Operation Bumblebee (US Navy)

Operation Bumblebee was a US Navy effort to develop surface to air missiles (SAMs) to provide a mid-range layer of anti-aircraft defence, between anti-aircraft guns in the short range and fighter aircraft operating at long range. A major reason for the Bumblebee efforts was the need to attack bombers before they could launch standoff anti-shipping weapons, as these aircraft might never enter the range of the shipboard guns.

Bumblebee originally concentrated on a ramjet powered design, and the initial Applied Physics Lab PTV-N-4 Cobra/BTV (Propulsion Test Vehicle/Burner Test Vehicle) was flown in October 1945. The Cobra eventually emerged as the RIM-8 Talos, which entered service on 28 May 1958 aboard the USS Galveston. As part of the development program, several other vehicles were also developed. One of these developed into the RIM-2 Terrier, which gained operational status on the USS Canberra on 15 June 1956, two years before the Talos. The Terrier was later modified as a short-range missile system for smaller ships, entering service in 1963 as the RIM-24 Tartar. Together, the three missiles were known as the "3 T's".

Bumblebee was not the only early Navy SAM project; the SAM-N-2 Lark was rushed into production as a short-range counter to the Kamikaze threat, but never matured into an operational weapon.

Navy ships were hit by air-launched Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs and Fritz X anti-ship missiles during 1943. A ramjet-powered anti-aircraft missile was proposed to destroy aircraft launching such weapons while remaining beyond the range of shipboard artillery. Initial performance goals were target intercept at a horizontal range of 10 miles and 30,000 feet altitude, with a 300 to 600 pound warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. Heavy shipping losses to Kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for guided missile development.

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