XGAM-71 Buck Duck

Infobox Aircraft
name=Convair XGAM-71 Buck Duck


caption=An XGAM-71 on the underwing of its mothership.
type=Decoy missile
manufacturer=Convair
designer=
first flight=1955-02-14
introduced=n/a
retired=
status=Cancelled January 1956
primary user=Strategic Air Command
produced=
number built=
program cost=
unit cost=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=The XGAM-71 Buck Duck was a decoy missile that was developed by Convair in the late 1950s. It was intended to have the same radar signature as the Strategic Air Command's B-36 bomber, thereby allowing it to disrupt the enemy's air defenses and dilute their effort to shoot down an incoming bomber fleet.

Convair built the first prototype using their own funds, but received an official development contract from the United States Air Force on 16 August 1954. The project designation was MX-2224. When the Air Force decided to put the project into production, it received the designation GAM-71."Convair Development Department Annual Report 1953" (1954-05-27), page 7, and "Convair Development Department Fourth Annual Report" (1955-09-08), page 23. Cited by Jenkins. Both may be found at the Aerospace Education Center, Little Rock, Arkansas.]

As initially envisioned by the Air Force, one B-36 in the typical three-plane attack formation would be filled entirely with GAM-71s, carrying a total of seven. A total of two decoys could be carried in each bomb bay (except three), and a mixed load was also possible although the Air Force did not specify that it intended to use mixed loads.

To fit in the bomb bay of a B-36, the GAM-71 was relatively small; its wings were folded when it was stowed in the bay. To mimic the radar cross-section of the B-36, it carried radar reflectors.

In February 1955, glide tests of XGAM-71 prototypes began using a modified B-29 Superfortress as the mothership. However, the program was delayed due to funding issues. Convair also had higher priorities. A total of seven flights were conducted before the program was cancelled in January 1956, an event that Jenkins attributes to the imminent B-36 phase-out. [cite book|last=Werrell|first=Kenneth P.|title=The Evolution of the Cruise Missile|pages=pages 123-124|location=Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama|publisher=Air University Press|date=September 1985]

pecifications

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=
jet or prop?=

ref=Magnesium Overcast [cite book
title=Magnesium Overcast
last=Jenkins
first=Dennis R.
date=September 2002
publisher=Specialty Press
location=North Branch, Minnesota
id=ISBN 1-58007-042-6
pages=page 142] , The Evolution of the Cruise Missile [Armstrong, Ferrest E., "From New Technology Development to Operational Usefulness – B-36, B-58, F-111/FB/111", cited by Werrell.]

crew=
capacity=
length main=13 ft
length alt=4.0 m
span main=14 ft
span alt=4.3 m
height main= ft in
height alt= m
area main=
area alt=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=1,550 lb
loaded weight alt=703 kg

engine (jet)=XLR85
type of jet=solid-fuel rocketAccording to Parsch, most references sources indicate that the GAM-71 used a liquid-fueled XLR85 rocket. He says "it is at least possible (but in no way certain) that 'LR85' is an error for 'J85'," noting that the contemporary GAM-72 Quail and XSM-73 Goose were both turbojet powered, and that one source refers to the GAM-71 as turbojet-powered.]
number of jets=1
thrust main=900 lbf
thrust alt=4.0 kN

cruise speed main=Mach 0.55
cruise speed alt=
range main=200 nm
range alt=230 mi, 370 km
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
thrust/weight=0.58

References

* cite web
last=Parsch
first=Andreas
url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/gam-71.html
title=Convair GAM-71 Buck Duck
date=2002-12-01
accessdate=2007-01-09
work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=
* ADM-20 Quail

sequence=
*

lists=
* List of military aircraft of the United States
* List of missiles

see also=
* Convair B-36