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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2509.PDF
FLIGHT, 4 November 1960 713 Atlas ICBM for deployment from fixed bases US AIR FORCE IN last year's review we wrote "outside theSoviet Union, the USAF Weapon System 107A-1, of which the Atlas missile forms apart, is the only ICBM system to have reached the operational stage"; and this is still the case.Although Convair's first research and develop- ment contract for a long-range ballistic mis-sile was awarded as early as 1946, state-of-the- art advances in all aspects of the concept, par-ticularly in warhead yield per unit weight, delayed progress for nine years, and the go-ahead on WS-107A-1 was not received until January 1955. Captive testing began the fol-lowing year and the first Atlas flew in June 1957. The first full-range flight took place inNovember 1958, the first launch by a Strategic Air Command crew using operational ground-support equipment came in September 1959, and at the time of writing there have been 70launches, 51 of them wholly or mainly successful. Features of revolutionary character wereevolved by Convair Division of General Dynamics in their role as prime contractor.These include the pure-monocoque construc- tion of the tankage sections from extremelythin stainless-steel sheet, the completed assembly being pressurized to approximately101b/ sq in to maintain stability. At the lower end the tankage section is attached to a cor-rugated booster section containing a pair of Rocketdyne LR105 engines with gimballedchambers. Between these engines is the Rocket- dyne LR89 sustainer, with a single chambergimballed to the conical base of the fuel tank. On either side of this tank is hung a smallvernier motor to provide close control of the final trajectory. All five engines are fired onthe ground; the boosters are jettisoned after approximately two minutes, and powered flightcontinues for a further three minutes when firing on a full-range trajectory. After vernier shutdown, the nosecone andre-entry vehicle are separated from the remainder of the airframe and the latter ispulled back by small retro-rockets. The bal- listic trajectory lasts approximately a further30min and reaches an apogee of some 800 miles. Finally the missile and nosecone (by now several miles apart) re-enter the atmosphere,encountering conditions which only the re-entry vehicle can survive. The first type of re-entryvehicle flown on the Atlas was the General Electric Mk 2, with a heavy copper heat-sinkimpacting subsonically. The operational ver- sion is the same company's Mk 3 ablative pat-tern, which reduces the weight and greatly improves both accuracy and impact velocity.The Avco RVX-4 has also flown on Atlas, and the big Mk 4 cone may become an operationalalternative to the Mk 3. Initially Atlas was designed to use a radio/inertial guidance system, the missile's trajectory being plotted by powerful GE ground radarsand their measurements being translated into corrective signals by a Burroughs computer.Although this system has been employed on most of the missiles so far launched, it wasdecided two years ago to transfer it to the first series of Titans in exchange for the lattermissile's pure-inertial guidance by American Bosch Anna. Production of Atlas is now at the maximumprogrammed rate at the ad hoc Convair Astro- nautics plant north of San Diego. During thefirst 30 months of Atlas manufacture all mis- siles were delivered on trailer/erectors builtby Goodyear Aircraft, but since November 1959 deliveries have been accomplished byDouglas C-133Bs. The first Strategic Air Command Atlas base is at Vandenberg AFB,home of the 1st Missile Division. This is the operational training base for all ICBMs and isthe headquarters of three squadrons, one for each type of ICBM. The Atlas squadron is the576th Strategic Missile Squadron, who fired their first missile on September 9, 1959. All the missiles deployed by the 576th SMSat Vandenberg are in soft (above-ground) emplacements which are direct refinements ofthe original research and development installa- tions constructed at Cape Canaveral. The firstpurely operational Atlas base is Warren AFB, where three Atlas squadrons will occupy siteswithin a radius of 50 miles of Cheyenne, Wyoming. The 564th SMS occupy six softemplacements with end-sliding roofs all arranged in a single complex. The 565th SMSare occupying three complexes each contain- ing three missiles in soft emplacements withsplit roofs sliding sideways (slightly reducing the erection time). The 549th SMS will havenine missiles, each in a completely isolated semi-hard installation in which the missile lieshorizontally below ground level until erection. A total of 13 operational Atlas squadrons hasbeen announced; the three already mentioned, and one each at Vandenberg, Offutt, Fairchild,Forbes, Schilling, Lincoln, Altus, Dyess, Walker and Plattsburgh. Training facilities arebeing activated at Sheppard and Chanute AFBs. Of the 13 squadrons, the first seven (three atWarren, and Vandenberg, Offutt, Fairchild and Forbes) will be soft or semi-hardened. Theremaining six will be fully hardened emplace- ments housing the missile vertically in a silo175ft deep and 52ft in diameter. The missiles will be suspended in shock-absorbing cradles,this having been found to provide maximum protection against nearby nuclear explosions.Elevators will raise the missiles to the surface during the countdown. Each of these fullyhardened installations will have 12 launchers instead of the standard nine, under an expan-sion programme approved last April. Bearing in mind that the first Warren squadron hasonly six missiles, this means a total of 132 operational Atlas ICBMs, all of which shouldbe emplaced within 18 months. The total number at present on launchers is about 15,and labour trouble has put base-construction a little behind schedule. Important flights since our 1959 reviewinclude the following: January 26, missile 6D, successful 4,500-mile flight by SAC crew fromVandenberg; same day, 44D, successful 5,000- mile flight carrying Avco RVX-4 re-entryvehicle; February 26, 29D, launch of first Midas infra-red surveillance satellite; March 8,42D, full-range flight with all-inertial guid- ance on open loop; May 20, 56D, successfulflight of 9,040 miles to impact area in Indian Ocean (this missile was identical in power toother series-D Atlases and demonstrated a range capability realized by re-programmingthe flight path; it carried an operational nose- cone, which was not recovered, and 1,0001b oftest instrumentation which would not be present in an operational missile); May 24,45D, successful launch of Midas satellite; June 11, 54D, successful full-range flight con-trolled by inertial system; October 11, 3E, first launch of advanced operational series. The Eseries have increased power resulting from the improved MA-3 propulsion system, giving anoperational range of up to 10,000 miles with full payload. It is the first production variantwith inertial guidance, and will equip all opera- tional squadrons except for the 576th and564th. Atlas provides booster power for the Midasand Samos USAF satellite systems, which are respectively to provide infra-red and photo-graphic surveillance. The missile also forms the first stage of Mercury (man-in-space) andthe high-energy Centaur, as well as having been responsible for many space shots, mated withAble or Agena second stages. Blue Streak THIS ballistic missile was intended for deploy-ment by RAF Bomber Command in fixed, hardened silos. Having a design range ofabout 2,500 n.m., it was a straightforward concept managed by D.H. Propellers, with astainless-steel balloon-type airframe made by D.H. Aircraft (assisted by Convair), twin LO,/kerosine engines by Rolls-Royce (assisted by Rocketdyne), inertial guidance by Sperry andfired from a Morfax launcher rotating in azimuth. The contract was cancelled in Aprilof this year, about a year from first flight, when total R and D costs had amounted to about£65m. French IRBM FOR more than two years France has beenassiduously perfecting her own nuclear weapons, and, although she is as yet a longway even from having one which could be put inside a missile, she is striving to developdelivery systems involving both manned bombers and ballistic missiles. The former isthe Mirage 4. The latter is to be a solid- propellant intermediate-range weapon whichmay be expected to learn all it can from such advanced American missiles as Polaris, Pershingand Minuteman. The programme is being managed by an ad hoc consortium namedSereb (Soc d'Etudes et de Realisation d'Engins Ballistiques), which embraces both governmentestablishments and industry. Jupiter Intermediate-range ballistic missile for deploy-ment from mobile, soft emplacements us AIR FORCE; SCHEDULED FOR DEPLOYMENT BY THE ITALIAN AIR FORCE AND ARMED FORCES OF TURKEY DEVELOPMENT of Jupiter began at the USArmy Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal early in 1956. Its clouded politicalbackground will be found outlined in our 1958 review, and a full description in our 1959review (pages 511-2). Its concept could hardly be more straightforward. The propulsive sec-tion is a pure cylinder, fabricated from alu- minium alloy, the tail having axial corrugationsto increase stiffness. The engine is a Rocket- dyne S-3D, and the turbopump exhaust ispiped outboard to a swivelling nozzle to pro- vide roll control. The inertial guidance system,by ABMA and Ford Instrument, is mounted in the aft section of the nose, where it governsthe trajectory after separation from the main body by controlling a solid vernier motor.When the correct trajectory has been achieved explosive bolts separate the warhead and abla-tive nosecone. Jupiter entered the flight-test stage onMarch 1, 1957, and the final research and development launch took place on February 4last. A total of 29 missiles flew during the programme, and four were launched as spaceboosters with the designation Juno 2. Opera- tional control of Jupiter was transferred by theSecretary of Defense to the USAF Strategic Air Command. Early in 1958 the 864thStrategic Missile Squadron was activated at Redstone Arsenal, and is now an operationalunit capable of being deployed overseas (since the missile does not require a fixed base).Nothing has been heard of the 856th or 866th, also announced in 1958 as Jupiter units. Red-stone has for some months been training units
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