| SM-78/PGM-19 Jupiter | |
|---|---|
Jupiter missile emplacement showing ground support equipment. The bottom third of the missile is encased in a "flower petal shelter" of wedge-shaped metal panels allowing crews to service the missile in all weather conditions. |
|
| Type | Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| Used by | United States Air Force Italian Air Force Turkish Air Force |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1954 |
| Manufacturer | Chrysler |
| Produced | 1956-1961 |
| Number built | ~100 (45 deployed) |
| Variants | Juno II |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 49800 kg (110000 lb) |
| Length | 18.3 m (60 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in) |
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-fueled rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR70-NA (model S-3D) rocket engine producing 667 kN of thrust. The prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation.
The missiles, armed with nuclear warheads, were deployed in Italy and Turkey during the early 1960s as part of NATO's Cold War deterrent against the Soviet Union.
Contents |
In September 1955, Wernher von Braun, briefing the U.S. secretary of defense on long range missiles, pointed out that a 1,500 mi (2,400 km) missile was a logical extension of the PGM-11 Redstone. Accordingly, in December 1955, the secretaries of the Army and Navy announced a dual Army–Navy program to create a land- and sea-based MRBM.
The requirement for shipboard storage and launching dictated the size and shape of the Jupiter, which emerged as a short squat missile with a large girth. When, the Navy pulled out of the program in November 1956, in favor of the UGM-27 Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile, Jupiter retained its shape, making it too big for carriage in contemporary cargo aircraft, such as the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.
Later in November 1956, the Department of Defense assigned all land-based long-range missiles to the USAF, with the Army retaining control of battlefield missiles with a range of 200 miles (320 km) or less. The Jupiter MRBM program was transferred to the Air Force, which had developed the PGM-17 Thor MRBM independently, and was not altogether happy with the Jupiter program.
Jupiter missiles were used in a series of suborbital biological test fights. On December 13, 1958, Jupiter AM-13 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a Navy–trained South American squirrel monkey named Gordo onboard. The nose cone recovery parachute failed to operate and Gordo did not survive the flight. Telemetry data sent back during the flight showed that the monkey survived the 10 g (100 m/s²) of launch, eight minutes of weightlessness and 40 g (390 m/s²) of reentry at 10,000 mph (4.5 km/s). The nose cone sank 1,302 nautical miles (2,411 km) downrange from Cape Canaveral and was not recovered.
Another biological flight was launched on May 28, 1959. Aboard Jupiter AM-18 were a seven–pound (3.2 kg) American-born rhesus monkey, Able, and an 11–ounce (310 g) South American squirrel monkey, Baker. The monkeys rode in the nose cone of the missile to an altitude of 59 miles (95 km) and a distance of 1,500 miles (2,400 km) down the Atlantic Missile Range from Cape Canaveral. They withstood accelerations 38 times the normal pull of gravity and were weightless for about nine minutes. A top speed of 10,000 mph (4.5 km/s) was reached during their 16–minute flight. After splashdown the Jupiter nosecone carrying Able and Baker was recovered by the seagoing tug, USS Kiowa (ATF-72).
The monkeys survived the flight in good condition. Able died four days after the flight from a reaction to anaesthesia while undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode. Baker lived for many years after the flight, finally succumbing to kidney failure on November 29, 1984 at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
In April 1958, the U.S. Department of Defense notified the USAF it had tentatively planned to deploy the first three Jupiter squadrons (45 missiles) in France. Negotiations between France and the U.S. fell through in June 1958. Charles De Gaulle, the new French president, refused to accept basing any Jupiter missiles in France. This prompted U.S. to explore the possibility of deploying the missiles in Italy and Turkey. The USAF was already implementing plans to base four squadrons (60 missiles)—subsequently redefined as 20 RAF squadrons each with three missiles—of PGM-17 Thor IRBMs in Britain on airfields stretching from Yorkshire to East Anglia.
In 1958, the USAF activated the 864th Strategic Missile Squadron at ABMA. Although the USAF briefly considered training its Jupiter crews at Vandenberg AFB, California, it later decided to conduct all of its training at Huntsville. In June and September of the same year the USAF activated two more squadrons, the 865th and 866th.
In April 1959, the secretary of the Air Force issued implementing instructions to USAF to deploy two Jupiter squadrons to Italy. The two squadrons, totaling 30 missiles, were deployed at 10 sites in Italy from 1961 to 1963. They were operated by Italian Air Force crews, but USAF personnel controlled arming the nuclear warheads. The deployed missiles were under command of 36ª Aerobrigata Interdizione Strategica (36th Strategic Interdiction Air Squadron, Italian Air Force) at Gioia del Colle Air Base, Italy.
Jupiter squadrons consisted of 15 missiles and approximately 500 military personnel with five "flights" of three missiles each, manned by five officers and 10 NCOs. To reduce vulnerability, the flights were located approximately 30 miles apart, with the triple launcher emplacements separated by a distance of several hundred miles.
The ground equipment for each emplacement was housed in approximately 20 vehicles; including two generator trucks, a power distribution truck, short- and long-range theodolites, a hydraulic and pneumatic truck and a liquid oxygen truck. Another trailer carried 6000 gallons of fuel and three liquid oxygen trailers each carried 4,000 US gallons (15,000 l; 3,300 imp gal).
The missiles arrived at the emplacement on large trailers; while still on the trailer, the crew attached the hinged launch pedestal to the base of the missile which was hauled to an upright position using a winch. Once the missile was vertical, fuel and oxidizer lines were connected and the bottom third of the missile was encased in a "flower petal shelter", consisting of wedge-shaped metal panels, allowing crew members to service the missiles in all weather conditions. Stored empty, on 15-minute combat status in an upright position on the launch pad, the firing sequence included filling the fuel and oxidizer tanks with 68000 lbs (kg) of LOX and 30000 lbs (kg) of RP-1, while the guidance system was aligned and targeting information loaded. Once the fuel and oxidizer tanks were full, the launch controlling officer and two crewmen in a mobile launch control trailer could launch the missiles.
Each squadron was supported by a receipt, inspection and maintenance (RIM) area to the rear of the emplacements. RIM teams inspected new missiles and provided maintenance and repair to missiles in the field. Each RIM area also housed 25 tons of liquid oxygen and nitrogen generating plants. Several times a week, tanker trucks carried the fuel from the plant to the individual emplacements. The actual locations of the launch sites (built in a triangular configuration) were in the direct vicinities of the villages Acquaviva delle Fonti, Altamura (two sites), Gioia del Colle, Gravina in Puglia, Laterza, Mottola, Spinazzola, Irsina and Matera.
In 1962, a Bulgarian MiG-17 reconnaissance airplane was reported to have crashed into an olive grove near one of the U.S. Jupiter missile launch sites in Italy, after overflying the site.[1]
In October 1959, the location of the third and final Jupiter MRBM squadron was settled when a government-to-government agreement was signed with Turkey. The U.S. and Turkey concluded an agreement to deploy one Jupiter squadron on NATO's southern flank. One squadron totaling 15 missiles was deployed at five sites near İzmir, Turkey from 1961 to 1963, operated by USAF personnel, with the first flight of three Jupiter missiles turned over to the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force) in late October 1962, but USAF personnel retaining control of nuclear warhead arming.
On four occasions between mid-October 1961 and August 1962, Jupiter mobile missiles carrying 1.4 megaton of TNT (5.9 PJ) nuclear warheads were struck by lightning at their bases in Italy. In each case, thermal batteries were activated, and on two occasions, tritium-deuterium "boost" gas was injected into the warhead pits, partially arming them. After the fourth lightning strike on a Jupiter MRBM, the USAF placed protective lightning strike-diversion tower arrays at all of the Italian and Turkish Jupiter MRBM missiles sites.
By the time the Turkish Jupiters had been installed, the missiles were already largely obsolete and increasingly vulnerable to Soviet attacks. All Jupiter MRBMs were removed from service by April 1963, as a backdoor trade with the Soviets in exchange for their earlier removal of MRBMs from Cuba.
The Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets were manufactured by using a single Jupiter propellant tank, in combination with eight Redstone rocket propellant tanks clustered around it, to form a powerful first stage launch vehicle.
The Jupiter MRBM was also modified by adding upper stages, in the form of clustered Sergeant rockets, to create a space launch vehicle called Juno II, not to be confused with the Juno I which was a Redstone-Jupiter-C missile development. There is also some confusion with another U.S. Army rocket called the Jupiter-C, which were Redstone missiles modified by lengthening the fuel tanks and adding small solid-fueled upper stages.
The Juno II was a four-stage rocket derived from the Jupiter IRBM. It was used for 10 satellite launches, six of those failed. It launched Pioneer 3, Pioneer 4, Explorer 7, Explorer 8, and Explorer 11.
| Parameter | 1st stage | 2nd stage | 3rd stage | 4th stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross mass | 54,431 kg | 462 kg | 126 kg | 42 kg |
| Empty mass | 5,443 kg | 231 kg | 63 kg | 21 kg |
| Thrust | 667 kN | 73 kN | 20 kN | 7 kN |
| Isp | 248 s (2.43 kN·s/kg) |
214 s (2.10 kN·s/kg) |
214 s (2.10 kN·s/kg) |
214 s (2.10 kN·s/kg) |
| Burn time | 182 s | 6 s | 6 s | 6 s |
| Length | 18.28 m | 1.0 m | 1.0 m | 1.0 m |
| Diameter | 2.67 m | 1.0 m | 0.50 m | 0.30 m |
| Engine: | Rocketdyne S-3D | Eleven Sergents | Three Sergents | One Sergent |
| Propellant | LOX/RP-1 | Solid Fuel | Solid Fuel | Solid fuel |
There were 46 test launches, all launched from Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida.[2]
| Serial number | Mission | Launch date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AM-1A | AM-1A | March 1, 1957 | Test Launch 1. Missile test. Failure. Apogee 14 mi (23 km) |
| AM-1B | AM-1B | April 26, 1957 | Test Launch 2. Missile test. Failure. Apogee 18 mi (29 km) |
| AM-1 | AM-1 | May 31, 1957 | Test Launch 3. Missile test. Success. Apogee 500 mi (800 km) |
| AM-2 | AM-2 | August 28, 1957 | Test Launch 4. Missile test. Success. Apogee 500 mi (800 km) |
| AM-3 | AM-3 | October 23, 1957 | Test Launch 5. Missile test. Success. Apogee 500 mi (800 km) |
| AM-3A | AM-3A | November 27, 1957 | Test Launch 6. Missile test. Failure. Apogee 20 mi (32 km) |
| AM-4 | AM-4 | December 16, 1957 | Test Launch 7. Missile test. Failure. Apogee 63 mi (101 km) |
| AM-5 | AM-5 | May 18, 1958 | Test Launch 8. Reentry test. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| AM-6B | AM-6B | July 17, 1958 | Test Launch 9. Reentry test. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| AM-7 | AM-7 | August 27, 1958 | Test Launch 10. Missile test. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| AM-9 | AM-9 | October 10, 1958 | Test Launch 11. Missile test. Failure. Apogee 0 mi (0 km) |
| AM-11 | Juno II | December 6, 1958 | Launch 12. Lunar probe. Pioneer 3. Failed to reach moon. Apogee 70,610 mi (113,640 km) |
| AM-13 | Bio 1 | December 13, 1958 | Launch 13. Bio test flight. "Gordo" the monkey. Parachute failed. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| CM-21 | CM-21 | January 22, 1959 | Test Launch 14. Tactical test flight. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| CM-22 | CM-22 | January 27, 1959 | Test Launch 15. Missile test. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
| AM-14 | Juno II | March 3, 1959 | Launch 16. Lunar probe. Pioneer 4. Passed within 58,983 km (probably improperly converted as others were here, unless original was 36,650 mi) of moon. In solar orbit. |
| CM-22A | CM-22A | April 4, 1959 | Test Launch 17. Missile test. Success. Apogee 345 mi (555 km) |
A PGM-19 is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The missile was obtained from the Chrysler Corporation in 1963. For decades it was displayed outside the museum, before being removed in 1998. The missile was restored by the museum's staff and was returned to display in the museum's new Missile Silo Gallery in 2007.[3]
A SM-78/PMG-19 is on display at the Air Force Space & Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The missile had been present in the rocket garden for many years until 2009 when it was taken down and given a complete restoration.[4]
A PGM-19 is on display at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina. The missile, named Columbia, was presented to the city in the early 1960s by the US Air Force. It was installed at the fairgrounds in 1969 at a cost of $10,000.[5]
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||