Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles
Appendix 1: Early Missiles and Drones
CTV-N-8
Copyright © 2003 Andreas Parsch

Applied Physics Lab CTV-N-8 Bumblebee STV

The primary goal of the U.S. Navy's Bumblebee missile program (see also article on SAM-N-6/RIM-8 Talos) was to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile. Bumblebee was begun in 1944, and the Applied Physics Lab (APL) of the John Hopkins University initially developed several test vehicles for research on missile propulsion, launching and guidance principles.

One of these vehicles was the CTV-8 Supersonic Test Vehicle (STV) (redesignated CTV-N-8 in early 1948), which was a solid-propellant rocket-powered missile to test the radar beam-riding guidance system for the ultimate Bumblebee missile (which became the SAM-N-6/RIM-8 Talos) in supersonic flight. Flight tests of the CTV-N-8 began in 1948, and in March that year the first supersonic beam-riding flight succeeded. Because it was realized that the development of the complex SAM-N-6 Talos would take many more years, it was decided to develop the STV into an interim tactical anti-aircraft missile, which eventually became the SAM-N-7/RIM-2 Terrier.

Specifications

I have no data about the exact physical characteristics of the CTV-N-8 test vehicle, but it was probably similar in general layout to the SAM-N-7/RIM-2 Terrier missile.

Main Sources

[1] James N. Gibson: "Nuclear Weapons of the United States", Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1996
[2] Norman Friedman: "US Naval Weapons", Conway Maritime Press, 1983
[3] Bill Gunston: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles", Salamander Books Ltd, 1979


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Last Updated: 23 January 2003