Henschel Hs 293

Infobox Weapon
name= Henschel Hs 293


caption= Hs 293 on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich
origin= flagicon|Germany|Nazi Nazi Germany
type= Anti-ship missile
is_ranged=
is_bladed=
is_explosive=
is_artillery=
is_vehicle=
is_missile=yes
is_UK=
service= 1943- 1944
used_by= flagicon|Germany|Nazi Nazi Germany (Luftwaffe)
wars= World War II
designer=
design_date=
manufacturer= Henschel
unit_cost=
production_date= 1942 - ?
number= 1,000
variants=
weight= 1045 kg
length= 3.82 m
part_length=
width= 3.1 m
height=
diameter= 0.47 m
crew=
filling= explosive
filling_weight= 295 kg
detonation=
yield=
armour=
primary_armament=
secondary_armament=
engine= liquid-propellant rocket motor, 5.9 kN thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target
engine_power=
transmission=
payload_capacity=
fuel_capacity=
pw_ratio=
suspension=
clearance=
vehicle_range= at 2.2 km altitude 4.0 km
at 4.0 km altitude 5.5 km
at 5.0 km altitude 8.5 km
speed= maximum: 260 m/s
average: 230 m/s
guidance= Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS using a joystick

The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German anti-shipping guided missile: a radio-controlled glide bomb with a rocket engine slung underneath it.

History

The Hs 293 project was started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" pure glide bomb that was designed in 1939. The Schwartz design did not have a terminal guidance system - it used an autopilot to maintain a straight course. The intention was that it could be launched from a bomber at sufficient distance to be out of range of anti-aircraft fire. Henschel developed it the following year by adding a rocket motor underneath it to allow it to be used from lower altitude and to increase the range.

The weapon consisted of a modified standard 500 kg bomb called SZ, with a thin metal shell and a high explosive charge inside, equipped with a rocket engine under the bomb, a pair of wings, and an 18-channel radio receiver, getting its signals from a "Kehl" transmitting set. The rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the height of launch. From a height of 1400 meters the Hs 293 had a range of about 3 km.

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships, unlike the Fritz X that was intended for use against armoured ships. The operator controlled the radio-guided missile with a joystick. Five colored flares were attached to the rear of the weapon to make it visible at a distance to the operator. During nighttime operations flashing lights instead of flares were used. [http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm]

One drawback of the Hs 293 was that after the missile was launched the bomber had to fly in a straight and level path, and could thus not manoeuvre to evade attacking fighters without aborting the attack.

The Allies also went to considerable effort to develop devices which jammed the (48.2 MHz to 49.9 MHz) radio link between the Kehl transmitter aboard the launching aircraft and the Strassburg receiver embedded in the missile. Early jamming efforts by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory produced the XCJ jamming transmitter installed aboard the destroyer escorts USS "Herbert C. Jones" and "Frederick C. Davis" in late September 1943. Unfortunately, the XCJ was ineffective because the frequencies selected for jamming were incorrect. This was updated in time for combat at Anzio with the XCJ-1 system, installed aboard two destroyer escorts above as well as destroyers USS "Woolsey", "Madison", "Hilary P. Jones" and "Lansdale". These six ships rotated service at Anzio, with three deployed at any time. This system met with some success, though because of its manual interface, it was cumbersome to use and easily overwhelmed if large numbers of missiles were engaged. On balance, the probability that a Hs 293 launched (and seen as responding to operator guidance) would actually strike a target (or achieve a damage-inflicting near miss) was about the same at Anzio as it was at Salerno.

Meanwhile, as attacks were taking place at Anzio, the U.K. began to deploy its Type 650 transmitter which employed a different approach. This system jammed the Strassburg intermediate frequency receiver (3 MHz) and appears to have been quite successful, especially as the operator did not have to attempt to find which of the 18 Kehl/Strassburg command frequencies were in use and then manually tune the jamming transmitter to one of those frequences. This system automatically defeated the receiver regardless of which radio frequency had been selected for an individual Luftwaffe missile.

Following several intelligence coups, includng a capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components from a crashed He 177 on Corsica, the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures, all in time for the invasions at Normandy and in Southern France. This included an updated XCJ-2 system from the Naval Research Laboratory (produced as the TX), the modified airborne AN/ARQ-8 Dinamate system from Harvard's Radio Research Laboratory, NRL's improved XCJ-3 model (produced as the CXGE), the British Type 651 and the Canadian Naval Jammer. Perhaps most impressive of all was AIL's Type MAS jammer which employed sophisticated signals to defeat the Kehl transmission and to take over command of the Hs 293, steering it into the sea via a sequence of right-turn commands. Even more sophisticated jammers from NRL, designated XCK (to be produced as TY and designated TEA when combined with the upgraded XCJ-4) and XCL, were under development but were never deployed as the threat had evaporated before they could be put into service. In contrast to the experience at Anzio, the jammers seemed to have had a major impact on operations after April 1944, with significant degradation observed in the probability that a Hs 293 launched at a target (and responding to operator guidance) would achieve a hit or damage-causing near miss.

To improve the control of the weapon and reduce vulnerability of the launching aircraft a television-guided variant (Hs 293D) was planned but was not made operational before the war ended.

Over 1,000 were built, from 1942 onwards.

The closest Allied weapon system in function and purpose to the Hs 293 series was the US Navy's Bat unpowered, radar-guided unit.

The Hs 293 seems to bear a slight resemblance to the V-1 flying bomb

Combat performance

On August 25, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, striking the sloop HMS "Bideford", though as the explosive charge did not fully detonate, the damage was minimal. On August 27, the Hs 293 was used again, this time sinking the British sloop HMS "Egret". On November 26 1943 an Hs 293 caused the sinking of the troop transport HMT "Rohna" killing over 1,000 personnel.

Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include:

* Banff class sloop HMS|Landguard (slightly damaged with "Bideford" in Bay of Biscay 25 August 1943)Blair, Clay "Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942-1945" Random House (1998) ISBN 0-679-45742-9 p.405]
* (heavily damaged by confirmed hit with "Egret" in Bay of Biscay 27 August 1943) [cite web | title =ATHABASKAN page | url =http://webhome.idirect.com/~kettles/uncle/athabask.htm | accessdate = ]
* HMHS "Newfoundland" (heavily damaged and later sunk by Allied gunfire)
* (sunk 14 September 1943 during Operation Avalanche (World War II))Bogart, Charles H. "German Remotely Piloted Bombs" "United States Naval Institute Proceedings" November 1976 pp.62-68]
* (damaged 15 September 1943 during Operation Avalanche (World War II) and used for Mulberry harbour -- possibly due to a "Fritz X")
* (sunk)
* (damaged)
* (damaged)
* (damaged)
* (possibly slightly damaged 6 November 1943 while escorting Mediterranean convoy KMF-25A) though more likely a torpedo was the cause [See Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. This indicates that the three Hs 293 missiles targeted at "Tillman" exploded without damage but that a torpedo exploding in the ship's wake did cause damage.] )
* (damaged slightly, later written off)
* (heavily damaged and scuttled)
* (sunk)
* (damaged)
* (damaged off Anzio during Operation Shingle 23 January 1944)
* (damaged -- possibly from Hs 293, or a torpedo)
* (damaged -- possibly from Hs 293)
* (damaged -- possibly from Hs 293 or a mine)
* (damaged)
* (sunk off Anzio during Operation Shingle 29 January 1944)
* (sunk off Anzio during Operation Shingle 29 January 1944)
* (damaged off Anzio during Operation Shingle 15 February 1944)
* (sunk off Anzio during Operation Shingle 16 February 1944 -- LCT 35 alongside is also destroyed)
*
* (sunk -- probably from Hs 293, official report states "aerial torpedo")
* (sunk -- possibly from Hs 293 or other causes)
* (damaged)
* (sunk)

Although designed for use against ships, it was also used in Normandy in early August 1944 to attack bridges over the River See and River Selume. Only one bridge was slightly damaged for the loss of six of the attacking aircraft [http://www.simonawhite.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/HS%20293.html] .

The Hs 293 was carried on Heinkel He 111, Heinkel He 177, Focke-Wulf Fw 200, Dornier Do 217 planes. However, only the He 177 (of II./KG 40), certain variants of the FW 200 (of III./KG 40) and the Do 217 (of II./KG 100 and III./KG 100) used the Hs 293 operationally in combat.

Variants

* Hs 293A (later Hs 293A-1), the original version.
* Hs 293B was wire-guided to prevent jamming; it was never put into production, because jamming was never serious enough to prevent the radio-guided version from being effective.
* Hs 293C (production version designated Hs 293A-2) had a detachable warhead.
* Hs 293D was television-guided. Twenty were built and tested, but it was never used operationally as the television equipment was unreliable.
* Hs 293E, an experimental model to test spoiler controls as a replacement to ailerons; never put into series production. This modification was put into the final version of the Hs 293A-2 but by then the Luftwaffe had no aircraft available for anti-shipping operations and it was never deployed.
* Hs 293F, a tailless variant; never got further than the design phase.
* Hs 293H, an experimental variant designed to be launched from one aircraft and controlled from another. Abandoned because allied air superiority had reached the point where it was felt that the second aircraft would be unable to remain in the vicinity of the ship for long enough.
* Hs 293V6 designed for launching from the Arado Ar 234 jet bomber at 720 km/h. The main change was reducing the wing span of the missile to allow it to be carried within the aircraft. The missile did not proceed past the design stage.

Operators

;flag|Germany|Nazi
*Luftwaffe

ee also

* List of World War II guided missiles of Germany

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ausairpower.net/WW2-PGMs.html The Dawn of the Smart Bomb]
* [http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm German guided air to ground weapons in WW2]