Taifun (rocket)

Taifun (rocket)

Taifun (German for "typhoon") was a German World War II anti-aircraft unguided rocket system. Waves of Taifuns were to be launched en masse into US B-17 Flying Fortress formations hoping for a direct hit. Although never deployed operationally, the system was copied in the US as the Loki, and the USSR as R-103.

The Taifun project originally dates to 25 September 1942, when Hermann Göring authorized the start of a number of anti-aircraft projects after a long hiatus when all such advanced development had been frozen by Hitler. Along with the Taifun, the Enzian, Rheintochter, Schmetterling and Wasserfall were also given full funding. The design was originally started by Scheufeln, an officer at Peenemünde, who wanted to introduce an extremely simple system in case the more complex projects did not "work out".

The Taifun proposal was developed by a small team at Peenemünde along with the Electromechanische Werke in Karlshagen. Their design was 1.93 metres long and 10 cm in diameter, with four small stabilizing fins at the base. The engine was fueled by a pressure-fed hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and "Optolin". Taifun was powered by a hypergolic mixture pressure-fed into the combustion chamber. The pressure was provided by small cordite charges that were fired into the fuel tanks, in the process bursting a pair of thin diaphragms to allow the fuel and oxidizer to flow into the combustion chamber, and launched the rocket. At burnout 2.5 seconds later, the rocket was travelling at 3,600 km/h (2,237 mph). Nominal range was to have been about 15 km, with a maximum altitude of 12 km. The rockets were fired in salvos of up to 30 from a launcher mounted on an adapted 88 mm gun mounting.

The original plans called for 2 million to have been produced by January 1945, but the engine experienced lengthy delays and none were ever deployed operationally. The only such system to see operational use was British, who deployed both the Unrotated Projectile and 2 inch RP during the war.

References

* [http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/taifun.htm Taifun]
* [http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/collections/missiles/missile_info.cfm?missile_id=33 RAF Cosford Museum]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Taifun — This article is about the Soviet anti tank missile. For the similarly named German anti aircraft rocket, see Taifun (rocket) . For the weather event, see Typhoon. Taifun 9M15 (typhoon) was a Soviet missile developed to arm the Obiekt 287 missile… …   Wikipedia

  • rocket and missile system — ▪ weapons system Introduction       any of a variety of weapons systems that deliver explosive warheads to their targets by means of rocket propulsion.       Rocket is a general term used broadly to describe a variety of jet propelled missiles… …   Universalium

  • Loki (rocket) — It was so successful in this role that several advanced versions were developed on the basic Loki layout, including the final Super Loki.DevelopmentTaifun was powered by a hypergolic mixture pressure fed into the combustion chamber. The pressure… …   Wikipedia

  • List of World War II topics (T) — # T 26 # T 27 # T 28 Super Heavy Tank # T 28 # T 34 variants # T 34 # T 35 # T 37 tank # T 38 tank # T 40 # T 43 tank # T 44 # T 50 tank # T 6 Texan variants # T 6 Texan # T 60 tank # T 70 # T G Building, Brisbane # T. E. Burridge # T. H. Jordan… …   Wikipedia

  • 1981 in spaceflight — |6 January, 12:15 GMT |Soyuz U (R 7 11A511U) |Plesetsk |RVSN |Kosmos 1237 (Zenit 6U) |MOM |LEO |Reconnaissance |20 January 1981 |Successful |9 January, 14:57 GMT |nowrap|Molniya M/ML (R 7 8K78M/ML) |LC 41/1, Plesetsk |RVSN |Molniya 3 14 |MOM… …   Wikipedia

  • List of military aircraft of Germany by manufacturer — AEG= * AEG Helicopter, helicopter observation platform, 1933 * AEG Rumpelstilzchen, 1945 project anti tank missile for air and ground use AGO, Aerowerke Gustav Otto * AO 192, Kurier (Courier) light liaison * AO 225 Heavy fighter project Akaflieg… …   Wikipedia

  • 1994 in spaceflight — |8 January, 10:05:34 GMT |Soyuz U2 |LC 1, Baikonur |RKA |Soyuz TM 18, 3 cosmonauts |RKA |LEO, docked to Mir |Manned orbital flight |9 July 1994, 10:32:35 GMT |Successful |Mir Expedition 18 |20 January, 09:49:00 GMT |Proton K/DM 2M |LC 81/23,… …   Wikipedia

  • 1991 in spaceflight — |8 January, 00:53:01 GMT |Delta II 7925 |LC 17B, Cape Canaveral |McDonnell Douglas |NATO 4A |NATO |GEO |Comsat |Still in orbit |Successful so far |14 January, 14:50:27 GMT |Soyuz U2 |LC 1, Baikonur |RVSN |Progress M 6 |MOM |LEO, docked to Mir… …   Wikipedia

  • List of aircraft manufacturers by ICAO name — 0 9 * 3XTRIM Zaklady Lotnicze 3Xtrim Sp z oo (Poland) A Starting with A. * ROUND Round! Aerospace and Avionics. * AAC AAC Amphibiam Airplanes of Canada * AAMSA Aeronautica Agricola Mexicana SA * AASI Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures Inc *… …   Wikipedia

  • Messerschmitt — AG Type first AG, later GmbH Industry Aerospace Fate Merged Successor Messerschmitt Bolkow GmbH (1968) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”