Luft 46 Afrika Korp: Fi-103 G Decoy Drone

[Stan in YUL]

A late campaign innovation, decoy drones based on the Fi-103 (V-1) began to be deployed in both it's daylight and night intruder configuration.




The Night Witch version achieved more successful than the day time version requiring a significant effort by the Allies to counter. Its expanded auto pilot introduced the limited capability of a simple flight plan including altitude and speed changes.  A jamming pod could be programmed to operate intermittently.  A parachute retarded chaff dispenser consisted of a pod which when deployed broke open to expose spools of aluminum tape which would create a vertical decoy radar target that would appear and disappear from  air intercept screens, causing allied night fighters chase random targets.  A simple transmitter could broadcast fragmentary signals periodically from specific points on the drone's route to add to the overall deception effort.  The system was also capable of detecting known radar frequencies and could broadcast simplified signal strength for raid planners to determine areas of weakest radar coverage.


The G version had a stretch of the fuselage of approximately 1 metre.  The span and chord of both wings and horizontal surface was increased by the use of simple stamped sheet metal and plywood leading and trailing edges sleeves to maintain low cost and simplicity.  The existing Argus pulse jet motor was considered acceptable with only minor improvement necessary and the overall speed range of the design allowed the drone to emulate either Ar-234 Blitzes or lower speed, prop driven fighter bomber strike formations. With the 1700 pound warhead removed, the overall airframe weight of the drone version was nearly 300 lbs lighter even with an increase in fuel and other equipment. The biggest operation improvement was that with the larger lift surfaces and RATO equipment, launching from towed mobile trailers was now a practical exercise leading to greater survivablity.

The donor kit is the old Frog V-1 which I received last year and after considering a strait-up build, decided to get la little creative!

















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Thanks for looking!

[PR19_Kit]

Please can someone who can see them re-post Stan's pics.