Northrop AQM-38

The Northrop AQM-38 was an American rocket-powered target drone developed in the 1950s by the Radioplane Division of the Northrop Corporation at Newbury Park, California, and built by its Ventura Division at Van Nuys. Radioplane reworked the earlier XKD4R Navy target into the RP-76, which first flew in 1959, with new wing fairings and the vertical control fin moved to the underside. It flew a pre-programmed autopilot trajectory with optional radio command guidance, was steered by three forward fins, carried a Luneburg lens to enlarge its radar return and came down by parachute. The RP-76 was usually launched from a US Air Force F-89 Scorpion and was used by the Army to train surface-to-air missile crews and by the Air Force for air-to-air gunnery practice, while the RP-78 version supplied to the Navy used a more powerful rocket for a top speed of Mach 1.25. Renamed AQM-38A and AQM-38 in 1963, more than 2,000 were built, and they stayed in service until the mid-1970s.