Newsgroup: it.cultura.storia.militare
Titolo: Basi missili Nike (lungo)

Per approfondire l'argomento direi di aprire un nuovo post (questo è un po'
lungo, ma ne vale la pena, direi...)
A proposito di materiali. Ho trovato questo inserto sui missili Nike Ajax e
Hercules, di fonte americana. Se vi interessa potete anche inserirlo sul
sito ICSM.
Fonte sito 
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6540/
L'Antipatico
Origins Of The Nike System
Nike, named for the mythical Greek goddess of victory, was the name given to
a program which ultimately produced the world's first successful,
widely-deployed, guided surface-to-air missile system. Planning for Nike was
begun during the last months of the Second World War when the U.S. Army
realized that conventional anti-aircraft artillery would not be able to
provide an adequate defense against the fast, high-flying and maneuverable
jet aircraft which were being introduced into service, particularly by the
Germans.
During 1945, Bell Telephone Laboratories produced the "AAGM (Anti Aircraft
Guided Missile) Report" in which the concept of the Nike system were first
outlined. The Report envisioned a two-stage, supersonic missile which could
be guided to its target by means of ground-based radar and computer systems.
This type of system is known as a "command" guidance system. The main
advantage over conventional anti-aircraft artillery was that the Nike
missile could be continuously guided to intercept an aircraft, in spite of
any evasive actions taken by its pilot. By contrast, the projectiles fired
by conventional anti-aircraft artillery (such as 90mm and 120mm guns)
followed a predetermined, ballistic trajectory which could not be altered
after firing.
The Nike Mission
During the first decade of the Cold War, the Soviet Union began to develop a
series of long-range bomber aircraft, capable of reaching targets within the
continental United States. The potential threat posed by such aircraft
became much more serious when, in 1949, the Russians exploded their first
atomic bomb.
The perception that the Soviet Union might be capable of constructing a
sizable fleet of long-range, nuclear-armed bomber aircraft capable of
reaching the continental United States provided motivation to rapidly
develop and deploy the Nike system to defend major U.S. population centers
and other vital targets. The outbreak of hostilities in Korea, provided a
further impetus to this deployment.
The mission of Nike within the continental U.S was to act as a "last ditch"
line of air defense for selected areas. The Nike system would have been
utilized in the event that the Air Force's long-range fighter-interceptor
aircraft had failed to destroy any attacking bombers at a greater distance
from their intended targets.
Nike Deployment
Within the continental United States, Nike missile sites were constructed in
defensive "rings" surrounding major urban and industrial areas. Additional
Nike sites protected key Strategic Air Command bases and other sensitive
installations, such as the nuclear facilities at Hanford, Washington. Sites
were located on government-owned property where this was available (for
example, on military bases). However, much real estate needed to be acquired
in order to construct sufficient bases to provide an adequate defense. This
was a sometimes difficult and contentious process. Often, the federal
government had to go to court in order to obtain the property needed for
such sites.
The exact number of Nike sites constructed within a particular "defense
area" varied depending upon many factors. The New York Defense Area -- one
of the largest in the nation -- was defended at one time by nearly twenty
individual Nike installations. Due to the relatively short range of the
original Nike missile, the Nike "Ajax", many bases were located relatively
close to the center of the areas they protected. Frequently, they were
located within heavily populated areas.
Nike Ajax missiles first became operational at Fort Meade, Maryland, during
December, 1953. Dozens of Nike sites were subsequently constructed at
locations all across the continental United States during the mid fifties
and early sixties. Roughly 250 sites were constructed during this period.
Nike missiles were also deployed overseas with U.S. forces in Europe and
Asia, by the armed forces of many NATO nations (Germany, France, Denmark,
Italy, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Greece and Turkey), and by U.S.
allies in Asia (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan).
A "Typical" Nike Site
A "typical" Nike air defense site consisted of two separate parcels of land.
One area was known as the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) Area. This site
contained the Nike system's ground-based radar and computer systems designed
to detect and track hostile aircraft, and to guide the missiles to their
targets.
The second parcel of land was known as the Launcher Area. At the launcher
area, Nike missiles were stored horizontally within heavily constructed
underground missile "magazines". A large, missile elevator brought the Nikes
to the surface of the site where they would be pushed (manually) by crewmen,
across twin steel rails to one of four satellite launchers. The missile was
then attached to its launcher and erected to a near-vertical position for
firing. The near-vertical firing position ensured that the missile's booster
rocket (lower stage) would not crash directly back onto the missile site,
but, instead, would land within a predetermined "booster impact area".
The control and launcher areas were separated by a distance of 1,000 to
6,000 yards (roughly 0.5- to 3.5-miles) and were often located within
different townships. Technical limitations of the guidance system required
the two facilities to be separated by a minimum of 3,000 feet. Whenever
possible, control areas were constructed on high ground in order to gain
superior radar coverage of the area. Control areas were generally located
between the area being defended and the launcher area containing the
missiles.
Nike "Ajax": The First Nike Missile
The first successful test firing of a Nike missile occurred during 1951.
This first Nike missile was later given the name Nike "Ajax". Nike Ajax was
a slender, two-stage guided missile powered by a liquid-fueled motor
utilizing a combination of inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA),
unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) and JP-4 jet petroleum. The Ajax was
blasted off of its launcher by means of a jettisonable solid fuel rocket
booster which fired for about 3 seconds, accelerating the missile with a
power of 25 times the force of gravity.
The Ajax missile was capable of maximum speeds of over 1,600-mph and could
reach targets at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet. Its range was only about 25
miles, which was too short to make it a truly effective air defense weapon
in the eyes of its many detractors. Its supporters countered that the new
missile was markedly superior to conventional antiaircraft artillery, and
that it was, significantly, the only air defense missile actually deployed
and operational at that time.
Nike Ajax was armed with three individual high-explosive, fragmentation-type
warheads located at the front, center and rear of the missile body. Although
consideration was given to arming the Ajax with a nuclear (atomic) warhead,
this project was canceled in favor of developing a totally new,
much-improved Nike missile. Even as the first Nike Ajax missiles were being
deployed across the nation, work on its successor, first known as "Nike-B"
and later as Nike "Hercules" had already begun.
The Nike "Hercules" Missile
Work on a successor to the first Nike missile, the Nike "Ajax", was
initiated well before the first Ajax missiles were deployed at sites across
the nation. Two primary considerations drove the development of the this
second-generation Nike missile. The first involved the need to field a
missile with improved capabilities to defend against a new generation of
faster and smaller targets, including supersonic aircraft and tactical
ballistic missiles. The second was the desire to arm this new missile with a
powerful atomic warhead.
Originally designated as "Nike B", the Nike "Hercules" -- as this missile
was later known -- was a far more capable missile than its predecessor (the
Nike Ajax) in nearly every way. With a maximum range of about 90 miles,
maximum speeds of over 3,200 mph, and the ability to reach targets at
altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet, the Nike Hercules was a very potent air
defense weapon. The Hercules missile lacked most of the complex,
miniaturized vacuum tubes utilized by the Ajax, and employed solid rocket
fuel in its "sustainer" motor which made it easier and safer to manage than
the Ajax which employed highly caustic liquid fuel components.
Unlike the Ajax, the Hercules was designed from the outset to carry a
nuclear warhead. Designated "W-31" the Hercules nuclear warhead was
available in three different yields: low (3-Kilotons); medium (20-Kt.) and
high (30-Kt.). For purposes of comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on
Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of the Second World War had a yield of
approximately 15 Kilotons.
Armed with its nuclear warhead a single Nike Hercules missile was capable of
destroying a closely spaced formation of several attacking aircraft. This
warhead enabled the Hercules to destroy not only the aircraft, but also any
nuclear weapons they carried, preventing them from being detonated. Some of
the first Hercules missiles deployed in the United States were initially
equipped with the heavier "W-7" nuclear warhead.
The Hercules could also be equipped with a powerful, high-explosive,
fragmentation-type warhead designated "T-45". The warhead provided a useful
alternative to the W-31 (particularly for use against a single aircraft and
for low altitude use in proximity to populated areas) and was deployed at
many overseas sites. Additional warhead designs, including "cluster" type
warheads containing numerous submunitions, were developed although not
deployed operationally on the Nike Hercules missile.
More sophisticated radar and guidance systems were also part of the Hercules
"package". These made the Hercules system more accurate and effective at
longer ranges. During the early sixties, an "improved" version of the
Hercules system, utilizing ABAR (Alternate Battery Acquisition Radar) or
HIPAR (High Power Acquisition Radar) was deployed. The improved radar
capabilities and other advanced electronic features of the Improved Hercules
system made it more effective against small supersonic targets including
aircraft, aircraft launched "stand-off" missiles, and tactical ballistic
missiles.
An relatively unknown fact is that the Hercules missile could also be used
in a surface-to-surface mode. In this role, the Hercules would have been
used to deliver tactical nuclear warheads to destroy concentrations of enemy
troops and armored vehicles, or bridges, dams and other significant targets
from bases and field deployments located primarily within Western Europe.
This surface capability might also have proven useful in other areas where
the Hercules missile was deployed including South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Maximum range of the Hercules missile in the surface-to-surface mode was
slightly over 110 miles, and was limited by the effective transmission range
of the Missile Tracking Radar (MTR).
Although deployed at permanent sites within the continental United States,
and at many overseas locations, mobile Nike Hercules batteries increased the
flexibility and usefulness of this system, permitting the powerful
capabilities of this versatile missile system to be extended wherever this
could prove useful. Trucks and trailers were used to transport Nike Hercules
system components to the desired field locations. In this mode, a single
missile was mounted upon a truck-drawn trailer/launcher unit which also
served as a firing platform.
Guidance & Control
Unlike some modern missile systems, Nike was guided entirely from the
ground, from firing to warhead detonation. The electronic "eyes" (radar) and
"brain" (computer) of the Nike system were located on the ground, within the
Intergrated Fire Control Area.
At the IFC area, hostile aircraft were first identified by means of an
acquisition radar (ACQR). This radar was manned 24 hours per day, scanning
the skies for indications of any hostile aircraft. "Friendly" aircraft were
automatically identified by means of electronic signals generated by IFF
("Identification Friend or Foe") or SIF ("Selective Identification Feature")
equipment.
In practice, this target information would normally have been received from
Air Force long range radar sites, by means of the Air Force's SAGE (Semi
Automatic Ground Environment) system and other sources including Army
"Missile Master" sites and related facilities, in order to provide an
advanced warning for the missile batteries.
Having acquired and positively identified a hostile aircraft, a second
radar, the Target Tracking Radar (TTR) would be aimed at and electronically
locked onto it. This radar would then follow the selected aircraft's every
move in spite of any evasive action taken by its pilot. A third radar, the
Missile Tracking Radar (MTR) was then aimed at and electronically locked
onto an individual Nike missile located at the nearby Launcher Area.
Both the TTR and MTR were linked to a guidance computer located at the IFC
Area. This analog computer continuously compared the relative positions of
both the targeted aircraft and the missile during its flight and determined
the course the missile would have to fly in order to reach its target.
Steering commands were computed and sent from the ground to the missile
during its flight, via the Missile Tracking Radar. At the moment of closest
approach the missile's warhead would be detonated by a computer generated
"burst command" sent from the ground via the MTR.
For surface-to-surface shots, the coordinates of the target were dialed into
the computer and the height of burst was set by crew members at the Launcher
Area. The standard technique was for the missile's guidance signal to be
terminated as it dove vertically onto its target. Detonation of the warhead
was via the pre-set barometric fusing. Alternately (and presumably as a
back-up system) the warhead could be exploded via contact fusing when it
impacted the selected target or target area.
End Of The Nike Era
Although Nike was created in response to Russian efforts to design and
deploy long-range bomber aircraft during the early years of the Cold War,
Russian military strategy soon changed. Fearing that their manned aircraft
would be too vulnerable to attack by supersonic American interceptor
aircraft armed with rockets and missiles, the Russians decided to focus
their attention on developing ICBMs -- Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles -- against which there existed no effective defense. As a result,
the Russians never deployed a large and capable strategic bomber force
comparable to the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force.
The shifting nature of the Soviet threat meant that the air defense role,
for which Nike was originally intended, became relatively less critical as
time passed. Defense dollars were needed for other projects (including the
development of American ICBMs and potential missile defenses) and to fund
the rapidly growing war in Vietnam. Accordingly, beginning in the mid 1960s,
the total number of operational Nike bases within the continental U.S. was
steadily reduced on an almost annual basis.
The signing of the SALT I treaty in Moscow during the spring of 1972 limited
the number of missiles with ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) capabilities. Nike
Hercules, due to its limited capabilities against certain types of ballistic
missiles, was included in this treaty. During 1974, all remaining sites
within the nationwide Nike air defense system were inactivated. Army Air
Defense Command (ARADCOM) which administered this system was closed down
shortly thereafter. One of the nation's most significant Cold War air
defense programs had come to an end.
In spite of the termination of the nationwide Nike program, Nike missiles
remained operational at sites in Florida and Alaska for several more years.
Others remained operational with U.S. forces in Europe and the Pacific, and
with the armed forces of many U.S. Allies overseas. Although no longer in
the U.S. inventory, more than four decades after the first Nike missile
became operational in the U.S., Nike Hercules missiles are today deployed by
the armed forces of U.S. allies in Europe and Asia, and are likely to remain
in service well beyond the year 2000.

 platform.
Ricordo una esercitazione congiunta italo-americana sul 
torrente Torre vicino Udine, c'era anche un enorme 
missilone su un rimorchio, potrebbe essere questo qui.
Fine anni 60.
-- 
Non ho fatto il .

 located within heavily populated areas.
Qualcuno si ricorda il titolo del romanzo nel quale un tizio che presta
servizio in una batteria di (mi pare) Nike, per star piu' vicino alla sua
ragazza, falsifica gli ordini ricevuti e impianta una base di lancio
praticamente nel giardino di lei? E' da un pezzo che mi proponevo di
leggerlo, ma adesso non mi ricordo piu' come si chiamasse...
ciao. dino.
 
-- 
Remove "no" and "spam" to e-mail

 Qualcuno si ricorda il titolo del romanzo
Romanzo non saprei, ma c'è un film ("Missili in Giardino",
con Paul Newman & signora, 1958) che probabilmente
tratta argomenti simili.
-- 
Davide
"Solo se la vostra visione va oltre quella del vostro maestro,
siete adatti per ricevere e tramandare la trasmissione."
(Massima Zen)

 con Paul Newman & signora, 1958) che probabilmente
Ah, non lo sapevo. Probabilmente il film e' tratto dallo stesso libro che
avevo visto io...


Ciao,
guardando i vari siti sui missili Nike, vedo che vicino alle batteria
o per lo meno nelle vicinanze c'è il centro di controllo e comando. Ma 
qua da noi il centro di controllo  per esempio della ex base de
Cansiglio
dove si trovava? O il centro di controllo della (ex-)base di Scorzè dove
si
trova? 
Per quanto ho visto in giro nn ci sono caserme con mega antenne 
sparse per i campi, le uniche che conosco sono in zona Portogruaro e le
vedi
a km di distanza e dovrebbero essere dell'Aeronautica.
Come facevano a tracciare i bersagli? Forse è tutto sotterraneo?
Grazie
Puzzle
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Cmq per questo argomento consiglio questo sito:
http://www.nikemissile.org/
