44M Lidérc

44M Lidérc
A replica 44M Lidérc air-to-air rocket
Type	Acoustic proximity fused air-to-air rocket
Place of origin	Hungary
Service history
Used by	Hungary
Wars	World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Weiss Manfréd DIMÁVAG
No. built	A few hundred (without acoustic proximity fuses)
Specifications

Engine	solid fuel rocket
Launch platform	Me 210 Ca-1 heavy fighter aircraft

Hungarian acoustic proximity fused air-to-air rocket of World War II

The 44M Lidérc (Hungarian: lidérc) was an experimental air-to-air rocket developed in Hungary during World War II. It had an acoustic proximity fuse invented by Károly Pulváry (Technological University of Budapest). The acoustic device was a highly advanced piece of technology in 1944, and the research of necessary electronics was quite a complex project. The sensor consisted of a super-sensitive microphone and a squelch principle circuit with two electron tube amplifiers.^[1]^[2]

External image
Cutaway plan of the Lidérc on tortenelem.444.hu

The fuse worked excellently with the artificial American bomber-engine sound in the Aerotechnical Institute's wind tunnel. During air combat every Me 210 Ca-1 destroyer-aircraft (Hungarian: romboló, German: Zerstörer) would have launched 2-4 Lidérc rockets into a bomber group which was expected to cause great damage and significantly impact the morale of bomber crews. The main goal was to scatter bomber formations, disrupting their attacks rather than destroying every aircraft, thus protecting civilians from terror-bombings.^[3]

A total of a few hundred rockets were produced, but the Allied bombing raids made it impossible to finish the acoustic system. The weapon was produced in Csepel at Weiss Manfréd Works, but due to the bombing raids on the factory, DIMÁVAG continued it. The Hungarian troops used them in the defensive operations of Csepel Island, Érd, and later in Lake Velence as anti-personnel incendiary rocket artillery (like the Nebelwerfer) against Soviet human-wave attacks.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Hatala, András. "44M "LIDÉRC" rocket I" (PDF). eeoda.de.
^ ^a ^b Hatala, András (2009). "44M Lidérc, az első magyar légiharc-rakéta (I. rész)". Haditechnika. 2009/2: 46.
^ Sipos, István - Ravasz, istván (ed.): Magyarország a második világháborúban - Lexikon. Budapest: Petit Real Könyvkiadó. 1997. ISBN 963-85411-5-6.

Weapons and military equipment designed or licence-manufactured in Hungary

Firearms

Service rifles	M88 rifle M95 rifle 35M rifle 48M inf. rifle and carbine AK-63 assault rifle AKM-63 and AMD-65 assault rifles
Pistols	Frommer Stop 37M pistol FEG PA-63 P9RC Tokarev 48M VD-01
Submachine guns	Frommer M.17 Danuvia 43M submachine gun 48M Kucher Model K1 KGP-9
Machine guns	Schwarzlose 07/31M heavy machine gun Solothurn 31M light machine gun KGK RPK PK
Artillery pieces	40mm 40M anti-tank gun 80mm 5/8M 100mm 14M 149mm 14/31M DE-82 automatic mortar Bofors 80 mm Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60
Other	20 mm Solothurn 36M anti-tank rifle Gepárd anti-materiel rifle 44M Buzogányvető anti-tank rocket 44M Lidérc air-to-air rocket

Armour and other
land based vehicles

Tanks and SP guns	Light Tank V3 Light Tank V4 Toldi tanks Turán I and II 43M Turán III 44M Tas 43M Zrínyi II 44M Zrínyi I Toldi páncélvadász 40M Nimród
IFVs	Lynx KF41
APCs and Armoured cars	39M Csaba D-442 FUG Gidrán
Other	38M Botond truck