The ASM-N-6 Omar was a short-range

air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...

developed for and evaluated by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the early 1950s. Intended to use existing unguided rockets as a basis and using a novel guidance system involving optical beam-riding, the program was unable to resolve difficulties with the guidance system and was cancelled without entering service.

Design and development

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

in response to an urgent requirement by the U.S. Navy for a stand-off air-to-ground weapon for use in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

,Friedman 1982, p.203. the Omar, designated XASM-N-6,Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.189. was authorized for development on 20 August 1951. Based on the airframe of the standard

High Velocity Aircraft Rocket The High Velocity Aircraft Rocket, or HVAR, also known by the nickname Holy Moses, was an American unguided rocket developed during World War II to attack targets on the ground from aircraft. It saw extensive use during both World War II and the ...

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

fins were mounted at the mid and aft portions of the rocket body to provide stabilization and control.Parsch 2003 An optical

beam riding Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR) or beam guidance, is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is ai ...

guidance system was developed for use with Omar; the launching aircraft would project an intense beam of light at the target, and aft-facing sensors on the missile would track the light source, keeping the missile on course to its target. The Omar shared some parts of its control system with the AAM-N-7 Sidewinder air-to-air missile.

Operational history

Test launches of Omar began in late 1951; testing showed that the guidance system failed to prove as effective as had been expected. Issues were found with the beam of light "spreading" as it covered the distance to the target, and the issue of the launching aircraft having to remain on course to the target, a common issue with early guided missiles, could not be solved; in mid-1952 the program was cancelled, funding being redirected to the Sidewinder program.Babcock 2008, p. 292. The following year a modification of the seeker head, nicknamed "Ramo" (for 'reverse Omar') was tested, evaluating a

frequency modulation Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and Run-length limited#FM: .280. ...

system to encode the light beam to refine the guidance. This proved no more effective, and the system was cancelled entirely, although some details of the frequency encoding were used in the development of the SAM-N-7 Terrier program.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

{{USN missiles Air-to-surface missiles of the United States Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States Kodak