Kettering Bug

The Kettering Bug was an experimental unmanned aerial torpedo and a forerunner of present-day cruise missiles. It was able to strike ground targets up to 75 miles from its launch point while travelling at about 50 miles per hour. A successful test flight was made in October 1918. Its costly design and operation inspired Dr. Henry W. Walden to propose a rocket that a pilot could control after launch by radio waves. Radio-controlled British weapons of 1917 were secret at that time. The Bug and designs like it were early forerunners of modern missiles and show how unmanned flight began as a military idea.