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JB-2 «Loon» Cruise Missile
Upon having received the remains of a German V-1 cruise missile in July 1944, Americans were quick to make a copy of it. It took some time to eliminate all the glitches, but in early 1945 “Loon” successfully passed all tests. Americans considerably improved the launcher: they replaced the long catapult with short rails, and the required speed was delivered by powder-charged accelerators.
Americans planned to use these missiles widely to “prepare” Japanese Islands for landing on them. Their plans provided for making 75.000 such missiles, and 12.000 were even ordered. But only 1400 missiles were made, since the Japan invasion never happened.
And this missile served as a base for working out the technologies required for building, controlling and using cruise missiles. First of all, the control system was modified by placing a beacon and a command receiver on a missile. Thus the operator could monitor the missile’s position, correct its path and give a command to dive when needed. With such a system, the missile’s accuracy on a 160 km range reached 400 m.
This missile had also performed the first launch from a floating submarine. It happened in early 1947. For some time (though no for long) the US Navy planned to equip the missile with a 15-kiloton nuclear warhead.
In the game this missile may be equipped as with a cheap and inaccurate inertial guiding system, as with an expensive active radio guiding system.
Willys-Overland JB-2 «Loon» in the "Pacific Storm"
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