The AAM-N-5 Meteor was an early American air-to-air missile, developed by the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

and Bell Aircraft for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Initially, both air-launched and ship-launched versions were considered. Versions designed for launch from carrier-based aircraft proceeded to the flight testing stage before the project was cancelled. In 1950, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

expressed some interest in adapting Meteor as a short-range missile to defend ships against glide bombs and similar weapons. They had been studying this concept under their Popsy project and called the adapted Meteor "Mopsy". When the US Navy abandoned their interest in a ship-launched version, Mopsy went no further.

Development

Development of the Meteor was loosely defined at first, with both surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles being studied by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a contract awarded in November 1945 by the U.S. Navy's

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 Congress established the Bureau in the Depart ...

; the decision was made to construct the air-to-air version for testing, with construction of the airframe being assigned to Bell Aircraft. As built, the AAM-N-5 Meteor was a two-stage missile, utilizing semi-active radar homing;Friedman 1982, p.275. the first stage consisted of a solid-fueled rocket booster, with the main sustainer stage utilizing liquid fuels. It had a range of , and reached speeds of over

Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...

2, with some sources claiming a top speed of Mach 3. Control was provided by

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

fins. Flight testing of the AAM-N-5 began in July 1948 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, with Douglas JD-1 Invader utility aircraft acting as the launching platform. Starting in 1951, test launches were conducted using Douglas F3D Skyknight nightfighters as carrier aircraft; fifteen launches were also made from ground launchers at NOTS' China Lake range. However, in 1953 the program was cancelled, as better missiles were becoming available.Parsch 2003 In 1950, a group from the

met with the Meteor team at MIT while looking for solutions to their Popsy requirement. Having faced German guided bombs like

Fritz-X Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. ''Fritz X'' was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. ''Fritz X'' was a nickname us ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Popsy called for a small missile that could attack these weapons at close range. Meteor had the required performance, but lacked the ability to be used against low-level targets due to its wide-beam

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

system, which would result in signal bouncing off waves when aimed near the horizon and confusing the seeker. The group managed to convince MIT of the need for a narrow beam guidance system and called the result "Mopsy". However, the US Navy lost interest in using Meteor as a ship-launched weapon, and nothing further came of this effort. An advanced version of Meteor, Meteor II, was assigned to be built by United Aircraft; it was intended to have a solid-fueled booster rocket with a

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an a ...

sustainer stage, but was not built.Babcock 2008, p.20-21.

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* * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 AAM-N-005 Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1948