| Henschel Hs 298 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Rocket-powered air-to-air missile Type of aircraft |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Henschel |
| Designer | Herbert A. Wagner |
| First flight | 22 December 1944 |
TheHenschel Hs 298 was a 1940s German rocket-powered air-to-air missile designed byProfessor Herbert Wagner ofHenschel.[1]
The Hs 298 was designed specifically to attack Allied bomber aircraft and was the first missile designed specifically for air-to-air use.[1] It was to be carried on special launch rails byDornier Do 217s (five missiles) orFocke-Wulf Fw 190s (two missiles) and carried 48 kg (106 lb) of explosive,[1] slightly more than the 40.8 kg warheads carried by unguidedBR 21 heavy-calibre air-launched rockets in use from the spring of 1943 onwards.
The Hs 298 was a mid-wing monoplane with tapered swept back wings and it had a single horizontal stabiliser with twin vertical fins.[1] It was powered by a Henschel-designed rocket motor built by Schmidding as the 109–543; it had two stages, the first high velocity stage was designed to leave the launch aircraft at 938 km/h (585 mph), in the second stage the speed was brought back to 682 km/h (425 mph) to give a maximum range of about 1.5 km (0.93 mi).[1] It used aKehl-StraßburgMCLOSradio guidance system (theFunkgerät FuG 203-seriesKehl transmitter in the launching aircraft, the FuG 230Straßburg receiver in the ordnance) powered by apropeller-driven (mounted on the nose) electric generator.[1] The missile needed two crew on the launch aircraft to control it, one operator used areflector-type sight to aim at the target and the other flew the missile using a joystick on theKehl transmitter, and another sight paired to the first with a servo system.[1]
The only known test firings were carried out on 22 December 1944 with three missiles carried by aJunkers Ju 88G.[1] Only two missiles left the launch rails with one failing to release, of the two released one exploded prematurely and nose-dived into the ground.[1] It was planned to enter mass production in January 1945 but the project was abandoned in favour of theX-4.[1]
One Hs 298 is on display at theRoyal Air Force Museum Cosford.[1]One Hs 298 is on display at the SmithsonianNational Air and Space MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
