Bat (missile)
From Freepedia
The SWOD MK 9 "Bat" was a radar-guided missile that was built by the United States during World War II. It lacked any form of propulsion, functioning as a guided glide bomb launched from an aircraft.
The Bat was essentially a conversion of a standard 1,000 lb bomb wrapped around by an airframe with control surfaces and guidance equipment.
The Bat was dropped from an altitude of 15-25,000 feet at 140-210 knots, then homed in on its target using the reflected pulses from a built-in radar transmitter. It was gyro-stablized with an auto-pilot system, and the steerable tail elevator was powered by small wind-driven generators. The Bat had a length of 11 ft. 11 in., a wing span of 10 ft., and an empty weight of 600 lbs. It was designed to carry a 1,000 lb. warhead.
The development of the Bat was led by Hugh L. Dryden of the National Bureau of Standards, which supplied the air frame. The radar was supplied by Western Electric Co., and the gyroscope by Bendix Aviation Co. Dr. Dryden was awarded the Presidental Certificate of Merit for the Bat's development.
When used during World War II, the Bat proved somewhat disappointing. It tended to home in on inappropriate land-based features, limiting use to targets away from land. It had only a mediocre success rate, damaging some ships and sinking one Japanese destroyer. A total of 3,000 Bats were manufactured, but most were never used. It was taken out of deployment following the war after tests revealed the radar could be relatively easily foiled by simple countermeasures.
