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The German X-4 was a small air-to-air missile of World War II that could be fired at heavily armed Allied bombers from a distance. To prevent jamming, guidance was by wires running between the missile and launch aircraft, rather than by radio. Slated for use on the Me 262 jet fighter, the X-4 could also have been fired from such piston-engine aircraft as the Ju 88, Ju 388, and Fw 190, all of which launched test missiles beginning in August 1944.

A BMW 109-548 liquid-fuel rocket engine powered the missile. Ruhrstahl produced 1,000 X-4 airframes in late 1944, but an Allied air raid destroyed the BMW engines and production lines, a blow from which the program never recovered. This artifact was a gift of the Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Reactions Motors Division, which had acquired it from the U.S. military for post-World War II testing.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin Germany Type CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets Manufacturer Ruhrstahl AG
 Physical Description Ogival rocket body, with four wooden mid-body wings and four metal tail fins set at 45 degrees to the wings; nose fuze; two wings have ogival fairings for the wire spools; rocket nozzle in tail. Dimensions Overall: 78 3/4 in. long x 22 5/8 in. fin span, 132.3 lb. (200.03 x 57.5cm, 60kg)
Other (explosive): 44 lb. (20kg)
 Materials aluminum
 Inventory Number A19771235000 Credit Line Gift of Reaction Motors Div., Thiokol Chemical Corp. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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