Convair Pye Wacket is a guided aviation anti-missile , developed by order of the US Air Force , as a means of self-defense of the promising supersonic XB-70 “Valkyrie” bomber against anti-aircraft missiles and unmanned interceptors. Had an unusual disco shape to facilitate maneuvering at supersonic speeds. The project did not go beyond the purging models of the rocket in a wind tunnel.
Content
History
In the 1950s, the appearance of compact nuclear weapons made it possible to equip anti-aircraft missiles and air-to-air missiles with nuclear warheads. Atomic charges made it possible to efficiently intercept even supersonic small-sized targets in a difficult jamming environment.
The US Air Force, still relying on manned bombers as the main means of delivering nuclear weapons to enemy territory, was seriously concerned about the protection of their vehicles. Even such perfect supersonic strategic bombers like the promising North American XB-70 Valkyrie could not survive a close nuclear explosion. Traditional aircraft protection systems, such as EW, were ineffective against nuclear weapons that did not require a direct hit.
The only way out was to destroy the air-to-air missiles and air-to-air missiles launched by the bomber by intercepting them with specially manufactured antimissiles. The technical solution, however, seemed extremely difficult. The prospective anti-missile was to be launched from a bomber flying at supersonic speeds and intercepting such small-sized objects as enemy anti-aircraft missiles at a speed of up to 7 Mach. For this anti-missile had to have extreme maneuverability and extreme stability.
Although the task was complex, the engineers at Convair thought they could solve it. In 1958, a contract was signed for the development of a missile with the designation DAMS ( abbr. English. Defensive Anti-Missile System - a defense anti-missile system ). [one]
Construction
The rocket, dubbed "Pye Wacket" [2], had an unusual disc shape. Such a configuration of the rocket was considered optimal for providing extreme maneuverability at high supersonic speeds. The diameter of the rocket body was 1.8 meters with a thickness of only 23 centimeters. The mass of the rocket was 230 kilograms.
The rocket was driven by two solid-fuel engines mounted in its housing, each with a 45.4 kN force. The engines had to accelerate the rocket to a speed of almost 6.5 M , to ensure the possibility of intercepting an enemy anti-aircraft missile at a safe distance from the bomber.
Control of the rocket was to be carried out with the help of six small steering rocket engines. Four were responsible for turning in roll and pitch , two for steering along the yaw channel.
The launch of the rocket was carried out with a retractable trapezoid, which was moved out from under the bomber hull. After launch, the rocket moved to the target with the help of an inertial autopilot , which was pre-programmed on board the bomber to receive information from its onboard systems. Accurate targeting near the target was carried out using an infrared homing system . A high-explosive fragmentation warhead was supposed to work near the target. The range of the rocket, according to calculations, should have been about 133 km.
Closing a project
The prototypes of the missiles were tested in 1959-1960. After several blowdowns in a wind tunnel , it was decided to proceed to practical tests, for which several reduced flight prototypes, powered by three Thiokol M58A2 rocket engines, were manufactured .
It was supposed to begin flight tests in 1961 [3] , but in 1961 the US Air Force decided to abandon the program. The effectiveness of the self-defense bombers on technology of that time was considered doubtful, while successful tests of intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles questioned the very need for manned supersonic strategic bombers.
Notes
- Some sources claim that the development of the rocket was launched in connection with the increasing frequency of UFO sightings, which, as the military assumed at that time, might have been experimental Soviet aerospace spy devices. This version, however, is doubtful.
- ↑ The origin of the name is not exactly known. It is believed that the rocket was named in honor of the magic cat from the movie 1958.
- ↑ According to a number of data, prototypes of missiles were tested on a rail stand.
Links
- http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/pyewacket.html
- http://www.rimworld.com/dsp/pyewacket.html
- Dennis R. Jenkins, Tony R. Landis: "Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber", Specialty Press, 2004
- Joel Carpenter: "Pye Wacket - Witch's Cat" Website (originally at https://web.archive.org/web/20160313133031/http://www.ufx.org/rvs/pyewacket.htm , now dead link )
- Giesbert Nijhuis: "Identified Flying Objects" Website