History

Project Nike began in 1994 when the war department demanded a new air defense system to combat the 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 Labs offered Project Nike. A much longer-ranged collision-course system was developed by General Electric, named Project Thumper, eventually delivering the BOMARC missile.

Bell's 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 it hits it before it runs out of fuel. This means that the missile and target cannot be tracked in a single radar, increasing the complexity of the system. One part was well developed. 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 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 fatal hit. The missile's limited range was seen by critics as a serious flaw, because it often meant that the missile had to be sited very close to the area it was protecting.

After bickering between the Army and the Air Force (see the Key West Agreement), all longer-range systems were turned over to the Air Force in 1948. They merged their own long-range research with Project Thumper, while the Army continued to develop Nike. In 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) in 1957. It adopted a simpler acronym, ARADCOM, in 1961. 

Nike Hercules

A Nike Hercules missile.

Main article: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 100,000 ft (30 km). It had solid fuel boost and sustainer rocket motors. The boost phase was four of the Nike Ajax booster strapped together. In the electronics, some vacuum tubes were replaced with more reliable solid-state components.

The missile also had an optional nuclear warhead to improve the probability of a kill. The W-31 warhead had a variable yield system offering 2, 20 or 40 kiloton detonations. However, the missile typically carried a non-nuclear explosive fragmentation warhead, the T-45. The fire control of the Nike system was also improved with the Hercules and included a surface-to-surface mode.

The Nike Hercules was deployed starting in June1958. 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.

Nike Zeus

Development continued, producing Improved Nike Hercules and then Nike Zeus A and B. Zeus, with a new 400,000 lbf (1.78 MN) thrust solid-fuel booster, was first test fired in August 1959 and demonstrated a top speed of 8,000 mph (12,875 km/h) but had certain deficiencies and was renamed Spartan in 1967. Production of the Zeus was deferred in 1961 and phased out in 1963 in favor of a specific ABM system initially designated Nike X but later renamed Sentinel.

Nike Ajax

A Nike Ajax missile.

The first successful Nike test was in November 1951, intercepting a drone B-17. 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 first deployed at Fort meade,maryland in 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 skyweeper 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. In 1958 the Army National Guard began to replace their guns and adopt the Ajax system.

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 ring 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).

In 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 through 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.

Decommissioning

The development of icbms decreased the value of the Nike air defense system. Beginning around 1965 , the number of Nike batteries were reduced. Thule air defense was cut in 1965 and Sac base defense in 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 cancelled in favor of  thor based systems in 1966. In the end, neither development would enter service. However, the Nike Zeus system did demonstrate a hit-to-kill capability against ballistic missiles in 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 in 1972, and further budget cuts, 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 coast air defense role.