Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

The X-4 was a small, wire-guided, air-to-air missile designed as a standoff weapon against Allied bombers. It was slated for use with the Me 262 jet fighter, but could also have been fired from a number of piston-engine aircraft such as the Ju 88, Ju 388 and Fw 190, which test-launched test missiles beginning in August 1944.

This wire bobbin would have been placed in one of two of the missile's four wing tips, from which the control wires paid out until they reached the breaking point. Nothing is presently known about its origins, but the U.S. Navy transferred it to the Smithsonian in a shipment of missile artifacts in 1948.

 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 EQUIPMENT-Autopilots Dimensions 3-D (Wire Bobbin): 40.6 x 15.2 x 12.7cm (16 x 6 x 5 in.)
3-D (Tube): 19.1 x 4.4cm (7 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)
 Materials Steel, Plastic, Adhesive
 Inventory Number A19510070000 Credit Line Transferred from the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.