2.25-Inch Sub-Caliber Aircraft Rocket

With the introduction of the 3.5-Inch and 5-Inch Forward Firing Aircraft Rockets, a need arose to train aircraft pilots in the proper tactics for the use of the new weapons. This requirement resulted in the development of a dedicated training rocket by the U.S. Navy.[2]

Designated 2.25-Inch Sub-Caliber Aircraft Rocket, the resulting rocket was a joint project between the Bureau of Ordnance and the National Defense Research Committee.[2] As its name implied, the rocket was designed as a sub-calibre weapon compared to the FFAR, being only 2.25 inches (57 mm) in diameter, but weighted to be ballistically similar to the larger operational weapons.[2] Varying the amount of propellant in the SCAR's motor could produce accurate simulations of either type of FFAR's flight characteristics.[2]

SCAR in 1948

Following development, SCAR entered full-scale production in January 1945; by July, fully half of the U.S. Navy's rocket production for aircraft use consisted of SCAR rockets.[3] SCAR was widely used during the latter part of World War II as a training round for the FFAR and, later, the High Velocity Aircraft Rocket.[2]

Following the end of the war, it remained in production, continuing in operational service throughout the 1950s.[4] Budget cutbacks prior to the outbreak of the Korean War meant that the SCAR was the only rocket used in training by the majority of pilots.[5]

Despite its small size, SCAR could be hazardous; in 1957, an injury aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge was caused by the unintended ignition of a SCAR rocket.[6] As recently as 2004, expended SCAR rockets were still occasionally being found in areas that had been used as bombing ranges during World War II.[7]