Nike Zeus

Nike Zeus
Credit - © Mark Wade

Anti-ballistic missile. Year: 1966. IOC: 1966. Family: Nike. Country: USA. Department of Defence Designation: XLIM-49A. Popular Name: Nike-Zeus.

First anti-ballistic missile tested by US. Protoypes were deployed operationally from the mid-Pacific test base as nuclear-tipped ASAT missiles. Cancelled 1966

Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

Western Electric/McDonnell-Douglas LIM-49 Nike Zeus/Spartan

In 1955 the U.S. Army began to study the possibility to develop a derivative of the MIM-14 Nike Hercules as an interceptor against hypersonic aircraft and ballistic missiles. This project was originally called Nike II, but renamed Nike Zeus on 15 November 1956. It is highly probable that Nike II was briefly known as either SAM-A-24 or SAM-A-26, but I can't confirm any of these designators. Because of a December 1956 DOD directive, which restricted the range of Army guided missiles to 320 km (200 miles), the Nike Zeus could not be designed as an exo-atmospheric intercept missile. Therefore, Western Electric started to develop an enhanced version of Nike Hercules, designed to intercept ballistic warheads within the earth's atmosphere. This project was named Nike Zeus A.

The Nike Zeus A missile was a relatively straight-forward development of the MIM-14 Nike Hercules. It was to use essentially the same command-guidance ground equipment as the Nike Hercules, and would be armed with a 20 kT nuclear warhead. The first successful flight of a full two-stage missile occurred in March 1960. However, in 1957 the Army missile range limitation had been rescinded (after the Sputnik launch), and the main development effort had already turned towards an exo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile interceptor, called Nike Zeus B.

Several sources, including [1] and [2] listed below, say that the Nike Zeus A was designated as XLIM-49A in 1963, even if development had long been halted then. However, source [3] seems to indicate that XLIM-49A was actually allocated to the later Nike Zeus B (which see below). For a discussion of the confusing designations of the Nike Zeus family of missiles, see the last paragraphs at the end of this article.

The Nike Zeus B was a completely new missile, which shared only the guidance method and first stage booster with the Nike Zeus A. Because it was designed to intercept its targets in space, it did not need large manoeuvering fins. Instead the missile featured a special third stage with small control jets to manoeuver in space. The first three-stage flight of a Nike Zeus B occurred in September 1961. In July 1962, a Nike Zeus B succeeded in intercepting an Atlas ICBM nose cone. By the end of 1963, more than a dozen reentry vehicles had been successfully intercepted. Source [1] says that the designation XLIM-49B was allocated to the Nike Zeus B in 1963. However, as said above, it is also very possible (even likely!) that Nike Zeus B was actually the XLIM-49A.

In May 1963, a modified Nike Zeus B missile intercepted an orbiting satellite. From June 1963 until May 1966, a Nike Zeus B with a live nuclear warhead was always on alert at the Kwajalein launch complex for possible interception of Soviet satellites.

Because the Nike Zeus B system was planned to use mechanical radars, it was deemed too slow to be effective. It could also handle only few different targets at a time, and was inefficient at filtering out decoys. Therefore, the whole system was redesigned to use electronically scanned phased-array radars. Additionally, it was decided to complement the Nike Zeus B with an endo-atmospheric interceptor to defend against submarine-launched ballistic missiles (which followed a far shallower trajectory than ICBMs). This new system was named Nike-X.

The exo-atmospheric missile of the Nike-X system was to be a longer-range development of Nike Zeus B, called Extended Range Nike Zeus or Nike Zeus EX. In 1965, Western Electric received the prime contract for this missile. However, on 18 September 1967, the Nike-X was cancelled and replaced by a system called Sentinel, which was to be a much thinner (and therefore cheaper!) ABM defense shield. At the same time, Nike Zeus EX was renamed Spartan, and the prime contract was now shared between Western Electric and McDonnell-Douglas.

Manufacturer: Western Electric. Launches: 92. Failures: 10. Success Rate: 89.13%. First Launch Date: 1959-08-26. Last Launch Date: 1966-05-06. Launch data is: complete. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Associated Spacecraft: Program 505. Liftoff Thrust: 2,000.000 kN (449,600 lbf). Total Mass: 9,070 kg (19,990 lb). Core Diameter: 1.52 m (4.98 ft). Total Length: 14.33 m (47.01 ft). Maximum range: 320 km (190 mi). Number Standard Warheads: 1. Standard warhead: W71. Standard warhead yield: 5,000 KT. Boost Propulsion: Solid rocket. Cruise Propulsion: Solid rocket. Guidance: Command Link. Development Cost $: 1,398.000 million. in: 1965 average dollars. Recurring Price $: 7.281 million. Total Production Built: 192. Cost comments: Launch price = Program unit price, development divided by 192 missiles built.

Model: Nike Zeus. Year: 1959. Country: USA.

2 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x TX-135 + 1 x TX-238

Manufacturer: Western Electric. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 2,002.000 kN (450,067 lbf). Total Mass: 10,300 kg (22,700 lb). Core Diameter: 0.91 m (2.98 ft). Total Length: 14.70 m (48.20 ft). Maximum range: 400 km (240 mi).

Model: Nike Zeus 3. Year: 1962. Country: USA.

3 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x TX-135 + 1 x TX-238 + 1 x TX-239

Apogee: 280 km (170 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 2,002.000 kN (450,067 lbf). Total Mass: 10,300 kg (22,700 lb). Core Diameter: 0.91 m (2.98 ft). Total Length: 14.60 m (47.90 ft). Maximum range: 400 km (240 mi).

Model: Nike Zeus A. Country: USA.

2 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x TX-135 + 1 x Zeus A

Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 2,002.000 kN (450,067 lbf). Total Mass: 5,000 kg (11,000 lb). Core Diameter: 0.91 m (2.98 ft). Total Length: 13.30 m (43.60 ft). Maximum range: 320 km (190 mi).

Nike Zeus Chronology

1959 August 26 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A. FAILURE: Failure.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. References: 1836.

1959 October 14 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 1836.

1959 December 16 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A. FAILURE: Failure.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi). References: 1836.

1960 February 3 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC94. Launch Pad: FIX?. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 1836.

1960 March 9 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 1836.

1960 April 28 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1960 May 25 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus. Model: Nike Zeus A.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). References: 1836.

1960 Jun - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1960 August 10 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1960 Oct? - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1960 Dec? - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1960 December 1 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1961 Q2 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.

1961 Q1 - Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: LC38. Launch Vehicle: Nike Zeus.

Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). References: 1836.