The CTV-N-2 Gorgon IIC – also designated KGN, KUN, and CTV-2 – was an experimental

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

, originally intended as a

surface-to-surface missile A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They ar ...

, 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 ...

near the end of

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 ...

. It was used to test control and homing systems for

guided missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of Propulsion, self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a targ ...

s, and was also produced in small numbers as a

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operation ...

under the designations TD3N and KD2N.

Design and development

Late in World War II, the U.S. Navy began development of a

pulsejet file:Pulse Jet Engine.PNG, 300px, Diagram of a valved pulsejet. 1 - Air enters through valve and is mixed with fuel. 2 - The mixture is ignited, expands, closes the valve and exits through the tailpipe, creating thrust.3 - Low pressure in the engi ...

-powered bombardment missile,Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.181. intended to be launched from ships for use against targets ashore; in April 1945, plans for the

invasion of Japan An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives o ...

called for the production of "several hundred" missiles, named

Gorgon The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...

IIC; initially, 20 prototype missiles were to be produced by the Naval Aircraft Modification Unit in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, while an order for 100 was placed with the

Singer Manufacturing Company Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...

, a sewing machine manufacturer, in August 1945.White 1991, p.36. The end of the war saw the cancellation of the production plans, however development continued, and in October 1945 the Gorgon IIC received the designation KGN-1.Parsch 2005 The Gorgon IIC was very similar in design to the Gorgon IIA air-to-air missile, being of canard configuration with a high-mounted

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

wing and vertical and ventral stabilizing fins. The pulsejet, developed at the Naval Engineering Experiment Station, was in diameter and was mounted above the rear

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

; launch was from the ground using a

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

or sled with a rocket booster, or from a carrier aircraft. In its original, bombardment configuration, the Gorgon IIC was intended to use

active radar homing Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a passive radar, receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track it ...

, similar to that used on the

Bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

guided bomb.

Operational history

Testing of the Gorgon IIC began in 1946; late that year it was redesignated KUN-1 to reflect its non-combat role, while in September 1947 it was redesignated CTV-2, and in 1948 received its definitive designation of CTV-N-2. Gorgon IIC was used to test guidance and control devices for guided missile development; in 1950, an active radar guidance system was trialled using a CTV-N-2, successfully homing from a distance of .Friedman 1982, p.201 Trials of the Gorgon IIC were considered generally satisfactory by the Navy. Eight target drone versions of the Gorgon IIC, originally designated TD3N-1 but, in March 1946, redesignated KD2N-1, were also produced; the KD2N was used in

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

-recovery trials around 1950.Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.182.

RTV-N-15

The RTV-N-15 Pollux was derived from the Gorgon IIC airframe, the pulsejet engine being moved to an internal mounting, and it was intended to use a mixture of radar and

infrared guidance Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is r ...

. Pollux was first flown in 1948, however by 1951 it had been flown only three times, and the program was cancelled.

Surviving aircraft

A single example of the RTV-N-15 was donated by the U.S. Navy to the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

in 1971; it is on display at the

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous exhibits, ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Navboxes , title=Articles and topics related to the Gorgon IIC , state=collapsed , list1= {{Gorgon missiles {{Naval Aircraft Factory aircraft {{USN early ASMs {{USN research missiles {{USN missiles {{USN target drones {{USN drones Surface-to-surface missiles of the United States Target drones of the United States Pulsejet-powered aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft High-wing aircraft Canard aircraft 1940s United States experimental aircraft 1940s United States special-purpose aircraft Naval Aircraft Factory aircraft