Brakemine was an early surface-to-air missile (SAM) development project carried out in the United Kingdom during World War II.
Brakemine used a beam riding guidance system developed at A.C. Cossor, while REME designed the testbed airframes.
Although Brakemine would never be used in its original form, its use of the "twist-and-steer" guidance method would later be used on the more capable LOPGAP design, which, after major changes, emerged as the Bristol Bloodhound.
In 1943, Leslie Herbert Bedford, director of research at A.C. Cossor, independently developed the same idea while on a long train ride.
[2] A launcher consisting of a rail mounted to an QF 3.7 inch AA gun traversal mechanism was built at Walton-on-the-Naze and test firings started in September 1944.
[3] Early tests resulted in numerous failures, but as the missiles fell into the ocean they could be retrieved for study and the flaws corrected.
As the missile aerodynamics improved and the failure rate dropped, further launches were fitted with the guidance system, although they were not turned on.
The MoS moved the project to their rocket testing facilities at RAF Aberporth in Wales, but no further launches took place.
[1] One problem with the guidance system that was not solved during Brakemine's development was its reliance on a known launch orientation providing an "up" direction.