Linthicum Heights in Anne Arundel County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Nike Ajax
Anti-Aircraft Missile Radar
In the 1950's there were seven batteries of Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missiles located around Baltimore to protect the city, Friendship Airport, and various industrial sites, as well as the Aberdeen ordnance and Edgewood chemical facilities from Russian bombers.
Various Air Force and Navy air-warning net systems would alert the Army Nike site to hostile approaching aircraft.
The Nike-Ajax (Army) was the first operational American surface-to-air missile, SAM-A-7, replacing 90mm and 120 mm anti-aircraft guns of WWII.
This is the antenna of the target tracking radar, MPA-4. Subsequently the missile became a radar "beam rider" and thus could counter target evasive action.
By 1956, eighty Nike-Ajax sites were operating in the U.S.
Prime Contractor: Western Electric
Guidance: Bell Labs
Propulsion: Aerojet-General
Airframe: Douglas
Missile Performance
Speed - Mach 2
Range - 30 miles
Ceiling - 65,000 feet.
Erected by National Electronics Museum.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Industry & Commerce • Military • War, Cold. A significant historical year for this entry is 1956.
Location. Marker
this page online
Regionally, this marker was in Maryland’s Baltimore Metro Region. It was also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it was in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this location, measured as the crow flies: Stoney Run Train Station (approx. 0.9 miles away); Elkridge Furnace Inn (approx. 1.6 miles away); Elkridge Landing (approx. 1.8 miles away); a different marker also named Elkridge Landing (approx. 1.8 miles away); Linthicum Heights (approx. 1.8
Photographed by Adam Margolis, December 19, 2022
2. Nike Ajax Marker
Marker is the rightmost of the ones along the sidewalk.
Other markers no longer nearby. TPS-43 (was here, next to this marker but has been confirmed missing); AN/SPG-55B Radar (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been confirmed missing); SCR-270 Radar Antenna (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been confirmed missing); XAF Radar Antenna (was about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line but has been confirmed missing); a different marker also named Elkridge Furnace Inn (was approx. 1.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Benson-Hammond House Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line / Linthicum Heights Holly Run Church (was approx. 1.9 miles away but has been confirmed missing).
Photographed by Adam Margolis, December 19, 2022
3. Nike Ajax
Credits. This page was last revised on September 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on March 30, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 567 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on March 30, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 2, 3. submitted on March 21, 2023, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California.
