This is a World War II joystick for guiding bombs in flight. During the war, the Allies developed a system for guiding bombs so they could hit small targets, such as the wooden bridges that supported much of the Burma Railway. This system was known as AZON, because the guidance was “azimuth only” (i.e., the bomb could only be steered left or right, but the length of its path could not be changed). To control the bomb’s direction a collar with radio-controlled fins was attached to the back of a standard bomb, such as an M-65 1000 pound bomb. A flare was also attached to the bomb so the bombardier could more readily track the bomb as it fell. In combat, an AZON bomb was dropped from a Consolidated B-24 Liberator. After the bomb was released, the bombardier watched the bomb fall and used the BC-1156 control lever to steer the bomb left or right. While some AZON bombs were used in Europe, they were primarily used, with considerable success, in the China-India-Burma theater.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sf9000" title="User:Sf9000">Steven Fine</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>