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When the Soviets succeded in developing both nuclear bombs and long range rocket capabilty, there was a need for a defense against incoming ballistic missile warheads. The Hercules, although successful against aircraft, could not intercept a space delivered missile warhead.
By April of 1959, Douglas Aircraft Corp (DAC) Missile Division was working on the Nike Zeus at the "A2" facility several miles south of the Santa Monica plant. The Zeus was a solid propellant, 3 stage missile about 48 feet long. It was to have a nuclear warhead and to be fired vertically from a silo. The missile was guided to its intended ICBM target by a complex system of target tracking and missile tracking radars.
The missle was unguided through first stage, high g burn, The first stage case
had no tension connections and simply dropped off at burn-out. During 2nd stage burn, the missile was guided by the forward mounted movable fins. A solid propellant gas generator drove a pump to supply hydraulic power to the fin control actuators. At 2nd stage burn-out, the 3rd stage spherical motor was ignited and vented through nozzels in the forward control fins. The spent 2nd stage motor case remained attached to the forward section to provide aerodynamic stability. For the first series of flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, Instrumentation and ballast replaced the 3rd stage motor and warhead. The range safety (destruct) system was activated after receipt of desired flight test data to avoid landing any objects outside the test range. The Zeus, with live 3rd stage was tested at Pt Mugu, CA in 1962.
Still later, the Zeus, launched from Kwajelein Atoll in the South Pacific, successfully intercepted targets launched from California. The Zeus later evolved into the larger and more capable Spartan.
The Zeus was not deployed because of the limitations of the radar system to handle warhead decoys and multiple warheads.
The 2nd stage of the missile shown in the photo appears to have a smaller diameter than the booster. This is typical of the Zeus series. The forward control fins are configured differently than the triangular style used on early "rounds". Yes, "rounds", remember that this is an Army missle.
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