Henschel Hs 293 The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German anti - ship guided missile : a radio - controlled glide bomb with a rocket engine slung underneath it . It was designed by Herbert A . Wagner . History . The Hs 293 project was started in 1940 , based on the " Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke " pure glide bomb that was designed in 1939 . The Schwartz design did not have a terminal guidance system - it used an autopilot to maintain a straight course . The intention was that it could be launched from a bomber at sufficient distance to be out of range of anti - aircraft fire . Henschel developed it the following year by adding an HWK 109 - 507 rocket motor underneath it , providing a thrust of ten second duration - this allowed the bomb to be used from a lower altitude and at an increased range . The first flight attempts took place between May and September 1940 , with unpowered drops from Heinkel He 111 medium bombers used as carrier aircraft , with the first Walter rocket motor - powered tests occurring by the end of 1940 . The weapon consisted of a modified standard SC 500 , bomb with an added " kopfring " on the nose for maritime use , with a thin metal shell and a high explosive charge inside , equipped with a rocket engine under the bomb , a pair of wings , and an MCLOS guidance and control system , consisting of an 18 - frequency - capability " Funk - Gerät " ( FuG ) 230 " Strassburg " radio receiver , getting its signals from an FuG 203 " Kehl " transmitting set in the carrier aircraft . Only the elevator , operated with an electrically powered jackscrew as the only proportional control , with the ailerons operated with solenoid s provided flight control through the " Kehl - Strassburg " radio link , with the Hs 293 ' s control setup having no movable rudder on the ventral tailfin . The rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the height of launch . From a height of the Hs 293 had a range of about . The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships , unlike the unpowered , armour penetrating Fritz X , similarly MCLOS - guided with the Kehl / Strassburg radio guidance gear . The operator controlled the radio - guided missile with the " Kehl " transmitter ' s joystick . Five colored flares were attached to the rear of the weapon to make it visible at a distance to the operator . During nighttime operations flashing lights instead of flares were used . One drawback of the Hs 293 was that after the missile was launched the bomber had to fly in a straight and level path at a set altitude and speed parallel to the target so as to be able to maintain a slant line of sight and it could thus not manoeuvre to evade attacking fighters without aborting the attack . The Allies put considerable effort into developing devices which jammed the low - VHF band ( 48 . 2 MHz to 49 . 9 MHz ) radio link between the Kehl transmitter aboard the launching aircraft and the Strassburg receiver in the missile . Early jamming efforts by the United States Naval Research Laboratory ( NRL ) produced the XCJ jamming transmitter installed aboard the destroyer escort s USS " Herbert C . Jones " and " Frederick C . Davis " in late September 1943 . The XCJ was ineffective because the frequencies selected for jamming were incorrect . This was updated in time for Operation Shingle at Anzio ( Italy ) with the XCJ - 1 system , installed aboard the two destroyer escorts mentioned above as well as the destroyers USS " Woolsey " , " Madison " , " Hilary P . Jones " and " Lansdale " . These six ships rotated service at Anzio , with three deployed at any time . This system met with some success , though because of its manual interface , it was cumbersome to use and easily overwhelmed if large numbers of missiles were engaged . On balance , the probability that a Hs 293 launched ( and seen as responding to operator guidance ) would actually strike a target ( or achieve a damage - inflicting near miss ) was about the same at Anzio as it was during Operation Avalanche at Salerno , Italy . Meanwhile , as attacks were taking place at Anzio , the United Kingdom began to deploy its Type 650 transmitter which employed a different approach . This system jammed the Strassburg receiver ' s intermediate frequency of 3 MHz , and appears to have been quite successful , especially as the operator did not have to attempt to find which of the 18 Kehl / Strassburg command frequencies were in use and then manually tune the jamming transmitter to one of those frequencies . This system automatically defeated the receiver regardless of which radio frequency had been selected for an individual Luftwaffe missile . Following several intelligence coups , including a capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components of the " Kehl " transmitter from a crashed Heinkel He 177 on Corsica , the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures , all in time for the invasion of Normandy and Operation Dragoon in Southern France . This included an updated XCJ - 2 system from the Naval Research Laboratory ( produced as the TX ) , the modified airborne AN / ARQ - 8 Dinamate system from Harvard ' s Radio Research Laboratory , NRL ' s improved XCJ - 3 model ( produced as the CXGE ) , the British Type 651 and the Canadian Naval Jammer . Perhaps most impressive of all was AIL ' s Type MAS jammer which employed sophisticated signals to defeat the Kehl transmission and to take over command of the Hs 293 , steering it into the sea via a sequence of right - turn commands . Even more sophisticated jammers from NRL , designated XCK ( to be produced as TY and designated TEA when combined with the upgraded XCJ - 4 ) and XCL , were under development but were never deployed as the threat had evaporated before they could be put into service . In contrast to the experience at Anzio , the jammers seemed to have had a major impact on operations after April 1944 , with significant degradation observed in the probability that a Hs 293 launched at a target ( and responding to operator guidance ) would achieve a hit or damage - causing near miss . To improve control of the weapon and reduce vulnerability of the launching aircraft a television - guided variant ( Hs 293D ) was planned but was not made operational before the war ended . Over 1 , 000 were built , from 1942 onwards . The closest Allied weapon system in function and purpose to the Hs 293 series was the US Navy ' s Bat unpowered , radar - guided unit . Combat performance . On August 25 , 1943 , an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile , striking the sloop , though as the warhead did not fully detonate , the damage was minimal . On August 27 , the sinking of the British sloop HMS " Egret " by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 carrying Hs 293s led to anti - U - boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay being temporarily suspended . On November 26 , an Hs 293 sunk the troop transport HMT " Rohna " killing over 1 , 000 personnel . Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include : Although designed for use against ships , it was also used in Normandy in early August 1944 to attack bridges over the River See and River Selume . One bridge was slightly damaged for the loss of six of the attacking aircraft . The Hs 293 was carried on Heinkel He 111 , Heinkel He 177 , Focke - Wulf Fw 200 , and Dornier Do 217 planes . However , only the He 177 ( of I . / KG 40 and II . / KG 40 ) , certain variants of the FW 200 ( of III . / KG 40 ) and the Do 217 ( of II . / KG 100 and III . / KG 100 ) used the Hs 293 operationally in combat .