The Lenticular Reentry Vehicle (LRV), according to a November 2000 ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'' cover story, was an experimental

nuclear warhead A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

delivery system under development during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

by defense contractor

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

, managed out of

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

Development

The project was classified as secret in 1962 and cleared for public release on December 28, 1999.Oberto, R. J. (1962, October). Environmental control systems selection for manned space vehicles. Volume II, Appendix I, missions, vehicles, equipment. (AD333266). Its declassified technical report had been compiled by R. J. Oberto, Los Angeles Division of

. His report described the LRV as an offensive weapons system. ''Popular Mechanics'' obtained information on the LRV from a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

request after documents describing the project were declassified in 1999. Related research commenced during the late 1950s. The

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee ...

/Pomona division of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

initiated a project entitled

Pye Wacket Pye Wacket was the codename for an experimental Lens (geometry), lenticular-form air-to-air missile developed by the Convair Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in 1957. Intended as a defensive missile for the B-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber, ...

. Its purpose was to determine the feasibility of developing a missile-defense system based on flying discs (lenticular vehicles). Although Pye Wacket was terminated by 1961, research had shown lenticular-shaped vehicles possessed sound re-entry characteristics. Subsequently, research proceeded towards developing crewed lenticular re-entry vehicles during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Oberto's report, the LRV was a half-saucer with a flat rear edge. The design-study documents indicated it could support a crew of four men for six-week orbital missions. Propulsion was from a rocket engine (either chemical or nuclear) and the craft would also have contained an onboard

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

for electrical power generation. The existence of the LRV program may lend credence to the

military flying saucers A circular wing is a disc-shaped wing having the outer planform of a circle. If the aircraft has no fuselage or tail the disc-shaped craft is sometimes described as a ''flying saucer''. If the entire disc rotates it is called a ''disc wing''. Dis ...

theory of

unidentified flying objects An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shape ...

. However, the flight characteristics of the LRV, as described by these documents, are more similar to a standard orbital

space capsule A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...

of the 1960s era rather than the rapid motion and sudden velocity change characteristics of many reported

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

. As of the publication of the ''Popular Mechanics'' article, there was no official confirmation as to whether the Lenticular Reentry Vehicle ever flew.

Dynamic analysis Dynamic scoring is a forecasting technique for government revenues, expenditures, and budget deficits that incorporates predictions about the behavior of people and organizations based on changes in fiscal policy, usually tax rates. Dynamic scoring ...

of lenticular missile configurations was conducted by the

Pomona Division under

Army Missile Command The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) is a research and development and product management command of the United States Army. It develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM ...

contract in 1963.Industry Observer
// ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', June 3, 1963, v. 78, no. 22, p. 19.

References

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External links

''Pravda''
photo journal of the LRV Unidentified flying objects Wright-Patterson Air Force Base History of Dayton, Ohio Circular-wing aircraft