Fritz X

Fritz X Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was the world’s first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternative names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400 (the latter, along with the unguided PC 1400 Fritz nickname, is the origin for the name “Fritz X“). Along with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) similar Azonweapon of the same period, it is one of the forerunners of modern anti-ship missiles and precision-guided weapons. TypeAnti-ship glide bombPlace of originNazi GermanyService historyIn service1943–44 Used by Nazi Germany(Luftwaffe)WarsWorld War IIProduction historyDesignerMax KramerManufacturerRuhrstahlSpecificationsWeight1,362 kg (3,003 lb)  m (10.9 ft)Width1.4 m (4.6 ft)Diameter85.3 cm (33.6 in)Warheadamatol explosive, armour-piercingWarhead weight320 kg (710 lb) Operational range 5 km (3.1 mi)Speed343 m/s (1,130 ft/s) 1,235 km/h (767 mph) Guidance system Kehl-Straßburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS History American drawing of the PC 1400armour-piercing bomb, the basis for the Fritz X PGM. Fritz X was a further development of the PC 1400 (Panzersprengbombe, Cylindrisch 1,400 kg) armour-piercing high-explosive bomb, itself bearing the nickname Fritz.[Note 1] It was a penetration weapon intended to be used against armored targets such as heavy cruisers and battleships. It was given a more aerodynamic nose, four stub wings, a box shaped tail unit, consisting of a roughly 12-sided annular set of fixed surfaces and a cruciform tail with thick surfaces within the annulus, which contained the Fritz X’s aerodynamic controls. The Luftwafferecognized the difficulty of hitting moving ships during the Spanish Civil . engineer Max Kramer, who worked at the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (DVL) had been experimenting since 1938 with remote-controlled free-falling 250 kg (550 lb) bombs and in 1939 fitted radio-controlledspoilers. In 1940, Ruhrstahl was invited to join the development, since they already had experience in the development and production of unguided bombs. Fritz X was guided by a Kehl-Strasbourg radio control link, which sent signals to the movable spoilers in the thick vertical and horizontal tail fin surfaces, within the annular tail fin structure. This control system was also used for the unarmored, rocket-boosted Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship ordnance, itself first deployed on August 25, 1943. The Straßburgreceiver antenna installations on the Fritz Xwere aerodynamically integrated into the trailing edge of the annular surfaces of the tail fin, within a quartet of “bulged“ sections in the trailing edge. This design feature of the FuG230 Straßburg receiver installation is not entirely unlike the Azon, which had its own receiving antennas placed in the quartet of diagonal struts bracing the fixed sections of its tail fins. Minimum launch height was 4,000 m (13,000 ft) (5,500 m (18,000 ft) was preferred) and a range of 5 km (3.1 mi; 2.7 nmi) was necessary. As it was an MCLOS-guidance ordnance design, the operator had to keep the bomb in sight at all times (a tail flare was provided, as with the Azon, to assist the operator in tracking the weapon) and the control aircraft had to hold course, which made evading gunfire or fighters impossible. Approximately 1,400 examples, including trial models, were produced. Control setup The Fritz X possessed a spoiler-based control setup on its tailfin unit, using three sets of aerodynamic control spoiler systems, with two of them giving the ordnance control in both the pitch and yaw axes, differentially operating and constantly oscillating rapidly under direct control from the Kehl-Straßburgradio control link. The roll control setup, operating autonomously and not under control from the deploying aircraft, similarly oscillated to those under the externally controlled sets and were located on the outboard sections of the horizontal tailfin surfaces within the annular set of outer tailfin surfaces. These were like the American Azon ordnance’s own “aileron“ control surfaces in their purpose, commanded by an internal gyroscope in the tail’s central housing in both the Azon and Fritz X, to keep the ordnance level during its trajectory. The inboard set of spoiler surfaces in the tailfin’s horizontal surfaces, which used a set of wing fence-like flat surfaces for airflow separation from the autonomous roll control spoilers, controlled the pitch angle after release and were controlled by the radio control link, giving the Fritz X’s bombardier in the deploying aircraft the ability to control the range of the drop, a capability that the Azon ordnance did not have. The yaw control spoilers housed in