 km, but are able to carry a more powerful warhead of 200 kt. They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an inertial navigation system . They are air-launched from either Tupolev Tu-95s , Tupolev Tu-22Ms , or Tupolev Tu-160s , each able to carry 16 for

2523-629: The Tupolev Tu-144 . Both of these passenger aircraft and some modern fighters are also capable of supercruise , a condition of sustained supersonic flight without the use of an afterburner . Due to its ability to supercruise for several hours and the relatively high frequency of flight over several decades, Concorde spent more time flying supersonically than all other aircraft combined by a considerable margin. Since Concorde's final retirement flight on November 26, 2003, there are no supersonic passenger aircraft left in service. Some large bombers , such as

2610-555: The Tupolev Tu-160 and Rockwell B-1 Lancer are also supersonic-capable. The aerodynamics of supersonic aircraft is simpler than subsonic aerodynamics because the airsheets at different points along the plane often cannot affect each other. Supersonic jets and rocket vehicles require several times greater thrust to push through the extra aerodynamic drag experienced within the transonic region (around Mach 0.85–1.2). At these speeds aerospace engineers can gently guide air around

2697-409: The air-launched Ra'ad-I and its enhanced version Ra'ad-II ; the ground and submarine launched Babur ; ship-launched Harbah missile and surface launched Zarb missile . Both, Ra'ad and Babur , can carry nuclear warheads between 10 and 25 kt, and deliver them to targets at a range of up to 300 km (190 mi) and 450 km (280 mi) respectively. Babur has been in service with

SM-64 Navaho - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-513: The fuselage of the aircraft without producing new shock waves , but any change in cross area farther down the vehicle leads to shock waves along the body. Designers use the Supersonic area rule and the Whitcomb area rule to minimize sudden changes in size. However, in practical applications, a supersonic aircraft must operate stably in both subsonic and supersonic profiles, hence aerodynamic design

2871-570: The Air Force of Weapon System 104A specifications. Under this new requirement the purpose of the program was the development of a 5,500-mile (8,900 km) range nuclear missile. Under WS-104A, the Navaho program was broken up into three guided missile efforts. The first of these missiles was the North American X-10 , a flying subrange vehicle to prove the general aerodynamics, guidance, and control technologies for vehicles two and three. The X-10

2958-827: The Americans as the Republic-Ford JB-2 cruise missile. Immediately after the war, the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects, including would-be cruise missiles. All but four were cancelled by 1948: the Air Materiel Command Banshee, the SM-62 Snark , the SM-64 Navaho , and the MGM-1 Matador. The Banshee design was similar to Operation Aphrodite ; like Aphrodite, it failed, and

3045-549: The Army's Ordnance Department who were working with von Braun on ballistic missiles, in February 1948 the Air Force instead requested that NAA double the range of the MX-770 to put it into the Air Force's domain. Examining the work to date, NAA abandoned the boost-glide concept and moved to the ramjet powered cruise missile as the primary design. Even with the more efficient propulsion offered by

3132-591: The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the United States naval arsenal. It gives ships and submarines a somewhat accurate, long-range, conventional land attack weapon. Each costs about US$ 1.99 million. Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm . On 7 April 2017, during the Syrian Civil War , U.S. warships fired more than 50 cruise missiles into

3219-558: The Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched, and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched version was operational as of late 2007. The Brahmos have the capability to attack targets on land. Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles: the SS-N-12 Sandbox , SS-N-19 Shipwreck , SS-N-22 Sunburn and SS-N-25 Switchblade . Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has made

3306-562: The G-26, was a nearly full-size Navaho nuclear vehicle. Launched vertically by a liquid-fuel rocket booster, the G-26 would rocket upward until it had reached a speed of approximately Mach 3 and an altitude of 50,000 ft (15,000 m). At this point the booster would be expended and the vehicle's ramjets ignited to power the vehicle to its target. The G-26 made a total of 10 launches from Launch Complex 9 (LC-9) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) between 1956 and 1957. Launch Complex 10 (LC-10)

3393-566: The Kinetic Double-Integrating Accelerometer (KDIA) that measured not only velocity as in the V-2's version, but then integrated that to provide the location as well. This meant that the autopilot simply had to compare the target location with the current location from the INS to develop a correction, if any, that needed to bring the missile back on target. So, by June 1947, the original A-4b design had been changed at every point;

3480-510: The Mark II. During this period, the company received a number of late-war reports on developments of a Model 39a engine for the V-2, which replaced the original model's eighteen separate combustion chambers with a single "shower head" plate inside a single larger chamber. This not only simplified the design, it also made it lighter and improved performance. The Germans were never able to get this working due to combustion instability and continued using

3567-575: The N-2 to fill this need and provide considerable headroom if greater range was requested. It was essentially the mechanism of the N-1 paired to a star tracker which would provide midcourse updates to correct for any accumulated drift. The Air Force assigned the missile the XSSM-A-2 designation, and then outlined a three-stage development plan. For Phase 1, the existing design would be used for technology development and as

SM-64 Navaho - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-566: The Navaho program. The launch of the Soviet Satellite Sputnik in October 1957 only finished Navaho as the Air Force shifted its research money into ICBMs. But the technologies developed for the Navaho were reused in 1957 for the development of the AGM-28 Hound Dog , a nuclear cruise missile which entered in production in 1959. The Soviet Union had been working on parallel projects, The Myasishchev RSS-40 "Buran" and Lavochkin " Burya " and

3741-569: The Navy's turbojet development. Bollay arrived to find the Army proposals, and decided to submit a short-range design based on a winged ballistic missile based on the German A-4b design (sometimes known as the A-9), a development of the basic V-2. On 24 March 1946, NAA received letter contract W33-038-ac-1491 for this missile, designated MX-770. The initial design called for a range of 500 miles (800 km) with

3828-653: The RN in 1999, during the Kosovo War (the United States fired cruise missiles in 1991). The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Typhoon and previously its Tornado GR4 aircraft. It is also used by France, where it is known as SCALP EG, and carried by the Armée de l'Air 's Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft. India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos . There are three versions of

3915-653: The Santa Susana Mountains, for use in testing large engines. A rocket test center was built, using $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 13,645,306 in 2023) of corporate funds and $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 20,467,958.3 in 2023) from the USAAF. The first parts began to arrive in September. Development of the Mark III proceeded in parallel using a scaled-down version developing 3,300 pounds-force (15,000 N) that could be fired in

4002-539: The Soviet Union began to work on air-launched cruise missiles as well ( ALCM ). These ACLM missiles were typically delivered via bombers designated as "Blinders" or "Backfire". The missiles in this configuration were called the AS-1, and AS-2 with eventual new variants with more development time. The main purpose of Soviet-based cruise missiles was to have defense and offensive mechanisms against enemy ships; in other words, most of

4089-407: The Soviet Union was working on nearly ten different types of cruise missiles. However, due to resources, most of the initial types of cruise missiles developed by the Soviet Union were Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles or Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles ( SLCMs ). The SS-N-1 cruise missile was developed to have different configurations to be fired from a submarine or a ship. However, as time progressed,

4176-482: The Soviet cruise missiles were anti-ship missiles. In the 1980s the Soviet Union had developed an arsenal of cruise missiles nearing 600 platforms which consisted of land, sea, and air delivery systems. The United States has deployed nine nuclear cruise missiles at one time or another. Currently, cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this

4263-664: The Tu-95, 12 for the Tu-160, and 4 for the Tu-22M. A stealth version of the missile, the Kh-101 is in development. It has similar qualities as the Kh-55, except that its range has been extended to 5,000 km, is equipped with a 1,000 kg conventional warhead, and has stealth features which reduce its probability of intercept. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most recent cruise missile developed

4350-639: The Tupolev was reworked as a big, fast reconnaissance drone. One remaining X-10 is on display at the United States Air Force Museum Research and Development Gallery. A Navaho booster rocket, though not marked as such, is currently displayed in front of a VFW post in Fort McCoy, Florida. The other remaining Navaho missile was previously displayed outside the south entrance gate of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , Florida. This survivor

4437-552: The United States Navy submarine missile project was the SSM-N-8 Regulus missile, based upon the V-1 but powered by an Allison J33 jet engine. The Regulus entered service but was phased out with the advent of submarine launched ballistic missiles that did not require the submarine to surface in order to launch the missile and guide it to its target. The United States Air Force's first operational surface-to-surface missile

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4524-446: The beginning of the 20th century, the term "supersonic" was used as an adjective to describe sound whose frequency is above the range of normal human hearing. The modern term for this meaning is " ultrasonic ", but the older meaning sometimes still lives on, as in the word superheterodyne The tip of a bullwhip is generally seen as the first object designed to reach the speed of sound. This action results in its telltale "crack", which

4611-419: The case of Navaho. With the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the ensuing fears of a missile gap , Atlas received the highest development authority. Navaho continued as a backup, before being canceled in 1958 when Atlas successfully matured. Although Navaho did not enter service, its development provided useful research in a number of fields. A version of the Navaho airframe powered by a single turbojet became

4698-422: The companies were told to work only on supersonic designs. NAA began experimenting with rocket engines in 1946, firing the rockets in the company parking lot and protecting the cars by parking a bulldozer in front of the engines. They first used a 1,100-pound-force (4,900 N) design from Aerojet , and then designed their own model of 300 pounds-force (1,300 N). By the spring of 1946, captured German data

4785-741: The concept was proven sound and the 500-megawatt (670,000 hp) engine finished a successful test run in 1961, no airworthy device was ever completed. The project was finally abandoned in favor of ICBM development. While ballistic missiles were the preferred weapons for land targets, heavy nuclear and conventional weapon tipped cruise missiles were seen by the USSR as a primary weapon to destroy United States naval carrier battle groups . Large submarines (for example, Echo and Oscar classes) were developed to carry these weapons and shadow United States battle groups at sea, and large bombers (for example, Backfire , Bear , and Blackjack models) were equipped with

4872-453: The design of an engine incorporating the showerhead design, which they called the Mark III. Initially, the goal was to match the 56,000 pounds-force (250,000 N) thrust of the Model 39, but be 15% lighter. Work on the Mark II continued and the detailed design was completed in June 1947. In March, the company rented a large tract of land in the western San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, in

4959-411: The earlier design in spite of lower performance. The team that had designed the engine was now in the United States after being captured as part of Operation Paperclip . Many of them were setting up a new Army-funded research effort under the direction of Wernher von Braun . The company hired Dieter Huzel to act as a coordinator between NAA and the Army missile team. In September 1947, the company began

5046-414: The effects on the spacecraft are reduced by low air densities. During ascent, launch vehicles generally avoid going supersonic below 30 km (~98,400 feet) to reduce air drag. Note that the speed of sound decreases somewhat with altitude, due to lower temperatures found there (typically up to 25 km). At even higher altitudes the temperature starts increasing, with the corresponding increase in

5133-478: The engine, airframe and navigation systems were now all new. In September 1947 the US Air Force was split off from the US Army . As part of the split, the forces agreed to divide ongoing development projects based on range, with the Army taking all the projects with a range of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) or less, and the Air Force everything above that. MX-770 was well below that limit, but instead of handing it over to

5220-413: The first operational cruise missiles. The V-1 , often called a flying bomb , contained a gyroscope guidance system and was propelled by a simple pulsejet engine, the sound of which gave it the nickname of "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug". Accuracy was sufficient only for use against very large targets (the general area of a city), while the range of 250 km (160 mi) was significantly lower than that of

5307-410: The form of pressure waves in an elastic medium. Objects move at supersonic speed when the objects move faster than the speed at which sound propagates through the medium. In gases, sound travels longitudinally at different speeds, mostly depending on the molecular mass and temperature of the gas, and pressure has little effect. Since air temperature and composition varies significantly with altitude,

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5394-516: The longer-range requirements were all based on cruise missile designs, while the shorter-range examples were a mixture of designs. These were assigned designations in keeping with the USAAF's Experimental Engineering Section's "MX" series. NAA chief designer, Dutch Kindelberger , was convinced missiles were the future, and hired William Bollay from the US Navy 's Bureau of Aeronautics to run their newly formed research laboratory. Bollay had previously run

5481-409: The only possible solution for long range roles. A ballistic missile capable of carrying even the smallest warhead was "at least ten years away", and when asked directly about the topic, noted: In my opinion, such a thing is impossible. I don't think anybody in the world knows how to do such a thing and I feel confident it will not be done for a very long time to come. Army planners began planning for

5568-423: The parking lot. The team made a string of changes to this and eventually cured the combustion problems. Another set of German research papers received by NAA concerned work on supersonic ramjets, which appeared to make a highly supersonic cruise missile design possible. Bollay began a series of parallel design projects; Phase 1 was the original boost-glide design, Phase 2 was a design that used ramjets, and Phase 3

5655-402: The phase II engine was designed, the XLR-41-NA-1, a simplified version of the V-2 engine made from American parts. The phase III engine, XLR-43-NA-1 (also called 75K), adopted a cylindrical combustion chamber with the experimental German impinging-stream injector plate. Engineers at North American solved the combustion stability problem, which had prevented it being used in the V-2, and the engine

5742-443: The program being cancelled before the first unit was completed. The advanced rocket booster technology went on to be used in other missiles including the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile and the inertial guidance system was later used as the guidance system on the first U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. Development of the first-stage rocket engine for the Navaho began with two refurbished V-2 engines in 1947. That same year,

5829-436: The ramjets, the missile would have to be 33% larger to achieve the required range. This required a more powerful booster engine to power the launcher, so the requirement for the XLR-41 Mark III was raised to 75,000 pounds-force (330,000 N). The N-1 INS system drifted at a rate of 1 mile per hour, so at its maximum range it would not be able to meet the Air Force's 2,500-foot (760 m) CEP . The company began development of

5916-456: The same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category. Guidance systems vary. Examples: These are subsonic missiles that weigh around 500 kilograms (1,102 lb) and have a range of up to 300 km (190 mi). Examples: The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high-value targets such as ships, command bunkers, bridges and dams. Modern guidance systems permit accurate attacks. As of 2001 ,

6003-549: The speed of sound, and Mach numbers for a steadily moving object may change. In water at room temperature supersonic speed means any speed greater than 1,440 m/s (4,724 ft/s). In solids, sound waves can be polarized longitudinally or transversely and have higher velocities. Supersonic fracture is crack formation faster than the speed of sound in a brittle material. The word supersonic comes from two Latin derived words ; 1) super : above and 2) sonus : sound, which together mean above sound, or faster than sound. At

6090-434: The speed of sound. When an inflated balloon is burst, the torn pieces of latex contract at supersonic speed, which contributes to the sharp and loud popping noise. To date, only one land vehicle has officially travelled at supersonic speed, the ThrustSSC . The vehicle, driven by Andy Green , holds the world land speed record, having achieved an average speed on its bi-directional run of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) in

6177-403: The thousands to cause any real damage. But if armed with a nuclear weapon , even a single such weapon would cause damage equivalent to thousands of conventionally armed versions, and this line of research was quickly taken up by the US Army Air Force (USAAF) in late 1944. Vannevar Bush of the USAAF's Scientific Advisory Board was convinced that manned or automated aircraft like the V-1 were

6264-519: The weapons in their air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) configuration. Cruise missiles can be categorized by payload/warhead size, speed, range, and launch platform. Often variants of the same missile are produced for different launch platforms (for instance, air- and submarine-launched versions). Guidance systems can vary across missiles. Some missiles can be fitted with any of a variety of navigation systems ( Inertial navigation , TERCOM , or satellite navigation ). Larger cruise missiles can carry either

6351-559: Was a study for what sort of booster rocket would be needed to get the Phase 2 vehicle up to speed from a vertical launch system. Meanwhile, aerodynamicists in the company discovered that the A-4b's swept wing design was inherently unstable at transonic speeds . They redesigned the missile with a delta wing at the extreme rear, and canards at the nose. Engineers working on the inertial navigation system (INS) invented an entirely new design known as

6438-589: Was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the USAF and Navy. The truck-launched versions, and also the Pershing II and SS-20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, were later destroyed under the bilateral INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the USSR. The British Royal Navy (RN) also operates cruise missiles, specifically the U.S.-made Tomahawk, used by the RN's nuclear submarine fleet. UK conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by

6525-501: Was also assigned to the Navaho program, but no G-26s were ever launched from it (it was only used for ground tests of the planned portable launcher). The final operational version, the G-38 or XSM-64A, was the same basic design as the G-26 only larger. It incorporated numerous new technologies, Titanium components, gimballed rocket engines, a Kerosene/ LOX propellant combination, and full solid-state electronic controls. None were ever flown,

6612-615: Was being disseminated around the industry. In June 1946 the team decided to abandon their own designs and build a new engine based on the V-2's Model 39. In late 1946, two Model 39 engines were sent to NAA for study, where they were referred to as the XLR-41 Mark I. "XLR" referred to "eXperimental Liquid Rocket", a new designation system being used by the Army Air Force. They used these as the basis for conversion from metric to SAE measurements and US construction techniques, which they called

6699-625: Was canceled in April 1949. Concurrently, the US Navy's Operation Bumblebee , was conducted at Topsail Island , North Carolina , from c. 1 June 1946, to 28 July 1948. Bumblebee produced proof-of-concept technologies that influenced the US military's other missile projects. During the Cold War , both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept, of deploying early cruise missiles from land, submarines, and aircraft. The main outcome of

6786-428: Was cut from $ 29   million to $ 13   million (from $ 396   million to $ 177   million in today's dollars). In what became known as "the black Christmas of 1946", many of the original projects were cancelled, with the remaining companies working on a single design instead of two. Only Martin continued development of a subsonic design, their MX-771-A, delivering the first SSM-A-1 Matador in 1949. The rest of

6873-652: Was damaged by Hurricane Matthew on 7 October 2016, but was restored by the Space and Missile Museum Foundation and reinstalled in March, 2021. The 1960s series Men Into Space used footage of the SM-64 and X-10 tests at Edwards AFB to depict spacecraft landings on a desert runway. Data from General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Supersonic Sounds are traveling vibrations in

6960-528: Was developed for the triple-engine XLR-83-NA-1 (405K), used in the G-38 Navaho. With all the elements of a modern engine (except a bell-shaped nozzle), this led to designs for the Atlas, Thor and Titan engines. The first launch attempt, on 6 November 1956, failed after 26 seconds of flight. Ten failed launches followed, before another got off successfully, on 22 March 1957, for 4 minutes, 39 seconds of flight. A 25 April attempt exploded seconds after liftoff, while

7047-412: Was essentially an unmanned high performance jet, powered by two afterburning Westinghouse J40 turbojets and equipped with retractable landing gear for take off and landing. It was capable of speeds up to Mach 2 and could fly almost 500 miles (800 km). Its success at Edwards AFB and then at Cape Canaveral set the stage for the development of the second vehicle: XSSM-A-4, Navaho II, or G-26. Step two,

7134-521: Was in response to the crisis posed by the Soviet attack on Hungary which suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Between 1957 and 1961 the United States followed an ambitious and well-funded program to develop a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM). It was designed to fly below the enemy's radar at speeds above Mach 3 and carry hydrogen bombs that it would drop along its path over enemy territory. Although

7221-516: Was intended that one subsonic and one supersonic design would be put into production, and these were granted the designations SSM-A-1 and SSM-A-2, respectively. The only ballistic missile in the group, MX-774, went to Consolidated-Vultee . When President Harry S. Truman ordered a massive cut in military spending for FY1947, as part of the Truman Doctrine , the USAAF was forced to make major cuts to their missile development program. Missile funding

7308-532: Was successfully tested at full power in 1951. The Phase IV engine, XLR-43-NA-3 (120K), replaced the poorly-cooled heavy German engine wall with a brazed tubular ("spaghetti") construction, which was becoming the new standard method for regenerative cooling in American engines. A dual-engine version of this, XLR-71-NA-1 (240K), was used in the G-26 Navaho. With improved cooling, a more powerful kerosene-burning version

7395-705: Was the Kalibr missile which entered production in the early 1990s and was officially inducted into the Russian arsenal in 1994. However, it only saw its combat debut on 7 October 2015, in Syria as a part of the Russian military campaign in Syria . The missile has been used 14 more times in combat operations in Syria since its debut. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union was attempting to develop cruise missiles. In this short time frame,

7482-560: Was the leader of the ThrustSSC project, however following funding issues in 2018, the team was bought by Ian Warhurst and renamed Bloodhound LSR. Later the project was indefinitely delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the vehicle was put up for sale. Most modern fighter aircraft are supersonic aircraft. No modern-day passenger aircraft are capable of supersonic speed, but there have been supersonic passenger aircraft , namely Concorde and

7569-550: Was the winged, mobile, nuclear-capable MGM-1 Matador , also similar in concept to the V-1. Deployment overseas began in 1954, first to West Germany and later to the Republic of China and South Korea. On 7 November 1956, the U.S. Air Force deployed Matador units in West Germany, whose missiles were capable of striking targets in the Warsaw Pact , from their fixed day-to-day sites to unannounced dispersed launch locations. This alert

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