US AAM-N-4 ''Oriole'' Air to Air Missile

By Crusader1307

The AAM-N-4 ''Oriole'' was a short lived Air to Air Missile Project developed and tested by The Martin Company. Development began in 1947 with actual prototype designs produced in 1950. The goal of The ''Oriole;; was to produce a ''heavy'' AA Device that relied on active Radar homing to target. The US Navy was to be the first usage, in particular Carrier Based Aircraft. While ore work was placed into Radar Guidance, The overall design suffered. After (56) test flights, The ''Oriole'' Project was canceled in 1953. Testing of actual speed was rated at Mach 2.5. The AAM-N-4 weighed 1,500-pounds and were roughly 11-feet in length. Warhead of HE weighed 25-pounds. Operational range of 10-miles was established in testing.