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Small missile motor ID
- Thread starter US-Subs
- Start date
Subs, What's the diameter of the body? The TOW has the two opposing venturies like that and the fins look TOW'ish, but the TOW's that I remember didn't have the fins on the can and there were two mounting hardpoints. Still, it does look like the TOW profile. Maybe the top down attack or the bunker buster version? My knowledge stopped at I-TOW and TOW II. If you are using the 60's you might have a go at the part number on the can. I was able to use that in the first Dessert to get a positive ID for an investigation. Cheer, Bruce.
TOW was my first thought as well when I saw the exhaust ports, but it it is shorter than a TOW and as you mentioned the fins do not match. The dia is roughly the same at about 15cm, but this is an old range, and that could also mean variations in ENTAC, SS-10, SS-11 etc. This installation was/is used for decades as a cold weather test area by the US, and the Canadians come across to use it also. My best guess from the photos would be a remnant from the 60s or 70s, and most of the references I've looked at so far do not have the views that I need for an ID.
I'm teaching a class this morning for the EOD team that found it, I've asked them to drag it back to the unit area so that I can have a closer look. I hope to have more info later. If anyone recognizes it in the meantime any info is welcome....
I'm teaching a class this morning for the EOD team that found it, I've asked them to drag it back to the unit area so that I can have a closer look. I hope to have more info later. If anyone recognizes it in the meantime any info is welcome....
MCLIC uses a 5-inch zuni motor, doesn't it? I took a look at this piece earlier today, a good 6 inches in D, around 10-12 inches long. Two spring loaded fins and a third anchor point that is not for a fin. Has been in the field rusting for a decade or two (or three). The same sort of nozzle arrangement as a TOW or MCLIC, but the offset fins are attached directly to the motor body, not to an airframe. Still looking.
Even the initiator looks TOW'ish. If you say it was found on a range used in 60's till now, I wonder if it might have been the HAW or Heavy Anti Tank Weapon System (can't find much on THAT but the name and a picture of the launcher). If you look at the picture of the bottom with the fins you can see that the fins are set in a cruciform pattern. Also, the fins had that shpe on the TOW to fit around the launch motor if I remember right. And also the anchor/hard point would be dead on for a TOW if there were two of them. Could it be that it is a predecessor and not a late version that was my first guess? The folding fins weren't on the French missiles from what I can remember (our Team inerted an SS-10). I'll agree that it is a puzzler. Hope you can find it out. Cheers, Bruce.
I should have the motor here at the house Mon night. I'll take some actual measurements and compare them to my TOWs, and see if there is enough of one of the wings left to compare the profile. If anyone has a stripped TOW motor can you take a couple of pics?
It is not from an SS11, nor is it Milan or Swingfire. Your photos show a broad, light coloured line going from left to right. Could it be that, similar to a Milan ATGW, it is where there was an external electrical feed between the missile fuze and warhead, passing over the motor section?
This one still has the fin shroud still attached so you can't see how they mount, but the motor portion sure looks the same. Help any?
It helps, but I still need to make a comparison.
I still don't have my hands on the piece, but the current thought is that two of the fins may have been blown off. In photo 2 of the first group there appears to be the small remains of some welds, possibly mount points. I'm teaching for a few days and have no time to drive 150 miles north to pick it up, so it will have to wait another couple of weeks. I'll know more then.
I still don't have my hands on the piece, but the current thought is that two of the fins may have been blown off. In photo 2 of the first group there appears to be the small remains of some welds, possibly mount points. I'm teaching for a few days and have no time to drive 150 miles north to pick it up, so it will have to wait another couple of weeks. I'll know more then.
