Contents

LBD Gargoyle

Anti-ship missile / guided bomb

Gargoyle
LBD-1 at Mojave in 1946.
Type	anti-ship missile / guided bomb
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1945-1950
Used by	United States Navy
Wars	World War II (test only)
Production history
Manufacturer	McDonnell Aircraft
Produced	1944-1947
No. built	200
Specifications
Mass	1,500 lb (680 kg)
Length	10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Wingspan	8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Warhead	armor-piercing bomb
Warhead weight	1,000 lb (450 kg)
Engine	Aerojet 8AS1000 JATO bottle 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) for 8 sec
Propellant	solid fuel
Operational range	5 mi (8.0 km)
Maximum speed	600 mph (970 km/h)
Guidance system	radio command guidance

The LBD-1 Gargoyle (later KSD-1, KUD-1 and RTV-N-2) was an American air-to-surface missile developed during World War IIbyMcDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy. One of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles, it was extensively used as a test vehicle during the late 1940s.

Design and development[edit]

Following the successful use of the German Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz-X guided bombs in combat during 1943, a requirement was issued by the U.S. Navy that October for a guided weapon based on similar principles.^[1] Assigned as part of the Glomb ("glide bomb") project,^[2] the weapon was code-named "Gargoyle", and following the completion of design work in the summer of 1944,^[1] McDonnell Aircraft was awarded a contract for a test-and-evaluation production run of 400 Gargoyles in September, given the designation LBD-1.^[3]

Intended for carriage by carrier-based aircraft, Gargoyle was of fairly conventional small-aircraft design, weighing 1,500 pounds (680 kg) when ready for launch, and fitted with a low-mounted 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) wing and v-tail attached to a streamlined fuselage, 10 feet 1 inch (3.07 m) in length,^[3] containing a 1,000-pound (450 kg) armor-piercing bomb.^[1]AnAerojet solid-propellant rocket, of the JATO type and providing 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) of thrust,^[4] was fitted to provide terminal boost to 600 miles per hour (970 km/h), and guidance was by radio command, the missile being tracked visually via a flare mounted in the tail section.^[1] The effective range of Gargoyle was 5 miles (8.0 km) when released at an altitude of 27,000 feet (8,200 m).^[5]

Operational history[edit]

Gargoyle's armor-piercing capability and the fact that it could be carried by carrier-based aircraft allowed development to continue despite late-war rationalizations of missile projects,^[6] and following delivery of the first weapons to the Navy at the end of 1944 flight trials were begun in March 1945.^[3] Difficulties encountered during the test program meant that by July only five of fourteen tests were considered to be "satisfactory" by the Navy,^[3] and the first fully successful flight did not occur until July 1946. By then Gargoyle had been redesignated twice, to KSD-1 in October 1945 and in early 1946 to KUD-1 as a pure research effort.^[1] The aerodynamic design of Gargoyle was, however, considered to be satisfactory from an aerodynamic standpoint; however, with the end of the war, the contract was reduced first to 375 missiles,^[3] and then to 200, with the production run being completed by the summer of 1947.^[1] That fall the Gargoyle was redesignated again under the U.S. Navy's new missile designation system, first to RTV-2 and then to the definitive RTV-N-2 in 1948. Testing continued through December 1950, Gargoyle being used to trial equipment and procedures for the Navy's other missile programs at the Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station Mojave,^[7] before the program was finally terminated, the remaining RTV-N-2s being designated for scrapping.^[1]

Surviving aircraft[edit]

A Gargoyle that was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 1974 is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.^[4]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LBD Gargoyle.

• Azon
• GB-1
• VB-6 Felix

Related lists

• List of anti-ship missiles

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]