MIM-3 Nike Ajax

MIM-3 Nike Ajax. . , The Nike Ajax was the world's first surface to air guided missile and revolutionized Air Defense around the world when it became operational at Fort Meade, MD in December 1953. The Ajax was a two stage, supersonic missile designed to defeat high altitude Soviet bombers. Designed as a direct result of Operation Paperclip (using German rocket scientists captured at the end of World War II as part of the US rocket program), the first launch of the prototype Ajax was in 1946. After several redesigns and improvements, the system went operational just after the end of the Korean War. , The system replaced the 75mm Skysweeper and 120mm Stratosphere anti aircraft gun systems that defended American cities from air attack. The missile was capable of carrying three different types of high explosive warheads. It had an overall length of 34 feet, a maximum speed of Mach 2.3 or 1,679 miles per hour and an effective ceiling of 65,000 feet. Soviet doctrine of the day intended to use atomic bomb-armed formations of bombers to attack US cities, a threat that could overwhelm the precision Ajax, which was intended to shoot down single aircraft. a result, the Nike program redesigned the missile and in 1958 introduced the nuclear-armed Nike Hercules. The last operational Nike Ajax site in the United States ceased operations in 1964. , Length: - 32 ft 8 in - 9.98 m , Wingspan: - 6 ft 4 in - 1.9 m , Weight: - 2,455 lb - 1,115 kg , Speed: - Mach 2.25 , Range: - 30 miles - 48 km , Ceiling: - 70,000 ft - 21,000 m , Warhead: - Three High Explosive fragmentation warheads at the front, center and rear of the warhead section.