Nike Ajax

Nike Ajax. . Ajax was the first guided missile to "kill" an airplane, the first to reach operational status, and the first to be deployed in large numbers to defend the United States against an aircraft attack., Named for the Greek goddess of Victory, Ajax was the first supersonic antiaircraft guided missile designed to intercept and destroy bomber aircraft regardless of evasive action. It represents an order of magnitude improvement in air defense capability over that possible with conventional gun-type weapons. Nike Ajax was the grandfather of all Army guided missiles. From it evolved Hercules and then Zeus., The pen-shaped Ajax was a two-stage liquid-fueled missile with a solid-propellant booster. The sustainer motor used nitric acid and JP-4 jet fuel to produce 2,600 pounds of thrust for 30 seconds. It delivered high-explosive warheads to a radar-determined intercept point with target aircraft., In January 1945, before the end of World War II, the Ordnance Department authorized Bell Telephone Laboratories to develop a complete anti-aircraft guided missile capable of combating high-speed and high-flying aircraft. By mid-1945, the Nike Research and Development was underway and on September 24, 1946, the first Nike booster with a dummy missile was fired from Army Blockhouse at the year-old White Sands Proving Ground., Between September 24 and October 1, 1946, while the German V-2 program was getting off the ground at WSPG, three wooden dummy missiles in the Nike R&D program were boosted to supersonic speeds. Then followed nine powered but unguided rounds, the last fired January 28, 1947., For three years, various components were test-fired, despite delays caused by funding problems. The success of the Nike R&D tests, plus the growing concern over the world situation in 1950, brought an order from Army Ordnance to develop a tactical missile system, to be designated "Nike One." In October 1951, for the first time, all Nike components were brought together in one missile and Nike One, America's first guided antiaircraft missile, was fired at White Sands Proving Ground. This marked the birth of the Nike family of missiles., Ajax made history on April 24, 1952. Armed for the first time with a live warhead, a Nike | Ajax missile successfully intercepted and destroyed in mid-air a remotely controlled QB-17 bomber high over White Sands Proving Ground. A three-man tracking crew photographed the moment of intercept. Their photo won the 1955 Ernie Pyle Award for Outstanding Contribution towards National Security by a Still Photograph., Three Nike I ground systems (radars and related equipment) and 1,000 missiles were delivered to White Sands in 1952. The first Nike I battery and assembly area prototype was set up for operation at WSPG in January 1953. Later that year, the first Nike missile was fired from an underground launch facility. The first Nike unit was put on site at Ft. Meade, Maryland, and on May 30, 1954, became fully operational on an around-the-clock combat-ready status., The name was changed to Nike Ajax on November 15, 1956., During the mid-1950s, Nike systems were installed along the Eastern seaboard. Troop training in firing the system was conducted by the Army Air Defense School at WSPG. Later, the system was deployed to Allied nations as air defense around industrial and metropolitan centers., In November 1964, after a decade (1954-1964) of guarding strategic industrial centers throughout the Western World, the last Nike Ajax was withdrawn from active duty. Ajax, the world's first supersonic guided missile to become operational, had been replaced by the more advanced Nike Hercules, second-generation Nike., Between 1946 and 1959, 3929 Ajax missiles were launched at WSPG. The high was in 1956 when 781 were fired - more than two a day. The last Ajax was fired here in 1959., Length: 33 feet , Diameter: 12 inches , Weight: 2,500 pounds , Propellant: Missile-Liquid // Booster-Solid , First Firing: 1946