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

FROM GUNS TO MISSILES
first kill with the conventional warhead in April 1957. Early
on, the program was hobbled by test failures (76 percent of attempts
through April 1958) mainly attributed to malfunctions
of the guidance beacon, auxiliary power, and warhead circuitry.
The missile improved, and, in its first public launch on 1 July
1958, it intercepted a simulated target flying at a speed of 650
knots (kts) at 100,000 feet. In tests later that month, Hercules
showed it could single out a target when it destroyed three
drones with fragmentation warheads. (It should be further noted
that these targets were more challenging than the tried-and-true
QB-17.) The Army never tested the Hercules with an atomic warhead,
although it had scheduled such a demonstration for August
1958. (The nuclear warhead entered service in 1958.) Later
tests showed a greatly improved missile success rate of 71 percent
on 75 attempts in July through October 1958. 32
The Army was not content with the Hercules missile. From the
outset of the Hercules program in October 1954, overall direction
called for modernization, research, and development. The
Army’s specific concern was to defeat such higher-performing
aircraft (expected in the 1960–70s timeframe) as low-flying aircraft
and to increase kill effectiveness and target-handling
ability. While the Nike Zeus program (see below) was designed
to combat enemy ballistic missiles, the Army initiated improvements
to Hercules to combat aircraft. Principal improvements
were made to the system’s radars to extend detection
and tracking ranges to the ground-based units. Testing of
these improvements against flying targets began in early
1960 and by midyear demonstrated successes against both
drones and ballistic missiles (Corporal and Hercules). The
Army began to deploy the improved Hercules in June 1961
and by May 1964 had phased out all of its stateside-based
Ajax missiles. Total Hercules production exceeded 25,500
missiles. Hercules served in six countries in addition to the
United States. 33
The Airmen also engaged in SAM work. In April 1946, the
Army Air Forces (AAF) had three SAMs under development out
of 28 missile projects. Boeing designed the ground-to-air pilotless
aircraft (GAPA) missile system to defend against aircraft
with a range of 35 miles and an altitude of 60,000 feet. The
87