| AUM-N-6 Puffin | |
|---|---|
 Puffin on aJD-1 Invader launch aircraft | |
| Type | anti-ship missile |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1948–1949 |
| Used by | United States Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | National Bureau of Standards |
| Designed | 1947–1948 |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 1,300 lb (590 kg) |
| Warhead | torpedo orplunge bomb |
| Warhead weight | 500 lb (230 kg) |
| Engine | McDonnellpulsejet |
Operational range | 20 mi (32 km) |
| Maximum speed | Mach 0.7 |
Guidance system | Active radar homing |
TheAUM-N-6 Puffin, also known asKingfisher F andAUM-6, was ananti-ship andanti-submarine missile developed for use by theUnited States Navy in the late 1940s.Pulsejet-powered and intended to allow an aircraft to launch atorpedo orbomb fromstand-off range, it was flight-tested but failed to enter operational service.
In 1944 the U.S. Navy and theNational Bureau of Standards initiatedProject Kingfisher,[1] intended to develop a family of missiles for attacking enemy ships and surfaced submarines with torpedoes or other weapons intended to strike below the waterline, while allowing the launching aircraft or ship to avoid exposing themselves to enemy defensive fire. Four missiles reached the development stage as a result of the program: the surface-launchedKingfisher E, and the air-launchedKingfisher C,D, and F.[2]
Work on Kingfisher F began on 5 February 1947.[2] Weighing 1,300 pounds (590 kg),[1] the missile was of conventional small-aircraft design with a high-mounted wing andV-tail, a pulsejet engine being mounted in the rear of a streamlined fuselage.[3] Guidance was byactive radar homing; after release from the launching aircraft, the missile – redesignated AUM-6 in September 1947, and AUM-N-6 Puffin in 1948 – would cruise at an altitude of 200 feet (61 m),[3] traveling up to 20 miles (32 km) atMach 0.7.[1] The onboard radar in the missile's nose selecting a target and steering the missile into position to release its payload, carried in the mid-fuselage;[3] while some sources state that a torpedo was intended to be carried,[3] the specification for Kingfisher F called for the missile to carry a 500-pound (230 kg)plunge bomb, intended to be dropped alongside the target ship and detonate underwater, holing the target vessel below the waterline and causing flooding.[2][4]
TheAD Skyraider,PB4Y Privateer, andP5M Marlin were among the aircraft intended to carry Puffin; the missile's constructor,McDonnell Aircraft, proposed that Puffin be qualified for carriage byB-47 Stratojet andB-50 Superfortress bombers of theUnited States Air Force as well.[5]
Construction of Puffin was contracted toMcDonnell Aircraft;[3] flight tests of XAUM-N-6 missiles began in 1948.[1] Tests did not demonstrate that the weapon was suitable for service, and on 1 October 1949 the AUM-N-6 program was cancelled.[2]