Fritz-X: Difference between revisions

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imported>Howard C. Berkowitz
(New page: First used by the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') in the Second World War, the Fritz-X was the first precision guided munition to be used by an aircraft to attack a ship. In curre...)
 
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz
(Corrected that it was not a glide bomb)
 
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First used by the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') in the [[Second World War]], the Fritz-X was the first [[precision guided munition]] to be used by an aircraft to attack a ship. In current terminology, it was an unpowered guided bomb steered to its target by an operator physically watching the bomb and target, and steered, by radio command, to hit the target.  
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First used by the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') in the [[Second World War]], the '''Fritz-X''' was the first [[precision guided munition]] to be used by an aircraft to attack a ship. While it had been designed in 1939, Germany first used a rocket-boosted guided weapon, which was radio-controlled by a human observer, to sink the Italian battleship ''Roma'' in 1943.<ref name=RomaSinking>{{citation
| title = The Sinking of the Battleship Roma, September 9th, 1943
| first= Francesco | last = Cestra
| url = http://www.regiamarina.net/others/roma/roma_us.htm
}}</ref>  The weapon was visually controlled by an operator in a Dornier-217 bomber. This bomb, generally known as Fritz-X although designated the FX-1400 at the time of its use, weighed 1400 kilograms overall, and had a hard-penetration case (300 KG explosive payload).  


On its first use, it sank the Italian battleship, ''Roma''.
The FX-1400 was 3.3 meters long. It had four small wings, with the aerodynamic controls in the tail.
 
==References==
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Latest revision as of 17:57, 24 May 2008

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First used by the German air force (Luftwaffe) in the Second World War, the Fritz-X was the first precision guided munition to be used by an aircraft to attack a ship. While it had been designed in 1939, Germany first used a rocket-boosted guided weapon, which was radio-controlled by a human observer, to sink the Italian battleship Roma in 1943.[1] The weapon was visually controlled by an operator in a Dornier-217 bomber. This bomb, generally known as Fritz-X although designated the FX-1400 at the time of its use, weighed 1400 kilograms overall, and had a hard-penetration case (300 KG explosive payload).

The FX-1400 was 3.3 meters long. It had four small wings, with the aerodynamic controls in the tail.

References