Project "War Weary Willie" Radio-controlled bomber as guided missiles proof of concept test, Eglin AAFB, Florida (1944)
- 5 years ago
Aphrodite and Anvil were the World War II code names of United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy operations to use B-17 and PB4Y bombers as precision-guided munitions against bunkers and other hardened/reinforced enemy facilities, such as those targeted during Operation Crossbow.
The plan called for B-17 aircraft that had been taken out of operational service (various nicknames existed such as "robot", "baby", "drone" or "weary Willy" to be loaded to capacity with explosives, and flown by radio control into bomb-resistant fortifications such as German U-boat pens and V-weapon sites.
It was hoped that it would match the British success with Tallboy and Grand Slam ground penetration bombs but the project was dangerous, expensive and unsuccessful.
Of 14 missions flown, none resulted in the successful destruction of a target.
Many aircraft lost control and crashed or were shot down by flak, and many pilots were killed.
However, a handful of aircraft scored near misses.
One notable pilot death was that of Lt Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, the elder brother of future US President John F. Kennedy.
The program effectively ceased on January 27, 1945 when General Spaatz sent an urgent message to Doolittle: "Aphrodite babies must not be launched against the enemy until further orders".
The plan called for B-17 aircraft that had been taken out of operational service (various nicknames existed such as "robot", "baby", "drone" or "weary Willy" to be loaded to capacity with explosives, and flown by radio control into bomb-resistant fortifications such as German U-boat pens and V-weapon sites.
It was hoped that it would match the British success with Tallboy and Grand Slam ground penetration bombs but the project was dangerous, expensive and unsuccessful.
Of 14 missions flown, none resulted in the successful destruction of a target.
Many aircraft lost control and crashed or were shot down by flak, and many pilots were killed.
However, a handful of aircraft scored near misses.
One notable pilot death was that of Lt Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, the elder brother of future US President John F. Kennedy.
The program effectively ceased on January 27, 1945 when General Spaatz sent an urgent message to Doolittle: "Aphrodite babies must not be launched against the enemy until further orders".