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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1949.PDF
752 WBm MISSILES 1963 Raborn, Jr, on February 26, 1962. Assisting him is an imposing team of Navy missile experts, major industrial firms (many of which are listed on page 757) and scientific leaders. Operational FBM submarines are under the control of the Com mander-in-Chief, US Atlantic Command, who exercises his authority through the C-in-C, US Atlantic Fleet and Commander, Submarine Force, US Atlantic Fleet. Target selection and assign ments for operational FBM submarines are made under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with the assignments to other parts of the Nation's strategic retaliatory force. The Special Pro jects Office will continue to manage the research and development programmes for longer-range versions of Polaris missiles, advanced versions of FBM submarines and associated equipment. The Concept With almost unlimited cruising range, and with endurance limited only by the crew, the FBM submarine is capable of extended submerged operation in the international waters of the world which comprise about 70 per cent of the Earth's surface. Free of the need to surface or extend a snorkel above the surface. POLARIS MISSILES Length Diameter Weight Powered stages Motor-case material Nozzles Controls Propeliant Guidance Range Warhead Al 28ft 6in 54in 28,3001b two Ist-stage, steel 2nd-stage. steel four in each stage 1 st-stage. jetevators1 2nd-stage, jetevators' solid :polyurethane. ammonium perchlorate, light metals all-inertial 1,200 n.m. (1,375 miles) nuclear (about 0.5 MT) A2 31ft 54m 32,0001b two Ist-stage, steel 2nd-stage, glass- fibre1 four in each stage Ist-stage, jetevators1 2nd-stage, rotating nozzles' solid: Ist-stage, as in Al; 2nd-stage, double-base all-inertial 1,500 n.m. (1,725 miles) nuclear A3 31ft 3in 54in 35,0O0lb two Ist-stage, glass-fibre4 2nd-stage, glass- fibre4 four in each stage Ist-stage, rotating nozzles' 2nd-stage, fluid injection3 solid: formulation not releasable all-inertial5 2,500 n.m. (2.880 miles) nuclear Notes: I, Devised and first flown by Navy in Polaris development programme; 2, small glass-fibre case had previously flown in Vanguard programme, but Polaris was first large glass-fibre rocket motor case; 3, fluid injection was successfully flown in I960, using Al missile; 4, first large ballistic missile to use glass motor cases for all stages; 5, inertial guidance system of Polaris Al and A2 was smallest system built at that time, and inertial guidance system of A3 is only about one-third as large. The most detailed drawing yet published of a US Navy Polaris-firing subm FLIGHT International, 7 November 1963 FBM submarines remain hidden by an oceanic curtain. But they are at all times under US control. The Polaris missile, powered by solid propeliant, is ready for launch within minutes of receiving the command without the need for long countdown. Mobile, hidden, ready for instant action (or carefully considered delayed action), the FBM system is considered to provide the United States with an unanswerable weapon. The Missile Polaris, named after the North Star, is a two-stage ballistic missile powered by solid-fuel rocket motors and guided by a self-contained inertial system independent of external com mand or control. The 1,200 n.m. (1,380 mile) range missile is designated Polaris Al. Basic data are tabulated on this page. Each motor exerts thrust through four nozzles in the motor base. Thrust vector (direction) control is exercised by devices called jetevators. Both motor cases are welded from u.h.t. steel sheet. Flight testing of the first experimental Polaris AX series began on September 28, 1958. As was to be expected in the pioneer work in large solid-propellant rockets, of which Polaris was the first, the record of successful flights in the early phases was not spectacular. The failures were important because of what could be learned from them; but the successes were even more significant. The first attempt to launch the missile from a submarine-type launching tube (from the land-based ship motion simulator) and to ignite the first stage some 60ft in mid-air was a complete success. The first attempt to conduct the same test from the launching tube mounted in the large surface ship USS Observation Island was also a complete success. Following the development plan, after 17 AX flight tests, the pre-prototype tactical A1X version began flight tests on Sept ember 21, 1959. During the next ten months, 30 A1X models were flown at the Atlantic Missile Range. New lightweight hardware was introduced, and new structures and controls designed for reliability and ease of maintenance and repair replaced earlier R&D hardware. Flights began under the control of the smallest all-inertial guidance system developed to that time. The record of "success on first try" grew. The first A1X flight, the first inertially-guided flight and the first flight of the prototype tactical version all were completely successful. The 31st A1 marked the most significant test of all, the first sub merged firing of a Polaris from a submerged submarine. On July 30. 1960, the lead Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine USS George Wash ington conducted a completely successful firing while submerged off Cape Canaveral. Less than three hours later, to prove that beginner's luck had nothing to do with it, she launched a second Polaris. It was, if anything, a better shot than the first. Polaris Al development flight test continued, and by mid-November 1960, when the last A1X was launched (other than submarine firings, which are not considered R&D tests), the totals stood at 28 successes, 11 partial successes and one failure. . Our artist has chosen SSBN 608, "Ethan Allen" (Key, foot of col 2 opposite)
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