Pershing missile

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Pershing was a family of solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missiles designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the United States Army's primary theater-level weapon. It was named for General John J. Pershing. The systems were managed by the US Army Missile Command (MICOM) and deployed by the United States Army Field Artillery Corps.

Contents

[edit] Development

Pershing I test flight
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Pershing I test flight

In 1956, George Bunker, the president of The Martin Company, paid a courtesy call on General John Medaris of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal. Medaris noted that it would be advantageous to the Army if there were a missile plant in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral. Martin began construction of their Sand Lake facility in Orlando, Florida and opened it in late 1957. Ed Uhl, co-inventor of the bazooka, was the vice president and general manager of the new facility.

The US Army began feasibility studies in 1956 for a ballistic missile with a required range of 500–750 nautical miles. Later that year, Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson issued the Wilson Memorandum that stripped the US Army of all missiles with a range of 200 miles or greater. When the memorandum was rescinded in 1958, ABMA began development. Initially called the Redstone-S (solid), the name was quickly changed to Pershing.

Seven companies were selected to provide proposals: Chrysler, Lockheed, Douglas, Convair, Firestone, Sperry-Rand and The Martin Company.[1] Secretary of the Army Wilber Brucker— former governor of Michigan — was apparently under pressure from home to award the contract to a Michigan company. Chrysler was the only contractor from Michigan, but Medaris convinced Brucker to leave the decision entirely in the hands of ABMA. After a selection process by General Medaris and Dr. Arthur Rudolph, The Martin Company (later Martin Marietta after a 1961 merger) was awarded a CPFF (cost-plus-fixed-fee) contract for research, development, and initial production of the Pershing system under the technical supervision and concept control of the government. As Martin's quality control manager for the Pershing, Phil Crosby developed the concept of Zero Defects that enhanced the production and reliability of the system.

[edit] Pershing I

The first XM14 R&D test missile, was launched on February 25, 1960. Pershing made its first public appearance as part of the inaugural parade of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The first two-stage launch from the tactical transporter erector launcher (TEL) was in January 1962. The 2nd Missile Battalion, 44th Artillery was activated at Fort Sill as the first tactical Pershing unit. President Kennedy and other dignitaries visited White Sands Missile Range in 1963 to observe test firings of various weapons systems– Pershing was demonstrated, but not fired. The 56th Field Artillery Group was activated in Heilbronn, West Germany to become the parent unit for three missile battalions. The 4th Missile Battalion 41st Artillery was formed in 1963 and deployed to Schwäbisch Gmünd, West Germany. This was followed by the deployment of the 1st Battalion 81st Field Artillery in Neu Ulm, Bavaria West Germany. In 1964, the Secretary of Defense assigned the Pershing weapon system to a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role after a DOD study showed that Pershing would be superior to tactical aircraft for the QRA mission. The German Air Force (GAF) began training at Fort Sill. The 2nd Missile Battalion 79th Artillery was formed for deployment to South Korea, but was deactivated before equipment was issued. In 1965, three US Army battalions and two GAF wings were operational in Germany.

The Pershing I missile was 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) long, 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) in diameter and weighed 4655 kg (10,262 lb). It was powered by two Thiokol solid-propellant engines, the TX TX-174 first stage generated 115 kN (25,900 lbf) for 38.3 seconds and the TX-175 second stage 85 kN (19,100 lbf) for 39 seconds, total powered flight time was a maximum of 77 seconds at a speed of around Mach 8. Since a solid-propellant engine cannot simply be turned off, selective range was achieved by thrust reversal and case vent. The rocket stages were attached with splice bands and explosive bolts. As directed by the onboard guidance computer, the bolts would explode and eject the splice band. Another squib would open the thrust reversal ports in the forward end of the stage and ingite the propellant in the forward end, causing the engine to reverse direction. During testing, it was found that the second stage would "draft" behind the warhead and cause drift, so an explosive charge was added to the side of the engine that would open the case and vent the propellant. The range could be graduated but the maximum was 740 km (460 miles). The missile was steered by jet vanes in the rocket nozzles and air vanes on the engine case. Guidance was provided by an onboard analog guidance computer and a Eclipse-Pioneer ST-120 (Stable Table-120) inertial guidance system. The warhead could be conventional explosive or a W50 nuclear warhead, yielding 400 kt of TNT (1.7 PJ).

The Pershing I firing platoon consisted of four M747 tracked-vehicles– by comparison, Redstone needed twenty vehicles. The TEL transported the two stages and the guidance section as an assembly and provided the launch platform after the warhead was mated. It utilized a removable erector launcher designed by Diamond Match and manufactured by FMC Corp. The warhead carrier transported the warhead and the azimuth laying set used to position the missile. The programmer test station (PTS) and power station (PS) were mounted on one carrier. The PTS was a mounted shelter that contained the computer system used to test and launch the missile. The PS delivered electrical power, pneumatic power and conditioned air for the missile and launch site ground support equipment. The AN/TRC-80 radio-terminal set (RTS) was produced by Collins Radio Company specifically for the Pershing system. The "Track 80" used an inflatable dish antenna to provide line-of-sight or tropospheric-scatter voice and teletype communications between missile firing units and higher headquarters. The erector-launcher, PTS, PS and RTS could be removed from the carriers and air-transported in fourteen CH-47 Chinook loads.[2]

The missile had to be positioned ("layed in") on a pre-surveyed site with a system of three theodolites. The missile had to be oriented to north: an operator used a theodolite aimed at a window in the guidance section of the missile. Using a control box, the ST-120 inertial guidance system in the guidance section was rotated until it was aligned; at this point the missile "knew" which direction was north.

In 1961, Martin proposed a satellite launch system based on the Pershing.[3] Pegasus would have had a lighter, simplified guidance section and a short third stage booster. A 60 pound payload could be boosted to a 210 mile circular orbit, or to an elliptical orbit with a 700 mile apogee. Pegasus would have used the Pershing erector-launcher and could be emplaced in any open area. Martin seems to have been targeting the nascent European space program, but it appears that this program was never developed.

In 1965, the Army contracted with the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University to develop and implement a test and evaluation program.[4] APL technical support to the Pershing Operational Test Unit (POTU), and indentified problem areas and improved the performance and survivability of the Pershing systems.

[edit] Pershing Ia

In 1964, a series of operational tests and follow-on tests were performed to determine the reliability of the Pershing 1. The Secretary of Defense then requested that the Army define the modifications required to make Pershing suitable for the quick reaction alert (QRA) role. The Pershing 1A development program was approved in 1965, and the original Pershing was renamed to Pershing I. Martin Marietta received the Pershing 1A production contract in mid-1967. The 2nd Battalion, 44th Field Artillery received equipment at Fort Sill in 1969. Project SWAP replaced all of the Pershing equipment in Germany by mid-1970 and the first units quickly achieved QRA status.

Pershing 1A was a 'quick reaction alert' system and so had faster vehicles, launch times and newer electronics. The total number of launchers was increased from eight to 36 per battalion. It was deployed from May 1969 and by 1970 almost all the Pershing I systems had been upgraded to Pershing Ia under Project SWAP. Production of the Pershing Ia ended in 1975 and reopened in 1977 to replace missiles expended in training. In the mid-1970s the Pershing 1A system was further improved to allow the firing of a platoon's three missiles in quick succession and from any site without the need for surveying. 754 Pershing I/Ia missiles were built with 180 deployed in Europe.[5]

The battalions in Europe were reorganized under new tables of organization and equipment (TOE); an infantry battalion was authorized and formed to provide additional security for the system; and, the 56th Artillery Group was reorganized and redesignated the 56th Field Artillery Brigade. Due to the nature of the weapon system, officer positions were increased by one grade: batteries were commanded by a major instead of a captain; battalions were commanded by a colonel and the brigade was commanded by a brigadier general.

The erector launcher (EL) was a modified low-boy flat-bed trailer towed by a Ford M757 5-ton tractor. The erection booms used a 3,000 psi pneumatic over hydraulic system that could erect the 5 ton missile from horizontal to vertical in nine seconds. The PTS and PS were mounted on a Ford M656 tractor. Launch activation was performed from a remote fire box that could be deployed locally or mounted in the battery control central (BCC). One PTS controlled three launchers– when one launch count was complete, ten large cables were moved to the next launcher.

A repackaging effort of the missile and power station was completed in 1974 to provide easier access to missile components, reduce maintenance, and improve reliability. A new digital guidance and control computer combined the functions of the analog control computer and the analog guidance computer into one package. The mean corrective maintenance time was decreased from 8.7 hours to a requirement of 3.8 hours. The reliability inceased from 32 hours mean time between failures to a requirement of 65 hours. In 1976, the sequential launch adapter (SLA) and the automatic reference system (ARS) were introduced. The SLA was an automatic switching device mounted in a 10 trailer that allowed the PTS to remain connected to all three launchers. This allowed all three lauchers to remain "hot" and greatly decreasing the time beween launches. The ARS eliminated the theodolites previously used to lay and orient the missile. It included a north seeking gyro and a laser link to the ST-120 in the missile. Once the ARS was set up, a cold missile could be oriented in a much shorter time.

[edit] Pershing II

The Pershing II missile during a test flight
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The Pershing II missile during a test flight

In 1973, a task force was established to begin development of a follow on system. The 400 kT warhead was greatly over-powered for the QRA mission, and a smaller warhead required greater accuracy. The contract went to Martin Marietta in 1975 and the first development launches began in 1977. Pershing II was to use the new W85 warhead with a 5-50 kT variable yield or an earth-penetrator W86 warhead. The warhead was to be packaged in a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MARV) with active radar guidance and would be launched with the Pershing I rocket engines.

The Soviet Union began deployment of the RT-21M Pioneer (SS-20) in 1976. Since the SS-20 had a range of 2,700 mi (4,400 km) and two warheads, the Pershing II requirement was changed to increase the range to 900 mi (1600 km) as a counter. Because of SALT II agreements, no new launchers could be built, therefore the new missile had to fit onto upgraded Pershing IA launchers. The hard target capability and W86 warhead were cancelled in 1980 and all produced Pershing II's used the W85.

The new rocket engines were built by Hercules. To keep the airframe weight down, the rocket bottles were spun out of Kevlar with aluminum attach rings. The re-entry vehicle (RV) was comprised of the guidance and control section (G&CC), the warhead (WHD) and the radar section (RS). The G&CC contained a Singer-Kearfott inertial guidance system that could guide the missile on-target in a pure ballistic mode as a backup. The primary guidance was the Goodyear Aerospace active radar guidance system. Using radar maps of the target area, the missile had an accuracy of 30 m (100 ft) circular error probable.

The functions of the vehicle mounted PTS needed for the older systems were compressed into a panel on the side of the launcher. The prime mover for the launcher was the M983 HEMTT for units in the US and a MAN tractor for units in Germany. The tractor had a crane used for missile assembly and a generator to provide power for the launcher and missile. Since the new guidance system was self-orienting, the launcher could be emplaced on any surveyed site and launched within minutes.

Almost 380 Pershing II missiles were made. They were first deployed in West Germany from January 1984 and the European deployment was completed in late 1985.

[edit] Pershing Ib and Pershing 2 RR

Pershing Ib was a single-stage version of the Pershing II with the same range as the Pershing Ia. It was intended to replace the Pershing Ia missiles fielded by the German Air Force, but the INF treaty was intiated before any were deployed. Pershing 2 Reduced Range (RR) was a follow on concept that would have modified the launchers to hold two single-stage missiles.[6]

[edit] Elimination

The Pershing systems were scrapped following the ratification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on May 27, 1988. The missiles were withdrawn in October 1988; the last of the missiles were destroyed by the static burn of their rockets and subsequently crushed on May 1991 at Longhorn, Texas. The W-85 warheads used in the missiles were removed, modified, and reused in B61 gravity bombs. Although not covered by the treaty, the GAF unilaterally agreed to the retrograde of the Pershing 1A system from their inventory in 1991, and the missiles were destroyed.

The INF Treaty allowed for fifteen inert Pershing II missiles to be retained for display purposes. One is now on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum alongside a Soviet SS-20 missile. Another is at the Central Armed Forces Museum, Moscow, Russia also with a SS-20. A number of inert Pershing 1 and Pershing 1A missiles are displayed in the US and Germany.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Harwood, William B (1993). Raise Heaven and Earth. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-0671-74998-6.
  2. ^ "Field Artillery's Newest Missile", Artillery Trends, US Army Artillery and Missile School, January 1963, p. 36.
  3. ^ "Pershing Rockets for Europe", Interavia, July 1961.
  4. ^ Mentzer, Jr., Willaim R. (1998). Test and Evaluation of Land-Mobile Missile Systems (PDF). Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved on 6 July 2006.
  5. ^ (1974) Pershing Ia System Description. Martin Marietta Aerospace. OR 13,149.
  6. ^ Pershing 2 RR. Pershing Wiki. Pershing Professionals Association (2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-10.
  7. ^ Pershing Display Missiles. Pershing Wiki. Pershing Professionals Association (2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-10.
  • (June 1986) Pershing II Weapon System Description. Department of the Army. TM 9-1425-386-10-1.
  • (March 1985) Pershing II Firing Battery. Department of the Army. FM 6-11.

[edit] External links

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