TDR-1 Service Tests (July 1944)

The drone, designated TDR-1, was ready by late 1942, but did not see action until September 1944, when a unit designated STAG-1 deployed with 50 TDR-1s to the Russell Islands in the Southwest Pacific for evaluation and use against Japanese-held islands. During a two-month period, 50 drones were launched with 31 hits recorded on anti-aircraft sites, bridges, airfields and grounded ships. Guided by a modified TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber, the drone would be launched by a ground control crew, and then turned over to the TBM pilot already airborne over the field. Joined on the drone, the TBM pilot would pass control to the controller in the rear cockpit, who would then guide the drone to the target, his 5-inch TV screen receiving visual signals from the TDR's nose-mounted camera.

By October 1944, the use of the TDRs ended, the concept of precision-guided munitions deemed of lesser priority in the Pacific due to U.S. air superiority. The concept also was tried in Europe, using war-weary, explosive-laden B-17 and B-24 bombers in Projects Aphrodite and Anvil, but with little result.