WA parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier. The carrier craft may or may not be able to later recover the parasite during flight.
WThe Arado E.381 was a proposed parasite fighter aircraft. Conceived by Arado Flugzeugwerke in December 1944 for Germany's Luftwaffe during World War II, the E.381 was to have been carried aloft by and launched from an Arado Ar 234 "mother" aircraft. It would then have activated its rocket engine, which would have propelled it to attack Allied bombers. Development was cancelled due to lack of funds and official support.
WThe Blohm & Voss P 214 was a small manned powered bomb project with a large warhead mounted integrally with the fuselage, designed in late 1944 but not developed past the project stage.
WThe Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk is a light 1930s biplane fighter aircraft that was carried by the United States Navy airships USS Akron and Macon. It is an example of a parasite fighter, a small airplane designed to be deployed from a larger aircraft such as an airship or bomber.
WThe de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird is a British light aircraft of the 1920s.
WThe Felixstowe Porte Baby was a British reconnaissance flying boat of the First World War, first flying in 1915.
WThe FICON program was conducted by the United States Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber carrying a Republic RF-84K Thunderflash parasite fighter in its bomb bay. Earlier wingtip coupling experiments included Tip Tow, which were attempts at carrying fighters connected to the wingtips of bombers. Tom-Tom followed the FICON project afterwards.
WThe Fieseler Fi 157 was an unsuccessful attempt at developing a radio-controlled, full-sized anti-aircraft target.
WThe Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of Mach 3.3 at an operational altitude of 90,000 feet. Development began in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, the drone was intended for reconnaissance deep into enemy airspace.
WLockheed L-301 was an experimental air-breathing hypersonic aircraft project. It was developed by the NASA and United States Air Force (USAF) organization National Hypersonic Flight Research Facility, with Skunk Works as the prime contractor. In January 1977, the program was "tentatively scheduled to operate two vehicles for eight years and to conduct 100 flights per vehicle." NASA discontinued work on L-301 and NHRF in September 1977 due to budget constraints and lack of need.
WThe McDonnell XF-85 Goblin is an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to deploy from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend bombers from hostile interceptor aircraft, a need demonstrated during World War II. McDonnell built two prototypes before the Air Force (USAAF) terminated the program.
WThe Messerschmitt Me 328 was originally designed as a parasite aircraft to protect Luftwaffe bomber formations during World War II. During its protracted development, a wide variety of other roles were suggested for it. Late in the war, the design was resurrected for consideration as a Selbstopfer aircraft, but was judged unsuitable even for this purpose. The tiny fighter was to have been propelled by pulsejets, but the unsuitability of these engines doomed the Me 328 from the start.
WThe AQM-38 was an American target drone, developed during the 1950s by the Radioplane Division of the Northrop Corporation, Newbury Park, California, and manufactured by its Ventura Division at Van Nuys, California. Extensively used for surface-to-air missile training, over two thousand were built during its production run and it saw continued use within the United States Army and United States Navy for nearly twenty years.
WThe Short Mayo Composite was a piggy-back long-range seaplane/flying boat combination produced by Short Brothers to provide a reliable long-range air transport service to North America and, potentially, to other distant places in the British Empire and the Commonwealth.
WThe Convair XGAM-71 Buck Duck was a decoy missile that was developed by Convair in the late 1950s. It was intended to have the same radar signature as the Strategic Air Command's B-36 bomber, thereby allowing it to disrupt the enemy's air defenses and dilute their effort to shoot down an incoming bomber fleet.
WThe Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was a purpose-built, rocket-powered human-guided kamikaze attack aircraft employed by Japan against Allied ships towards the end of the Pacific War during World War II. Although extremely fast, the very short range of the Ohka meant that it had to be carried into action as a parasite aircraft by a much larger bomber, which was itself vulnerable to carrier-borne fighters. In action during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, Ohkas were able to sink or damage some escort vessels and transport ships but no major warships were ever hit. Improved versions which attempted to overcome the aircraft's shortcomings were developed too late to be deployed. The Allied reporting name for the Ohka was "Baka".