R4M

R4M rocket
R4M "Orkan" on display at the German Museum of Technology
TypeRocket
Place of originGermany
Service history
In service1944-1945
Used byLuftwaffe
WarsWorld War II
Production history
Designed1944
ManufacturerHeber AG, Osterode, Germany
VariantsR4M (air-to-air)[1]
R4HL (air-to-ground)[1]
Specifications
Mass3.85 kg (8.49 lb)[1]
Length812 mm (32.0 in)[1]
Width55 mm (2.17 in)[1]
Muzzle velocity525 m/s (1,720 ft/s)[1]
Effective firing range600–1,000 m (656–1,090 yd)
Maximum firing range1,500 m (1,640 yd)[1]
FillingHTA 41[a]>[1] (torpex)
Filling weight520 g (1.15 lb)[2]
Me 262 with R4M underwing rockets on display at the Technikmuseum Speyer, Germany
Me 262 with R4M underwing rockets on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, United States
A B-24 shot down by Rudolf Rademacher with the R4M

R4M, abbreviation for Rakete, 4 kilogramm, Minenkopf (English: Rocket, 4 kilogram, Mine-head),[1] also known by the nickname Orkan (English: Hurricane) due to its distinctive smoke trail when fired, was a folding-fin air-to-air rocket used by the Luftwaffe at the end of World War II.

The R4M was used on several late war German combat aircraft, most notably the Messerschmitt Me 262, and could be fired from open ramps under aircraft wings or from tubes inside under-wing rocket pods.[1] It featured a high capacity "mine shell" equivalent warhead filled with 520 g (1.15 lb) of the explosive-mixture HTA 41[1] (also known as HTA 15),[2] which consists of 40% Hexogen (RDX), 45% TNT and 15% aluminium.[2] The shell-walls of the warhead were only 0.8 mm (0.0315 in) thick.[1]

Besides the air-to-air warhead the rocket could also be outfitted with shaped charge warheads for air-to-ground use, then called R4HL for hohlladung (English: hollow charge).[1] These warheads were called Panzerblitz (English: Armor-lightning) and existed in two primary versions: Panzerblitz 2 (PB 2), consisting of an 88 mm Panzerschreck warhead fitted with a ballistic cap, and Panzerblitz 3 (PB 3), consisting of the original 55 mm mine-warhead modified to be a shaped-charge.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "R4M Orkan". germanluftwaffe. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Koch, Ernst-Christian (18 January 2021). High Explosives, Propellants, Pyrotechnics. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 936, 937. ISBN 9783110660562.
  3. ^ "The Panzerschreck ammunition, Alternative use". bergflak.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. ^ J. Miranda; P. Mercado. Unknown! N.5.


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