
WW2 German Luftwaffe Dornier Do-217 bomber, armed with twin Henschel Hs-293 anti-ship missiles, for interdiction of Allied convoys to Soviet arctic ports of Murmansk and Archangel.
Missile bomber upper surface camouflaged white-grey arctic patches, lower surface painted flat black for night interdiction. Bomber also mounted compact FuG 202 airborne radar to locate ships at low altitudes during night-time assaults.
Hs-293 was actually a glider bomb since rocket motor only had fuel for 10-second booster burst. Missile first version was wireless radio-controlled from launch plane cockpit, latter versions were hard-wired with wiring spooled from missile.
Plane had to fly parallel with missile in series of arc before target impact for missile controller to maintain visual frame of reference, thus bomber could not take evasive actions from anti-aircraft fire or intercepting enemy aircrafts.
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