American air-to-surface missile, development started in 1949. Program cancelled in 1955.

Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

Eastman Kodak ASM-N-4 Dove

In April 1944, a Naval version of the U.S. Army Air Force's VB-6 Felix guided vertical bomb was approved, and the project was named Dove. Development was transferred to Eastman Kodak in July 1946, and the Dove was subsequently designated as air-to-surface guided missile ASM-4 (September 1947) and finally ASM-N-4 (early 1948). Development of the weapon's infrared guidance device apparently took some time, and it was not before 1949 that a contract for 20 XASM-N-4 prototypes was awarded.

The XASM-N-4 was basically a standard AN-M65 450 kg (1000 lb) general-purpose free-fall bomb, which was fitted with a simple heat-seeking device in the nose and control fins in the tail. The Dove could be dropped from unusually high (for a free-fall bomb) altitudes of up to 9100 m (30000 ft), because the seeker could correct aiming errors of up to 400 m (1/4 mile). Because it didn't use any significant lift devices, the XASM-N-4 was effectively a vertical bomb with no significant standoff range. The bomb was to be used against targets with a clear infrared signature, like ships in the open sea or isolated industrial plants.

Testing of the XASM-N-4 prototypes by the Bureau of Ordnance was completed in October 1952, but no follow-on production orders were placed.

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for XASM-N-4:

[1] Norman Friedman: "US Naval Weapons", Conway Maritime Press, 1983
[2] Frederick I. Ordway III, Ronald C. Wakeford: "International Missile and Spacecraft Guide", McGraw-Hill, 1960
[3] Bill Gunston: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles", Salamander Books Ltd, 1979

One former Aerojet engineer remembers:

>During 1950 I was employed by Aerojet and was working on an infrared missile guidance system for SPARROW. In the course of my work I came upon a report by Eastman-Kodak to the Navy on the DOVE XAGM-N-4 air-to-surface guided bomb. My recollection was that arrayed about the nose there were several "pop-up" spoilers used to provide azimuth and elevation corrections. The tail-mounted control surfaces controlled the roll attitude of the bomb. Based on my recollections, the DOVE probably resulted from work initiated by Laurens Hammond, president of the Hammond Instrument Company ...better known for the Hammond Organ. In 1940 they had proposed a infrared guided bomb based on a unique IR sensor called the "Hayes Cell", after its inventor, Mr. Hammond V. Hayes. There is very little available history on the Hayes Cell.

Manufacturer: Eastman Kodak. Total Mass: 545 kg (1,201 lb). Core Diameter: 0.46 m (1.50 ft). Total Length: 2.44 m (8.00 ft). Span: 0.76 m (2.49 ft). Standard warhead mass: 450 kg (990 lb). Maximum range: 4.80 km (2.90 mi). Boost Propulsion: Unpowered. Guidance: Infrared Homing. Maximum speed: 1,130 kph (700 mph). Development Cost $: 33.700 million. in: 1952 average dollars.