The Naval Aircraft Factory TDN was an early

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircra ...

- referred to at the time as an " assault drone" - 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 ...

Naval Aircraft Factory The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which the United States Department of the Navy, Navy Department faced upon the ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

. Developed and tested during 1942 and 1943, the design proved moderately successful, but development of improved drones saw the TDN-1 relegated to second-line duties, and none were used in operational service.

Design and development

The development of the

radar altimeter A radar altimeter (RA), also called a radio altimeter (RALT), electronic altimeter, reflection altimeter, or low-range radio altimeter (LRRA), measures altitude above the terrain presently beneath an aircraft or spacecraft by timing how long it t ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in the early 1940s made remotely guided bomb- or torpedo-carrying aircraft a practical proposition.Parsch 2005 In January 1942, the Naval Aircraft Factory was instructed to initiate the development of such an aircraft, with a go-ahead for prototype construction being given in February. A production contract for 100 aircraft was issued in March, with John S. Kean being assigned as TDN-1 project manager, with the aircraft being designed to be capable of using either television or radar guidance. Constructed mainly from wood, the TDN-1 had a fixed tricycle landing gear, and could be fitted with a conventional cockpit in place of its guidance equipment for test flights.Goebel 2010 In an example of the use of companies traditionally uninvolved in the aviation industry to reduce interference with higher priority projects, production of the final thirty aircraft was licensed to the

Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees in ...

, a

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

-based manufacturer of

bowling balls A bowling ball is a hard spherical ball used to knock down bowling pins in the sport of bowling. Balls used in ten-pin bowling and American nine-pin bowling traditionally have holes for two fingers and the thumb. Balls used in five-pin bowling, ...

and

billiard tables Billiard or billiards may refer to: Cue sports * A , a type of shot in cue sports ''(see below)'' * Billiards: cue sports in general; the term "billiards" by itself is also sometimes used to refer to any of the following more specifically: ** Ca ...

Operational history

One hundred production TDN-1 aircraft were ordered in March 1942.Zaloga 2008, p.8. Despite being specifically designed to be a simple, low-performance aircraft, and despite proving promising in testing, the type was considered to be too complicated and expensive for use operationally. The improved

Interstate TDR The Interstate TDR was an early unmanned combat aerial vehicle — referred to at the time as an "flying bomb, assault drone" — developed by the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation during the Second World War for use by the Unit ...

was selected for development as an alternative, the majority of TDN-1s being used in the test, liaison and training roles, with some being expended as aerial targets. The TDN-1 is often credited as the first US drone to take off from an aircraft carrier freely ( USS ''Sable''). An

Airspeed Queen Wasp The Airspeed AS.30 Queen Wasp was a British pilotless target aircraft built by Airspeed Limited at Portsmouth during the Second World War. Although intended for both Royal Air Force and Royal Navy use, the aircraft never went into series pro ...

had already been catapulted from HMS ''Pegasus'' in 1937.

Variants

;XTDN-1 :Four prototype aircraft powered by Franklin O-300 engines. ;TDN-1 :Production version of XTDN-1; 100 aircraft produced.Trimble 1990, p.267.

Operators

; *

Specifications (TDN-1)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * ;Further reading * {{USN target drones TDR 1940s United States bomber aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States World War II guided missiles of the United States High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1942 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear