The Enzian (named for a type of mountain flower, the Gentian Violet) was a WWII surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile that was the first to use an infrared guidance system. Troubles, most of them organizational, plagued its development in the late days of the war, and it was cancelled before becoming operational. Methyl Violet 10B Gentian violet (crystal violet, Methyl Violet 10B, hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride) is an antifungal agent. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Akash Missile Firing French Air Force Crotale battery Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... Image of two girls in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false-color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ...

As early as 1943 it was becoming clear that Messerschmitt's super-interceptor, the Me 163, was going to be difficult to use in combat. After flying to the 25,000ft altitude of the US bombers, it had only a few minutes to track them down before running out of fuel. Even if it did manage to find the bombers, it had the equally prickly problem of lacking a weapon that could be aimed effectively while closing on the target at some 400 mph difference in speeds. Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ... The Me 163 Komet, designed by Alexander Martin Lippisch, was the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft during the Second World War. ...

Dr Wurster of Messerschmitt suggested the answer in the form of Flak Rakete 1 in 1943. Instead of tracking down the planes, the rocket would be flown just in front of the target and then detonate a gigantic 500-kg warhead. This neatly solved the weaponry problem as well, and, with no human pilot on board and thus no need to limit takeoff acceleration, the rocket could use solid fuel boosters for added thrust, reducing the amount of fuel needed to climb. The result, even with this heavy warhead, was that a much smaller airframe was needed to carry the required fuel - so small that the design could be portable and launched from a modified 88 mm Flak gun mounting. A weapons cache is detonated at the East River Range on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan Detonation is a process of supersonic combustion that involves a shock wave and a reaction zone behind it. ...

The design made as much use of wood as possible, due to the need to conserve other "strategic" materials in the rapidly deteriorating war situation. For the same reasons a new type of Walter rocket was envisioned, a modification of the engine in the Me 163 that would burn coal-gas (benzine) instead of the hydrogen peroxide used in other Walter designs (although a small amount of peroxide was used to drive the fuel pumps). Hellmuth Walter (August 26, 1900 – December 16, 1980) was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines. ... Benzine, also known as petroleum ether, is a group of various volatile, highly flammable, liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used chiefly as nonpolar solvents. ... Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a very pale blue liquid which appears colourless in a dilute solution, slightly more viscous than water. ...

The missile would be guided primarily under radio control from the ground. The operator would fly the missile into the vicinity of the bombers, then cut the engine and let it glide. This presented a real problem in the Enzian. Other German missiles were high-speed designs that could be flown directly at their target along the line of sight, easy enough to do even from the ground. The Enzian would instead be approaching its target from somewhere in front, which is considerably harder for the operator. Many experiments with radio and wire-guided missiles had demonstrated real problems with last-minute terminal guidance corrections. This radio control airplane is carrying a scale model of X-33 and is taking part in NASA research. ...

The initial plans for solving this problem were rather advanced. The large airframe left plenty of room in the nose, which they intended to fill with a self-contained radar unit called Elsass. In the short term it was planned to use some sort of proximity fuze while flying the missile though the bomber stream. The warhead, of which several were studied, was to have a nominal lethal radius of 45 metres. A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze, for variable time) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. ...

Several studies on the basic design were carried out, resulting in the FR-1 through FR-5. The FR-5 was considered to be a reasonable starting point, so development commenced on the newly-named Enzian E.1 (and its engine) in September 1943. By May 1944 60 airframes were complete, awaiting their engines. In order to gain flight test data they were fitted with RATO units instead. JATO is an acronym for Jet Assisted Take Off. ...

A series of 38 flight tests commenced with generally favourable results, but the engine still lagged. Finally Dr Konrad, designing the engine for the Rheintochter missile, was asked to modify his design for the Enzian. After study it appeared this was a much better (and cheaper) solution anyway, and after January 1945 there were no plans to use the Walter design. The resulting E.4 version with the Konrad engine was considered the production version. Rheintochter R1 missile Rheintochter was a German surface-to-air missile developed during World War II. History Rheintochter was ordered in November 1942 by the German army. ...

During the flight test period it appeared that none of the existing proximity fuzes would be useful in the Enzian. A new design known as Madrid then gained favour, and it is for this reason the Enzian remains famous. The Madrid used an infrared photocell mounted on the front of a steerable telescope mirror, with small metal vanes placed in front of the cell in the shape of a cross. By moving the mirror side to side (or up and down), the vanes would block off more or less of the image of the target, and the system continually moved the mirror in both directions while attempting to find the direction that maximized the signal. This kept the mirror pointed at the target. The missile's control system then had the task of attempting to point the missile in the same direction as the mirror. However the system was never actually developed beyond a test-bench mockup. Years later the United States Navy adopted this system and perfected it in the development of the AIM-9 Sidewinder air to air missile. A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze, for variable time) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. ... Image of two girls in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false-color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ... A photoresistor is an electronic component whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity. ... The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. ...

On January 17, 1945, all ongoing projects were cancelled by the Luftwaffe in order to concentrate all possible efforts on only two designs, the Messerschmitt Me 262 and the Heinkel He 162. This was not the entire story, as many in the Nazi and Luftwaffe hierarchy had their own pet projects continue. The Enzian was judged further from completion than Henschel's Schmetterling missile, so it was cancelled. Messerschmitt engineers continued some low-level work on the project, hoping it would be re-funded, but by March it was clear the order would not be rescinded (although it had been for other designs) and all efforts ended. January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... This or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (German: Swallow) was the worlds first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. ... The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (Peoples Fighter) was the second jet engined fighter aircraft to be fielded by the Luftwaffe in WWII. It was the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Henschel & Son, during World War II, was the primary manufacturer of the Panzer VI. Henschel aircraft and missiles included: Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling (Butterfly), surface-to-air missile (rocket-engined) Henschel Hs 121, fighter + trainer (prototype) Henschel Hs 123, ground-attack (biplane) Henschel Hs 124, heavy fighter + bomber (prototype) Henschel... Hs 117 Schmetterling The Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling (German for Butterfly) was a German surface-to-air missile project developed during World War II. There was also an air-to-air version. ...

See also

• List of World War II guided missiles of Germany
• AIM-9 Sidewinder
• List of missiles

External links

• Enzian E-4