WW" radio controlled bombs....

[Jack]

They used them against Japanese targets - were they used in the ETO - I have never read or seen any reference to them??

[abn deuce]

A link to one of the guided systems not sure of where it was deployed only that it was built. called Razon

http://www.realmilitaryflix.com/public/199.cfm

[Tony B]

There were a number of guided weapons developed during WW2. Probably the best known being the German glider bombs used in anti shipping roles. They were the same as Razon, a Line of sight weapon, radio controlled with a flare on the tail for visual clue. there were also developments of TV guidance and a bizare project to use pecking pigeons to guide weapons.

[antarmike]

Didn't the USAAF spend some time developing flying bombs, radio controlled, by using surplus B24 Liberator and B17 Flying fortresses, packed with explosives.

 

These were radio controlled from another flying a few miles away. The Pilot of the Drone had visual contact, to determine its path to the traget.

 

I remember thinking it odd that he viewed the guages etc, in the drone, via a B and W camera / television link to the guide aircraft.

 

He only had a low resolution screen (about 7 inches across??) to view the instuments in the drone. it must have been fun...

[Bodge Deep]

I remember the 'Aphrodite' bombers which were explosive packed war weary b17s with open cockpits... don't recall them bein radio control though. I remember the pigeon missiles

[Adrian Barrell]

I remember the 'Aphrodite' bombers which were explosive packed war weary b17s with open cockpits... don't recall them bein radio control though. I remember the pigeon missiles

 

 

You're older than you look.....

[Tony B]

In our day the PYE Pocketphone was the height of technology, including the trolley to move it about. :-D As far as WW2 guided weapons is concerned there was a lot of development done by the German's including the Wasserfall Ground to Air missile. Britian also did a lot of work including Radar guided weapons, most of the information and drawings went to the US as payments for war loans. The German beam guidance systems became Loran that was used for Marine navigation until at least the late 1970's only superseded by GPS.

[abn deuce]

Of one of those "war weary" aircraft that exploded while still over Britain took the life of Joseph Kennedy jr. brother of John f. Kennedy former President of the U.S. there was another killed in that explosion but I dont recall his name .

Edited September 13, 2008 by abn deuce
correction of first name

[antarmike]

I found this on operation Aphrodite, from a Martlesham Heath webpage

 

“Operation Aphrodite”. Under an American

plan, which was approved by Major General James Doolittle in June 1944,

“war weary” B.17’s were to be packed with explosives and dispatched by

radio control to targets mainly in France.

Each pilotless bomber was fitted with a radiocontrolled

flight system known

as DoubleAzon.

A television camera was placed on the flight deck so that an

image of the main instrument panel could be sent back to a controlling aircraft.

A second TV camera was installed inside the Plexiglas nose, which gave a

television monitor in the controlling aircraft a view of the ground so that the

robot machine could be directed on to the target.

A volunteer twoman

crew would get the aircraft off the ground and fly it up to

an operational altitude of 2000 feet, point the aircraft in the general direction

of the target, arm the explosives for an onimpact

detonation, hand over

control to the director aircraft that was flying above at 20,000 feet and then

parachute to safety while still over England. The canopy was removed from

each aircraft, creating an open cockpit so that the twoman

crew could exit the

plane with minimum delay once they had completed their tasks. The

controlling B17

would then direct the “flying bomb” to the target area over

the Continent and lock its controls into a crash course on to the target before

turning to escape.

Fersfield near Diss was chosen as the main base for the operation and the first

mission took place on August 4 th 1944. Two motherships

and two “drones”,

as they were called, headed for a V1 site in the Pas De Calais. One of the

Drones went out of control and crashed on the Sudbourne estate near Orford.

The crater, I believe, is now a small lake! One of the crewmen bailed out but

the body of the other one was never found.

The second Drone reached the target area but missed by 500ft. due to cloud

cover. The second attempt fared no better as one of the Drones had a control

malfunction and was downed by enemy flak. The second drone missed the

target by 500 yards.

On August 6 th another attempt was made by two mother ships and two drones.

The crews parachuted to safety but within minutes one of the drones went out

of control and crashed into the sea. The other one developed a mind of its own

and began to circle Ipswich before finally heading out to sea. This was shot

down by a Mustang from Martlesham. How it was shot down without blowing

the P51 clean out of the sky is not known!

Operations were then suspended whilst investigations into the cause of the

failures took place. It was decided that the radio control equipment was to

blame and another type of radio guidance system was installed.

Other attempts were then made against targets including Hanover but they all

failed, either to reach the target or were shot down by flak.

Aphrodite had been a costly failure which had been more dangerous to the

crews than anyone else and the plan was eventually abandoned. The radio

control equipment available at that time was probably not sophisticated

enough.

Edited September 13, 2008 by antarmike

[antarmike]

Incidentally, many people will be aware that Joseph Kennedy junior, the older

brother of JFK, lost his life when the drone he was piloting exploded over

Blythburgh before he was able to bale out.

It has been reported that the war weary bomber on this occasion was a Navy

PB4Y1,

(naval version of the B24 Liberator). However, Joseph Kennedy had

been a pilot of a PB4Y1

on antisubmarine

sorties around Britain and this is

probably the cause of the confusion. His last fateful flight was almost certainly

in one of the B17’s. These B17’s were packed with Torpex, a new British

explosive and the one that killed Kennedy jun. had the doubtful distinction of

being probably the largest explosion over Great Britain during WW2.

[Adrian Barrell]

No, it was a PB4Y1 as it was a Navy project. Parts of it are in the 390th Museum at Parham.

[antarmike]

My quote saying it was a B-17 comes from the Martlesham Heath web site...I don't know, I had beleived before I visited the site that both B24's and B17,s were used on the radio controlled flying bomb project.

 

I read it in a magazine article, whilst off work recovering from an operation... I was in some discomfort, so my mind wasn't fully on the article!

 

I recall they were Liberators not Privateers.... but memory plays tricks

[antarmike]

Operation Aphrodite was the code name of a secret program initiated by the United States Army Air Forces during the latter part of World War II. The United States Eighth Air Force used 'Aphrodite' both as an experimental method of destroying V weapon production and launch facilities and as a way to dispose of B-17 and PB4Y bombers that had outlived their operational usefulness, although only two PB4Ys were modified for the Navy's sister operation, Project Anvil.[1]

 

The plan called for B-17 aircraft which had been taken out of operational service (various nicknames existed such as 'robot', 'baby', 'drone' or 'weary Willy')[2] to be loaded to capacity with explosives, and flown by radio control into bomb-resistant fortifications such as German U-boat pens and V-1 missile sites. It was hoped that this would match the British success with Tallboy and Grand Slam supersonic ground penetration bombs, but the project is now remembered as dangerous, expensive and unsuccessful.

 

Quoting Wikpedia on "operation Aphrodite" These is a whole load about it if you want to have a look youselvres

[antarmike]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ZbaQYNDAg

 

I found this quite interesting...

[Richard Farrant]

Incidentally, many people will be aware that Joseph Kennedy junior, the older

brother of JFK, lost his life when the drone he was piloting exploded over

Blythburgh before he was able to bale out.

It has been reported that the war weary bomber on this occasion was a Navy

PB4Y1,

(naval version of the B24 Liberator). However, Joseph Kennedy had

been a pilot of a PB4Y1

on antisubmarine

sorties around Britain and this is

probably the cause of the confusion. His last fateful flight was almost certainly

in one of the B17’s.

 

Mike,

 

Better account of Joseph Kennedys last flight here.......in a US Navy Liberator ,

 

www.b-29s-over-korea.com/kennedy_story/kennedy_story01.html

 

it continues on to Page 2 as well

[antarmike]

Once there has been a cover-up it is very hard to find the truth isn't it. I am not sure we will ever know for certain...

[antarmike]

http://www.tfcbooks.com/special/missiles.htm

 

is this what we are talking about?

Edited September 13, 2008 by antarmike

[antarmike]

http://www.stagone.org/drone-control.html

and more...

[antarmike]

http://www.mugualumni.org/secretarsenal/page9.html

[antarmike]

http://www.vectorsite.net/twcruz_1.html

[Jack]

Just researching in the book Fields Of Little America it states there that the first mission using an Azon bomb was flown on 23 May 1944 against a bridge spanning the Loireriver. Flown by B24s from the 753rd Bomb Squadron out of Horsham!

 

Think I have answered my own question!

[antarmike]

VB-1 AZON GUIDED BOMB

 

The VB-1 (VB for vertical bomb) was a 1,000-pound bomb fitted with a tail assembly containing radio-controlled movable rudders. These permitted the bombardier to attain greater accuracy by steering the bomb to the right or left (referred to as azimuth, hence the name Azon) after its release from the carrier aircraft. A bright flare was installed in the tail so the bombardier could watch the trajectory of the VB-1 as it fell earthward.

 

The Azon was used during World War II with moderate success in the European and Mediterranean Theaters and with greater success in the China-Burma-India Theater where B-24 crews knocked out 14 bridges in seven missions. The Azon was the only radio-guided bomb to reach operational use with the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII.

Edited September 27, 2008 by antarmike

[antarmike]

http://www.458bg.com/azonproject.htm

[antarmike]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkJdlxG_6Aw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WDDpCQVRag

Edited September 14, 2008 by antarmike