08/01/2018 KA2N Gorgon IIA - Wikipedia

KA2N Gorgon IIA

The KA2N Gorgon IIA – also designated KU2N, CTV-4, and
KA2N Gorgon IIA
CTV-N-4 – was an air-to-air missile developed by the United
States Navy near the end of World War II. Proving a failure in its
designed role, it was repurposed as an experimental testbed for
missile technology.

Contents
Design and development
Operational history Gorgon IIA
Gorgon IIB Type Air-to-air missile
Surviving aircraft Place of origin United States
References
Service history
Citations
Bibliography In service 1945–1946
External links Used by United States Navy
Production history
Designer Naval Aircraft Modification
Design and development Unit
The Gorgon missile program began in July 1943 at the Naval Designed 1945
Aircraft Modification Unit in Warminster, Pennsylvania, and was Manufacturer Singer Manufacturing
intended to develop a family of small air-launched missiles for air- Company
to-air and air-to-surface roles.[1] The Gorgon IIA, the baseline
No. built 21
design of the family, was of canard configuration, a conventional
high-mounted monoplane wing providing lift; the structure was Specifications
largely of laminated wood,[2] while propulsion was by a Reaction Weight 971 pounds (440 kg)
Motors CML2N liquid-fuel rocket,[1] fueled with monoethylamine Length 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m)
and nitric acid.[3]

Intended for use intercepting bombers or transport aircraft, the Engine one Reaction Motors CML2N
Gorgon IIA was said to be the first American guided missile to be liquid-fuel rocket
powered by a liquid-fueled rocket.[2] It was fitted with a television 350 lbf (1,600 N) thrust for
guidance system, the pilot of the launching aircraft controlling the 130 seconds
missile via radio based on the view from a camera mounted in the Wingspan 11 feet (3.4 m)
nose of the missile.[2] Operational 25 miles (40 km)
range

Operational history Speed 500 mph (800 km/h)

Guidance Television guidance
system

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Production of the Gorgon IIA, designated KA2N-1, was ordered References Parsch 2005[1]
from the Singer Manufacturing Company,[4] a sewing machine
manufacturer.[5] A mockup of the missile's configuration was approved in March 1944,[6] and by April 1945, orders for 21
Gorgon IIA missiles had been confirmed,[1] all of which would be built.[2] However, initial flight tests of the system,
beginning as unpowered glides early in 1945 and proceeding to fully powered guided trials in March 1945, showed that the
guidance system was impractical; the closing speeds of the missile and its target were too great for the Gorgon IIA's
limited maneuverability to allow the missile's operator to correctly steer the weapon.[1] Despite this difficulty, the Gorgon
IIA was the first jet- or rocket-powered radio-controlled aircraft to successfully fly in the United States.[7]

The control issues, combined with the overall immature state of missile technology, led to the Gorgon program being
realigned as a testing program; the Gorgon IIA being redesignated in 1946 as KU2N-1, then CTV-4 in 1947, and finally as
CTV-N-4 in 1948;[1] the CTV designation reflecting its status as a control test vehicle,[4] although the program was largely
concluded by that point.[2] Despite the difficulties with its guidance system, the Gorgon IIA was considered
aerodynamically satisfactory.[1]

Gorgon IIB
A turbojet-powered version of the Gorgon II missile, Gorgon IIB, was also ordered, with four examples being contracted
for;[1] the project was cancelled due to a lack of suitable engines.[4]

Surviving aircraft
Very few Gorgon IIAs survived the testing program. One was donated by the
U.S. Navy to the National Air Museum (now the National Air and Space
Museum) in 1951; it is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center.[2]

References
Gorgon IIA at the Udvar-Hazy
Citations Center
1. Parsch 2005
2. "Gorgon IIA Missile" (https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-
air-air-gorgon-ii). National Air & Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution.
27 September 2016. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
3. Bowman 1957, p.124.
4. Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.181.
5. "Links to the Past: Michiana History – Record Detail: Singer Sewing
Machine Company – 1927" (http://www2.sjcpl.org/db/historydb/recorddetai
l/rec/645). South Bend, IN: St. Joseph County Public Library. Retrieved
2017-12-06.
6. White 1991, p.36.
7. "Navy Guided Missiles" (https://books.google.com/books?id=5dcYAQAAIA
AJ&pg=RA7-PA12&dq=Radioplane+%22KDR%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ah
UKEwiWypCBi_fXAhVE7SYKHTG2DpkQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=Radio
plane%20%22KDR%22&f=false). Astro-Jet. Reaction Research Society
(18): 11. Fall 1947. Retrieved 2017-12-06.

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Bibliography
Bowman, Norman John (1957). The Handbook of Rockets and Guided Missiles. Chicago: Perastadion Press.
ASIN B0007EC5N4 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007EC5N4).
Ordway, Frederick Ira; Ronald C. Wakeford (1960). International Missile and Spacecraft Guide. New York: McGraw-
Hill. ASIN B000MAEGVC (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MAEGVC).
Parsch, Andreas (4 January 2005). "Martin ASM-N-5 Gorgon V (and other NAMU Gorgon variants)" (http://www.desig
nation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/asm-n-5.html). Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early
Missiles and Drones. Designation-Systems. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
White, Maxwell (1991). An Interpretative History of the Pacific Missile Test Center: The Genesis, Road to Point Mugu,
1936–1946. Point Mugu, CA: Pacific Missile Test Center. ASIN B00010AIGU (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00010AI
GU).

External links
Media related to CTV-N-4 Gorgon IIA at Wikimedia Commons

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