Gimlet (rocket) clip capable of fitting the internal rocket bays of the F4D Skyray interceptor was also developed. Following a flyoff against the T-214 rocket, which indicated the necessity to modify the rocket motor to reduce the Gimlet's visual signature, the Navy directed the development of a modified, 'hybrid' rocket, using the T-214's tail; this became known as "T-Gimlet". The modified rocket was considered to be suitable for the Navy's purposes; both the original Gimlet and the T-Gimlet were ordered for production, a 5 million dollar USD contract being allotted to start production at the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot in Arkansas. Despite
Gimlet (rocket) Gimlet (rocket) The Gimlet was an unguided air-to-air and air-to-surface rocket developed by the United States Navy during the early 1950s. Although it proved successful in testing and was ordered into large-scale production, the arrival of the guided missile as a practical and reliable weapon resulted in the cancellation of the Gimlet rocket in 1957. The development of the Gimlet rocket began in 1951, with the initiation of development of a rocket for air-to-air use. Work on the rocket was conducted at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) at China Lake, California, and the project was begun at the behest