SWOD-9 Bat Bomb

[andy1967]

Has anybody got any information about the SWOD-9 Bat Bomb.

 

[fubar57]

PM sent

 

[ThomasP]

There is a fair amount of technical information on Bat in "Guided Missile and Techniques" from 1946, along with similar information on other systems under development and/or in use in 1946.

 

[andy1967]

There is a fair amount of technical information on Bat in "Guided Missile and Techniques" from 1946, along with similar information on other systems under development and/or in use in 1946.

Thanks for the pdf.

 

[MIflyer]

Has anybody got any information about the SWOD-9 Bat Bomb.

What do you want to know about the Bat? I did extensive research on it for an article I never wrote. A friend of mine was a radio operator with VPB-109, the only unit that took the Bat to war. The attached photos I took at China Lake Naval Weapons Center Museum.

I went to the Smithsonian ASM and got a copy of the manual the USAAF made when it evaluated the Bat.

The Bat had two main problems.

1. The aircraft search radar was not linked to the Bat's own radar so when they launched they never knew exactly what they were shooting at.

2. They could not tell just how far away the target was. The Bat was unpowered and relied entirely on gliding. So they had to launch it from high altitude and the PB4Y-2 was not a high altitude airplane, not having any turbos. Combined with the fact the Bat's airframe was made out of plywood, and VPB-109 had to haul the missiles all over the Pacific by hanging them on the launch pylons and then had no way to store them out of the weather, the missile's aerodynamic qualities suffered greatly and they often fell short.

Imagine an Alternate Universe scenario with B-29's launching Bats from inside the bomb bays at night over the Japanese fleet and you'd have had carnage. Can't tell which target you are locked up on? Okay, shoot at all of them! Even with only a dozen B-29's, each with four Bats to launch and the IJN would have experienced a rain of terror. No way for them to intercept the B-29's, even if they had carriers and no AAA fire that can hit them.

Oddly enough, the Bat's first target was to be U-boats and it was developed by the Bureau of Standards.