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Project Nike was a US Army project, proposed in May 1945 by
Bell Labs, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project
delivered the world's first operational anti-aircraft missile system in 1953, the Nike Ajax. A huge number of the
technologies and rocket systems used to develop the Nike Ajax were re-used in a number of roles, many of which gained the "Nike"
name. The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the basis for
everything from the Nike Hercules missile to NASA's Nike Smoke rocket, used for upper-atmosphere research.
History
Project Nike began in 1944 when the US military demanded a new defense system to combat the potential new jet aircraft, as existing gun-based systems proved completely incapable of dealing with
the speeds and altitudes that such planes operated at. Two proposals were accepted, Bell Labs' development of the WWII German Wasserfall missile for line-of-sight interceptions became Project Nike, and a much longer ranged
collision-course system was developed by General Electric as
Project Thumper, eventually
delivering the BOMARC missile.
Wasserfall had been designed to attack B-17 bombers flying at about 175 mph (280 km/h) at
25,000 ft (7,600 m). For this role the supersonic speed allowed it to be aimed
directly at the target using a MACLOS system;
the differences between the missile's line-of-flight and the bomber would be so small by the time it arrived that "lead" was not
required.
Bell's proposal was more complex than Wasserfall due to the increased speeds of the targets, Nike would have to deal with
bombers flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) or more at altitudes of up to 60,000 ft (20,000 m). At these sorts of speeds even a
supersonic rocket like the Wasserfall is no longer fast enough to be simply aimed directly at the target. Instead, the missile
must "lead" the target to ensure it hits it as soon as possible, before it runs out of fuel.
However the US already had considerable experience with lead-calculating analog computers, starting with
the British Kerrison
Predictor and then a series of increasingly capable designs of their own. Fitting one to the Nike system was always a part of
the design.
Like the Wasserfall, the Nike system used two radars, one to track the target and
another to track the missile. The missile also included a radio beacon that was detected by a radio direction finder, allowing the missile tracking radar to
acquire the missile shortly after launch. However the operation of the missile was considerably different, once the radar had
acquired the missile the operators simply had to keep the radars "on target", a task that was largely automated. Once in the air
the computer compared the two radar directions, along with information on the speeds and distances, to calculate the intercept
point. Guidance commands were then sent to the missile via radio control.
The entirety of this system was provided by the Bell System's electronics firm, Western Electric.
Another key difference between Wasserfall and Nike was the missile itself. The Douglas-built missile was considerably simpler, as advances in rocket design allowed the Nike design to be some 1/3rd the size of the Wasserfall, yet have even better performance.
The two stage missile had a solid fuel booster stage and a liquid fuelled (IRFNA/UDMH) second stage. The missile could reach a
maximum speed of 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h), an altitude of 70,000 ft (21 km) and had a range of 25 miles (40 km). The missile
contained an unusual three part payload, with explosive fragmentation charges at three points down the length of the missile to
help ensure a fatal hit. The missile's limited range was seen by critics as a serious flaw, it often meant that the missile had
to be sited very close to the area it was protecting.
After bickering between the Army and the Air Force (see the Key West Conference), all longer-range systems were turned over to the Air Force in
1948. They merged their own long-range research with Project Thumper, while the Army continued to develop Nike. In 1950 the Army
formed the Army Anti-aircraft Command (ARAACOM) to operate batteries of anti-aircraft guns and missiles. ARAACOM was renamed the
US Army Air Defense Command (USARADCOM) in 1957, it adopted a simpler acronym, ARADCOM, in 1961.
Nike Ajax
The first successful Nike test was in November 1951, intercepting a drone B-17. The first type, Nike Ajax
(MIM-3), were deployed from 1953. The Army initially ordered 1,000 missiles and 60 sets of equipment. They were placed to protect
strategic and tactical sites within the US, a last-line of defence from air attack they were positioned to protect cities as well
as military installations. The missile was first deployed at Fort Meade, Maryland from December, 1953. A further 240 launch sites
were built up to 1962. They replaced 896 90 mm and 120 mm AA artillery, operated by the National Guard or Army to protect certain
key sites, leaving a handful of 75 mm Skysweeper emplacements as the only
remaining anti-aircraft gun artillery in use by the US.
Each launch site was in two parts, separated by at least 1,000 yards (914 m), one site of about six acres contained the radar
systems to detect incoming targets (acquisition and target tracking) and direct the missiles (missile tracking), along with the
computer systems to plot and direct the intercept. The other site, around forty acres, held underground missile magazines, four
launch assemblies and included a safety zone. The site had a crew of 109 officers and men who ran the site continuously, one
launcher would be on 15 minutes alert, two on 30 minutes and one on two hour alert.
Specifications (Nike Ajax)
- Length: 10.36 m overall, 6.41 m second stage
- Diameter: 0.30 m
- Fin span: 1.22 m
- Mass: 1,116 kg on launch, 523 kg second stage
- Maximum speed: Mach 2.25 (ca. 3,000 km/h)
- Range: 40 km
- Ceiling: 21,300 m
- Booster: Solid-fuel (263 kN static thrust for 2.5 seconds)
- Sustainer: Liquid-fuel (11.6 kN static thrust for 21 seconds)
Nike Hercules
Even as Nike Ajax was being tested work started on Nike-B, later renamed Nike Hercules (MIM-14). Intended
improvements were to speed, range and accuracy, with the ability to intercept ballistic missiles. The Hercules had a range of
about 100 miles (160 km), a top speed in excess of 3,000 mi/h (4,800 km/h) and a maximum altitude of around 100,000 ft (30 km).
It had solid fuel boost and sustainer rocket motors. The boost phase was four of the Nike Ajax boosters strapped together.
Another improvement over Ajax was the replacement of some vacuum tubes with solid-state components.
The missile also had a nuclear warhead option to improve the
probability of a kill. The W-31 warhead had a variable yield system offering 3, 20 or 30 kiloton detonations. However, the
missile typically carried a non-nuclear explosive fragmentation warhead, the T-45. The fire control of the Nike system was also
improved with the Hercules and included a surface-to-surface mode.
The Nike Hercules was deployed from June 1958. First deployed to Chicago, 393 Hercules ground systems were manufactured. By
1960 ARADCOM had 88 Hercules batteries and 174 Ajax batteries, defending 23 zones across 30 states. Peak deployment was in 1963
with 134 Hercules batteries.
The development of ICBMs decreased the value of the Nike air defense system. Beginning
around 1965, the number of Nike batteries were reduced. Thule air defence was cut in
1965 and SAC base defence in 1966, reducing the number of batteries to 112. Budgetary cuts
reduced that number to 87 in 1968, and 82 in 1969.
Nike Hercules was included in SALT I discussions as a ABM. Following the treaty
signed in 1972, and further budget cuts, almost all Nike sites in the continental United States were deactivated by February 4,
1974. Some units remained active until the later part of that decade in a coast air defense role.
Nike Zeus
Launch of a Nike Zeus missile
Development continued, producing Improved Nike Hercules and then Nike Zeus A and B.
Zeus, with a new 400,000 lb (1.78 MN) thrust solid-fuel booster, was first test fired in August 1959 and demonstrated a top speed
of 8,000 mi/h (12,875 km/h) but had certain deficiencies, it was renamed Spartan in 1967. Production of the
Zeus was deferred in 1961 and phased out in 1963 in favor of a specific ABM system initially designated Nike X but later renamed
Sentinel.
Some small-scale work on using Nike Zeus as an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) was carried out from 1962 until the project was cancelled in favor of Thor based systems in 1966. In the end,
neither development would enter service. However, the Nike Zeus system did demonstrate a hit-to-kill capability against ballistic
missiles in the early 1960s; something that many current opponents of the National Missile Defence project claim cannot be
done.
See also
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