Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-09
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bases. almost complete invul-
nerability to counter-measures
of all kinds and the very short
time Of flight"
He pointed out that a Po-
laris-loaded atomic submarine
on station would travel at very
slow speeds" making detection
very dificult. With q feet Of
subs deployed. the Russians
could never be certain which
ones were Polaris carriers. he
added.
The Air Force briefer told
reporters that study Of an air
launched ballistic missile, with
the range of present IRBMs.
but much lighter, was being
pushed.
He said the air-launched
IRBM would be q successor to
the new air-to-surface Hound
Dog supersonic weapon. The
Hound Dog will carry a nuclear
warhead with pickle barrel"
accuracy for many hundreds Of
miles, he added.
Reports Optimistic
Optimistic reports on new
early-warning radars and anti
missile missiles also were given
by the missile experts.
Several experimental facili-
ties for the newly developed
3,000-mile radars already have
been set up. One at Milestone
Hill. Mass, lis able to view
missile firings at Cape Canav-
eral; Fla" and has success
fully tracked the Russian Sput-
niks," the official said.
Each installation will require
two types Of very powerful
radars-one for detection, the
other for tracking.
1.-THE detection radar, by
means Of a very complex an
tenna system, provides precise
and sharp beams designed to
have a 99-plus per cent proba-
bility of raid detection, with a
low false alarm rate" an ON
cial said, adding:
1.-THE tracking radar will al
low us to discriminate between
missiles, meteors and satellites
and obtain more accurate inn
pact prediction information"
More than $500 million was
voted by Congress last week
for construction Of the missile
warning installations. The cost
Of the equipment win be in adj
dition to this sum. =
In Hardware Stage
AS for the anti-missile mis-
sile itself. the Army spokesman
said that the Nike-Zeus is an
"actual development program
In the hardware stage-it isl
not a study program"
He said that while the ICBM
Is a fast, small, hard target. it
has these weaknesses: Its speed
helps in its detection (what else
would be coming at you that
fast?) and it follows a highly
practicable trajectory once it
gets outside the atmosphere.
THE problem is simply to
determine the path and launch
a missile into its path" he as
serted. "Radar and electronics
make it possible to determine
the path of the ballistic missile.
compute the path Of the de-
Tending missile, launch the de-
Tending missile and explode it
at the proper time"
For the main threat as of
today-that of manned enemy
bombers. the Air Force spokes-
man made a substantial claim.
He said the Bomarc missile has
a rate Of fire, velocity and re-
action time which gives it IAN
unmatched capability to pro-
vide a complete all-around de-
Tense of the United States
against the present and antici-
pated threat of air-breathing
missiles and manned aircraft. "
Fewer than As Bomarc squad
rons "can defend the entire
United States" he said.
LaudatOry on Shark
The same spokesman gave a
surprisingly laudatory report
on the air-breathing Shark
guided missile. which has an
intercontinental range Of $500
nautical miles Production of
this missile was cutback so per
cent last year and Secretary
Douglas told the Senate Pre-
paredness Subcommittee that
the missile had been a disap-
pointment to the Air Force. But
the briefer said:
1--WE have had three success
full Shark flights Of 5000 miles
in succession with the missile
performing exactly as planned
and diving-without warhead-
on the target selected. The