Blowout Plugs Fitted to Pershing SC RAM Missile f or Range Contro]

New York- Army's Pershing sclcctive combat range artillery missilc (SCRAM) will bc fitted with cngine blowout plugs to control its rangc, Martin Co. officials said hcre last weck.

Pcrsh ing's initial High t tcsts are scheduled to start next month (A \ V fan. 18. p. 23) at Cape Canaveral, Fla., pcncling component checkouts by Army ßallistic 1Iissile Agcncv at Iluntsvillc, :\Ja., according to \Villiam B. Bergen, i'vlartin presidcnt.

Bcrgc:n said thc program is on time and addcd that spcnding on the mis­sile, cstimated at $108 mill ion for Fiscal 1960, is cxpected to rise in Fiscal 1961 to $140-150 million .

A two-stage, solid propellant missilc, rhe Pershing is dcsigned to h it any pre­selccted targct betwcen 20 and 450 mi . \Vhen a computer determincs that the missilc has reachcd the vclocity required to hit a sclectcd targct, thc plugs in thc hcad of thc cngine then operating are blown, th rust of the still-burning cnginc drops to zcro, and th c missilc heads in on targc t. Thc Pershing al-

\

' ~

ways is launched as a two-stage vchicle, even if the second-stage cngine isn't required for a close target.

At present, maximum range for the Pershing is believcd to be just under 500 mi .

\ Vith thc 10,000-lb. weight limit imposcd on the Army rnissiles, Persh ing program cngineers tried to gct less weigh t and more clistance by switch­ing from stcel to titanium motor cas­ings (AV-.' Oct. 19, p. 32. Initial results with thc titanium casings wcre not as good as had been hopecl for, according to M artin. More expensive titanium casings also were caught in a budget squeezc.

Most expensive part of th e missile is thc guidance sys tem, Bergen said. Guidancc system for the Pershing is manufa cturecl by Bendix; the missile's two solid propcllan t engines arc madc by Thiokol.

Conccrning othcr Martin projects, Bergen had this to say: • Original operational clatc for the Titan, Junc, 1961, still is in effect

Blue Steel Bomb Fitted on Avro Vulcan Blue Stcel stand-off bomb, developed by A. V. R oe Co., Ltd., is shown mounted on thc belly oE an Avro Vnlcan four-jct bomber; the bomb is carricd in the bomb bay oE the Handlcy Page Victor jet bombcr. Note Jower vertical stabilizer which folds for ground clearance. T he bomb will be tested a t Anstralia's \ :Voomera Rocket Range, using the V ulc:111 (A " ' Jan . 2;, p. 59); previous tcsts nsed the V ickcrs Valiant jet bomber.

24

despite rcccnt failurcs (A \ ,V Jan. 11, p. 68). If the missile starts fl ying, Bergen said, there will not be any slip­page in the original timetable. A critical point will come sometime in the next 30 days when the Titan will be tested for in-flight separation and ignition of the seconcl stage, the only major factor still untricd. • H igh energy storable propellant for the Titan is uncler development at Aerojet-General, powerplant contractor for the T itan . Range of the Titan could bc extendecl beyond currently an ticipated 6,300 stat. mi. by bringing the 8-ft. diameter second stage out to the 10-ft. diameter of first stage. For every additional second of burning time, the missile can pick up an extra 300 mi. E mpty weight of the Titan is the same as that of thc Atlas, 20,000 lb . Loaded and ready for flight, thc Titan weighs in at 205,000 lb., comparecl with the 265,000-lb. initial gross weight of the Atlas. (vVith a 10-ft. diameter second stage, the T itan would also weigh 265,000 lb.) Of the 60,000-lb. differ­cnce, 40,000 lb. is fucl. N uclcar war­head of thc Titan, if measured in mega­tons, is about double that of the Atlas and e ight times that of the Minuteman. (Karel J. Bossart, of Convair, who was in New York last weck to receive the Institute of Acronautical Sciences' Reed Award for his work on thc Atlas, took cxccption to these remarks. The Atlas, said Bossart, will do anything the Titan can or may clo, including carrying thc same size payload over the same clistancc.) • After six months storage in the sub­arctic ancl a cold soak to - 65F just prior to launching, six solid propellant Lacrosse missiles wcre successfullv firecl two weeks ago by U. S. Army ·troops at F ort Churchill, Can. • Solid propellant Bullpup missile has rackecl up a 95 % reliabil ity record, which is significantly higher than had becn anticipatccl. • Martin is trying to sell its M issile Master point defensc commancl system to FAA for use in tra ffic control. Com­pany is developing many versions of this sys tcm . One, thc M issile Mas ter, Jr., wh ich now is in the prototype stage, handles a smallcr number of missile b ut is truck-transportable. • N umerous SNAP (suhsvstem nu­clear auxiliary power) projects, all based on radioisotope power, which thc com­pany is dcveloping have maclc Martin one of thc largest radioisotopc con­sumers. T his year, for thc first time, lVIartin's nuclear business is in the black.

Although the company is not aiming at any specific balance be tween mili­tary ancl commercial husincss, Bergen said, it docs hope to builcl up thc com­mercial siele primarily th rough its nu­clcar work .

AVIATION WEEK, February l , 1960