Rocket, Air-to-Surface, 4.5-Inch, Practice Round

Cylindrical with rounded nose with flat head; tapering base to slightly flared exhaust nozzle with attachment of five equidistant short rectangular folding fins with angular ends on a mounting ring; overall, steel; fins probably copper or brass; body painted overall standard Army olive drab with yellow band around lower end near base signifying this is a practice round; black nose; blue short label near yellow band; fins, copper or brass colored.

This is a practice round of a 4.5-inch caliber U.S. air-to-surface rocket used during World War II. The rocket, developed from 1940, could also be used as a ground-to-ground weapon. When used from aircraft, like the P-40, it had five folding fins and was launched from tube launchers under each aircraft wing. The rocket's first operational use came in late 1943 or early 1944 against Japanese ground installations in Burma - the first combat use of American aircraft rockets. The range of the 4.5-in. rocket was about 1-2 miles. The payload weighed 4.3-5 pounds depending on the type of high explosive in the warhead. This rocket was donated by the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum to the Smithsonian in 1989.