Bell MIM-3 Nike Ajax
As aircraft became faster and flew higher after World War II, the assumption made by both sides of the Cold War was that conventional antiaircraft guns were now obsolete. The Korean and Vietnam Wars proved that this was not quite true, but both the United States and the USSR began working on guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that could intercept high-flying bombers. Bell Aircraft won the contract for the US Army's SAM project, codenamed Nike.
Given the radars available in 1950, when the Nike project began to come to fruition, a single cell of bombers would present as a single blip on the radar. This meant that the Nike missile would hit only one aircraft and miss the others. It would be possible, but not cost effective, to salvo missiles at the cell in the hopes of knocking down all the bombers, so the Nike was armed with a nuclear warhead. Even if only one bomber was hit, the blast would still destroy or cripple the others. The project was divided into the Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules, depending on what type of warhead was to be used. The Nike Ajax was simpler, so it was deployed first, in 1954--the first operational SAM.
By the standards of the time, the Ajax was quite advanced: when launched, the booster would launch it to a ceiling of 70,000 feet at Mach 2.2; once the booster fell away, the missile itself would be guided to the target by the controller, using radar for the intercept. Because of its large size, the Ajax was not very maneuverable, but as it was designed to be used from fixed bases against Soviet bombers, this was not deemed a problem. The radars were primitive and, despite having anywhere from 4-6 missiles on hand, the site could only guide one missile at a time, and it only had a range of 30 miles. It carried a conventional warhead.
Nonetheless, it was better than nothing, so 265 SAM sites were built around American cities and strategic targets. At first, the Army realized this was going to be a problem: to defend New York and Chicago, for instance, the battery would need to be built very close to the city itself, if not inside of it. The Army feared accidental explosions, as the Ajax missile itself used volatile liquid fuel. However, as the missiles were stored underground before being loaded and raised to fire, this turned out not to be an issue, and only one Ajax site suffered an explosion.
The Ajax's lack of range was always a concern, however, and even as the Nike Ajax reached full deployment around the US, and in Western Europe and Japan, the Nike Hercules was already beginning to replace it. The Hercules was a much longer-ranged, more reliable missile, and could carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The last US-based Nike Ajax site converted to Hercules in 1963, though Japan's Ajaxes remained in service well into the 1970s. After the Ajax was retired, the Army found itself with thousands of unusued boosters, so these were turned into sounding rockets.
EDIT (2024): All this time, I had this missile listed as a Nike Hercules. It isn't--it's a Nike Ajax. Whoops.
In 1957, to defend the 28th Bomb Wing's bombers at Ellsworth AFB, the US Army built four Nike Ajax batteries around the base. Three of the batteries were only active for a year before they were dismantled in 1958, while the remaining site was converted to MIM-14 Nike Hercules operations. It was deactivated in 1961.
Bell MIM-3 Nike Ajax
As aircraft became faster and flew higher after World War II, the assumption made by both sides of the Cold War was that conventional antiaircraft guns were now obsolete. The Korean and Vietnam Wars proved that this was not quite true, but both the United States and the USSR began working on guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that could intercept high-flying bombers. Bell Aircraft won the contract for the US Army's SAM project, codenamed Nike.
Given the radars available in 1950, when the Nike project began to come to fruition, a single cell of bombers would present as a single blip on the radar. This meant that the Nike missile would hit only one aircraft and miss the others. It would be possible, but not cost effective, to salvo missiles at the cell in the hopes of knocking down all the bombers, so the Nike was armed with a nuclear warhead. Even if only one bomber was hit, the blast would still destroy or cripple the others. The project was divided into the Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules, depending on what type of warhead was to be used. The Nike Ajax was simpler, so it was deployed first, in 1954--the first operational SAM.
By the standards of the time, the Ajax was quite advanced: when launched, the booster would launch it to a ceiling of 70,000 feet at Mach 2.2; once the booster fell away, the missile itself would be guided to the target by the controller, using radar for the intercept. Because of its large size, the Ajax was not very maneuverable, but as it was designed to be used from fixed bases against Soviet bombers, this was not deemed a problem. The radars were primitive and, despite having anywhere from 4-6 missiles on hand, the site could only guide one missile at a time, and it only had a range of 30 miles. It carried a conventional warhead.
Nonetheless, it was better than nothing, so 265 SAM sites were built around American cities and strategic targets. At first, the Army realized this was going to be a problem: to defend New York and Chicago, for instance, the battery would need to be built very close to the city itself, if not inside of it. The Army feared accidental explosions, as the Ajax missile itself used volatile liquid fuel. However, as the missiles were stored underground before being loaded and raised to fire, this turned out not to be an issue, and only one Ajax site suffered an explosion.
The Ajax's lack of range was always a concern, however, and even as the Nike Ajax reached full deployment around the US, and in Western Europe and Japan, the Nike Hercules was already beginning to replace it. The Hercules was a much longer-ranged, more reliable missile, and could carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The last US-based Nike Ajax site converted to Hercules in 1963, though Japan's Ajaxes remained in service well into the 1970s. After the Ajax was retired, the Army found itself with thousands of unusued boosters, so these were turned into sounding rockets.
EDIT (2024): All this time, I had this missile listed as a Nike Hercules. It isn't--it's a Nike Ajax. Whoops.
In 1957, to defend the 28th Bomb Wing's bombers at Ellsworth AFB, the US Army built four Nike Ajax batteries around the base. Three of the batteries were only active for a year before they were dismantled in 1958, while the remaining site was converted to MIM-14 Nike Hercules operations. It was deactivated in 1961.