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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1958.PDF
FLIGHT International, 7 November 1963 Hi MISSILES 1963 upon contact; and it is non-cryogenic, i.e., not refrigerated. This means that Titan II may be kept for months at a time with its tanks filled, and the development of a new silo design with a diagonal exhaust duct on each side enables the weapon to be fired from the bottom of the silo. This reduces overall reaction time to about one minute. Titan II has the longest range of any Western missile, and its General Electric Mk 6 re-entry vehicle carries the largest warhead and the most sophisticated decoys and penetration aids. Experience gained at Vandenberg suggests that it should soon be possible to refurbish a silo in one day after a firing, which could be of military significance. At present the job takes about three days, largely because most of the acoustic panels—372 in each exhaust duct and 546 in the silo—are blasted out or melted, at a cost of $250,000. The Titan II complex has nine dispersed silos, and six squadrons are planned grouped in pairs at these bases: Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona; McConnell AFB, Wichita, Kansas; and Little Rock AFB, Little Rock, Arkansas. A sixth complex (Griffiss AFB, New York) was cancelled. Only Davis-Monthan is operational, and deployment has been held up by an annoying fault—slow leakage of N204—which required the return to Denver of the second stages already delivered. Titan II has been modified to act as the launch vehicle for the two-man Gemini, and it forms the core vehicle of the USAF Standard Space Launch Vehicle 624A (Titan III-A, or III-C with two 1,000,0001b boosters). Atlas completes the Strategic Air Command ICBM force. The United States "deterrent" probably owes more to this vehicle than to any other single weapon apart from the original fission bomb. The SAC force comprises 126 (or 129) missiles in 13 squadrons at 11 bases. Atlas D (soft emplacement) equips three squadrons (9 + 6 + 6) all at Francis E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Atlas E (semi-hard "coffin" emplacement) equips four squadrons of nine, at Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kansas; Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska; Fairchild AFB, Spokane, Wash; and the training base at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Atlas F (vertical silo emplacement) equips six squadrons of 12 missiles each, at Altus AFB, Altus, Okla; Dyess AFB, Abilene, Tex; Lincoln AFB, Lincoln, Neb; Plattsburg AFB, Plattsburg, NY; Schilling AFB, Salina, Kan; and Walker AFB, Roswell, N Mex. Base costs average $15-20m per year per squadron. All three types of weapon system have been, or are being, subjected to progressive updating and modification to reduce maintenance costs and improve performance, reliability and safety. Almost 200 Atlas have been launched, many of them as boosters for military and civilian payloads which included all four Mercury manned orbital flights. Withdrawal of Atlas from the active SAC inventory is scheduled to begin next year. The prime contractor, General Dynamics/Astronautics, is now delivering the first stand ardized launch vehicle, SLV-3, many of which will be modified ex-SAC missiles. Already over 30 SLV-3 boosters are programmed for various Air Force and NASA payloads. Following these well-known ICBMs the US Air Force has con ducted very extensive studies into all conceivable new nuclear delivery systems. One of the most promising schemes is to store dormant encapsulated missiles deep under water, with various ieasible launch techniques. Water is an excellent neutron-absorber, and many Americans are very worried at the electromagnetic pulse radiation (EMP) from thermonuclear explosions. In June the USAF announced that it was studying "an advanced ICBM with a faster reaction and heavier payload than Minuteman." One of the major design goals in this weapon would be the ability to react swiftly and reliably and achieve adequate accuracy (circular-error probability of Minuteman is already less than a mile) after spending perhaps years in a hole in the ground or under the sea. A second possible system is the orbital bomb, either manned or ^manned. Publicly the Soviet Union has waxed more enthusiastic about such a concept than has the US, and it appears to have more 'mportance as a pyschological device. Associated both with the orbital bombs and advanced ICBMs are new types of re-entry v chicle; two often-heard schemes are MARV (manoeuvring anti- radiation vehicle) and MBRV (manoeuvrable ballistic re-entry v ehicle). 761 The third delivery system is the LASV (low-altitude supersonic vehicle). This was formerly called SLAM, the derivation of which is obvious; and the change probably reflects the addition of a human crew into the airborne portion. Ling-Temco-Vought has held Air Force contracts in this field for almost four years, and the Navy is also extremely interested. LASV would cruise at over Mach 3 on the power of a chemical or nuclear ramjet, and the Tory series of nuclear reactors for the Pluto ramjets is principally for the LASV. LASV poses extreme problems: navigation over global distances at tree-top height; extreme aerodynamic buffeting, kinetic heating and probably a necessity to fly out again from the target; a nuclear-radiative environment, and a probably lethal trail from the propulsion laid across land and sea at low level; and the fact that the relationship between speed and height above ground is critical, except over the sea or flat country, and may well result in a manned LASV becoming vulnerable to post-1965 defensive missiles. France has for several years been engaged in the development of strategic missiles for use from both land and sea. Beyond the obvious fact that such weapons would be managed by the ad hoc consortium SEREB, and possibly bear a relation to the precious- stone series of space vehicles (Flight International, August 1, 1963), little can reliably be reported about these programmes. M Messmer, Minister of the Armed Forces, states that "wholly French" rockets for submarine launching will be "ready by 1968"; they will have a range of 3,000km (1,865 miles), two stages of solid propulsion and inertial guidance. Finally a word should be added about a weapon which only just qualifies for inclusion, the MMRBM (mobile medium-range ballistic missile) which the US Department of Defense has been toying with for two years. MMRBM has been suggested partly to fill in the range gap between Pershing (300 miles) and the Polaris and the defunct Thor and Jupiter (1,500-odd miles), but its real importance lies in the military significance of a weapon system with a range of 300 to 1,500 miles which can be mounted on a rough- road vehicle. MMRBM is intended chiefly for deployment in Europe and Asia. Although a full range of industrial contractors has long been engaged in programme definition and feasibility studies, no full- scale go-ahead has been ordered (a decision was expected last month). Most important element would be a stellar-monitored inertial guidance system (STINGS), managed by GPI. The navigation and guidance must determine the precise position of the transporter/launcher, and also lock-on to stars (probably two) to refine the trajectory before burnout of the two solid- propellant stages. The missile itself would probably weigh 10,000 to 13,0001b, although the complete vehicle might weigh 60,0001b. Tactical Missiles FOR several years the US Army has been faced with a severe dilemma, in that the existing series of guided and free-flight battle field weapons leave much to be desired, yet on a McNamara-type cost/effectiveness evaluation are superior to anything that can be found to replace them. Only in the field of really deep-penetration weapons is the picture bright, for the Pershing weapon system is an unqualified success. Developed under the system management of Martin-Orlando to replace the obsolescent Redstone, Pershing is carried on four XM-474 tracked vehicles. One of these houses the Collins tropo- spheric-scatter communications set, with UOin inflatable dish aerial, the second carries the programmer test station and electrical power, the third carries the long, pointed nuclear warhead and the azimuth-laying box, and the fourth carries the missile, mounted on a wheeled erector/launcher which is employed alone in the helicopter- transportable version of the system which can be carried by two CH-47 Chinooks. Propulsion is effected by two stages of Thiokol solid fuel, with aerodynamic-fin control. Guidance is pure inertial, by Eclipse- Pioneer division of Bendix. During the R&D firing trials Pershing established an unrivalled record of success: 44 successes, six partials and two failures. All the final R&D shots, during the first quarter of this year, were made under simulated combat conditions— some after forced journeys across country—and many were made
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