MissileThreat.com

Details

The Nike-Hercules, operational between 1958 and 1979, was a U.S. surface-to-air missile system designed to counter the threat posed by large formations of Soviet bombers. The successor to the Nike-Ajax system, the Nike-Hercules became the first surface-to-air missile system to destroy a ballistic missile in flight.(1)

During the 1950s, as the speed and maneuverability of modern aircraft increased, the U.S. military realized that its Nike-Ajax surface-to-air missile system would soon cease to provide an effective defense, in particular against large formations of Soviet bombers. A new system was needed, one capable of destroying large numbers of high-altitude, high-speed aircraft at long ranges. For this reason, in July 1953 the Army began to develop a second generation surface-to-air missile system, the Nike-B, or as it was later renamed, the Nike-Hercules.(2)

Similar to the Nike-Ajax project, development and manufacturing responsibility was divided between a team of contractors: Douglas Aircraft, Hercules Powder, Thiokol Chemical, and Western Electric. Once completed, the new missile was 12.5 m long, 0.8 m in diameter, with a wingspan of 1.83 by 0.05 m. It weighed 4.85 kg, including its solid propellant booster. The missile had a range of approximately 160 km, a top speed in excess of 4,800 km/hr, and an altitude of up to 30 km.(3)

In addition to its standard high-explosive fragmentation warhead, the Nike-Hercules was equipped to carry a nuclear warhead with a yield of 3, 20, or 30 kT.(4) The nuclear option gave the system the ability to improve its kill probability, due to the larger blast radius from the nuclear explosion. In 1955, the Army began test firing the Nike-Hercules at its White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The new missile’s speed, range, and accuracy were noticeable improvements over the older Nike-Ajax. On October 31, 1956, a test Nike-Hercules successfully destroyed a drone aircraft.

On June 30, 1958, the first Nike-Hercules systems were deployed at batteries near New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.(5) These new batteries made use of elements from the existing Nike-Ajax infrastructure. Many of the older sites were converted into Nike-Hercules batteries, receiving new radars and undergoing modifications so that the new missiles could be serviced and stored. By 1960, 88 Nike-Hercules batteries had been deployed, in addition to the existing 174 Nike-Ajax batteries.

During this period, the Army upgraded Nike-Hercules itself, improving the system’s acquisition and tracking radar. The improved Nike-Hercules had a limited anti-ballistic missile capability, as demonstrated on June 3, 1960, when a Nike-Hercules missile scored a direct hit on a Corporal target missile over the White Sands Missile Range. It was the world’s first successful interception of a ballistic missile.

Between 1958 and 1979, the Army deployed 145 Nike-Hercules batteries: 35 built exclusively for the new missile and 110 converted from Nike-Ajax installations. However, as the threat changed from bomber attack to ballistic missile attack, the role of the Nike-Hercules diminished. Although the system had proven itself against a live missile, it was not capable of dealing with long-range Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles.(6)

Beginning around 1965, the Army began to reduce its total number of Nike batteries. By 1966, 122 remained; by 1968, 87 were left; the following year, only 82. Following the 1972 ABM Treaty and further budget cuts, almost all Nike sites in the continental U.S. were deactivated by 1974.(7) The only exceptions were batteries in Alaska and Florida that remained active until 1979 in order to defend the coastlines.(8)

Footnotes

1. Donald R. Baucom, The Origins of SDI, 1944-1983 (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1992), 7, 120.
2. Redstone Arsenal, “Nike Hercules Description,” http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/nikesite/nikeherc.html, accessed on 10 January 2005.
3. Nike Historical Society, “Nike Hercules Description,” available at http://www.nikemissile.org/nike_hercules.htm, accessed on 10 January 2005.
4. The Brookings Institution, “Nike Defensive Missiles,” available at http://www.brookings.org/FP/projects/nucwcost/nike.htm, accessed on 10 January 2005.
5. Boeing, “McDonnell Douglas History,” available at http://www.boeing.com/history/mdc/nike.htm, accessed on 10 January 2005.
6. GlobalSecurity.org, “Nike Hercules Description,” http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/nike-hercules.htm, accessed on 10 January 2005.
7. Fort MacArthur Museum Association, “The Nike Missile Air Defense System,” available at http://www.ftmac.org/Lanike1.htm, accessed on 10 January 2005. 
8. John C. Lonnquest. and David F. Winkler, To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program, USACERL Special Report 97/01 (November 1996); Stephen P. Moeller, “Vigilant and Invincible,” Air Defense Artillery Magazine (May-June 1995); Wikipedia.com, “Project Nike,” available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nike, accessed on 10 January 2005.