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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1950.PDF
: J 753 fj FLIGHT l| Internatiat 11 7 Novemb 1 1963 1 Since July 1960, a total of 12 Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines have conducted submerged firings off Cape Canaveral. One sub marine of that group, USS Ethan Allen, was the first to conduct a submerged launch of the second-generation Polaris, the A2, off Cape Canaveral in October 1961. Since it is a matter bearing on operational capabilities of US deterrent systems, the total firing record of Polaris submarines has not been released by the Depart ment of Defense. Development flight testing of the Polaris A2 began in November 1960, and continued in parallel with submarine firings of the Polaris Al. Originally conceived as basically an Al with a 30in-longer first stage, the A2 has developed into a missile with many advances over the Al, and has enjoyed a high degree of success in development flight tests. The points of difference are described in the comparative table. First-try successes continued to characterize the development programme: first A2X, first glass-fibre second-stage motor case, first A2 guided flight, first A2 air-eject launch from USS Observation Island and first A2 submerged submarine firing, which took place from USS Ethan Allen off the Florida coast on October 23, 1961. The complete system became operational on November 15, 1960, with the deployment of USS George Washington loaded with 16 Polaris Al missiles. The first five submarines can carry only Al missiles, but will be given A2 and A3 capability when they return to the United States for their first major overhaul. The remaining 36 Polaris submarines now in commission, under construction, or planned will be capable of firing Al, A2 or A3. Polaris A3 is a significantly greater advance over A2 than was Polaris A2 over Al. Its range is designed to be 2,500 n.m. (2,880 miles). It continues the rapid pace of significant advances across a wide band of the sciences which have marked the Fleet Ballistic Missile weapon-system programme. This very fact of the advanced and experimental nature of the Polaris A3, which is designed to have 60 per cent greater range than the A2 with no increase in the overall size of the missile, should be a caution against expecting an immediate introduction to service. The purpose of a development flight-test programme is to put to practical test the theories and laboratory experiments on which the missile design is based. It can be expected that the more severe environ ment of full-scale flight will uncover items which require modifica tion and redesign. Inadequacies originally undiscovered may produce spectacular results as they demonstrate themselves during flight test. Nevertheless, the outstanding team which brought Polaris Al and USS ETHAN ALLEN 1 Multi-blade screw 2 Control surfaces (all-flying): rudder and rear hydroplanes 3 Reduction gearbox 4 Main turbine, 15,000 s.h.p. 5 Condenser 6 Auxiliary turbine 7 Escape hatches from auxiliary equip ment room 8 Electrical compartment 9 Auxiliary diesel 10 Reactor room 11 Main gyro room 12 Ballast tanks 13 Centre missile level station 14 Missile compensating sea-water tanks 15 Free-flooding area 16 Missile tube hatches 17 Sail (conning tower) with radio metric sun tracker and optical star tracker 18 Bridge or cockpit I? Forward hydroplanes ("fairwater planes") 20 Three SINS (ship's inertial navi gation system) and Navdac 21 Ship control and attack centre 22 Radio and Sonar centre 23 Crew berthing 24 Missile control centre, wardroom and officers' berthing area 25 Crew's mess and galley U Pressure hull 27 Torpedo room, and crew berthing from hanging bunks 28 Four torpedo tubes
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