Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
July 4, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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SSM-N-9
| Country: | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Regulus 2 |
| Class: | SLCM |
| Target: | Land |
| Length: | 20.48 m |
| Diameter: | 1.25 m |
| Launch Weight: | 13600.00 kg |
| Payload: | Nuclear |
| Propulsion: | Turbojet w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 1850.00 km |
| Guidance: | INS |
| Status: | Cancelled |
Details
The SSM-N-9 Regulus 2 was an intermediate-range, sea-launched, turbojet powered, single warhead cruise missile developed and manufactured by the United States. In 1947, the U.S. Navy began developing its predecessor, the SSM-N-8 Regulus 1, to diversify and supplement its carrier-based aviation with missile power. Work on a supersonic improved version of the Regulus 1 began in 1952. The new version included an inertial navigation system (INS), an increased range, and a larger warhead.
Similar to its predecessor, the SSM-N-9 Regulus 2 had the same general configuration of a small aircraft, although it was more streamlined and had a large air intake beneath the fuselage. The missile was 20.48 m long, had a body diameter of 1.25 m, a wing span of 6.30 m, and had a launch weight of 13,600 kg. Its new guidance system was inertial. The Regulus 2 was powered by a large solid propellant boost motor, jettisoned after launch, and a turbojet engine. The missile had a maximum speed of Mach 2.0 when flying at high altitude, although to achieve its maximum range of 1,850 km it had to cruise on Mach 1.2. It carried a 1,325 kg nuclear payload.
The SSM-N-9 Regulus 2 first flew in 1956, although the program did not enter service and was cancelled in 1958 in favor of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Sources indicate that only 20 missiles were built.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 42 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2005); GlobalSecurity.org, “Regulus I RGM-6 SSM-N-8,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/regulus1.htm, accessed on July 1, 2006.
