System 112A - The Black Vault

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SECRET
SYSTEM nnfil£
tronic, electrical, and hydraul1c systems in both the
missUe and director aircraft.
TRAINING EQUIPMENT
Rascal training equipment provides the me!Ul8
for indoctrinating and training maintenance and operations
personnel of the Air Force in variou6 phases of
weapon system application. E~l'lipment requiredby the
Air Force comprises a mobile trainer unit ior teaching
theory of operation and techniques of maintenance
in the field, alld a guidance operator trainer for Aerial
Observer Bombardiers. Addltional equipment includes:
mobile classroom demonstrators containing
functional component systems of the missile and
director aircraft; flight teams of F-80/B-50 aircraft
modified to simulate the GAM-63A/DB-47 combiuation
in actual air-to-surface training; and appropriate test
units, bench test sete, and instruction manuals.
c. Weapon Syetern Mleelon
The Rascal Weapon System *isdesigned tocarry
out air-to-surface bombing of strategic taraets without
exposing the bombardment airplane and aircre.w to
local target defenses. This mission ls acco.DpUshed
by combining a high-performance DB-47 bomber airplane
with a relatively short-range, supersonic, GAM­
83A missile. iii ai' operi&Uuilill eiilpluyment, the
weapon system is based upon the ab1l1ty of the missile
to penetrate local defenses and to dellver a 2800­
pound special warhead to a strategic target with little
probab1l1ty of being detecteJ 0;( intercept~. Thus,
DB-·n strategIc bombers as director aircr..1t armed
with GAM-63A missiles Jleed not approach the target
closer than 90 n'luticl!.l miles, the range of the missUe.
An Air Force letter dated November 1953
established a maximum range requirement of 90
nautical mUes for the Rasca.l missile. Based upon a
misstle range of 75 nautical miles, the GAM-83A wlll
provide an airburst with a horizontal c1rcult:.r probable
error (CEp··) of less than 1500 feet and, ell;­
eluding errors in weather prediction and target intelligence,
a vertical Btan~rd devia.t1on··· of less than
405 feet.
In a typical maximum-range mission, the DB-47
direct.or aircraft, carrving the GAM-63A misslle, is
navigated to a predetermined launch area by means of
its MA-8 bombing-navigational system which constantly
computes distance and course to the target.
Immediately prior to bunch, an automatic checkout
system (ACS) checks items of the missile in sequence,
while data regarding director aircraft velocity, heading,
and CiiiiiigeS in rangc-t.r--tAaget .&-.: fed into the;
missile to serve as "initial condition" data for its
nonemanatlng guidance system. At a preset distance
from the target, the ACS, inconjunctlonwiththe MA-8
system, automatically releases the GAM-63A on the
proper heading for tile target. Minimum launch altitude
is 40,000 feet MSL; minimum launch velocity is
Mach 0.78. After the missile clears th~ ,.. ,.~ft" gear
of the 08-47, the rocket engine ignites. The GAM­
63A accelerates to supersonic velocities in its climb
to level flight 'lltitude as pr~rammed by a pressuresensing
Circuit. From release to warhead detonation,
the missile Is controlled by a gravity-referenced
inertial gu1:t.a..'1ce system. The missile's range computer
cont!n\!t\".Zsly c~~pu~: grour.d r3.r"~ t.:"; ::':"'i~~
by double integration of a signal from a pitch-stabilized
accelerometer. At a pre-established distance
from the point of launch, the range-computing system
places the GAM-63A in a 35° dive toYlllrd the target.
At the initiation of terminal dive, a search radar
mc-,1l'it~d in the nose of the missile hI automatically
.. "Military Character~3tic8 for a PHotlelts Parasite Bomber," SAB-51-Bl, 14 December 1951, Directorate of
Rt>qu1.ernentIJ, Hq. USAF; "DeveiQpment Directive," No. 00-27-Al, 4 February 1952, ARDC; and Reorientation
of DroJect MX-776, Contract W33-035ac e !4169," AF J.,.)tter WCSGA/HDH/nrw, 4 !".arch 1952.
... CEP: The Umiting value, as the number of nights becomes large, of the radlUii of a right circular cylinder
whose axis is a verticai line through the target and within which 50% of the detonations occur .
••• VERTICAL STANDARD DEVIATION: The limiting value, as the number of flights becomes large, of the rootmean-squared
distance between the actual and intended detonation altitude.
Report No. 56-981-021-48
SEC~ET
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