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{{short description|Missile program of the United States Army}}{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}File:Nike-missile-family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Nike missile family and other missiles on display at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. From left, Nike Hercules, MIM-23 Hawk (front), MGM-29 Sergeant (back), LIM-49 Spartan, MGM-31 Pershing, MGM-18 Lacrosse, MIM-3 Nike Ajax, ENTACENTACProject Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory") was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953. A great number of the technologies and rocket systems used for developing the Nike Ajax were re-used for a number of functions, many of which were given the "Nike" name (after Nike, the goddess of victory from Greek mythology).The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the basis for many types of rocket including the Nike Hercules missile and NASA's Nike Smoke rocket, used for upper-atmosphere research.

History

{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2011}}File:Nike Ajax Marion, KY PA250202.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Nike Ajax located in Marion, KentuckyMarion, KentuckyProject Nike began during 1944 when the War Department demanded a new air defense system to combat new jet aircraft, as existing gun-based systems proved largely incapable of dealing with the speeds and altitudes at which jet aircraft operated. Two proposals were accepted. Bell Laboratories offered Project Nike while General Electric proposed a much longer-ranged, collision-course system named Project Thumper, which eventually delivered the BOMARC missile.BOOK, Kendrick, Gregory, First Line of Defense, Nike Missile Sites in Illinois, 1996, Rocky Mountain System Support Office, National Park Service, Denver, Colorado, 19–26, 1st, Bell Labs' proposal would have to deal with bombers flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) or more, at altitudes of up to 60,000 ft (20,000 m).At these speeds, even a supersonic rocket is no longer fast enough to be simply aimed at the target. The missile must "lead" the target to ensure the target is hit before the missile depletes its fuel. This means that the missile and target cannot be tracked by a single radar, increasing the complexity of the system. By this point, the US had considerable experience with lead-calculating analog computers, starting with the British Kerrison Predictor and a series of increasingly capable U.S. designs.For Nike, three radars were used. The acquisition radar (such as the AN/GSS-1 Electronic Search Central with the AN/TPS-1D radar) searched for a target to be handed over to the Target Tracking Radar (TTR) for tracking. The Missile Tracking Radar (MTR) tracked the missile by way of a transponder, as the missile's radar signature alone was not sufficient. The MTR also commanded the missile by way of pulse-position modulation, the pulses were received, decoded and then amplified back for the MTR to track. Once the tracking radars were locked the system was able to work automatically following launch, barring any unexpected occurrences. The computer compared the two radars' directions, along with information on the speeds and distances, to calculate the intercept point and steer the missile. The entirety of this system was provided by the Bell System's electronics firm, Western Electric.The Douglas-built missile was a two-stage missile using a solid fuel booster stage and a liquid fueled (IRFNA/UDMH) second stage. The missile could reach a maximum speed of 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h), an altitude of 70,000 ft (21 km) and had a range of 25 miles (40 km). The missile contained an unusual three part payload, with explosive fragmentation charges at three points down the length of the missile to help ensure a lethal hit. The missile's limited range was seen by critics as a serious flaw, because it often meant that the missile had to be situated very close to the area it was protecting.Consolidated Western Steel produced the launcher loaders. Fruehauf Trailer Corporation produced the trailers.After disputes between the Army and the Air Force (see the Key West Agreement), all longer-range systems were assigned to the Air Force during 1948. They merged their own long-range research with Project Thumper, while the Army continued to develop Nike. During 1950 the Army formed the Army Anti-Aircraft Command (ARAACOM) to operate batteries of anti-aircraft guns and missiles. ARAACOM was renamed the US Army Air Defense Command (USARADCOM) during 1957. It adopted a simpler acronym, ARADCOM, in 1961.

Nike Ajax

(File:Nike Ajax missile.jpg|thumb|upright|A Nike Ajax missile)File:Nike Site SF-88L Missile Control.jpg|thumb|Nike site SF-88L missile control]]The first successful Nike test was during November 1951, intercepting a drone B-17 Flying Fortress. The first type, Nike Ajax (MIM-3), were deployed starting in 1953. The Army initially ordered 1,000 missiles and 60 sets of equipment. They were placed to protect strategic and tactical sites within the US. As a last-line of defense from air attack, they were positioned to protect cities as well as military installations. The missile was deployed first at Fort Meade, Maryland during December 1953. A further 240 launch sites were built up to 1962. They replaced 896 radar-guided anti-aircraft guns, operated by the National Guard or Army to protect certain key sites. This left a handful of 75 mm Skysweeper emplacements as the only anti-aircraft artillery remaining in use by the US. By 1957 the Regular Army AAA units had been replaced by missile battalions. During 1958 the Army National Guard began to replace their guns and adopt the Ajax system.BOOK, Kendrick, Gregory, First Line of Defense, Nike Missile Sites in Illinois, 1996, Rocky Mountain System Support Office, National Park Service, Denver, Colorado, 31, 1st, Each launch site had three parts, separated by at least 1,000 yards (914 m). One part (designated C) of about six acres (24,000 m2) contained the IFC (Integrated Fire Control) radar systems to detect incoming targets (acquisition and target tracking) and direct the missiles (missile tracking), along with the computer systems to plot and direct the intercept. The second part (designated L), around forty acres (160,000 m2), held 1–3 underground missile magazines each serving a group of four launch assemblies and included a safety zone. The site had a crew of 109 officers and men who ran the site continuously. One launcher would be on 15 minutes alert, two on 30 minutes and one on two hour alert. The third part was the administrative area (designated A), which was usually co-located with the IFC and contained the battery headquarters, barracks, mess, recreation hall, and motor pool. The actual configuration of the Nike sites differed depending on geography. Whenever possible the sites were placed on existing military bases or National Guard armories; otherwise land had to be purchased.The Nike batteries were organized in Defense Areas and placed around population centers and strategic locations such as long-range bomber bases, nuclear plants, and (later) ICBM sites. The Nike sites in a Defense Area formed a circle around these cities and bases. There was no fixed number of Nike batteries in a Defense Area and the actual number of batteries varied from a low of two in the Barksdale AFB Defense Area to a high of 22 in the Chicago Defense Area. In the Continental United States the sites were numbered from 01 to 99 starting at the north and increasing clockwise. The numbers had no relation to actual compass headings, but generally Nike sites numbered 01 to 25 were to the northeast and east, those numbered 26 to 50 were to the southeast and south, those numbered 51 to 75 were to the southwest and west, and those numbered 76 to 99 were to the northwest and north. The Defense Areas in the Continental United States were identified by a one- or two-letter code which were related to the city name. Thus those Nike sites starting with C were in the Chicago Defense Area, those starting with HM were in the Homestead AFB/Miami Defense Area, those starting with NY were in the New York Defense Area, and so forth. As an example Nike Site SF-88L refers to the launcher area (L) of the battery located in the northwestern part (88) of the San Francisco Defense Area (SF).During the early-to-mid-1960s the Nike Ajax batteries were upgraded to the Hercules system. The new missiles had greater range and destructive power, so about half as many batteries provided the same defensive capability. Regular Army batteries were either upgraded to the Hercules system or decommissioned. Army National Guard units continued to use the Ajax system until 1964, when they too upgraded to Hercules. Eventually, the Regular Army units were replaced by the National Guard as a cost-saving measure, since the Guard units could return to their homes when off duty.A Nike Ajax missile accidentally exploded at a battery in Leonardo, New Jersey on 22 May 1958, killing six soldiers and four civilians. A memorial can be found at Fort Hancock in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.

Nike Hercules

{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2011}}(File:A Nike Hercules missile at the Army Museum in Brussels.jpg|upright|thumb|A Nike Hercules missile)Even as Nike Ajax was being tested, work started on Nike-B, later renamed Nike Hercules (MIM-14). It improved speed, range and accuracy, and could intercept ballistic missiles. The Hercules had a range of about 100 miles (160 km), a top speed in excess of 3,000 mph (4,800 km/h) and a maximum altitude of around 150,000 ftBOOK, FM 44-1, U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1962-650514, 8, 1962-650514,weblink Department of the Army Field Manual 44-1, (30 km). It had solid fuel boost and sustainer rocket motors. The boost phase was four of the Nike Ajax boosters strapped together. In the electronics, some vacuum tubes were replaced with more reliable solid-state components.BOOK, Kendrick, Gregory, First Line of Defense, Nike Missile Sites in Illinois, 1996, Rocky Mountain System Support Office, National Park Service, Denver, Colorado, 32–35, 1st, File:"It's no secret we're in the 'missile business' to stay..." 1958 Douglas Aircraft Company ad detail, from- The Big T 1958 (page 184 crop).jpg|left|thumb|"It's no secret we're in the 'missile business' to stay..." Douglas Aircraft Company ad in the California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of TechnologyThe missile also had an optional nuclear warhead to improve the probability of a kill. The W-31 warhead had four variants offering 2, 10, 20 and 30 kiloton yields. The 20 kt version was used in the Hercules system. At sites in the United States the missile almost exclusively carried a nuclear warhead. Sites in foreign nations typically had a mix of high explosive and nuclear warheads. The fire control of the Nike system was also improved with the Hercules and included a surface-to-surface mode which was successfully tested in Alaska. The mode change was accomplished by changing a single plug on the warhead from the "Safe Plug" to "Surface to Air" or "Surface to Surface".The Nike Hercules was deployed starting in June 1958. First deployed to Chicago, 393 Hercules ground systems were manufactured. By 1960 ARADCOM had 88 Hercules batteries and 174 Ajax batteries, defending 23 zones across 30 states. Peak deployment was in 1963 with 134 Hercules batteries not including the US Army Hercules batteries deployed in Germany, Greece, Greenland, Italy, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, and Turkey.In 1961, SAC and the U.S. Army began a joint training mission with benefits for both parties. SAC needed fresh (simulated) targets which the cities ringed by Nike/Hercules sites provided, and the Army needed live targets to acquire and track with their radar. SAC had many Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) sites across the country which had very similar acquisition and tracking radar, plus similar computerized plotting boards which were used to record the bomber tracks and bomb release points. Airmen from these sites were assigned TDY to Nike sites across the country to train the Nike crews in RBS procedures. The distances from the simulated bomb landing point and the "target" were recorded on paper, measured, encoded, and transmitted to the aircrews. The results of these bomb runs were used to promote or demote air crews. ECM activity also took place between the bombers and the Nike sites. The performance of the NIKE crews improved remarkably with this "live target" practice.Many Nike Hercules batteries were manned by Army National Guard troops, with a single active Army officer assigned to each battalion to account for the unit's nuclear warheads. The National Guard air defense units shared responsibility for defense of their assigned area with active Army units in the area, and reported to the active Army chain of command. This is the only known instance of Army National Guard units being equipped with operational nuclear weapons.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

Nike Zeus

(File:NIKE Zeus.jpg|thumb|upright|Launch of a Nike Zeus missile)Development continued, producing Improved Nike Hercules and then Nike Zeus A and B. The Zeus was aimed at intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).BOOK, Kendrick, Gregory, First Line of Defense, Nike Missile Sites in Illinois, 1996, Rocky Mountain System Support Office, National Park Service, Denver, Colorado, 36–38, 1st, Zeus, with a new 400,000 lbf (1.78 MN) thrust solid-fuel booster, was first test launched during August 1959 and demonstrated a top speed of 8,000 mph (12,875 km/h). The Nike Zeus system utilized the ground-based Zeus Acquisition Radar (ZAR), a significant improvement over the Nike Hercules HIPAR guidance system. Shaped like a pyramid, the ZAR featured a Luneburg lens receiver aerial weighing about 1,000 tons. The first successful intercept of an ICBM by Zeus was in 1962, at Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. Despite its technological advancements, the Department of Defense terminated Zeus development in 1963. The Zeus system, which cost an estimated $15 billion{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}, still suffered from several technical flaws that were believed to be uneconomical to overcome."NIKE ZEUS – Seventeen years of growth" Flight International 2 August 1962 pp.166–170Still, the Army continued to develop an anti-ICBM weapon system referred to as "Nike-X" – that was largely based on the technological advances of the Zeus system. Nike-X featured phased-array radars, computer advances, and a missile tolerant of skin temperatures three times those of the Zeus. In September 1967, the Department of Defense announced the deployment of the LIM-49A Spartan missile system, its major elements drawn from Nike X development.In March 1969. the Army started the anti-ballistic missile Safeguard Program, which was designed to defend Minuteman ICBMs, and which was also based on the Nike-X system. It became operational in 1975, but was shut down after just three months.JOURNAL, Missile defences have a long history, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Jan 1997, 53,weblink 9 February 2011, 69, Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc., 0096-3402,

Nike-X

(File:Sprint missile maneuvering after launch.jpg|thumb|The Sprint missile was the main weapon in the Nike-X system, intercepting enemy ICBM warheads only seconds before they exploded.)Nike-X was a proposed US Army anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system designed to protect major cities in the United States from attacks by the Soviet Union's ICBM fleet. The name referred to its experimental basis, it was intended to be replaced by a more appropriate name when the system was put into production. This never came to pass; the original Nike-X concept was replaced by a much more limited defense system known as the Sentinel program that used some of the same equipment.Nike-X was a response to the failure of the earlier Nike Zeus system. Zeus had been designed to face a few dozen Soviet ICBMs in the 1950s, and its design would mean it was largely useless by mid-1960s when it would be facing hundreds. It was calculated that a salvo of only four ICBMs would have a 90% chance of hitting the Zeus base, as their radars could only track a few warheads at the same time. Worse, the attacker could use radar reflectors or high-altitude nuclear explosions to obscure the warheads until they were too close to attack, making a single warhead attack highly likely to succeed.Nike-X addressed these concerns by basing its defense on a very fast, short-range missile known as Sprint. Large numbers would be clustered near potential targets, allowing successful interception right up to the last few seconds of the warhead's re-entry. They would operate below the altitude where decoys or explosions had any effect. Nike-X also used a new radar system that could track hundreds of objects at once, allowing salvoes of many Sprints. It would require dozens of missiles to overwhelm the system. Nike-X considered retaining the longer range Zeus missile, and later developed an extended range version known as Zeus EX. It played a secondary role in the Nike-X system, intended primarily for use in areas outside the Sprint protected regions.Nike-X required at least one interceptor missile to attack each incoming warhead. As the USSR's missile fleet grew, the cost of implementing Nike-X began to grow as well. Looking for lower-cost options, a number of studies carried out between 1965 and 1967 examined a variety of scenarios where a limited number of interceptors might still be militarily useful. Among these, the I-67 concept suggested building a lightweight defense against very limited attacks. When the Chinese exploded their first H-bomb in 1967, I-67 was promoted as a defense against a Chinese attack, and this system became Sentinel in October. Nike-X development, in its original form, ended.

Production

The contract pyramid.BOOK,weblink 32, Pyramiding of Profits and Costs in the Missile Procurement Program, March 31, 1964, Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate, The figures do not include approximately 1 billion dollars for research and development, paid to Western Electric.BOOK,weblink 14, Pyramiding of Profits and Costs in the Missile Procurement Program, March 31, 1964, Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate, {|class=wikitable! Company !! Production cost !! Producer profit !! Douglas subcontract profit !! Western Electric subcontract profit! colspan=5 | Tier 3, subcontractors to Douglas Aircraft

Fruehauf Trailer Corporation>Fruehauf Trailer Co.	49.3	4.5	3.7	3.3

Consolidated Western Steel >			| 9.8

		name=noprofit	Undetermined profits included in costs}}	23.2	16.3

! colspan=5 | Tier 2, subcontractors to Western Electric

Douglas Aircraft >			| 5.9

		name=noprofit}}		42

! colspan=5 | Tier 1, contractor to the Army

Western Electric >			|

! colspan=5 | Totals

	group=contracts			| 77.3

{{notelist|group=contractors}}Total cost to Army: 1,545.1

Decommissioning

{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2011}}Soviet development of ICBMs decreased the value of the Nike (aircraft) air defense system. Beginning around 1965, the number of Nike batteries was reduced. Thule air defense was reduced during 1965 and SAC air base defense during 1966, reducing the number of batteries to 112. Budgetary cuts reduced that number to 87 in 1968, and 82 in 1969.Some small-scale work to use Nike Zeus as an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) was carried out from 1962 until the project was canceled in favor of the Thor based Program 437 system during 1966.In the end, neither development would enter service. However, the Nike Zeus system did demonstrate a hit to kill capability against ballistic missiles during the early 1960s. See National Missile Defense and anti-ballistic missile systems.Nike Hercules was included in SALT I discussions as an ABM. Following the treaty signed during 1972, and further budget reduction, almost all Nike sites in the continental United States were deactivated by April 1974. Some units remained active until the later part of that decade in a coastal air defense role.

Specifications

{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2011}}{|class="wikitable"!Missile!!Nike Ajax!!Nike Hercules!!Nike Zeus A!!Nike Zeus B (XLIM-49A)!!Spartan (LIM-49A)!Length

10.36

ftin

order=flip}} overall{{convert

m

abbr=on

12.53

ftin

order=flip}} overall{{convert

m

abbr=on

13.5

ftin

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on

16.8

ftin

order=flip}}

!Diameter

0.30

ftin

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on

0.53

ftin

order=flip}} second stage

{{convert

m

abbr=on

0.91

ftin

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on|order=flip}}

!Fin span

1.22

ftin

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on

1.88

ftin

order=flip}} second stage

{{convert

m

abbr=on

2.44

ftin

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on|order=flip}}

!Mass

1116

lb

order=flip}} at launch{{convert

kg

abbr=on

4850

lb

order=flip}} at launch{{convert

kg

abbr=on

4980

lb

order=flip}}

{{convert

kg

abbr=on

13100

lb

order=flip}}

!Maximum speed

Mach number>Mach 2.25 (ca. 1485 mph true airspeed @ 50k ft; 2390 km/h)	Mach 3.65 (ca. 2094 mph true airspeed @ 65k ft; 3877 km/h)	colspan=3| Mach 4 > (ca. 2800+ mph; 4,900 km/h arbitrary)

!Range

40

mi

order=flip}}

{{convert

km

order=flip}}

{{convert

km

abbr=on

400

mi

order=flip}}

{{convert

km

abbr=on|order=flip}}

!Ceiling

21300

ft

order=flip}}

{{convert

m

abbr=on

280

mi

order=flip}}

{{convert

km

abbr=on|order=flip}}

!First stage

		Thiokol TX-135400,000 lbf (1,800 kN)>	|Thiokol TX-500500,000 lbf (2,200 kN)

!Second stage

			|Thiokol TX-454

!Third stage

			|Thiokol TX-239

!Warhead conventional

1	Nose: M2: 4.5 lb (2.0 kg) Composition B 12 lb (5.4 kg) totalMid-body: M3: 92 lb (42 kg) Comp. B, 176.8 lb (80.2 kg) totalAft: M4: 59 lb (27 kg) Comp B, 121.3 lb (55.0 kg) total>	High Blast Explosive>HBX-6M17 blast-fragmentation	Nuclear warhead only	Nuclear warhead only	Nuclear warhead only

!Warhead nuclear

			W50 (atomic weapon)>W50 (400 kt)thermonuclear	W71 (5 Mt)thermonuclear

Support vehicles

{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2011}}These trucks and trailers were used with the Nike system.

• Trucks

• G789 Trailers

{{col-begin}}{{col-break|width=50%}} {{col-break|width=50%}} {{col-end}}

Deployment

{{See also|List of Nike missile locations}}{{more citations needed section|date=April 2011}}(File:Deployment of Nike Missiles Within Contiguous United States.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Locations of US Army Nike Missile Sites in the Contiguous United States)By 1958, the Army deployed nearly 200 Nike Ajax batteries at 40 "Defense Areas" within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) in which Project Nike missiles were deployed. Within each Defense Area, a "Ring of Steel" was developed with a series of Nike Integrated Firing and Launch Sites constructed by the Corps of Engineers.The deployment was designed to initially supplement and then replace gun batteries deployed around the nation's major urban areas and vital military installations. The defense areas consisted of major cities and selected United States Air Force Strategic Air Command bases which were deemed vital to national defense. The original basing strategy projected a central missile assembly point from which missiles would be taken out to prepared above-ground launch racks ringing the defended area. However, the Army discarded this semimobile concept because the system needed to be ready for instantaneous action to fend off a "surprise attack." Instead, a fixed-site scheme was devised.Due to geographical factors, the placement of Nike batteries differed at each location. Initially, the planners chose fixed sites well away from the defended area and the Corps of Engineers Real Estate Offices began seeking tracts of land in rural areas. However, Army planners determined that close-in perimeter sites would provide enhanced firepower. Staggering sites between outskirt and close-in locations to urban areas gave defenders a greater defense-in-depth capability.Each Nike missile battery was divided into two basic parcels: the Battery Control Area and the Launch Area.The Battery Control Area contained the radar and computer equipment. Housing and administration buildings, including the mess hall, barracks, and recreation facilities, were sometimes located in a third parcel of land. More likely, however, the housing and administration buildings were located at either the Battery Control Area or the Launch Area, depending upon site configuration, obstructions, and the availability of land.File:AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING WEST, SHOWING RADAR SITE IN UPPER LEFT, BARRACKS IN MIDDLE, AND LAUNCH AREA IN LOWER PORTION OF PHOTO Everett Weinreb, photographer, April 1988 - Los HAER CAL,19-SYLM.V,1-2.tif|Aerial view of former Nike missile site near Los Angeles, showing radar site in upper left and launch site in foreground. By Everett Weinreb for HAER (April 1988).File:Nike Hercules Integrated Fire Control area.jpg|Integrated Fire Control Area for a Nike-Hercules siteFile:8886 SF-88L (5435683310).jpg|Low-powered acquisition radar (LOPAR) at SF-88L (relocated from SF-88C)File:STEEL CLAM SHELL PROTECTED RADAR ATTACHED. - Nike Hercules Missile Battery Summit Site, Battery Control Administration and Barracks Building, Anchorage, Anchorage, AK HAER AK,2-ANCH,24A-3.tif|Clam shell protecting radar at Summit Site near Anchorage, Alaska (1986)File:Nike Missile Site SF-88 (3604199625).jpg|Another radar at SF-88File:8653 SF-51L (5310612294).jpg|Control area SF-51CThe Launch Area provided for the maintenance, storage, testing, and firing of the Nike missiles. The selection of this area was primarily influenced by the relatively large amount of land required, its suitability to extensive underground construction, and the need to maintain a clear line-of-sight between the missiles in the Launch Area and the missile-tracking-radar in the Battery Control Area.File:Nike Site SF-88L (2748317393).jpg|aerial view of launch area at SF-88File:Nike missile former site Michigan.jpg|The elevator doors at former Nike site D-57/58 in Newport, Michigan, USA. At the time this picture was taken in 1996, the site was a hazardous waste cleanup site.File:SF-88 Nike Hercules Missile Site (13)- Missiles in underground storage (7406077636).jpg|Underground missile storage at SF-88 below open elevator doorsFile:Quincy, MA, BO-37, Launch Area, Underground Missile Storage Structure, interior view of elevator system with overhead doors in open position and hydraulic shaft in left foreground HAER RI,4-FOST,1A-46.tif|Elevator fully up with doors open at PR-79File:SF-88 (3090114799).jpg|A missile emerges from the elevator at SF-88 (2008)File:Nike Hercules, Sect. A, Oedingen, 1980.JPG|Three erected Nike-Hercules missiles on their launchers at Oedingen (1980).File:SF-88 (3090947656).jpg|Two elevators and missile carriage rails at SF-88The first Nike sites featured above-ground launchers. This quickly changed as land restrictions forced the Army to construct space-saving underground magazines. Capable of hosting 12 Nike Ajax missiles, each magazine had an elevator that lifted the missile to the surface in a horizontal position. Once above ground, the missile could be pushedmanually along a railing to a launcher placed parallel to the elevator. Typically, four launchers sat atop the magazine.Near the launchers, a trailer housed the launch control officer and the controls he operated to launch missiles. In addition to the launch control trailer, the launch area contained a generator building with three diesel generators, frequency converters, and missile assembly and maintenance structures.Because of the larger size of the Nike Hercules, an underground magazine's capacity was reduced to eight missiles. Thus, storage racks, launcher rails, and elevators underwent modification to accept the larger missiles. Two additional features that readily distinguished newly converted sites were the double fence and the kennels housing dogs that patrolled the perimeter between the two fences.The Nike Hercules was designed to use existing Nike Ajax facilities. With the greater range of the Nike Hercules allowing for wider area coverage, numerous Nike Ajax batteries were permanently deactivated. In addition, sites located furtheraway from target areas were desirable due to the nuclear warheads carried by the missile. Unlike the older Ajax sites, these batteries were placed in locations that optimized the missiles' range and minimized the warhead damage. Nike Hercules batteries at SAC bases and in Hawaii were installed in an outdoor configuration. In Alaska, a unique above-ground shelter configuration was provided for batteries guarding Anchorage and Fairbanks. Local Corps of Engineer Districts supervised the conversion of Nike Ajax batteries and the construction of new Nike Hercules batteries.Nike missiles remained deployed around strategically important areas within the continental United States until 1974. The Alaskan sites were deactivated in 1978 and Florida sites stood down during the following year. Although the missile left the U.S. inventory, other nations maintained the missiles in their inventories into the early 1990s and sent their soldiers to the United States to conduct live-fire exercises at Fort Bliss, Texas.Leftover traces of the approximately 265weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20040220061155weblink">Summary of Nike Missile Batteries. redstone.army.mil Nike missile bases can still be seen around cities across the country. As the sites were decommissioned they were first offered to federal agencies. Many were already on Army National Guard bases who continued to use the property. Others were offered to state and local governments while others were sold to school districts. The left-overs were offered to private individuals. Thus, many Nike sites are now municipal yards, communications and FAA facilities (the IFC areas), probation camps, and even renovated for use as Airsoft gaming and MilSim training complexes. Several were obliterated and turned into parks. Some are now private residences. Only a few remain intact and preserve the history of the Nike project. There are also a few sites abroad, notably in Germany, Turkey and Greece.Defense areas within the United States were:{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Anchorage Defense Area, AK
• Barksdale Defense Area, LA
• Bergstrom AFB Defense Area, TX
• Boston Defense Area, MA
• Bridgeport Defense Area, CT
• Chicago–Gary Defense Area, IL-IN
• Cincinnati–Dayton Defense Area, OH-IN
• Cleveland Defense Area, OH
• Dallas–Fort Worth Defense Area, TX
• Detroit Defense Area, MI
• Dyess AFB Defense Area, TX
• Ellsworth AFB Defense Area, SD
• Fairbanks Defense Area, AK
• Fairchild AFB Defense Area, WA
• Hanford Defense Area, WA
• Hartford Defense Area. CT
• Homestead–Miami Defense Area, FL
• Kansas City Defense Area, KS-MO
• Lincoln AFB Defense Area, NE
• Loring AFB Defense Area, ME
• Los Angeles Defense Area, CA
• Milwaukee Defense Area, WI
• Minneapolis–St.Paul Defense Area, MN
• New York Defense Area, NY
• Niagara Falls–Buffalo Defense Area, NY
• Norfolk Defense Area, VA
• Oahu Defense Area, HI
• Offutt AFB Defense Area, NE
• Philadelphia Defense Area, PA-NJ
• Pittsburgh Defense Area, PA
• Providence Defense Area, RI-MA
• Robbins AFB Defense Area, GA
• St. Louis Defense Area, MO
• San Francisco Defense Area, CA
• Schilling AFB Defense Area, KS
• Seattle Defense Area, WA
• Travis AFB Defense Area, CA
• Turner AFB Defense Area, GA
• Walker AFB Defense Area, NM
• Washington–Baltimore Defense Area, MD-VA

{{div col end}}

Nike booster motor as sounding rocket stage

The Nike boosters were also used as stages in sounding rockets as they became surplus starting in the 1950s in the following versions:

• Nike Apache (Argo-13)Corliss 1972 pp. 52-54BOOK, Origins of NASA Names, 1976, NASA, 133,
• Nike-Asp (ASPAN)Corliss 1972 pp. 32, 80
• Nike CajunCorliss 1972 pp. 24-25
• Nike DeaconCorliss 1972 pp. 54-24
• Nike GenieCorliss 1972 p. 82
• Nike Hawk
• Nike HydacWEB,weblink Miscellaneous Nike-Boosted Rockets, 2016-03-03, Parsch, Andreas, Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4,
• Nike Iroquois
• Nike Javelin
• Nike Malemute
• Nike Nike
• Nike Orion
• Nike Recruit
• Nike T40 T55WEB,weblink Nike With Upperstage, 2016-03-03, Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, Nike Nike Combinations,
• Nike TomahawkCorliss 1972 pp. 63-64
• Nike Viper
• Nike-Python
• Nike-Yardbird
• Nike-SmokeWEB,weblink Nike, 2016-03-03, Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, Nike,

Survivors

{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2011}}

Bases

File:SF-88 Nike Hercules Missile Site (00)- Launcher (7399540404).jpg|thumb|right|Multiple exposure photograph of a Nike-Hercules missile being erected for a simulated launch at SF-88L in 2012]]

• The best preserved Nike installation is site SF88L located in the Marin Headlands just west of the Golden Gate Bridge, north of San Francisco, California. The site is a museum, and contains the missile bunkers, and control area, as well as period uniforms and vehicles that would have operated at the site. The site has been preserved in the condition it was in at the time it was decommissioned in 1974. The site began as a Nike Ajax base and was later converted to Nike Hercules. Three Nike Hercules are displayed in the original bunkers. The base is open to the public, including demonstrations of the operational missile lift from the bunker to the surface. Hours and tours vary during the year, but are usually held on Saturdays. Additional days may be added during the summer and holidays.WEB,weblink Nike Missile Site, National Park Service, 2015-08-26,
• The second best preserved Nike installation is site NY-56 at Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The site has been restored and contains the original missile bunkers, as well as three Nike Ajax and a Nike Hercules on display. Each fall the base holds a Cold War Day. Tours one weekend a month from April to October. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is open to the public. Tours are conducted by members of the Fort Hancock Nike Association.WEB,weblink NY-56 History, Fort Hancock Nike Association, 2015-08-26,
• HM69 in Everglades National Park has a Nike Hercules restored by George T. Baker Aviation School students. The Nike site is operated by the National Park Service and is open in the winter for guided tours.WEB,weblink HM69 Nike Missile Base, National Park Service, 2015-08-28, WEB,weblink Everglades National Park Nike Missile Tours, National Park Service, 2015-08-28,
• San Vicente Mountain Park is a former Nike site on Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains, California.
• In Carrollton, part of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, the Nike Park is a county owned park and recreation area that houses the former Nike missile base. Several original buildings still stand and are used on a daily basis. One building is still a voting location for residents. The underground missile compartments are still there with the concrete pads that covered the missile storage silos. The county has considered demolishing the buildings in the early 2000s in favor of modern buildings but opposition from historians preserved the structures. The City of Hampton recently agreed to donate its Nike missiles to the county to display at the park.

Missiles

• Two Nike Ajax are on display at The AAF Tank And Ordnance Museum in Danville, VA
• A Nike Zeus is on display at the Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.WEB,weblink Nike Zeus Missile - US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com, waymarking.com, 2019-01-23,
• Two Nike Ajax are on display at Camp Navajo in Bellemont, Arizona.
• A Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, and Nike Zeus are on display at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules are on display at the Royal Museum of the Army and Military History in Brussels, Belgium.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike missile is on display at Camp San Luis Obispo near Morro Bay, California.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and a Nike Hercules are on display at the Peterson Air and Space Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• Two Nike Ajax and a Hercules are on display at the Cape Canaveral Space & Missile Museum in Cape Canaveral, Florida.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is on display at the War Museum in Athens, Greece.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax on its launcher and a Hercules are on display in front of the American Legion post in Cedar Lake, Indiana.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike missile is on display at the Combat Air Museum in Topeka, Kansas.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is on display in Marion, Kentucky.{{Circular reference|date=April 2022}}
• A Nike Ajax and Hercules are on display at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is on display in front of the VFW post in Hancock, Maryland.WEB,weblink Nike Ajax Missile - Webster B. Harrison American Legion Post - Hancock MD - Military Ground Equipment Displays on Waymarking.com, waymarking.com, 2019-01-27,
• Two Nike Ajax and a Hercules are on display at a small Cold War museum in Ft. Meade, Maryland.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and Hercules are on display at the Dutch Air Force Museum in Soesterberg Air Base.{{in lang|nl}} Nike Hercules-raket met afvuurinstallatie – Zoeken in de collectie – Nationaal Militair Museum. Nmm.nl. Retrieved on 2015-11-08.
• A Nike Ajax is on display at The Space Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is on display near the administrative buildings at the former Nike site in Rustan, about 40 km to the southwest of Oslo, Norway.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• Two Nike Ajax and a Nike Hercules are on display near the Bataan Building at Camp Perry, near Port Clinton, Ohio.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is on display near the Toledo Rockets Glass Bowl Stadium on the campus of the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax is displayed in front of an Army Surplus store located near the Letterkenny Army Depot in Pennsylvania.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and Hercules are on display at the Pennsylvania National Guard Department of Military Arts building at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and Hercules are on display at the Air Power Park in Hampton, Virginia.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} At least one of these missiles has been agreed to be donated by the city to the County of Isle of Wight for display at Carrollton Nike Park.
• A Nike Ajax missile cutaway, as well as a complete Nike Ajax missile are on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Virginia.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules are on display in the Berryman War Memorial Park in Bridgeport, Washington.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules and transport trailer are on display at the Ft. Lewis Military Museum in Tacoma, Washington.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax on its launcher is on display outside an American Legion hall in Okauchee Lake, Wisconsin.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules on its transporter (trailer) is on display outside a public storage (former site MS-20) facility in Roberts, Wisconsin.weblink
• A Nike Ajax is on display in front of the American Legion Post in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules is on display outside the Royal Norwegian Air Force's training centre at Kjevik, Norway.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules and what seems to be the tip of a Nike Ajax is on display at Trøgstad Fort, about 45 km to the southeast of Oslo, Norway.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules is on display at Stævnsfortet, about 50 km south of Copenhagen.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Hercules is on display in a park in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota.NEWS, Former Nike Hercules missile in St. Bonifacius stands as a reminder of the Cold War,weblink 15 April 2021, Star Tribune, Star Tribune,
• A Nike Hercules is on display in Young Patriot's Park(Formally Nike base D-54) in Riverview, Michigan.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
• A Nike Ajax missile is on display at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland.Richard Montgomery HS – History of the RM Rocket. Montgomeryschoolsmd.org. Retrieved on 2015-11-08.
• A Nike Ajax and Hercules on launchers and an additional Nike Ajax and Hercules missile without launchers are on display at the Air Defense Artillery Museum. Fort Sill, Oklahoma
• A Nike Ajax is on display in front of Villa Park VFW Post 2801 in Villa Park Illinois.

See also

• Wasserfall was a World War II German project for a surface-to-air missile.
• {{lwc|Nike-Hercules MissileGuidance|Missile guidance}}
• {{lwc|Sprint (missile)|Sprint}}
• {{lwc|LIM-49 Spartan}}
• {{lwc|Safeguard Program}}
• {{lwc|S-25 Berkut}}
• {{lwc|Soviet Air Defence Forces}}
• {{lwc|ABM-1 Galosh}}
• List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation (G-789)
• Cold War Museum
• List of U.S. Army Rocket Launchers By Model Number

Sources

• BOOK, Morgan, Mark L., Berhow, Mark A., Rings of Supersonic Steel, 2nd Edition, Hole in the Head Press, 2002, 0-615-12012-1,
• BOOK, To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program (USA-Cerl Special Report, N-97/01,), John C. Lonnquest, David F. Winkler, Afhra, November 1996, 978-9996175718,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{commons category|Project Nike}}

• Nike Missile Manual Collection
• The Continental Air Defense Collection {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609181601weblink |date=9 June 2019 }} at the United States Army Center of Military History
• Video Documentary of History of Nike-Hercules Project in U.S.
• Community für ehemaliges Nike-Hercules-Personal (In German)
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20051030014514weblink">Nike missile site at alpha.fdu.edu
• Nike Historical Society
• Nike Hercules in Alaska
• Nike Zeus info
• Pictures of a demilitarized Nike site in Germany
• Nike Sites of the Los Angeles Defense Area
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090327024655weblink">The Nike Missile Program, Doug Crompton Area Hoejerup and Stevns Fort. Denmark. English/danish
• Nike Ajax Explosion Marker: Gateway National Recreation Area
• {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.2569600|name=Big Picture: Pictorial Report Number 20}}
• {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.2569763|name=Big Picture: Army Digest Number Nine: Nike Zeus-Pershing}}
• Huell Howser. "Nike Missile Site". California's Golden Parks. Episode 159.

{{Nike rockets}}{{USA missiles}}{{US missiles}}