BOAR
BOAR | |
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Douglas AD Skyraider McDonnell F2H Banshee |
The Bombardment Aircraft Rocket, also known as BOAR, the Bureau of Ordnance Aircraft Rocket, and officially as the 30.5-Inch Rocket, Mark 1, Mod 0, was an unguided air-to-surface rocket developed by the United States Navy's
Design and development
Following a specification developed during 1951,
The rocket that emerged from the development process used a single, solid-fueled rocket motor mated to the W7 nuclear weapon, which had a yield of 20 kilotons of TNT (84 TJ).[3] This provided a stand-off range of 7.5 miles (12.1 km) when released in a steep climb, the aircraft then completing the toss-bombing pullout to escape the blast; the rocket, lacking guidance, would follow a ballistic trajectory to impact following rocket burnout.[1]
Operational history
Entering flight trials in 1953, BOAR proved satisfactory.[2] Twenty test firings during the course of 1955 were conducted without a single failure,[1] and in 1956 the rocket entered operational service.[1] A variety of aircraft carried BOAR operationally but it was primarily used by the AD Skyraider, the slowest nuclear-armed aircraft in the Navy's inventory.[2]
BOAR was intended to be an interim weapon;[2] a more advanced development, Hopi, entered flight testing during 1958.[4] Hopi, however, failed to enter production, and BOAR remained the only standoff nuclear air-to-surface missile fielded by the Navy.[2]
225 examples of the BOAR rocket were produced by NOTS.[2] In service, the rocket proved unpopular with the pilots of the aircraft assigned to carry it: the loft-bombing maneuver, called an "idiot loop", was considered dangerous.[5] By 1963, maintenance issues with the solid rocket motor were proving acute, and the rocket was removed from the inventory during that year.[2]
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Babcock, Elizabeth (2008). Magnificent Mavericks: transition of the Naval Ordnance Test Station from rocket station to research, development, test and evaluation center, 1948–58. History of the Navy at China Lake, California. Vol. 3. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-945274-56-8. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
- Michel, Marshall (May 2003). "Exit Strategy". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
- Parsch, Andreas (2003). "NOTS BOAR (30.5" Rocket MK1)". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. designation-systems.net. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
- Parsch, Andreas (2003). "NOTS Hopi". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. designation-systems.net. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
- Polmar, Norman (2001). The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet (17th ed.). Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-656-6. Retrieved 2011-01-07.