Bazooka co-inventor, aviation exec Edward Uhl dies

OXFORD, Md. — Edward Uhl, 92, who helped invent the bazooka during World War II and later led the aerospace company Fairchild Industries Inc., has died.

Stepson George Hatcher said today that Uhl died Sunday in Oxford of complications from a stroke he suffered three years earlier.

In 1942, as an Army first lieutenant with an engineering degree, Uhl helped develop a shoulder-fired rocket launcher nicknamed the bazooka because it resembled a tube-shaped musical instrument.

Uhl joined Fairchild as president in 1961. He oversaw its transformation from a military aircraft manufacturer to an aerospace giant before retiring as chairman in 1985.

Fairchild’s products included the A-10 Thunderbolt II, an airplane nicknamed the warthog that was used against Iraqi tanks in the first Gulf War.