The Lenticular Reentry Vehicle (LRV), according to a November 2000 ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'' cover story, was an experimental

nuclear warhead A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

delivery system under development during the Cold War by defense contractor North American Aviation, managed out of

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. The project was classified as secret in 1962 and cleared for public release December 28, 1999.Oberto, R. J. (1962, October). Environmental control systems selection for manned space vehicles. Volume II, Appendix I, missions, vehicles, equipment. (AD333266). Its declassified technical report had been compiled by R. J. Oberto, Los Angeles Division of North American Aviation. His report described the LRV as an offensive weapons system. ''Popular Mechanics'' obtained information on the LRV from a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

request after documents describing the project were declassified in 1999. Related research commenced during the late 1950s. The

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...

/Pomona division of General Dynamics initiated a project entitled

Pye Wacket Pye Wacket was the codename for an experimental lenticular-form air-to-air missile developed by the Convair Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in 1957. Intended as a defensive missile for the B-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber, the program s ...

. Its purpose was to determine the feasibility of developing a missile-defense system based on flying discs (lenticular vehicles). Although Pye Wacket was terminated by 1961, research had shown lenticular-shaped vehicles possessed sound re-entry characteristics. Subsequently, research proceeded towards developing manned lenticular re-entry vehicles during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Oberto's report, the LRV was a half-saucer with a flat rear edge. The design-study documents indicated it could support a crew of four men for six-week orbital missions. Propulsion was from a rocket engine (either chemical or nuclear) and the craft would also have contained an onboard

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...

for electrical power generation. The existence of the LRV program may lend credence to the

military flying saucers A circular wing is a disc-shaped wing having the outer planform of a circle. If the aircraft has no fuselage or tail the disc-shaped craft is sometimes described as a ''flying saucer''. If the entire disc rotates it is called a ''disc wing''. Disc ...

theory of unidentified flying objects. However, the flight characteristics of the LRV, as described by these documents, are more similar to a standard orbital

space capsule A space capsule is an often-crewed spacecraft that uses a blunt-body reentry capsule to reenter the Earth's atmosphere without wings. Capsules are distinguished from other satellites primarily by the ability to survive reentry and return a payl ...

of the 1960s era rather than the rapid motion and sudden velocity change characteristics of many reported

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

. As of the publication of the ''Popular Mechanics'' article, there was no official confirmation as to whether the Lenticular Reentry Vehicle ever flew. Dynamic analysis of lenticular missile configurations was conducted by the General Dynamics Pomona Division under Army Missile Command contract in 1963.Industry Observer
// ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', June 3, 1963, v. 78, no. 22, p. 19.

References

{{refend

External links

''Pravda''
photo journal of the LRV Unidentified flying objects Wright-Patterson Air Force Base History of Dayton, Ohio Flying saucers