Gimlet ( rocket ) Gimlet was an unguided air - to - air and air - to - surface rocket developed by the United States Navy during the early 1950s . Although it proved successful in testing and was ordered into large - scale production , the arrival of the guided missile as a practical and reliable weapon resulted in the cancellation of the Gimlet rocket in 1957 . Design and development . The development of the Gimlet rocket begain in 1951 , with the initiation of development of a rocket for air - to - air use . Work on the rocket was conducted at the Naval Ordnance Test Station ( NOTS ) at China Lake , California , and the project was begun at the behest of North American Aviation . in addition , the 1 . 5 - inch rocket was felt as the ideal caliber to ' fill in a gap ' in the U . S . Navy ' s rocket inventory ; studies indicated that aircraft could carry six times the number of 1 . 5 - inch rockets as opposed to the then - in - service Folding Fin Aerial Rocket . In 1952 , however , the Bureau of Ordnance decided that neither the 1 . 5 - inch or 2 . 75 - inch rocket was required ; an earlier directive to develop a rocket was still outstanding , and it was felt that standardizing on a single caliber of rocket would be in the Navy ' s best interest . NOTS had initiated development of a rocket of the 2 - inch caliber prior to the outbreak of the Korean War ; the concept had been shelved with the war effort requiring higher - priority projects such as the Ram anti - tank rocket to be prioritized ; now , however , the project was dusted off and development resumed under the name " Gimlet " – a name that , it was said , meant the rocket was to be a " small anti - MiG " weapon ; " Gim " being " MiG " backwards , with an added diminutive . Gimlet was primarily intended for use in the air - to - air role . The rocket would use a modified version of the FFAR ' s fuse , reduced in size to fit the smaller rocket ; the warhead used for Gimlet took advantage of the latest advancements in explosives technology , and , combined with the advanced fuse , would detonate inside the target aircraft , instead of upon contact . The rocket used a thin - walled aluminum body , also based on FFAR work ; the motor used an eight - point star configuration to ensure even burning . Operational history . Testing of the Gimlet begain in 1954 . In the initial test , a FJ - 2 Fury shot down a F6F Hellcat target drone , proving the rocket ' s effectiveness in the air - to - air role . Early launchers carried four rockets , while seven - and 19 - round models were developed as well . A six - round clip capable of fitting the internal rocket bays of the F4D Skyray interceptor was also developed . Following a flyoff against the T - 214 rocket , which indicated the necessity to modify the rocket motor to reduce the Gimlet ' s visual signature , the Navy directed the development of a modified , ' hybrid ' rocket , using the T - 214 ' s tail ; this became known as " T - Gimlet " . The modified rocket was considered to be suitable for the Navy ' s purposes ; both the original Gimlet and the T - Gimlet were ordered for production , a 5 million dollar USD contract being allotted to start production at the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot in Arkansas . Despite the seeming success , however , the Gimlet was already becoming obsolete ; guided missile s were now considered to be the wave of the future . Production of Gimlet was cancelled in early 1957 , after production of 15 , 000 rockets ; that October , the T - Gimlet version was cancelled as well . Although the missile age meant that Gimlet did not enter operational service , the production processes developed for the rocket would be modified and used in the production of the AIM - 9 Sidewinder air - to - air missile .