Rhine daughter (rocket)

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Rhine daughter R1

The Rhine Daughter was a two-stage anti - aircraft missile that was developed in the German Reich during the Second World War . They should support the German flak . However, the attempts were largely stopped with the start of the hunter emergency program . The rocket was controlled by radio pulses from the ground.

history

Commissioned to Rheinmetall-Borsig in November 1942 , the rocket was tested in two different versions at the Rumbke rocket testing station near Leba . The basic pattern was the 6.3 m long Rhine daughter R1. The second stage, the actual missile , had a diameter of 540 mm and a length of 2860 mm. She carried the warhead from 25 to 150 kg and a detonator that either responded to approach or could be triggered from the ground. The rocket motor had a diglycol propellant that weighed 220 kg and delivered an initial thrust of 157 kN. The burn time was 2.5 s, but the thrust quickly subsided. The nozzles came out through the cladding. The control was carried out by four cross-shaped wooden fins attached to the missile tip. Behind the middle of the second stage four wings were also attached in a cross shape with a span of 2.75 m. The electronics for the missile guidance were housed in the front third of the missile. The aluminum cladding of the wings served as the antenna .

The first stage with a length of 2300 mm and a diameter of 510 mm had a 240 kg diglycol dinitrate propellant charge with a thrust of 73.5 kN and a burn time of 0.6 s. There were seven nozzles, two of which were equipped with a rupture disc and only flowed through when the pressure was too high. Four stabilization surfaces with a span of 2660 mm were attached to this starting step.

Up to November 1944, 51 launches of this variant, which achieved a burnout speed of 360 m / s, were carried out from a converted 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun.

The Rhine daughter R3 variant, which was being tested from September 1944, had a liquid engine as the upper stage with the hypergolic components nitric acid (336 kg) and a vinyl ether ( Visol ) as fuel (81 kg). This combination delivered an initial thrust of 21.4 kN, which sank to 17.6 kN. The total burning time was 53 s. Compressed air was used to deliver fuel . The two side-mounted start-up rockets of the R3 variant (150 kg diglycol) each generated a thrust of 137.3 kN for 0.9 s, which worked through the missile's center of gravity through angled nozzles. The design was similar to the R1 variant; again seven nozzles were used, two of which were equipped with rupture discs . The R3 variant reached 400 m / s and thus supersonic speed .

With the Rhine daughter R1, there is said to have been a provisional troop trial . Only a few test models of the R3 were started.

See also

Web links

Commons : Rhine Daughter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files