The AGR-14 ZAP was an air-to-surface
unguided rocket developed by the
United States Navy in the late 1960s. Intended for use in the
suppression of enemy air defenses role, the rocket reached the flight-testing stage before being cancelled.
Design and development
A requirement for a new type of unguided rocket, to be used to suppress enemy anti-aircraft artillery batteries, was identified by the United States Navy in 1966. Given the name HART, (which stands for Hypervelocity Aircraft Rocket, Tactical), the new rocket was intended to replace the
FFAR and
Zuni rockets that were then in service.
HART was intended to be a high-acceleration, high-velocity rocket for launch from aircraft. The increased speed of the rocket as opposed to those then in service – intended to reach or exceed
Mach
Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to:
Computing
* Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology
* ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI
* GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...
3
[Goebel 2010] – was intended to remove the possibility that a high-speed aircraft might overtake its own weapons after launch, as well as improving the rocket's accuracy through providing a flatter trajectory, and reduction in its flight time.
[Parsch 2002] Six inches (152 mm) in diameter,
HART would be powered by a solid-fueled rocket, and would use
flechette
A flechette ( ) is a pointed steel projectile with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French , "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette. They have been used as ballistic weapons sinc ...
anti-personnel
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...
warheads to provide the greatest possible effect against the intended targets.
Development and cancellation
In 1967, a contract for the development of HART was given to the
Martin Marietta
The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin.
History
Martin Mari ...
corporation, based in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
; the rocket received the official designation of AGR-14 ZAP, for "Zero Anti-Aircraft Potential",
[Morison and Rowe 1975, p.218.] at this time.
Initial test firings of the XAGR-14A prototypes were conducted in late 1969, with the
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk being used as a launch aircraft.
Despite the rocket being tested successfully, the project was cancelled shortly thereafter, and ZAP failed to reach operational service.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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Air-to-ground rockets of the United States
Cold War rockets of the United States
Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States