| Velvet Glove | |
|---|---|
| Type | Air-to-air missile |
| Place of origin | Canada |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Royal Canadian Air Force (Testing only) |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1948–1951 |
| Manufacturer | Canadair |
| Produced | 1952 (Limited production for testing) |
TheVelvet Glove was a short-rangesemi-active radar homingair-to-air missile designed byCARDE (today DRDC Valcartier) and produced byCanadair starting in 1953. 131 Velvet Gloves had been completed when the program was terminated in 1956, officially because of concerns about its ability to be launched atsupersonic speeds from theAvro Arrow then under design, but also from the design being overtaken by developments in the United States.
Small scale work on what would become the Velvet Glove started in 1948 atCARDE, and by 1951 the plans were advanced enough to put forth the design as armament on theAvro CF-100 "Canuck" fighter that was then entering service with theRoyal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).Canadair was selected as the manufacturer, andWestinghouse was commissioned to build theradar guidance unit. The final missile design was about ten feet (3.0 m) long and just under a foot in diameter. It used four fins at the tail for steering, and was guided by a semi-active radar located behind a conical nose cone. Westinghouse's microwave radarproximity fuze fired the 60-pound (27 kg) warhead.[1]
To test the aerodynamics of the missile, instead of building an expensivesupersonic wind tunnel, CARDE used a method developed byGerald Bull and others of firingsabot-equipped test models down a specially-constructed 1,000-yard (910 m) range. The models were fired through a series of stations located at 100-yard (91 m) intervals, each equipped with a metal-coated "jump card". The position and shape of the resulting holes in the cards indicated whether or not the missile was flying stably. The metallic coating on the cards triggered a timer, to measure velocity. One of the stations was also equipped forSchlieren photography, to make a permanent record of shock waves around the model. To reconcile conflicting needs for high pressure to burn the propellant efficiently, and lower pressure to accelerate the model and sabot without destroying them, the gun used ahigh–low system chamber. A drilled plate limited the rate at which the propellant gases reached the round. This basic design would be key toProject HARP and many of Bull's later concepts.[2]
In 1952 ground-launched testing started at the Picton Range, a small test site set up outsidePicton, Ontario, near the RCAF base atTrenton, Ontario. Air launches from a CF-100 started in 1954, with the aircraft flying from Trenton to fire over Picton. The site was later used to launch models of theAvro Arrow for aerodynamics testing. Testing of the Velvet Glove then moved to an operational setting atCold Lake, Alberta.[3] By this point the Arrow was slated to replace the CF-100 within a few years, and the RCAF had always demanded that it fire the much more advanced active-radarSparrow II missile under design for theUnited States Navy. Interest in the Velvet Glove waned, as the Sparrow outperformed it in all ways.
The cancellation of the program led to serious questions in theHouse of Commons of Canada. Development had cost a total of $24 million (equivalent to $270,000,000 in 2023) which the Department of National Defence attempted to justify as money well spent on the training of the specialists involved in the project. The opposition pointed out that this amounted to $60,000 per specialist, which was considered excessive.[4]
The Sparrow II ran into lengthy delays, and the United States Navy eventually gave up on the design, turning to the simpler semi-active radar homingSparrow III. Options for the Arrow were studied, including taking over the Sparrow II program at Canadair, turning to theFalcon/rocket mix being used by contemporaryUnited States Air Force interceptors, or restarting the Velvet Glove project. There were concerns that the Velvet Glove would be difficult to launch at supersonic speeds and therefore representing a risk to the aircraft, likely due to its small control surfaces not having enough authority. In the end Canadair was instructed to take over the Sparrow II, ending development of the Velvet Glove for good. When the Arrow project was later canceled, work on the Sparrow II also ceased.[1] The Picton Range closed in 1957.[3]
TheNational Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario has a full-sized model of the Velvet Glove missile, as well as an actual test model with sabot.The latter was designed to be fired from a 5.5-inch (14 cm) medium artillery barrel (smooth-bored to 5.9 inches, 15 cm).