Missile, Air-to-Air, Henschel Hs 298

Air-to-air missile, double-cylindrical body with proximity fuse/warhead extension below; generator propeller above; two swept wings; horizontal stabilizer with two oval vertical stabilizers on ends, rocket engine nozzle on underside of tail

Dr. Herbert Wagner's missile group at Henschel Aircraft in World War II Germany designed this small, experimental, air-to-air missile. A Schmidding solid rocket propelled the Hs 298 for about 25 seconds, and the pilot in the launch aircraft guided it using a joystick and transmitter.

The initial Hs 298 V1 design, first tested in 1944, had a different wing, square fins, a warhead on top, and a generator propeller below. Henschel built more than 300 V1s model and over 100 V2s, but the project was cancelled in early 1945 in favor of the Ruhrstahl X-4, which performed better. The Smithsonian obtained this missile from the U.S. Navy in 1948.