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Wire Bobbin, Air-to-Air Missile, Ruhrstahl X-4

National Air and Space Museum

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Object Details

Summary
The X-4 was a small, wire-guided, air-to-air missile designed as a standoff weapon against Allied bombers. It was slated for use with the Me 262 jet fighter, but could also have been fired from a number of piston-engine aircraft such as the Ju 88, Ju 388 and Fw 190, which test-launched test missiles beginning in August 1944.
This wire bobbin would have been placed in one of two of the missile's four wing tips, from which the control wires paid out until they reached the breaking point. Nothing is presently known about its origins, but the U.S. Navy transferred it to the Smithsonian in a shipment of missile artifacts in 1948.
Credit Line
Transferred from the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics
Inventory Number
A19510070000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
EQUIPMENT-Autopilots
Materials
Steel, Plastic, Adhesive
Dimensions
3-D (Wire Bobbin): 40.6 x 15.2 x 12.7cm (16 x 6 x 5 in.)
3-D (Tube): 19.1 x 4.4cm (7 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)
Country of Origin
Germany
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
National Air and Space Museum
Record ID
nasm_A19510070000
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv99131b7da-ae6a-4d0d-95cf-64a3df818d20

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