AUM-N-6 Puffin
AUM-N-6 Puffin | |
---|---|
McDonnell Aircraft | |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1,300 lb (590 kg) |
Warhead | torpedo or plunge bomb |
Warhead weight | 500 lb (230 kg) |
Engine | McDonnell pulsejet |
Operational range | 20 mi (32 km) |
Maximum speed | Mach 0.7 |
Guidance system | Active radar homing |
The AUM-N-6 Puffin, also known as Kingfisher F and AUM-6, was an
Design and development
In 1944 the U.S. Navy and the
Work on Kingfisher F began on 5 February 1947.[2] Weighing 1,300 pounds (590 kg),[1] the missile was of conventional small-aircraft design with a high-mounted wing and V-tail, a pulsejet engine being mounted in the rear of a streamlined fuselage.[3] Guidance was by active radar homing; after release from the launching aircraft, the missile – redesignated AUM-6 in September 1947, and AUM-N-6 Puffin in 1948 – would cruise at an altitude of 200 feet (61 m),[3] traveling up to 20 miles (32 km) at Mach 0.7.[1] The onboard radar in the missile's nose selecting a target and steering the missile into position to release its payload, carried in the mid-fuselage;[3] while some sources state that a torpedo was intended to be carried,[3] the specification for Kingfisher F called for the missile to carry a 500-pound (230 kg) plunge bomb, intended to be dropped alongside the target ship and detonate underwater, holing the target vessel below the waterline and causing flooding.[2][4]
The
Operational history
Construction of Puffin was contracted to
References
Citations
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8037-2148-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-735-7.
- Ordway, Frederick Ira; Ronald C. Wakeford (1960). International Missile and Spacecraft Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill. ASIN B000MAEGVC.
- Parsch, Andreas (6 January 2003). "NBS/McDonnell AUM-N-6 Puffin". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones. Designation-Systems. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- Yenne, Bill (2006). Secret Gadgets and Strange Gizmos: High-Tech (and Low-Tech) Innovations of the U.S. Military. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0760321157.