Nike Hercules Missile Model Available
This 1/40 scale US Army Nike Hercules Missile by Revell is available from Tower Hobbies.
Cold War & Nike Missile Links
- A site advocating a strong missile defense
- About the Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum
- All About the Chrysler Air Raid Siren
- Atomic Archive
- Atomic Ice Cream
- BUY - Rings of Supersonic Steel - HERE
- Civil Defense Museum
- Cold War Communications
- Cold War Leftovers: Exploring America's Secret Landscape
- CONELRAD: All Things Atomic | The Golden Age of Homeland Security
- Defending Gotham
- Ed Thelen's Nike Missile Web Site
- Got Bunker?
- Historic Missiles of White Sands
- LUNOR Swiss Specialists in Fallout Shelters since 1947
- Nike Hercules Missile Data
- Research Study Group: Cold War Sites in the UK
- San Francisco Area Nike Sites
- San Francisco Cold War Era 1952-1974
- Seattle Area Nike Sites
- Site Summit Alaska
- Subterranea Britannica: Home Page
- Swords of Amageddon: History of the U.S. Development of Nuclear Weapons
- The Bureau of Atomic Tourism
- The Cold War Museum
Military Booksellers
Books
Jon Winokur: The Portable Curmudgeon
"if you can't say anthing good about someone, sit right here by me." - Alice Roosevelt Longworth (*****)Tom Vanderbilt: Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America
Mark L. Morgan: Rings of Supersonic Steel: Air Defenses of the United States Army 1950-1974 - An Introductory History and Site Guide
Find nuclear missile sites in your neighborhood. (*****)- Henry E. Guerlac: Radar in World War II (The History of Modern Physics 1800-1950, Two volumes: Sect. A-C, and Sect. D-E w/ Appendices)
A very detailed history of the RAD Lab and those who worked on America's World War II radar program. - James N. Gibson: Nuclear Weapons of the United States: An Illustrated History
Learn to identify common nuclear weapons. MICHAEL SCHEUER: Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
(*****)Brian B. Chin: Artillery at the Golden Gate: The Harbor Defenses of San Francisco in World War II
Read about the people who guarded the Golden Gate during World War IIGreg Palast: Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans--Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild
"Upsets all the Right People" - Noam ChomskyMark A. Berhow: American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898-1945 (Fortress, 4)
Richard A. Clarke: Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror
Read the book before the movie comes out. (****)
October 01, 2008
June 30, 2008
September 05, 2007
June 04, 2007
Nike Warhead Systems
The family of warheads used with guided missile MIN-14 includes one fragmentation warhead (T45) and the W31 nuclear warhead in three yields; 2 kt (kilo ton) (Mike-97), 20 kt (Mike-22), and 40 kt (Mike-23). Some sources indicate yields of 1 kt, 20 Kt, and 40 kt.
Fragmentation
Warhead T45 consists of approximately 20,000 cubical, 140 grain, steel fragments arranged in single and double layers around a 625-pound explosive charge and warhead booster. Detonation of the warhead is initiated by a burst pulse form the missile guidance set. The burst pulse ignites a small explosive charge in two safety and arming devices M30A1. These charges ignite two explosive harnesses M38. The explosive harnesses detonate the warhead booster which in turn detonates the warhead charge. The safety and arming devices M30A1 cannot be fired until they are armed by the force of acceleration during the boost period. The fragment distribution (blast pattern) of warhead T45 is approximately spherical with a conical dead zone to the rear.
The W31 was designed by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The W31is a boosted fission nuclear device, meaning that the yield is enhanced by the addition of a mixture of deuterium and tritium gas to the core. By adjusting the amount of D-T to the core, yield can be increased by 100%. The W31 could be set to yield a range from one to forty kilotons. (Some references indicate a yield from two to forty kilotons.) Presumably, this was done by adjusting the amount of D-T in the core.
It is believed that the only time a NIKE nuclear warhead was tested was during the Operation Dominic. A subset of tests, Operation Fishbowl, were conducted at the Pacific Test Range in November, 1962.
Shot Fishbowl Tightrope was a Department of Defense sponsored live launch of a Nike Hercules Missile with a W31 nuclear warhead. The warhead detonated at 69,000 feet approximately two miles South South West of Johnston Island. The yield of this test is not in the public literature, but
The airburst created an intense white flash as seen on Johnston Island, too bright to view through high density goggles. The detonation was accompanied by a strong heat pulse. A yellow-orange disk formed, slowly changing to a purple toroid which faded from view after several minutes.
Fishbowl Tightrope Shot *
This shot is generally regarded as the last U.S. atmospheric test. The later zero-yield atmospheric plutonium dispersal tests conducted in Operation Roller Coaster are however listed as "nuclear tests" by the U.S. government and counted as part of the total of U.S. nuclear tests. Furthermore, several later Plowshare nuclear tests (Cabriolet, Palanquin, Buggy, and Schooner) were surface cratering shots, in which the explosions intentionally broke through the surface, venting a substantial fraction of the radioactivity produced.
* (Source:) http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Dominic.html
May 13, 2007
January 18, 2007
January 17, 2007
Chinese Shoot Down Satellite
The rumor is that the Chinese have successfully shot down - or destroyed in orbit - one of their old weather satellites, according to the ArmsControlWonk and Aviation Week.
If they have the capacity to do this on a regular basis, it pretty much puts all of our fancy-smanchy high technology - net-centric - near-real-time intelligence gadgets in real danger.
January 08, 2007
Army Nike Unit DIs
Army and Army National Guard Nike Unit Distinctive Insignias
List of insignias required for the next edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel. This is the best information currently available, if you believe that a DI exists for a unit that is listed as not having a DI, please let us know.
We're looking for good examples of the missing DIs to photograph for the upcoming edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel.
1. 1st ADA - Have DI
2. 2nd ADA - Have DI
3. 3rd ADA - Have DI
4. 4th ADA - Have DI
5. 5th ADA - Have DI - Have Alternate DI
6. 6th ADA - Have DI
7. 7th ADA - Have DI
8. 15th ADA - Need DI
9. 43rd ADA - Have DI
10. 44th ADA - Have DI
11. 51st ADA - Have DI
12. 52nd ADA - Need DI
13. 55th ADA - Have DI
14. 56th ADA - Have DI
15. 57th ADA - Have DI
16. 59th ADA - Have DI
17. 60th ADA - Have DI
18. 61st ADA - Have DI
19. 62nd ADA - Have DI
20. 65th ADA - Have DI
21. 67th ADA - Need DI
22. 68th ADA - Have DI
23. 70th ADA - Need DI
24. 71st ADA - Have DI
25. 106th NYArNG - Need DI
26. 111th VAArNG - Need DI
27. 112th- NJArNG - No DI
28. 126th - WIArNG - No DI
29. 128th - MOArNG - No DI
30. 132d - TXArNG - No DI
31. 137th - OHArNG - Need DI
32. 166th - PAArNG - Need DI
33. 177th MIArNG - Need DI
34. 182d MIArNG - No DI
35. 192d CTArNG - No DI
36. 202d ILArNG - Have DI
37. 205th WAArNG - Need DI
38. 209th NYArNG - Have DI
39. 212th NYArNG - Need DI
40. 241th MAArNG - Have DI
41. 242d CTArNG - No DI
42. 243d RIArNG - Have DI
43. 244th - NYArNG - Need DI
44. 254th NYArNG - Have DI
45. 250th CAArNG - Have DI
46. 251st CAArNG - Have DI
47. 254th NJArNG - Need DI
48. 280th VAArNG - No DI
49. 298th HIArNG - No DI
50. 517th ADA - Have DI
51. 562d ADA - Have DI
Insignias needed are:
1. 15th ADA
2. 52d ADA
3. 67th ADA
4. 70th ADA
5. 106th NYArNG
6. 111th VAArNG
7. 137th OHArNG
8. 166th PAArNG
9. 177th MIArNG
10. 205th WAArNG
11. 212th NYArNG
12. 244th NYArNG
13. 254th NJArNG
January 02, 2007
Nike Site
Can You Identify this Nike Launch Site?
December 24, 2006
Clowns Claim Compound
From Defense Tech... Clowns hammer on nuclear warheads with household hammers.
Clowns crashing compound
More here
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