The Royal Aircraft Establishment Larynx (from "Long Range Gun with Lynx engine") was an early British pilotless aircraft, to be used as a guided anti-ship weapon. Started in September 1925, it was an early cruise missile guided by an autopilot.^[1]

Design

A small monoplane powered by a 200 hp (150 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV engine, it had a top speed of 200 mph (320 km/h), faster than contemporary fighters.^[2]

It used autopilot principles developed by Professor Archibald Low^{[citation needed]} and already used in the Ruston Proctor AT, a radio controlled biplane that was intended to be used against German Zeppelin bombers.^{[citation needed]}

Project history

• First test: 20 July, 1927. Launched from cordite-powered catapult fitted to the S class destroyer HMS Stronghold. Crashed into Bristol Channel.^[3]
• Second test: 1 September, 1927. Thought to have flown 100 miles (160 km) and was then lost.
• Third test: 15 October, 1927. 112 mile (180 km) flight, hit five miles from target.
• Two more launches in September and October 1928 from HMS Thanet, another S class destroyer.^[3]
• Two launches May 1929. Launched from land, one overflew target and other was successful.

Specifications

Data from ^[2]

General characteristics

• Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV radial engine, 200 hp (150 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance

• Maximum speed: 200 mph (320 km/h, 170 kn)