30 June 1961 - The Black Vault

olaf & RET F
68
launch from a tube in a spinning attitude and fire in a ballistic
traJectory. 55 The Directorate I s proposal was supported
by the Ballistic Mis·sile Division and then went forward to
Headquarters USAF for additional study and possible funding,56
Inth.e meantime, engineers at the Directorate cont1nued to
rer1nethelr~J. 8,:ve Concept theories. The1r final proposal wa5
a three-sUlge miss1le with a solid propellant cluster and flare
.and :fin stabilIty. Itw.oulL4 be 40 f'eet long and weigh l6 J
000
po·u.nds. Thiolc:ol furn1shed ana.nalysis for the so11d propellant
and Dol.tgla~ Alrorai't CoinP~ (Charlotte Division) prepared a
design fO'r thepropo.sed mis·S11e. Theoretical1.y J 1ts cIrcular
errorJ):robab1l1ty was~4.6 nautical miles at 5,500 miles which
ga.ve i ·t an exc~llent advantage i'bI' barrage effec t or for use
as a decoy With theMINt1'i'EMAN. Estimates by the Directorate
placed· the cost o.f IJOOO r.t:lJavem.1ssiles includ1ng development
at $339.0GO,OOo.57
The Ballistic Systems Division (BSD) granted OJ.rectorate
perso'nnel a Mo.1ave Concept audience on 20 June 1961.
Dur1ng
the conference J Major General T. P. Gerrity. the BSD Commander,
indicated he thOUght the program possessed conGiderable me~it.
But he quest10ned. the Mojave missile reliability. As a result
of this meeting and General Gerrity'iS comments, the D1.rectorate
implemented a 90 day feasib1lity study on 30 June 1961. 58 (End of
SECRET)
55. IUs.t of th~ AFFTC, Jan - Jun 1960, p. 209.
56. Ib
.• ~ d';
J J. ;:'( .. " .
57 . 1:ii'ierv1ew by C V Eppley ·wlt·h Capt R. G. Dingman, Projeet
Engineer, Ad\.·anc e ~()to!' Teehnol ogy Section, 6593rd Test
Group, (Deve lopment), SSUj 4 April 1962.
I b id .
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