AFSC Secret Project 1168 Pye Wacket

Rosdivan

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Re: Pye Wacket

excellent find!, i've been intrigued this since i read about it in Jenkins' XB-70 book,

cheers,
Robin.
 
Re: Pye Wacket

Stargazer2006 said:
Documents listed in first post are no longer accessible.

I have found something interesting in the NACA archives and I wondered if this had anything to do with Pya Wacket at all.

Model 1665? No, that's a model of a manned re-entry vehicle. An early Apollo-type concept.
 
Re: Pye Wacket

The Pye Wacket is a fascinating missile development that I've had great interest in for awhile, mostly due to it's outstanding agility: Supposedly able to do 250g+ at Mach 3 at the very least in a proof of concept development.

The weirdest thing was a mention about reducing the agility of the weapon to some extent during development: I cannot fathom why one would do this
 
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Re: Pye Wacket

Yes, it was a fascinating missile project. There is a good and detailed development story in the "Valkyrie" book by Jenkins & Lanids.
 
Re: Pye Wacket

Not sure if this is related. Found on flickr

"Yes, the Navy DID spend a few hundred thousand dollars studying the feasibility of a disc-shaped missile system back in the 1970s.

This view of the model shows the rear of the unit - the main engine exhaust is on the edge of the disc. Also visible are the vectoring ports for maneuvering the missile, as well as the standard delivery system lugs on the top.

An artist's rendering (probably by Larry Zabel) showed the proposed system to be about three to three & one-half feet in diameter. I believe it was intended to match the terminal and lethal performance of the Sidewinder missile, but with a lot more maneuverability"


"Front view showing the guidance system window. I believe it was intended to use off-the-shelf components from the Sidewinder missile."
 

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Re: Pye Wacket

Concerning the lethality side - how was the warhead to be arranged in Pye Wacket, and was the weapon expected to get very reduced miss distances or hit-to-kill? I ask this because I have read (I am not sure where) that large wings in way of a warhead could interfere with the fragmentation patter produced and, well... Pye Wacket *is* a wing.


RP1
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

Oh my God,fantastic,many thanks Astronautix,


and you are welcome.
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

YES, YES, YES
4509800-7112014_orig.jpg

Encyclopedia Astronautica is back from the dead.

Astronautix, welcome to this Forum
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

Hello, I see you also posted on Nasaspaceflight.com. Are you Mark Wade himself ? your website remain a valuable resource use by many, so we are glad you come talking with us on space forums.
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

Great stuff, and great to have such a luminary on this board!
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

Glad you're back! Now we just need Mark Lindroos to resurrect.
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

GREAT!! Not only is the Astronautix site alive and well, but it's back with an in-depth article that will no doubt serve as an absolute reference on a previously little-known topic... Thanks a lot and welcome aboard, astronautix!!
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

XP67_Moonbat said:
Glad you're back! Now we just need Mark Lindroos to resurrect.

Is he the guy that had the site with the black background and drawings or pictures of a zillion different launch vehicles?
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

sferrin said:
XP67_Moonbat said:
Glad you're back! Now we just need Mark Lindroos to resurrect.

Is he the guy that had the site with the black background and drawings or pictures of a zillion different launch vehicles?


That is he.
 
Re: Pye Wacket and Manned ASAT

Yes, this is Mark Wade. Thanks to all for the kind words.
I hope to be cleaning up the site and adding new content, but it will take time after several years of neglect...
 
This one is new to me. Does anyone have any info/photos on Pye Wacket? -SP

(Topics merged)
 
Merged with existing topic. Some reports:







Mark Wade's article is the best account published and has loads of references:

 

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Don't think this has been posted here yet?

Development of Airborne Armament 1910-1961, Volume II Bomber Defense, AFSC Historical Publications Series 61-52-(2), Air Force Systems Command, October 1961.
The discussion of the B-70 includes some mention of Pye Wacket. Note that it is referred to as the DAMS system.

In 1959 "The Lenticular [Defence] Missile, a highly unorthodox lens-shaped device that resembled nothing so much as a flying saucer, was an element of the Defensive-Anti-Missile-System (DAMS) then being developed under Wright Air Development Center auspices." A cylindrical missile propsal was preferred by North American for the B-70, as both lower cost and lower risk, and adequate to the threat of frontal attack from the forward hemisphere. "Should an enemy interceptor with better than Mach 3 speed appear, however, spherical coverage 'might become justified.' The lenticular missile, with an appealing growth potential, seemed deserving of further study, particularly on this score."
Other remarks show that the DAMS defence system [i.e. Pye Wacket], was envisaged as having a nuclear warhead and that, even though the B-70 was the main subject of the discussion and North American were asked to study the DAMS system, the work "would not be tied to the B-70".
The nuclear warhead was being considered for a novel kill mode called "dudding"; blasting the enemy warhead, also assumed to be nuclear, with a dense cloud of neutrons, sufficient to render it inoperative, i.e. a dud. Thus, even if it subsequently triggered, it would not detonate and the bomber crew would not be exposed to any harmful radiation. It was seen as "the only practical and effective [bomber] penetration aid presently known that can defeat a nuclear warhead without detonating it."
 
Other remarks show that the DAMS defence system [i.e. Pye Wacket], was envisaged as having a nuclear warhead and that, even though the B-70 was the main subject of the discussion and North American were asked to study the DAMS system, the work "would not be tied to the B-70".
The nuclear warhead was being considered for a novel kill mode called "dudding"; blasting the enemy warhead, also assumed to be nuclear, with a dense cloud of neutrons, sufficient to render it inoperative, i.e. a dud. Thus, even if it subsequently triggered, it would not detonate and the bomber crew would not be exposed to any harmful radiation. It was seen as "the only practical and effective [bomber] penetration aid presently known that can defeat a nuclear warhead without detonating it."
Remember reading similar that the Nuclear version of the AIM26 Falcon was also design to do similar to bomber nukes apperantly.

Which if true does is a nice little tidbit.
 

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