Mace

Mace. . The Mace was an Air Force surface-to-surface, winged cruise missile, about the same size and weight as a small jet fighter. It was launched from a mobile trailer or from a bomb-proof shelter by a booster rocket which dropped away after launch; a J33 jet engine then propelled the missile to the target. It was capable of carrying a conventional or nuclear warhead., Mace had a new guidance system, called ATRAN (Automatic Terrain Recognition And Navigation). ATRAN matched the radar return of the surface with pre-programmed radar "maps" carried on board the missile which corrected the flight path if it deviated from the map. The system was fully autonomous and jamming-resistant. The disadvantage, however, was the necessity to obtain radar images of the potential target areas, which was not an easy task in the 1950's., Development of the Mace began in 1954. The Air Force deployed it in Europe in 1959. Its later version, the Mace "B," remained operational in Europe and the Pacific until the early 1970s., At White Sands Missile Range, it was first tested in 1959, when 46 were launched. Between 1959 and 1963, 72 were flown here., In 1965, the Army's Pershing missile replaced the Air Force's Mace, because of the Pershing's high-speed launch ability. By 1966, Mace had been withdrawn, and by 1971 it was no longer in active service. The remaining missiles were used as full-size target drones because their size and performance characteristics resembled those of manned aircraft., Length: 44 feet 9 inches (13.6 m) , Diameter: 4 feet 6 inches (1.2 m) , Weight: 18,000 pounds (8000 kg) , Propellant: Turbojet engine , Range: 600-1,500 miles (1300 km - 2400 km) , Ceiling: 40,000 feet (12,200 m) , First Fired: 1959