McDonnell LBD-1 Gargoyle

The McDonnell LBD-1 Gargoyle, later redesignated KSD-1, KUD-1, RTV-2 and finally RTV-N-2, was an American guided glide bomb developed for the United States Navy during the Second World War. After German Hs 293 and Fritz-X guided bombs saw combat in 1943, the Navy issued a requirement in October of that year for a similar weapon that carrier aircraft could carry, and McDonnell Aircraft was given a contract for a first test batch in 1944. Gargoyle was a small aircraft-like weapon with a low wing and a V-tail, weighing about 680 kilograms and carrying a 450 kilogram armour-piercing bomb. A single Aerojet solid-propellant rocket gave it extra speed for its terminal dive, and it was steered by radio command while an operator watched a flare in its tail. Flight trials began in March 1945 and early results were poor, so by 1946 it was treated as a research vehicle rather than an operational anti-ship missile. About 200 were built by 1947, and it was used to test equipment for later Navy missiles until the program ended in December 1950. One example is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.