AAM-N-5 Meteor
The AAM-N-5 Meteor was an early American air-to-air missile, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bell Aircraft for the United States Navy. Initially, both air-launched and ship-launched versions were considered. Versions designed for launch from carrier-based aircraft proceeded to the flight testing stage before the project was cancelled. In 1950, the Royal Navy expressed some interest in adapting Meteor as a short-range missile to defend ships against glide bombs and similar weapons. They had been studying this concept under their Popsy project and called the adapted Meteor "Mopsy . When the US Navy abandoned their interest in a ship-launched version, Mopsy went no further. Development. Development of the Meteor was loosely defined at first, with both surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles being studied by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a contract awarded in November 1945 by the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ordnance; the decision was made to construct the air-to-air version for testing, with construction of the airframe being assigned to Bell Aircraft. As built, the AAM-N-5 Meteor was a two-stage missile, utilizing semi-active radar homing; the first 	AAM-N-5 Meteor
19104225	stage consisted of a solid-fueled rocket booster, with the main sustainer stage utilizing liquid fuels. It had a range of , and reached speeds of over Mach 2, with some sources claiming a top speed of Mach 3. Control was provided by cruciform fins. Flight testing of the AAM-N-5 began in July 1948 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, with Douglas JD-1 Invader utility aircraft acting as the launching platform. Starting in 1951, test launches were conducted using Douglas F3D Skyknight nightfighters as carrier aircraft; fifteen launches were also made from ground launchers at NOTS' China Lake range. However	AAM-N-5 Meteor
19104226	, in 1953 the program was cancelled, as better missiles were becoming available. In 1950, a group from the Royal Navy met with the Meteor team at MIT while looking for solutions to their Popsy requirement. Having faced German guided bombs like Fritz-X during World War II, Popsy called for a small missile that could attack these weapons at close range. Meteor had the required performance, but lacked the ability to be used against low-level targets due to its wide-beam radar system, which would result in signal bouncing off waves when aimed near the horizon and confusing the 	AAM-N-5 Meteor
19104227	seeker. The group managed to convince MIT of the need for a narrow beam guidance system and called the result Mopsy". However, the US Navy lost interest in using Meteor as a ship-launched weapon, and nothing further came of this effort. An advanced version of Meteor, Meteor II, was assigned to be built by United Aircraft; it was intended to have a solid-fueled booster rocket with a ramjet sustainer stage, but was not built.