PlaneSpottingWorld welcomes all new members! Please gives your ideas at the Terminal.

GB-8

From PlaneSpottingWorld, for aviation fans everywhere
colspan="2" Template:WPMILHIST Infobox style | GB-8
Type anti-ship missile / guided bomb
Place of origin United States
colspan="2" Template:WPMILHIST Infobox style | Service history
In service never used operationally
Wars World War II
colspan="2" Template:WPMILHIST Infobox style | Specifications
Weight 2555 lb (1150 kg)
Length 11 ft 7 in (3.53 m)
 length 12 ft (3.66 m) wingspan
Diameter 24 in (61 cm)

Warhead amatol explosive
Warhead weight 2000 pounds (907 kg)

Engine none
Operational
range
17 mi (27 km)
Guidance
system
television and radio command

GB-8 was a precision guided munition developed by the United States during World War Two. It was one of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles.

Following German succcess with the Hs-293 and Fritz-X, the U.S. began developing several similar weapons, such as Felix, Azon, Gargoyle, GB-4, and GB-8.

GB-8 was intended as a clear weather, good visibility weapon to attack heavily-defended targets. It featured a plywood airframe with twin booms and fins with a single elevator. The warhead was a 2000 pd (907 kg) general purpose (GP) bomb.

The bomb was steered by radio command guidance, the operator tracking it by means of red and white flares in the booms. It was intended to be carried externally, under the wing of a B-17 or B-25. Release was at about 175 mph (280 kph) and between 10000-15000 ft (3050-4575 m) altitude, giving a range of 17 mi (27 km), with an average flight time of four minutes.

The Pacific War ended before it entered combat.

Sources

  • Fitzsimons, Bernard, editor. "GB-8", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare. Volume 10, p.1101. London: Phoebus Publishing, 1978.

See also

External links

Template:Missile-stub Template:Weapon-stub

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "GB-8".