VB-6 Felix

Created by the National Defense Research Committee, Felix relied on infrared to detect and home on heat-emitting targets in clear weather;Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.124. blast furnaces were considered a particularly practical target for such a weapon, as were the reflective metal roofs of factory buildings.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195740/vb-6-felix-guided-bomb/|title=VB-6 Felix Guided Bomb|date=8 June 2015|work=National Museum of the United States Air Force|access-date=2017-12-07}} It was this property which earned the weapon its name, after the ability of cats to see in the dark; Felix the Cat was an extremely popular cartoon character at the time.

Felix was a 1000-pound (454 kg) general purpose (GP) bomb with an infrared seeker in the nose and octagonal guidance fins in the tail. Unlike other weapons, such as the German Fritz X, Felix was autonomous once launched, although there was a flare in the tail for tracking. In tests, Felix demonstrated a circular error probable of {{convert|85|ft}}.Gunston 1988, p.30.

Successful trials led to Felix being put in production in 1945, but the Pacific War ended before it entered combat.Parsch 2003a

File:Camp Wellfleet Final EECA Figure 1-10 b.jpg in the late 1990s, where a bombing practice target was located in the 1940s.Final Former Camp Wellfleet Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis. Prepared by Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation, May 2000, for U.S Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama.]]

A naval version of the Felix, the ASM-N-4 Dove, was approved in 1944; in 1946 the project was transferred to Eastman Kodak, and in 1949 a contract for 20 prototype weapons was issued. Dove's infrared seeker was expected to be capable of correcting {{convert|400|m|adj=on}} aiming errors; trials took place through 1952, but no production was undertaken.Parsch 2003b

• Fritz X
• Azon
• GB-4
• Bat
• LBD-1 Gargoyle
• List of anti-ship missiles

;Citations

{{reflist}}

;Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last=Gunston|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Gunston|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament|location=New York|publisher=Orion Books|year=1988|ISBN=0-517-56607-9}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/vb.html#_VB6|title=VB Series (VB-1 through VB-13)|last=Parsch|first=Andreas|date=9 February 2003|work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones|publisher=Designation-Systems|access-date=2017-12-07}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app1/asm-n-4.html|title=Eastman Kodak ASM-N-4 Dove|last=Parsch|first=Andreas|date=22 January 2003|work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones|publisher=Designation-Systems|access-date=2017-12-07}}
• {{cite book|last=Ordway |first=Frederick Ira |author2=Ronald C. Wakeford |title=International Missile and Spacecraft Guide |year=1960 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |asin=B000MAEGVC }}

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• {{Commonscatinline}}

{{US WWII guided bombs}}

{{USN missiles}}

Category:World War II aerial bombs of the United States

Category:World War II weapons of the United States

Category:Guided bombs of the United States