Odd "rods" on the Seaslug

[Maury Markowitz]

I was looking at this image of a Seaslug on display and noticed for the first time the pencil-like rods on the end of the wings.

I guess they could be interferometer antennas, but I was under the impression those were the much smaller antennas near the front, which are both the right length for the X-band as well as being in the right orientation.

Does anyone know what they are?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Armstrong_Whitworth_Seaslug_missile.jpg

 

[Dilandu]

I was looking at this image of a Seaslug on display and noticed for the first time the pencil-like rods on the end of the wings.

I guess they could be interferometer antennas, but I was under the impression those were the much smaller antennas near the front, which are both the right length for the X-band as well as being in the right orientation.

Does anyone know what they are?

IRRC, those are either telemetry antennas from test version of missile, OR they might be emitter antennas for early versions of proximity fuxe.

 

[Dilandu]

Does anyone know what they are?

Aha, found it:



Those are transmitter antennas from telemetry-equipped test missile. They are for transmitting information from onboard sensors (about the missile flight) back to the ship.

 

[Maury Markowitz]

Ok that explains the smaller rods... but what about those things on the wings?
They are visible on your diagram, they look like a pencil or a tiny rocket held on by two rings. See green arrow.

 

[Dilandu]

Ok that explains the smaller rods... but what about those things on the wings?
They are visible on your diagram, they look like a pencil or a tiny rocket held on by two rings. See green arrow.

Those? Those are pyrotechnic wing flares, specifically for telemetry missiles:

 

[pathology_doc]

Seaslug boosters, ribbed for your ease-of-detaching pleasure (so the massive air drag will whisk them clean of the main missile faster). But it does mean a somewhat lower Vmax than if they were smooth. Reading books of the time suggests that the British seemed to have a policy of getting the boost phase over ASAP, while the Americans favoured a somewhat longer and lower-thrust boost phase to the final boost-detach velocity. The higher the thrust compared to the drag, the less the drag matters.

Those are pyrotechnic wing flares, specifically for telemetry missiles:

"We left those bad boys on so the target could see the end coming."
(Only joking; I know they would never actually do that.)

 

[T. A. Gardner]

"We left those bad boys on so the target could see the end coming."
(Only joking; I know they would never actually do that.)

I'm sure they were left on because the bureaucracy said they had to stay until the boffins submitted the proper paperwork to prove they could safely be removed. That never happened--in part because the engineers submitted the wrong paperwork, and in part because they didn't particularly care now that the missile was no longer their problem...