Dec 7, 2019
A JB-2 mounted under the wing of a B-17 in preparation for a test launch over the Gulf of Mexico, 1946
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A JB-2 mounted under the wing of a B-17 in preparation for a test launch over the Gulf of Mexico, 1946
Also called the JB-2 or KUW-1, the Republic-Ford Loon was an American copy of the German pulsejet-powered V-1 or "Buzz Bomb" of WWII. It was designed to carry a one-ton high-explosive warhead to a range of 240 km and could be launched from the ground, ships, or aircraft. The air-breathing pulsejet motor is the long tube at the rear. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the American invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall), the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the most successful of the US Army Air Forces Jet Bomb (JB) projects (JB-1 through JB-10) during WWII. Post-war, the JB-2 played a significant role in the development of more advanced surface-to-surface tactical missile systems such as the MGM-1 Matador and later MGM-13 Mace. The US Navy's version, the KGW-1, later redesignated LTV-N-2, was developed to be carried on the aft deck of submarines in watertight containers. The first submarine to employ them was USS Cusk (SS-348) which successfully launched its first Loon on 12 February 1947, off Point Mugu, CA. USS Carbonero (SS-337) was also modified to test Loon. The Loon appeared in a 1950 B&W Cold War movie, The Flying Missile, distributed by Columbia Pictures and starring Glenn Ford and Viveca Lindfors. It was made with US Navy cooperation, revealing they had been working on launching missiles from the decks of submarines. Whilst it was the beginning of the American submarine-missile programme, the Loon was cancelled in 1950. The above example was donated to the Smithsonian in 1965 by the US Naval Supply Center. I saw it in the Udvar-Hazy Center in 2012.
United States were able to create a quite good copy of the German-made V1 which was the first drone in human history.
Ground crew prepare to load a JB-2 Loon cruise missile onto a B-29
A JB-2 during a flight test, 1944
A B-17 carrying a pair of JB-2 Loon cruise missiles under the wing. These missiles were copies of the V-1 flying bombs deployed by Germany.