BOAR — Mediated Wiki

{{About|the nuclear rocket|the organism|Boar|other uses|Boar (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox weapon | name = BOAR | image = BOAR launch from F2H.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = BOAR rocket launch from a F2H Banshee | origin = United States | type = Air-to-surface missile  | is_missile = yes  | service = 1956–1963 | used_by = United States Navy  | designer = | design_date = | manufacturer = Naval Ordnance Test Station | number =  | spec_label = Mk 1 Mod 0 | weight = {{convert|2000|lb}} | length = {{convert|4.65|m|abbr=on|disp=flip}} | part_length = | width = | height = | diameter = {{convert|30.5|in}} | crew = | passengers =  | filling = W7 nuclear | filling_weight = | detonation = | yield = {{convert|20|ktonTNT}}  | engine = Solid-fuel rocket | engine_power = {{convert|67|kN|abbr=on|disp=flip}} | pw_ratio = | payload_capacity = | fuel_capacity = | vehicle_range = {{convert|7.5|mi}} | speed = {{convert|480|mph}} | guidance = None | steering =  | wingspan = {{convert|54|in}} | propellant = | ceiling = | altitude = | depth = | boost = | accuracy = | launch_platform = Douglas AD Skyraider<br/>McDonnell F2H Banshee | transport = }}

The '''Bombardment Aircraft Rocket''', also known as '''BOAR''', the '''Bureau of Ordnance Aircraft Rocket''', and officially as the '''30.5-Inch Rocket, Mark 1, Mod 0''', was an unguided air-to-surface rocket developed by the United States Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station during the 1950s. Intended to provide a standoff nuclear capability for carrier-based aircraft, the rocket entered operational service in 1956, remaining in service until 1963.

==Design and development== Following a specification developed during 1951,<ref name="NOTS">Babcock 2008, p.321-324</ref> the development of the BOAR rocket was started in 1952 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), located at China Lake, California.<ref name="DS">Parsch 2003</ref> The project was intended to provide a simple means of extending the stand-off range of nuclear weapons delivered using the toss bombing technique, as some slower aircraft still faced marginal escape conditions when delivering ordinary gravity bombs even with the use of this technique.<ref name="DS"/>

The rocket that emerged from the development process used a single, solid-fueled rocket motor mated to the W7 nuclear weapon, which had a yield of {{convert|20|ktonTNT}}.<ref>Polmar 2001, p.527.</ref> This provided a stand-off range of {{convert|7.5|mi}} when released in a steep climb, the aircraft then completing the toss-bombing pullout to escape the blast; the rocket, lacking guidance, would follow a ballistic trajectory to impact following rocket burnout.<ref name="NOTS"/>

==Operational history== thumb|left|BOAR being loaded on AD-7 Skyraider Entering flight trials in 1953, BOAR proved satisfactory.<ref name="DS"/> Twenty test firings during the course of 1955 were conducted without a single failure,<ref name="NOTS"/> and in 1956 the rocket entered operational service.<ref name="NOTS"/> A variety of aircraft carried BOAR operationally but it was primarily used by the AD Skyraider, the slowest nuclear-armed aircraft in the Navy's inventory.<ref name="DS"/>

BOAR was intended to be an interim weapon;<ref name="DS"/> a more advanced development, Hopi, entered flight testing during 1958.<ref>Parsch 2003b</ref> Hopi, however, failed to enter production, and BOAR remained the only standoff nuclear air-to-surface missile fielded by the Navy.<ref name="DS"/>

225 examples of the BOAR rocket were produced by NOTS.<ref name="DS"/> In service, the rocket proved unpopular with the pilots of the aircraft assigned to carry it: the loft-bombing maneuver, called an "idiot loop", was considered dangerous.<ref>Michel 2003, p.27.</ref> By 1963, maintenance issues with the solid rocket motor were proving acute, and the rocket was removed from the inventory during that year.<ref name="DS"/>

==References== thumb|BOAR on handling trolley

===Notes=== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last1=Babcock |first1=Elizabeth |title=Magnificent Mavericks: transition of the Naval Ordnance Test Station from rocket station to research, development, test and evaluation center, 1948–58 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIG08L91YQcC | series=History of the Navy at China Lake, California | volume=3 |year=2008 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-945274-56-8 | access-date=2011-01-07}} *{{cite journal |last=Michel |first=Marshall |date=May 2003 |title=Exit Strategy |journal=Air & Space/Smithsonian |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/cit-michel.html?c=y&page=4 |access-date=2011-01-07}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/boar.html |title=NOTS BOAR (30.5" Rocket MK1) |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2003 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=2011-01-07}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/hopi.html |title=NOTS Hopi |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2003 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=2010-12-29}} *{{cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |title=The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC | edition=17th |year=2001 |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=978-1-55750-656-6 | access-date=2011-01-07}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|BOAR (Bombardment Aerial Rocket)}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101025220322/http://www.chinalakemuseum.org/history/overview_pages/boarclock.html BOAR at China Lake Museum] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110616081140/http://www.aiaa.org/Participate/Uploads/06-0296%20china%20lake.pdf AIAA: China Lake Test Station]

Category:Unguided nuclear rockets of the United States Category:Air-to-ground rockets of the United States Category:Cold War rockets of the United States