Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

FROM GUNS TO MISSILES
The Army tested eight unguided missiles between late September
1946 and late January 1947. Although the first of
these reached an altitude of 140,000 feet and a speed of Mach
2.7, quite impressive for that day, the series was beset by
problems that should have been expected with a new technology.
There were difficulties with the motor, but the more serious
ones included booster malfunctions (separation, explosions, and
misfires). This led the developers in 1948 to adopt a unitary
booster positioned underneath the missile that replaced the
four boosters clustered around it and increased the system’s
length. More importantly, this arrangement offered advantages
of cost, assembly, handling, reliability, and the tactical
advantage of smokelessness. The newness of the technology
also was evident in that initially the testers relied on recovering
a 25-channel flight data recorder by parachute until telemetry
was demonstrated in early 1947. 23 Other changes included
moving the position of the control fins and increasing the size
and location of the warhead. 24
The Army vigorously tested Nike. Systems tests began in November
1951 and consisted of 23 guided shots, all but three
against a drone aircraft. Ten were unsuccessful because of a
missile component failure, with another four considered partially
successful despite a missile component failure. The remaining
nine averaged a miss distance (metal to metal) of 15
feet, and two hit the drone. While most of these tests used pyrotechnic
devices in lieu of a real warhead, in April 1952 the
Army fired five live warheads against drones (QB-17, radiocontrolled
World War II B-17 bombers). Although these were
low-performance targets when compared to the threat, they
were real aircraft and did yield dramatic photos. Two of the
test missiles malfunctioned (one attributed to the missile, the
other to its beacon), one inflicted heavy damage on the target,
while the other two destroyed the drones. 25 There were additional
live firing tests in early 1953; six were aimed at QB-17s
and 10 at QF6F drones (radio-controlled World War II naval
fighters). The testers concluded that 43 percent of the 49 shots
were completely successful, and another 23 percent achieved
“qualified” success. Six of the seven live warhead rounds were
successful. The tests continued. Between June 1953 and De-
83