WordNet
n. a torpedo designed to be launched from an airplane
Wikipedia
An aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, a torpedo, that an aircraft— fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter—drops in the water, after which it self-propels to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited use. Aerial torpedoes are generally smaller and lighter than submarine- and surface-launched torpedoes.
Historically, the term "aerial torpedo" meant flying bombs and pilotless drone aircraft used as weapons, the precursor to modern cruise missiles. Today, the term refers primarily to water-borne torpedoes launched from the air.
Usage examples of "aerial torpedo".
They were declared to be aerial torpedo-boats, and the aeronaut was supposed to swoop close to his antagonist and cast his bombs as he whirled past.
There near the aeroplane hangar, sure enough, was Burnside with some other men adjusting the first real wireless Kennedy torpedo, the last word in scientific warfare, making an aerial torpedo-boat.
It does not tumble from the plane's belly but traces a smooth flat parabola above the waves, like an aerial torpedo.
And, as Wil had realized on that summer day when last he was truly conscious, a tornado killer is essentially an aerial torpedo.
Wil had realized on that summer day when last he was truly conscious, a tornado killer is essentially an aerial torpedo.
Only, far below the Wart, there was a thump and a rattle of leaves, as the aerial torpedo went smack into the middle of a bush, quite regardless of obstructions.