NIKE Ajax (SAM-A-7) (MIM-3, 3A)*

Summary 

In 1954, the U.S. Army deployed the world`s first operational, guided, surface-to-air missile system. This system, the NIKE Ajax, was conceived near the end of World War II and developed during the early years of the Cold War. With an increasing perception of a direct Soviet bomber threat to the American mainland, the Army rushed NIKE Ajax into production and developed the missile system around key urban, military, and industrial locations.

The Nike Ajax contractor, Western Electric`s Bell Telephone Laboratories, teamed with numerous subcontractors to provide 350 missile batteries for domestic and over seas deployment. The primary subcontractor, Douglas Aircraft, build 13 714 missiles at its Santa Monica plant and at the Army Ordnance Missile Plant located at Charlotte North Carolina.

By 1958, the Army deployed nearly 200 Nike Ajax batteries around the nation`s cities and vital military installations. Soon thereafter, the Army began gradually deactivating the NIKE Ajax batteries and replacing them with the longer-range nuclear-capable Nike Hercules. The Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) deactivated the last Nike Ajax batteries guarding the Norfolk, Virginia, area in late 1963.

Technical Specifications

Length: 21 feet (34 feet 10 inches with booster)

Diameter: 12 inches

Wingspan: 4 feet, 6 inches

Weight: 1 000 pounds (over 2 455 pounds with booster)

Missile fuel/oxidizer: M3, a combination of JP4 jet fuel and starter fluid consisting initially of aniline/furfural alcohol, later dim ethyl-hydrazine, and finally, red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA).

Booster fuel: Solid propellant

Range: 25 to 30 miles

Speed: Mach 2.3 (1 679 mph)

Altitude: Up to 70 000 feet.

Guidance: Command by electronic computer and radar

* SAM-A-7 was the designation before 1962, and MIM-3, 3A were the designation used after 1962.

Nike Hercules (SAM-N-25) (MIM-14/14A/14B)

Summary

As the Nike Ajax system underwent, testing during the early 1950`s, the Army became concerned that the missile was incapable of stopping a massed Soviet air attack. To enhance the missile`s  capabilities, the Army explored the feasibility of equipping Ajax with nuclear warhead, but that proved impractical, in July 1953 the service authorized development of a second generation surface-to-air-missile, the Nike Hercules. As with the Nike Ajax, Western Electric was the primary contractor with Bell Telephone Laboratories providing the guidance systems and Douglas Aircraft serving as the major subcontractor for the airframe.

In 1958, 5 years after the Army received approval to design and build the system, Nike Hercules stood ready to deploy from converted Nike Ajax batteries located in the New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago defense areas. However, as Nike Hercules batteries became operational, the bitter feud between the Army and Air Force over control of the nation`s air defense missile force flared anew. The Air Force opposed Nike Hercules, claiming that the Army missile duplicated the capabilities of the soon-to-be-deployed BOMARC. Eventually, both of the competing missiles systems were deployed, but the Nike Hercules would be fielded in far greater numbers over the next 6 years.

During the course of the Cold War, the Army deployed 145 Nike Hercules batteries. Of that number 35 were built exclusively for the new missile and 110 were converted Nike Ajax installations. With the exception of batteries in Alaska and Florida that stayed active until the late 70`s. By 1975 all Nike Hercules sites had been deactivated.

Technical Specifications

Length: 41 feet

Diameter: 31.5 inches

Wingspan: 6 feet, 2 inches

Weight: 10 710 pounds

Booster fuel: Solid propellant

Missile fuel: Solid propellant

Range: Over 75 miles

Speed: Mach 3.65 (2 707 mph)

Altitude: Up to 150 000 feet

Guidance: Command by electronic computer and radar

Warhead: High-Explosive fragmentation or nuclear