The 2.25-Inch Sub-Caliber Aircraft Rocket, or SCAR, was an American

unguided rocket In military terminology, a rocket is a self-propelled, unguided or guided, weapon-system powered by a rocket engine. Though used primarily as medium- and long-range artillery systems, historically rockets have also seen considerable use as air-t ...

developed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and used for sub-caliber rocket training. Capable of simulating the aerial rockets then coming into operational service, the SCAR was used to train pilots in the use of the new type of weapon, and continued in service throughout the 1950s.

Development

With the introduction of the 3.5-Inch and

5-Inch Forward Firing Aircraft Rocket The five-inch forward-firing aircraft rocket or FFAR was an American rocket developed during World War II for attack from airplanes against ground and ship targets. Operational history The first FFARs were developed by the U.S. Navy and introduce ...

s, a need arose to train aircraft pilots in the proper tactics for the use of the new weapons. This requirement resulted in the development of a dedicated training rocket by the U.S. Navy.Parsch 2004 Designated 2.25-Inch Sub-Caliber Aircraft Rocket, the resulting rocket was a joint project between the

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

and the

National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the U ...

. As its name implied, the rocket was designed as a sub-calibre weapon compared to the FFAR, being only in diameter, but weighted to be ballistically similar to the larger operational weapons. Varying the amount of propellant in the SCAR's motor could produce accurate simulations of either type of FFAR's flight characteristics.

Operational history

Following development, SCAR entered full-scale production in January 1945; by July, fully half of the U.S. Navy's rocket production for aircraft use consisted of SCAR rockets. SCAR was widely used during the latter part of World War II as a training round for the FFAR and, later, the

High Velocity Aircraft Rocket The High Velocity Aircraft Rocket, or HVAR, also known by the nickname Holy Moses, was an American unguided rocket developed during World War II to attack targets on the ground from aircraft. It saw extensive use during both World War II and th ...

. Following the end of the war, it remained in production, continuing in operational service throughout the 1950s. Budget cutbacks prior to the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

meant that the SCAR was the only rocket used in training by the majority of pilots. Despite its small size, SCAR could be hazardous; in 1957, an injury aboard the aircraft carrier was caused by the unintended ignition of a SCAR rocket. As recently as 2004, expended SCAR rockets were still occasionally being found in areas that had been used as

bombing range A bombing range usually refers to a remote military aerial bombing and gunnery training range used by combat aircraft to attack ground targets (air-to-ground bombing), or a remote area reserved for researching, developing, testing and evaluatin ...

s during World War II.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USA WW2 rockets Air-to-ground rockets of the United States World War II weapons of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1940s