EXCEPTIONS APPLY, please see the FAQ in our returns center ( ) for a list of non-returnable products. The fourth struck home, causing a massive explosion.We offer a 30-day return policy from the date of delivery on many products. A third made contact but did not detonate. One TDR-1 was lost while in flight about 55 miles from the target, and another crashed just 30 yards from it. On September 27, four TDR-1s conducted the drone's first official combat mission, targeting a Japanese vessel that had been beached on the island of Bougainville in the Solomons and converted into an anti-aircraft battery. With two near-misses and two hits, the Navy approved further operations against Japanese targets in the area. The third drone crashed just short of the ship's bow without its bomb detonating, while the fourth struck near the rear of the ship, causing another huge explosion. The second drone missed the superstructure by a few feet, crashing onto the island behind the ship. The first drone collided with the middle of the ship, causing a massive explosion. TDR-1s appear to be parked on the rear half of the flight deck. US Navy escort carrier USS Marcus Island in a South Pacific port in June 1944. Four TDR-1s, each carrying a 2,000-pound bomb, took off from Banika Airfield and flew to Cape Esperance on Guadalcanal to attack the Yamazuki Maru, a beached Japanese cargo vessel. On July 30, the drone conducted its first operational test. STAG-1 was deployed with 50 TDR-1s to the Solomon Islands in June 1944 for combat testing and initial deployment, though the South Pacific's tropical conditions interfered with the electronics on the drones and made them more difficult to operate. They were assigned to Special Task Air Group 1, which conducted a series of tests over the US mainland. The drones first flew in 1942 and were operational by 1944. (The TDR-1 could jettison its landing gear, extending its range on one-way missions.) The drones could either drop their ordnance and return to base or fly into their targets while carrying heavy munitions. The Navy in 1942 awarded Interstate a contract for 200 TDR-1s, about 190 of which were actually built. Like the TDN-1, the TDR-1 had a cockpit and flight controls, allowing a human to fly it, but it also had a nose-mounted camera to relay live footage to a 5-inch television in a modified TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber, which would take control of the TDR-1 after it was launched by a ground crew.Ī TDR-1 assault drone being prepared for an attack in the Solomon Islands area in September or October 1944. As it was intended for use against ships, the TDR-1 was designed with three hardpoints that could carry up to 2,000 pounds of ordnance. It had a range of 426 miles and a ceiling of 6,000 feet. Two non-military Lycoming flat-head 6 engines provided 230 horsepower, giving it a top speed of 140 mph. The TDR-1 was 37 feet long and had a 48-foot wingspan. The wood was placed around a steel-tube frame built by the Schwinn Bicycle Company. The TDR-1 was made with pressed wood provided by the Wurlitzer Musical Instrument Company, which made pianos. Developed by Interstate Aircraft, the TDR-1 was informed by work on the TDN-1, a carrier-based drone produced by another company that was ultimately canceled. But acquiring proven conventional weapons remained the priority, so the Navy's new drones, developed as part of Project Option, needed to be cheap and made mostly of materials that weren't needed for the war effort. When the US officially entered World War II, the government became much more willing to invest in novel ideas that could yield a military advantage. The use of radio-controlled target ships in the 1920s had shown it was possible to operate vessels remotely. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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