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Henschel Hs 293

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The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, damaging or sinking at least 25 ships. Allied efforts to jam the radio control link were increasingly successful despite German efforts to counter them. The weapon remained in use through 1944 when it was also used as an air-to-ground weapon to attack bridges to prevent the Allied breakout after D-Day, but proved almost useless in this role.

Henschel Hs 293
Hs 293 on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin, Germany, with added "Kopfring" (lit. "head ring") on the nose for nautical targets
TypeAnti-ship glide bomb
Place of originNazi Germany
Service history
In service1943–1945
Used byLuftwaffe
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignerHerbert A. Wagner
Designed1940–1943
ManufacturerHenschel Flugzeug-Werke AG
Produced1942 - ?
No. built1,000
Specifications
Mass1,045 kilograms (2,304 lb)
Length3.82 metres (12.5 ft)
Width3.1 metres (10 ft)
Diameter0.47 metres (1.5 ft)
Warheadexplosive
Warhead weight295 kilograms (650 lb)
Engineliquid-propellant rocket HWK 109-507 motor, 5.9 kN (1,300 lbf) thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target
Operational
range
at 2.2 kilometres (7,200 ft) altitude:
4 kilometres (13,000 ft)
at 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) altitude:
5.5 kilometres (18,000 ft)
at 5 kilometres (16,000 ft) altitude:
8.5 kilometres (28,000 ft)
Maximum speed maximum: 260 metres per second (850 ft/s)
average: 230 metres per second (750 ft/s)
Guidance
system
Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS using a joystick

Development

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A schematic drawing of a Hs 293
 
The Walter 109-507 rocket motor unit with propellant tanks, removed from its nacelle under the Hs 293
 
An Hs 293 A-1 on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center

The Hs 293 project started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" pure glide bomb designed in 1939. The Schwartz design did not have a terminal guidance system; instead, it used an autopilot to maintain a straight course. It was intended to be launched from a bomber at sufficient distance to keep the aircraft out of range of anti-aircraft fire. A Henschel team, under Herbert Wagner,[1] developed it the following year by adding a Walter HWK 109-507 rocket engine underneath, providing 590 kgf (1,300 lbf; 5.8 kN)[2] thrust for ten seconds. This allowed the bomb to be used from a lower altitude and at an increased range. Some examples used a BMW 109-511 engine, with 600 kgf (1,300 lbf; 5.9 kN) of thrust.[2]

The first flight attempts took place between May and September 1940, with unpowered drops from Heinkel He 111 aircraft; the first Walter rocket motor-powered tests had been conducted by the end of 1940.

The weapon consisted of a modified standard 500 kilogram Sprengbombe-Cylindrisch-class SC 500 "general purpose" bomb[3] with an added "Kopfring" on the nose for maritime use, to help ensure a relatively perpendicular axis of impact,[4] with a thin metal shell and a high explosive charge inside, equipped with a rocket engine beneath the bomb, a pair of aileron-fitted wings, and the receiving FuG 230 component of the Kehl-Straßburg MCLOS guidance and control system, shared with the contemporary Fritz X gravity-propulsion, PGM armour-piercing bomb. The elevator was operated with an electrically powered jackscrew as the only proportional control, while the ailerons were operated with solenoids. Remote flight control was provided through the Kehl-Straßburg link, with the Hs 293's control setup having no movable rudder on the ventral tailfin. The 109-507 monopropellant booster rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the launch altitude.

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships,[2] unlike the Fritz X. Five coloured flares were attached to the rear of the weapon to make it visible at a distance to the operator. During night operations flashing lights instead of flares were used.[5]

After the missile was launched, the bomber flew parallel to the target so as to be able to maintain a slant line of sight.[6]

Electronic countermeasures

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The Allies put considerable effort into developing devices which jammed the radio link between Kehl transmitter and Straßburg receiver. Jammers aboard U.S. Navy destroyer escorts were ineffective at first, as the frequencies selected for jamming were incorrect. On balance, the probability that a Hs 293 launched (and seen as responding to operator guidance) would strike a target (or achieve a damage-inflicting near-miss) was about the same at the Battle of Anzio as it was during Operation Avalanche.

As attacks were taking place at Anzio, the United Kingdom began to deploy its Type 650 transmitter which employed a different approach to interfering with the FuG 203/230 radio link, by jamming the Straßburg receiver's intermediate frequency section, which operated at 3 MHz. This appears to have been quite successful, especially because the operator did not have to attempt to find which of the eighteen selected Kehl-Straßburg command frequencies were in use and then manually tune the jamming transmitter to one of them. The Type 650 defeated the receiver no matter which radio frequency had been selected.

Following several intelligence coups, including a capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components of the Kehl transmitter from a crashed Heinkel He 177 on Corsica, the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures, in time for the invasion of Normandy and Operation Dragoon. These included AIL's Type MAS jammer, which employed sophisticated signals to defeat the Kehl transmission and to take over command of the Hs 293, steering it into the sea via a sequence of right-turn commands. In contrast to the experience at Anzio, the jammers seemed to have had a major impact on operations after April 1944, with significant degradation observed in the probability that a Hs 293 missile could achieve a hit or damaging near miss.[7]

To improve control of the weapon and reduce vulnerability of the launching aircraft, wire-guided Hs 293B and television-guided Hs 293D variants were planned; neither was operational before the war ended.[8] There was also a tailless delta winged Hs 293F.[8] In addition, there was a Hs 293H air-to-air model.[8] Over 1,000 were built, from 1942 onwards. The closest Allied weapon system in function and purpose to the Hs 293 series was the US Navy's Bat unpowered, autonomously radar-guided unit.

Later developments

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The Hs 293 served as the basis for a number of developments, none completed. These included the Hs 294, "designed specifically to penetrate the water and strike a ship below the waterline", with a long, conical shaped forebody[9] and a pair of the Hs 293A's standard Walter HWK 109-507 booster engines at the wing roots; the Hs 295, with longer fuselage, larger warhead and Hs 294 wings; the Hs 296, with Hs 294 afterparts, Hs 295 warhead and Hs 293 Kehl-Straßurg MCLOS control systems.[2]

Operational history

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U.S. military intelligence datasheet on the Henschel Hs 293

On 25 August 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, striking the sloop HMS Bideford; the warhead did not detonate, and the damage was minimal. On 27 August, the sinking of the British sloop HMS Egret by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 carrying Hs 293s led to anti-U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay being temporarily suspended.[10] On 26 November, an Hs 293 sank the troop transport HMT Rohna killing over 1,000 personnel.

Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include:

Although designed for use against ships, it was also used in Normandy in early August 1944 to attack bridges over the Sée and Sélune rivers. One bridge was slightly damaged for the loss of six of the attacking aircraft.[16] The attack on 7 August 1944 at Pontaubault, by Do 217 of III./KG 100, was the first usage of a standoff missile against a land target.[17] [a]On 12 April 1945 Hs 293A bombs were used once more, against bridges on the Oder, by Do 217 bombers of KG 200.[17]

The Hs 293 was carried on Heinkel He 111, Heinkel He 177, Focke-Wulf Fw 200, and Dornier Do 217 planes. Only the He 177 (of I and II.Gruppen/KG 40), certain variants of the Fw 200 (of III./KG 40) and the Do 217 (of II./KG 100 and III./KG 100) used the Hs 293 operationally in combat.

Variants

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Henschel Hs 293B guided bomb on display at the 2013 Australian War Memorial open day
  • Hs 293A-0, the first production version.[18]
  • Hs 293A-1, main production version [18]
  • Hs 293A-2, steel construction rather than aluminium.[18]
  • Hs 293A-v5 A-1 with shortened wings.[18]
  • Hs 293B wire-guided to prevent jamming; although jamming would eventually make the Hs 293 ineffective, it was never put into production.[18]
  • Hs 293C (production version designated Hs 293A-2) had the detachable warhead of the Hs 294.
  • Hs 293D was television-guided, with a large Yagi antenna transmitting back to the launch aircraft.[18] Seventy were built and tested, but it was never used operationally.
  • Hs 293E, an experimental model to test spoiler controls as a replacement to ailerons; never put into series production. This modification was put into the final version of the Hs 293A-2 but by then the Luftwaffe had no aircraft available for anti-shipping operations and it was never deployed.
  • Hs 293F, a tailless delta-wing variant; never got further than the design phase.[18]
  • Hs 293H, an experimental variant designed to be launched from one aircraft and controlled from another. Abandoned because allied air superiority had reached the point where it was felt that the second aircraft would be unable to remain in the vicinity of the ship for long enough. Used the Schmidding solid-fuel rocket motor. It was also considered as an anti-aircraft missile.[18]
  • Hs 293-U6, the short wingspan variant, fitted with a solid fuel motor and intended for launching from the Arado Ar 234 jet bomber at 720 km/h (447 mph). The missile did not proceed past the design stage.[18]

Operators

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ On 28 May 1944, 113 American GB-1 autopiloted glide bombs were launched from B-17 bombers against railway yards at Cologne; 42 reached the target

References

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  1. ^ Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes (The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013), p.134.
  2. ^ a b c d Christopher, p.134.
  3. ^ "Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum – Collections – Objects – Missile, Air-to-Surface, Henschel Hs 293 A-1". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  4. ^ "U.S. Army Technical Manual #TM 9-1985-2, German Explosive Ordnance" (PDF). ibiblio.org/hyperwar. p. 15. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  5. ^ "Guided German air to ground weapons in WW2". Archived from the original on 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2006-07-24.
  6. ^ "Pilot Sights Rocket Bomb By Tail Light" Popular Mechanics, July 1944 - World War Two illustration of Hs 123A-1 and flight path for attacking shipping
  7. ^ Martin J. Bollinger, Warriors and Wizards: Development and Defeat of Radio-Controlled Glide Bombs of the Third Reich, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press(2010).
  8. ^ a b c Christopher, p.135.
  9. ^ http://www.airwar.ru/image/i/weapon/hs294sh.jpg [bare URL image file]
  10. ^ Milner, Marc (1994). The U-boat hunters: the Royal Canadian Navy and the offensive against Germany's submarines. University of Toronto Press, p. 57
  11. ^ "ATHABASKAN page". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Bogart, Charles H. "German Remotely Piloted Bombs" United States Naval Institute Proceedings November 1976 pp.62-68
  13. ^ Blair, Clay Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942–1945 Random House (1998) ISBN 0-679-45742-9 p.405
  14. ^ Zaloga, Steven J. (2009). Operation Dragoon 1944: France's other D-Day. Osprey. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-84603-367-4.
  15. ^ See Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. This indicates that the three Hs 293 missiles targeted at Tillman exploded without damage but that a torpedo exploding in the ship's wake did cause damage.
  16. ^ The Henschel HS 293 Radio-controlled glider bomb Archived 2012-09-10 at archive.today
  17. ^ a b Scutts, Jerry: Dornier Do 217, Warpaint Series No.24, Hall Park Books Ltd: Milton Keynes, p.16-21
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hogg, Ian V. (1970). "Hs-293". German Secret Weapons of World War 2. Arms and Armour Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 085368-053-1.

Bibliography

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  • Munson, Kenneth (1978). German Aircraft Of World War 2 in colour. Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-0860-3.
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