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BOAR

Field	Value
name	BOAR
image	BOAR launch from F2H.jpg
image_size	300
caption	BOAR rocket launch from a F2H Banshee
origin	United States
type	Air-to-surface missile
is_missile	yes
service	1956–1963
used_by	United States Navy
manufacturer	Naval Ordnance Test Station
spec_label	Mk 1 Mod 0
weight	2000 lb
length	4.65 m
diameter	30.5 in
filling	W7 nuclear
yield	20 ktonTNT
engine	Solid-fuel rocket
engine_power	67 kN
vehicle_range	7.5 mi
speed	480 mph
guidance	None
wingspan	54 in
launch_platform	Douglas AD Skyraider
McDonnell F2H Banshee

Note

the nuclear rocket

McDonnell F2H Banshee

The Bombardment Aircraft Rocket, also known as BOAR, the Bureau of Ordnance Aircraft Rocket, and officially as the 30.5-Inch Rocket, Mark 1, Mod 0, was an unguided air-to-surface rocket developed by the United States Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station during the 1950s. Intended to provide a standoff nuclear capability for carrier-based aircraft, the rocket entered operational service in 1956, remaining in service until 1963.

Design and development

Following a specification developed during 1951, the development of the BOAR rocket was started in 1952 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), located at China Lake, California. The project was intended to provide a simple means of extending the stand-off range of nuclear weapons delivered using the toss bombing technique, as some slower aircraft still faced marginal escape conditions when delivering ordinary gravity bombs even with the use of this technique.

The rocket that emerged from the development process used a single, solid-fueled rocket motor mated to the W7 nuclear weapon, which had a yield of 20 ktonTNT. This provided a stand-off range of 7.5 mi when released in a steep climb, the aircraft then completing the toss-bombing pullout to escape the blast; the rocket, lacking guidance, would follow a ballistic trajectory to impact following rocket burnout.

Operational history

Entering flight trials in 1953, BOAR proved satisfactory. Twenty test firings during the course of 1955 were conducted without a single failure, and in 1956 the rocket entered operational service. A variety of aircraft carried BOAR operationally but it was primarily used by the AD Skyraider, the slowest nuclear-armed aircraft in the Navy's inventory.

BOAR was intended to be an interim weapon; a more advanced development, Hopi, entered flight testing during 1958. Hopi, however, failed to enter production, and BOAR remained the only standoff nuclear air-to-surface missile fielded by the Navy.

225 examples of the BOAR rocket were produced by NOTS. In service, the rocket proved unpopular with the pilots of the aircraft assigned to carry it: the loft-bombing maneuver, called an "idiot loop", was considered dangerous. By 1963, maintenance issues with the solid rocket motor were proving acute, and the rocket was removed from the inventory during that year.

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

Babcock 2008, p.321-324
Parsch 2003
Polmar 2001, p.527.
Parsch 2003b
Michel 2003, p.27.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

unguided-nuclear-rockets-of-the-united-states air-to-ground-rockets-of-the-united-states cold-war-rockets-of-the-united-states

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