FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1782.PDF
FLIGHT International, II June 1964 991 First of the new standardized Atlas SLV-3 space launch vehicles, here seen (foreground) in the General DynamicsjAstronautics assembly and checkout dock, San Diego plant, was delivered to the US Air Force on May 18. Standardized autopilot guidance, tracking, telemetry and electrical system units can be installed on the basic airframe Missiles and Spaceflight POLARIS TODAY The first firings by a US Navy submarine of the latest Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile, the 2,800-mile A-3, were carried out off Cape Kennedy, Florida, on May 25. Two missiles with dummy warheads were fired from underwater by USS Daniel Webster (SSBN.626) within 45min of each other. Rear Admiral I. J. "Pete" Galantin, USN Director of Special Projects, announced that the two successful firings "mean the A-3 will be deployed in submarines in the Pacific before the end of 1964." Admiral Galantin described the A-3 as "90 per cent different in its research and development from the A-2." The original Polaris A-l had a range of about 1,200 miles; the A-2, the version equipping most of the SSBNs today, has a range of about 1,500 miles. All were described in this journal last November 7. The Admiral continued: "The US Navy now has 14 nuclear submarines equipped with Polaris missiles, with the deployment today [May 25] of the USS Nathan Hale (SSBN.623) from Charles- ton, South Carolina." He added that the 14 submarines carry 224 missiles. Eventually, 28 of the 41 Polaris submarines currently authorized by the US Navy will be equipped with A-3s. Of the 14 submarines deployed, the 1,500-mile A-2 is operational in all but a few, including the first five which were originally equipped with 1,200-mile A-ls. The first SSBN, the USS George Washington, put to sea in November 1960. In his remarks, Admiral Galantin touched on several subjects, including an election-year controversy over the accuracy of US missiles. "In 40 operational launchings of Polaris missiles to date," he noted, "34 warheads [all but one was a dummy] fell in the target area. And since the first Polaris-equipped submarine went on patrol in 1960, more than 90 additional patrols have been carried out. Each of these was for at least 60 days underwater. Yet, there have been no aborts, no submarines have been late in deployment, no early returns from patrol, and no missed communication." Recent studies made by the US Navy indicate that at least 15 of the 16 Impression by a Westinghouse artist of one of the many types of futuristic submarines being studied by the company (see "Polaris Today") missiles on each deployed submarine have been ready to fire 99.9 per cent of the time, and all 16 missiles have been ready for firing over 97 per cent of the time. Looking beyond the A-3 Polaris, Admiral Galantin said the US Navy has asked for §5m to begin work on a new fleet ballistic missile designated the B-3. "This missile would have a greatly increased payload," he explained, "though its range would be about the same as the A-3. It will have a greater diameter, but the same length as the A-3. All of the nuclear submarines can be adapted to it at modest cost, except for the first five that entered the fleet." This was the first official reference to B-3, which is expected to confer upon Polaris a multi-warhead capability. The Admiral also briefly touched on Navy thinking about a new submersible "for the 1980s, when many of our present-day nuclear submarines will be 20 years old." He said the Office of Naval Research is looking into a project to develop a tandem-propeller submarine that could work close to the ocean floor. Its entire propulsion system would be outside the hull, so as to avoid the complicated problem of scaling a propeller shaft that otherwise would have to pass through the hull. The Navy is looking both at titanium and high-silicate glass [which becomes stronger under pressure] as the material for such a submersible. On May 26 Westinghouse, always a major Polaris system contractor, announced a contract for a feasibility study of "unique undersea vehicles" for the USN Special Projects Office. This programme is a serious one—an outgrowth in part of the loss of the USS Thresher off Connecticut. Westinghouse say:— "The contract for a feasibility study of advanced manned mobile systems is part of the Navy's long-range planning for its advanced sea-based deterrent (ASBD) programme. . . The Westinghouse study contract will help develop underseas concepts which could be incorporated in submersibles that the Navy may build in the next ten or fifteen years. Technological information and research in new materials for hull construction will be evaluated in the light of submarine detection techniques which may be in operation in the future . . . Design concepts are in the earliest stages; but sub- marines of the future will probably be distinctly different from anything now in existence . . ." IONOSPHERIC ARCH Analysis of topside-sounder data obtained from the Canadian Alouette satellite at the Singapore out-station of the Radio Research Station, Slough, has shown interesting new structural features of the upper inonosphere above the equator. The findings were reported at the fifth COSPAR symposium in Florence last month by Dr J. W. King, Mr D. Eccles and Mr P. A. Smith of the Radio Research Station. An intense flux of electrons, they reported, rises in an arch centred on the geomagnetic equator. The top of the arch lies at 800 miles and it has been traced down to 300 miles by the ionospheric
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
