"Lun" ( Eng. Loon [lu: n] - " loon ", factory index -JB-2 , “ jet bomb, second model ”, Air Force Index - LTV-N-2 , Navy Index - KUW-1 ) - American version of the German Fau-1 cruise missile , created as a result of reverse development of the design for the remnants of German missiles launched across the UK in 1944 . A prototype JB-1A was manufactured by Northrop Aircraft, Inc. Serial production of the KR “Loon” advanced model (JB-2) was established at the factories of automobile companies Willys-Overland Co. and Ford Motor Co. as well as Republic Aviation Corp. [one]
| Jb-2 loon | |
|---|---|
 JB-2 Loon cruise missile at the White Sands Missile Range Museum | |
| Type of | cruise missile |
| Status | withdrawn from service |
| Developer |  Republic aviation |
| Years of development | 1944-1947 |
| Manufacturer | Republic aviation Willys-overland Ford ( PuVRD ) |
| Years of production | 1944-1945 |
| Units produced | 1391 pcs. |
| Main operators | Army Aviation US Air Force US Navy |
| Base model | V-1 |
| ↓ All specifications | |
It was estimated that by the end of the war about ten thousand JB-2 Loons would be produced, which were mainly planned to be used as part of Operation Downfall to defeat Japan. However, due to the surrender of Japan in August 1945 and the end of World War II, the order was canceled. At this point, 1391 missiles adapted for land and sea launch, including launch from submarines, were delivered to the US Army and Navy. The development and pilot production of SLCMs with the same name , but with a different index ( KUM-1 ), especially for equipping it with submarines, was conducted by the aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Co. [2]
In real combat operations, the KR “Loon” was never used, however, in the post-war period, the experience gained during the creation of the KR was used in the design of Matador and, later, Mace , and also sea-based Regulus cruise missiles.
Technical Description
In general, the Loon cruise missile was an improved and more carefully made copy of the V-1 , created in an environment of a sufficient number of trained engineering personnel. The main difference from the V-1 was the control system. Instead of a primitive inertial system, a radio command system was used, with control from a submarine or a carrier aircraft. The position of the rocket at the current time was determined by the received signal of the airborne beacon. In ideal circumstances, the accuracy of the system was a deviation of 400 meters at a distance of 160 km. [3]
The projectile launch system was also different from the V-1. Instead of a pneumatic catapult, the U.S. Navy used resettable powder boosters to launch rockets. This allowed us to simplify the launch process and make the launch ramp much easier and more mobile.
Application Plans
In 1944, mass production of the KR “Loon” was launched at US plants. According to the plans of the US Army, the total release of the Kyrgyz Republic was to be 75 thousand units, with a launch rate of 100 from the B-24 carrier aircraft per day. About 12 thousand KR was supposed to be released at facilities in Japan immediately before landing. These plans were never fully implemented, but the overall production rate still amounted to about 1,400 missiles. Soon after the end of the war, the newly formed US Air Force lost interest in a rocket that no longer fully met the requirements of the time.
After the war
After the war, the fleet became interested in a rocket, which conducted a series of successful experiments to launch a rocket from submarines. In the future, it was supposed to equip the missile with a nuclear warhead with a capacity of about 15 kt, but these plans have never been realized. A number of Loon missiles were used until 1949 in test programs aimed at developing systems for promising cruise missiles such as Matador .
Flight performance
Source: [4]
- Wingspan - 5395 mm (17.7 ft)
- Length - 7193 mm (23.6 ft)
- Takeoff Weight - 2277.5 kg (5021 lbs)
- The weight of the warhead - 952.5 kg (2100 pounds)
- Engine type and make - 1 × ramjet engine Ford PJ31-F-1 + solid rocket boosters
- Deadlift - 4.0 kN (363 kgf)
- Engine power - 850 ... 900 amer. h.p.
- Marching speed - 563 ... 684 km / h (350 ... 425 miles per hour)
- Range - 241 km (150 miles)
Notes
- ↑ Ordway, Frederick I .; Wakeford, Ronald C. International Missile and Spacecraft Guide . - NY: McGraw-Hill , 1960 - P. 185 - 411 p.
- ↑ US Missile Designations . // Air Pictorial and Air Reserve Gazette . - Air League of the British Empire, 1952. - Vol. 14 - P. 172.
- ↑ Werrell, 1985 , p. 67.
- ↑ Werrell, 1985 , p. 235.
Literature
- Werrell, Kenneth P. The Evolution of the Cruise Missile . - Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 1985 .-- 289 p.
- Stimson, Thomas E. https://books.google.com/books?id=0d4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99#v=onepage&q&f=false Pacific Shooting Gallery]. // Popular Mechanics . - July 1947. - Vol. 88 - No. 1 - P. 99-104.
- Mindling, George; Bolton, Robert. US Air Force Tactical Missiles, 1949-1969: The Pioneers . - Lulu.com, 2008 .-- 342 p. - ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6 .
- Chechin A., Okolelov N. N. American heirs of the Third Reich. The first missile submarines in the US Navy (Russian) // Marine collection: Appendix to the magazine Modelist-Constructor. - M. , 2009. - Issue. 120 . - No. 9 .