146:, and is the first launch of an anti-aircraft missile of British design. Early tests resulted in numerous failures, but as the missiles fell into the ocean they could be retrieved for study and the flaws corrected. As the missile aerodynamics improved and the failure rate dropped, further launches were fitted with the guidance system, although they were not turned on. Twenty of these early designs were built and flown, shots 11 through 20 with the guidance system installed.
127:); later models used six rockets. Its flight was controlled using the "twist-and-steer" method of the two main wings. These were connected to the missile fuselage with pivots, allowing them to rotate to different angles of attack. To turn the missile, the wings would first rotate in opposite directions to cause the missile to roll. Once the wings were perpendicular to the required direction, they would then be rotated in the same direction, creating
89:). A follow-up meeting started planning for a number of committees to study development of the concept, but worried that this would lead to lengthy delays, Burls decided to allow Cossor a free hand to develop the guidance system while (the now Major) Sedgfield would handle rocket development at the AA Command's workshops at
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Baxter mentions the change from eight to six, Morton mentions only six 3-inch rockets. During 1943/44 the 2-inch design was being phased out in favour of the 3-inch, so it is likely the change was the move from eight 2-inch to six 3-inch rockets. This would take up about the same room on the missile,
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One problem with the guidance system that was not solved during
Brakemine's development was its reliance on a known launch orientation providing an "up" direction. If the missile rolled during its initial flight before the guidance system activated, this direction would not be set correctly and the
195:
The surviving
Brakemine missile at the REME Museum is about 8 feet long, 2 feet in diameter. Two wide-chord elliptical wings are mounted on either side just below the center of the missile. Much smaller rectangular fins are at the extreme rear of the airframe. The launcher consisted of a bridgework
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Brakemine would have one lasting influence on
British missile development, however. The MoS was interested in a much more capable design with altitude performance to 40,000 feet (12,000 m) and selected Brakemine's twist-and-steer manoeuvering system as the basis for this greatly improved
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designed the testbed airframes. Trial launches were carried out between 1944 and 1945, and the effort wound down as the war ended. Although
Brakemine would never be used in its original form, its use of the "twist-and-steer" guidance method would later be used on the more capable
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in Wales, but no further launches took place. The dozen existing Stooge test airframes were fired from
Aberporth before that program also ended. Further development on both projects ended in favour of the much more powerful
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was ready for use, but a warhead was never tested. When the war in Europe ended in the midst of testing, the Army lost interest in the project. It was, at this time, the best-developed missile system in
Britain.
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At this point an improved missile body was introduced, and launches of the fully operational system took place. Guidance was provided by the "Blue Cedar" radar, then in testing and entering service post-war as
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placed on the gun mounting, with two rails on top of the bridgework. The missile fuselage rode in the gap between the rails, with the rockets wrapped around the fuselage and falling away after launch.
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automated system that attempted to keep the missile centered in the radar beam would instead send out corrections that would move it further away from it.
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166:(MoS), who also took over development of the competing Stooge. The MoS moved the project to their rocket testing facilities at
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70:(REME) wrote a technical paper on the concept. In 1943, Leslie Herbert Bedford, director of research at
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Apparently these started in 1945, although it is not specifically recorded in existing sources.
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and
Brigadier J.A.E. Burls, Chief Mechanical Engineer of AA Command (and inventor of the
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Peter Morton, "Fire Across the Desert", Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1989, pg. 186
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design developed by Fairey. Over time these early developments culminated in the
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The filing of two similar concepts led to a conference at the headquarters of
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The
Brakemine missile developed as a simple cylindrical airframe with an
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Brakemine was the result of two independently developed versions of the
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26:(SAM) development project carried out in the United Kingdom during
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and test firings started in
September 1944. This pre-dates the
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81:(AA Command), attended by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
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342:
Baxter, Brian (November 1984). "REME and the
Brakeminers".
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for the RAF, which competed with the Army's Thunderbird.
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47:design, which, after major changes, emerged as the
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51:. A single Brakemine survives in the REME Museum.
367:Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom
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208:A single Brakemine missile is preserved in the
134:A launcher consisting of a rail mounted to an
115:at the rear. The missile was powered by eight
362:Surface-to-air missiles of the United Kingdom
310:Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
66:concept. In 1942, Captain Sedgfield of the
16:British World War II surface-to-air missile
68:Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
162:Further development was taken up by the
123:anti-aircraft rocket (also used on the
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289:Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News
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93:. Development began in February 1944.
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229:and provide somewhat greater thrust.
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138:traversal mechanism was built at
372:World War II British electronics
152:Radar, Anti-Aircraft No. 3 Mk. 7
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34:guidance system developed at
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173:English Electric Thunderbird
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210:REME Museum of Technology
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119:taken from the existing
344:The Craftsman Magazine
131:to change its course.
24:surface-to-air missile
79:Anti-Aircraft Command
322:Gough, Jack (1993).
312:: Volume 38, pg. 179
291:, Volume 93, pg. 935
121:Unrotated Projectile
326:. HMSO. p. 61.
103:, small elliptical
30:. Brakemine used a
324:Watching the Skies
185:Bristol Bloodhound
164:Ministry of Supply
140:Walton-on-the-Naze
136:QF 3.7 inch AA gun
49:Bristol Bloodhound
111:, and four small
109:centre of gravity
107:mounted near the
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28:World War II
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277:Baxter 1984
191:Description
72:A.C. Cossor
61:beam riding
36:A.C. Cossor
32:beam riding
356:Categories
346:: 370–371.
246:References
91:Park Royal
251:Citations
204:Survivors
20:Brakemine
101:nosecone
38:, while
55:History
181:LOPGAP
45:LOPGAP
216:Notes
154:". A
105:wings
98:ogive
129:lift
125:RP-3
113:fins
40:REME
358::
259:^
212:.
150:"
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