Quote:
Originally posted by sapper740
I have found two sequential photos of what appears to be a test of using rockets to lift? move? whatever? a Universal carrier. To what end, I can only imagine. As you can see from the pics, the test was a failure, I presume, resulting in the UC flipping over. Evident in the pictures are what appears to be 6 rockets, three per side with blast deflectors below each of the rockets. To what end these tests were done is beyond my ken. Has anyone see such a thing before?
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Hi Derek;
The two photos you have come across are the before and after photos of a test of a "
gap-jumping tank", that was carried out by the British Specialized Armour Development Establishment (SADE). The concept was, the gap-jumping tank was designed to fly across impassable obstacles. The object was to lift the tank bodily into the air by means of rockets. This device was tested first on a carrier (your two photos) and subsequently on a turretless Valentine. The device itself consisted of a battery of rockets which were fired together to catapult the tank through the air. There was no problems encountered in lifting the vehicle off the ground, the difficulty was getting it to land right side up. It was never clear what happened to the vehicle in the air since it was invisible in a cloud of smoke, but despite a series of tests the stability issue was never resolved.
The Specialized Armour Development Establishment (later the Specialized Armour Establishment (SAE)), was an immediate post-war organization (1945) that with War Office approval, was established by General Sir P.C.S. Hobart. It was located at Woodbridge, Suffolk, with an amphibious wing at Gosport, Hampshire. SADE's (and later SAE's) task was to improve existing equipment and develop new ideas. This establishment was closed in 1951.
Cheers