Henschel Hs 293

Henschel Hs 293
Hs 293 on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin, Germany, with added "Kopfring" (lit. "head ring") on the nose for nautical targets
TypeAnti-ship glide bomb
Place of originNazi Germany
Service history
In service1943–1945
Used byLuftwaffe
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignerHerbert A. Wagner
Designed1940–1943
ManufacturerHenschel Flugzeug-Werke AG
Produced1942 - ?
No. built1,000
Specifications
Mass1,045 kilograms (2,304 lb)
Length3.82 metres (12.5 ft)
Width3.1 metres (10 ft)
Diameter0.47 metres (1.5 ft)
Warheadexplosive
Warhead weight295 kilograms (650 lb)

Engineliquid-propellant rocket HWK 109-507 motor, 5.9 kN (1,300 lbf) thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target
Operational
range
at 2.2 kilometres (7,200 ft) altitude:
4 kilometres (13,000 ft)
at 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) altitude:
5.5 kilometres (18,000 ft)
at 5 kilometres (16,000 ft) altitude:
8.5 kilometres (28,000 ft)
Maximum speed maximum: 260 metres per second (850 ft/s)
average: 230 metres per second (750 ft/s)
Guidance
system
Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS using a joystick

The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, damaging or sinking at least 25 ships. Allied efforts to jam the radio control link were increasingly successful despite German efforts to counter them. The weapon remained in use through 1944 when it was also used as an air-to-ground weapon to attack bridges to prevent the Allied breakout after D-Day, but proved almost useless in this role.