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Henschel Hs 293

The Henschel Hs 293 was a German guided glide bomb used against ships during World War II.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Varients
3 Inventory
4 Combat Performance
5 Characteristics
6 See also:

History

The Hs 293 project was started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" glide bomb which was designed in 1939.

Varients

Inventory

Over 1000 were built, from 1942 onwards.

Combat Performance

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships. (Compare with the Fritz X, which was intended for use against armoured targets, i.e. warships).

One drawback of the Hs 293 was that, after the missile was launched, the bomber had to fly in a straight level path, and thus could not manouvre to evade anti-aircraft guns.

On August 27, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, sinking the British sloop HMS Egret.

Characteristics

See also: