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Soon after WW2, the United States and Soviet union began development of intercontental bombers. USA led the way with B-36, successor to the B-29 and then with the turbojet powered B-47 and B-52.
When the Soviets perfected the A bomb in 1949,there was great concern that the newly developed Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" bomber could launch a nuclear attack anyplace in the United States. The altitude, speed and potential numbers of the bombers would make complete interception by fighter aircraft of that time improbable. More capable interceptor aircraft, known as the Century Series were being designed and tested, however the Army was interested in a surface to air missile approach (SAM).
The Army air defense system against nuclear bombers, to be known as the Nike Project began in the late 1940's when The Army Ordnance Corps assigned responsibility for its development to Western Electric/Bell Telephone Labs (BTL). This system involved interception of enemy bombers with a ground based missile with a high explosive warhead. Ground based radar tracked both target and missile and after computer processing, provided commands to the missile guidance system for intercept. BTL contracted with Douglas Aircraft Corp (DAC) in Santa Monica, CA to build the missile and propulsion components for the system. The first model called the Ajax utilized a single solid propulsion 1st stage and a liquid propellant 2nd stage. This system could effectively intercept aircraft delivered threats up to a range of 25 miles. Many Ajax launch sites were built.
In 1953 the Army asked Bell Labs to work with Douglas in exploring the possibility of adding a larger missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and extending the range of the system from 25 to 50 miles. The new missile called the Hercules had a booster consisting of a cluster of four Ajax boosters and a new solid propellant 2nd stage. This larger missile ended up with a range of 100 miles. The kill radius of the nuclear warhead would force any enemy to space its attackers to avoid multiple losses. The Hercules was designed to use existing Ajax launch sites.
Nike Hercules first entered service on June 30, 1958, at batteries located near New York. Philadelphia, and Chicago. The missiles remained deployed around strategically important areas within the continental United States until 1974. The effectiveness of ground to air missle defenses against aircraft were confirmed in 1960 when a US U2 spy plane was destroyed by a Russian SAM.
Nike Hercules first entered service on June 30, 1958, at batteries located near New York. Philadelphia, and Chicago. The missiles remained deployed around strategically important areas within the continental United States until 1974. Although continuous improvments were made in the radar detection and control systems, Hercules could not defend against the new ballistic missile threat.
The hope of an effective anti-ballistic missile defense rested with development of the next Nike, the Zeus.
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