132-828: The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile designed and built by the United States. It was developed after World War II, drawing upon their wartime experience with creating the Republic-Ford JB-2 , a copy of the German V-1 . The Matador was similar in concept to the V-1, but it included a radio command that allowed in-flight course corrections . This allowed accuracy to be maintained over greatly extended ranges of about 600 miles (1,000 km). To allow these ranges,
264-491: A technical sergeant (E-6), two warhead techs, two flight control systems techs, two guidance techs, two airframe and engine techs—one of whom doubled as the crane operator and the other as the launcher tech, and one booster rocket tech. Since the missile was at least theoretically "mobile", all launch equipment was mounted on trucks and trailers. As a result, in addition to their primary duties, most crew members were trained as and doubled as drivers. All enlisted members other than
396-554: A Syrian airbase in retaliation for a Syrian chemical weapons attack against a rebel stronghold. The United States Air Force (USAF) deploys an air-launched cruise missile, the AGM-86 ALCM . The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM-86 and AGM-129 ACM . Both missile types are configurable for either conventional or nuclear warheads. The USAF adopted the AGM-86 for its bomber fleet while AGM-109
528-516: A bomber carrying the same payload. The main advantages were speed (although not sufficient to outperform contemporary propeller-driven interceptors) and expendability. The production cost of a V-1 was only a small fraction of that of a V-2 supersonic ballistic missile with a similar-sized warhead. Unlike the V-2, the initial deployments of the V-1 required stationary launch ramps which were susceptible to bombardment. Nazi Germany, in 1943, also developed
660-420: A complex return pattern. Since the pattern depended on the atmospherics between the transmitter and receiver, the received pattern was different for the two stations. One might receive a two-bounce skywave from one station at the same time as a three-bounce wave from another, making interpretation of the display quite difficult. Although LORAN deliberately used the same display as Gee in order to share equipment,
792-444: A continuous signal, as in the case of Decca, the signal would be in the form of pulses. These would be used to make a rough fix using the same technique as Gee or LORAN, positively identifying the lane. The only problem from a development standpoint would be selecting frequencies that allowed reasonably accurate pulse envelopes while still having measurable waveforms within the pulses, as well as developing displays capable of showing both
924-448: A contract to develop a system called "Cytac", which used the same basic techniques as LF LORAN, but included considerable automation to handle the timing internally without operator intervention. This proved to be extremely successful, with test-runs placing the aircraft within 10 yards of the target. As the mission changed from short-range tactical bombing to over-the-pole nuclear delivery, the (newly formed) U.S. Air Force lost interest in
1056-548: A conventional or a nuclear warhead, while smaller ones carry only conventional warheads. A hypersonic cruise missile travels at least five times the speed of sound ( Mach 5). These missiles travel faster than the speed of sound, usually using ramjet engines. The range is typically 100–500 km, but can be greater. Guidance systems vary. Examples: The United States, Russia, North Korea, India, Iran, South Korea, Israel, France, China and Pakistan have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles. These missiles have
1188-462: A fixed distance to either side. Decca referred to these radial areas as "lanes", and used a mechanical system to keep track of which one the receiver was in. By combining the two concepts, envelope timing and phase comparison, both of these problems could be eliminated. Since phase comparison is generally more accurate at low frequencies due to details of the electronics, taking accurate fixes would be based on this technique. But instead of broadcasting
1320-495: A hyperbolic system is a function of the baseline distance, so if the stations could be spread out, the system would become more accurate, so fewer stations would be needed for any desired navigational task. A test system was first attempted on 10 April 1943 between the LORAN stations at Fenwick and Bonavista, 1,100 miles (1,800 km) away. This test demonstrated accuracy of ½ mile, significantly better than normal LORAN. This led to
1452-567: A hypersonic cruise missile in August 2021, a claim it denies. The French Force de Frappe nuclear forces include both land and sea-based bombers with Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) high-speed medium-range nuclear cruise missiles. Two models are in use, ASMP and a newer ASMP-Amelioré (ASMP-A), which was developed in 1999. An estimated 40 to 50 were produced. India in 2017 successfully flight-tested its indigenous Nirbhay ('Fearless') land-attack cruise missile, which can deliver nuclear warheads to
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#17327801076411584-624: A long mission. This reduced fuel load allowed the bombload to be increased. By the end of World War II there were 72 LORAN stations, with over 75,000 receivers in use. Additional chains in the Pacific were added in the post-war era. A spurt in construction followed the opening of the Korean War , including new chains in Japan and one at Busan , Korea. Chains were also installed in China, prior to
1716-527: A major staging ground for German U-boats and capital ships. The enormous distances and lack of useful navigation points in the Pacific Ocean led to widespread use of LORAN for both ships and aircraft during the Pacific War . In particular, the accuracy offered by LORAN allowed aircraft to reduce the amount of extra fuel they would otherwise have to carry to ensure they could find their base after
1848-471: A maximum range of 300–500 miles (480–800 km) for high-flying aircraft. This led to the "Precision Navigational Equipment for Guiding Airplanes" specification, which was sent back to the Microwave Committee and formed up as "Project 3". Orders for initial systems were sent out at a follow-up meeting on 20 December 1940. Edward George Bowen , developer of the first airborne radar systems ,
1980-648: A measurement. Ideally, perfectly formed rectangular blips would be displayed on the CRT, whose leading edge could be compared with a high degree of accuracy. In practice, the transmitters cannot turn on and off instantly, and due to a variety of factors the resulting blips are spread out in time, forming an envelope . The sharpness of the envelope is a function of the frequency, meaning the lower-frequency systems like LORAN will always have longer envelopes with less well-defined start and stop points, and thus generally have less accuracy than higher-frequency systems like Gee. There
2112-428: A missile on it at all. If one of the off-duty crews could make it to the launch site in time, they would try to get a missile onto the launcher there, and get it ready to go. Since all launch sites were within just a few minutes flying time from the potential enemy, it was unlikely that the third missile would launch, but all crews had multiple practice drills during their periods as duty and standby crews, trying to reduce
2244-466: A number indicating the frequency band, a letter for the pulse repetition frequency, and a number for the station within the chain. For instance, the three stations on the Hawaiian Islands were arranged as two pairs 2L 0 and 2L 1. This indicated that they were on channel 2 (1.85 MHz), used the "L"ow repetition rate (25 Hz), and that two of the stations were on the base repetition rate, while
2376-463: A range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph). They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation ; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems. Most recent versions can use satellite navigation . Examples: These missiles are about
2508-598: A second round of tests in late 1943, this time using four stations, Montauk, East Brewster, Massachusetts , Gooseberry Falls, Minnesota , and Key West, Florida . Extensive evaluation flights revealed an average error of 1–2 miles (1.6–3.2 km). The nighttime mode of operation was a perfect fit for RAF Bomber Command . The four test stations were dismantled and shipped across the Atlantic, and re-installed to form two chains, Aberdeen - Bizerta , and Oran - Benghazi . Known as Skywave-Synchronized LORAN , or SS LORAN ,
2640-429: A selected part of the signal was visible on the screen. Turning to sweep speed 4 did not change the timing, but instead superimposed the signals on a single trace so final tuning could take place, using the gain and amplifier balance controls. The goal was to perfectly align the two traces. At that point, measurement starts. The operator switches to sweep speed 5, which returns to a display with two separated traces, with
2772-446: A series of "blips" on the display. By measuring the distance between them, the delay between the two signals can be calculated. For instance, a receiver might measure the distance between the two blips to represent a delay of 0.5 ms. This implies that the difference in the distance to the two stations is 150 km. There are an infinite number of locations where that delay could be measured – 75 km from one station and 225 from
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#17327801076412904-419: A series of sharp spikes (blips). As the signal was repeating, these spikes appeared many times across the width of the display. Because the display was set to sweep at the pulse repetition rate of the selected station pair, other stations in the area, at different repetition rates, would move across the display while the selected one would remain stationary. Using the "left-right" switch, the operator would move
3036-619: A strike range of 1,000 km. Nirbhay had been flight-tested successfully. India currently operates 7 variants of Brahmos cruise missile operational range of 300-1000 km. India is currently developing hypersonic BRAHMOS-II which is going to be the fastest cruise missile. The Israel Defense Forces reportedly deploy the medium-range air-launched Popeye Turbo ALCM and the Popeye Turbo SLCM medium-long range cruise missile with nuclear warheads on Dolphin class submarines . Pakistan currently has four cruise missile systems:
3168-400: A truck-mounted hydraulic crane. There were several 2½ and 5 ton trucks (tractor type) to attach to and tow the launchers, transport vehicle, and generator. In some squadrons, each launch team had a large trailer in which it stored weapons, ammunition and supplies. A typical missile launch site had an active, or "hot" pad on which was kept the missile most ready to launch. This pad was manned by
3300-527: A viable technology, which is already being pursued by other countries. At a 1 October 1940 meeting of the U.S. Army Signal Corps' Technical Committee, Alfred Loomis , chair of the Microwave Committee of the National Defense Research Committee , proposed building a hyperbolic navigation system. He predicted that such a system could provide an accuracy of at least 1,000 feet (300 m) at a range of 200 miles (320 km), and
3432-448: Is an entirely different way to accomplish the same timing measurement, not by comparing the timing of the pulse envelopes, but timing the phase of the signals. This is actually quite easy to perform using simple electronics and can be displayed directly using a simple mechanical pointer. The trick to such a system is to ensure the primary and secondary stations are phase-coherent, a complex proposition during World War II . But by isolating
3564-401: Is repeated for setting 6 at 50 microseconds, and again at setting 7 at 500 microseconds. The difference as measured at each of these settings is then added up to produce the total delay between the two signals. This entire procedure was then repeated for a second primary-secondary set, often the second set of the same chain but not always. Receiver units improved greatly over time. The AN/APN-4
3696-432: Is that its users face difficult choices in target allocation , to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance, during the 2001 strikes on Afghanistan the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the weapon can not be blamed for poor target selection, and
3828-406: Is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic , supersonic , or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non- ballistic , extremely low-altitude trajectory. The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in
3960-514: The Admiralty List of Radio Signals . Hyperbolic navigation systems can be divided into two main classes, those that calculate the time difference between two radio pulses, and those that compare the phase difference between two continuous signals. To illustrate the basic concept, this section will consider the pulse method only. Consider two radio transmitters located at a distance of 300 kilometers (190 mi) from each other, which means
4092-694: The B-61 designation. It was later re-designated TM-61 , for "tactical missile", and finally MGM-1 when the U.S. Department of Defense introduced the tri-service rocket and guided missile designation system in 1963. The first flight of Matador, model XSSM-A-1, occurred at the White Sands Missile Range on 20 January 1949. The first two production B-61 Matador missiles arrived at Eglin AFB , Florida, in September 1953, becoming operational, and
MGM-1 Matador - Misplaced Pages Continue
4224-624: The Babur missile Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) have designed several cruise missile variants, such as the well-known C-802 , some of which are capable of carrying biological, chemical, nuclear, and conventional warheads. China has the CJ-10 land attack cruise missile which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Additionally, China appears to have tested
4356-438: The Korean War to provide ground-directed bombing . Instead of sending back a signal broadcast across the entire area, MARC used modified war-era SCR-584 radar sets to directly track the missile, which mounted an AN/APS-11 transponder to reflect the signals back to the station. These signals directly measured the range to the aircraft, unlike SHANICLE's measurements which were relative values. An analog computer then calculated
4488-473: The Mistel composite aircraft program, which can be seen as a rudimentary air-launched cruise missile, where a piloted fighter-type aircraft was mounted atop an unpiloted bomber-sized aircraft that was packed with explosives to be released while approaching the target. Bomber-launched variants of the V-1 saw limited operational service near the end of the war, with the pioneering V-1's design reverse-engineered by
4620-632: The Pakistan Army since 2010, and Pakistan Navy since 2018. Russia has Kh-55SM cruise missiles, with a range similar to the United States' AGM-129 range of 3000 km, but are able to carry a more powerful warhead of 200 kt. They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an inertial navigation system . They are air-launched from either Tupolev Tu-95s , Tupolev Tu-22Ms , or Tupolev Tu-160s , each able to carry 16 for
4752-607: The Soviet Union , Sergei Korolev headed the GIRD -06 cruise missile project from 1932 to 1939, which used a rocket-powered boost- glide bomb design. The 06/III (RP-216) and 06/IV (RP-212) contained gyroscopic guidance systems. The vehicle was designed to boost to 28 km (17 mi) altitude and glide a distance of 280 km (170 mi), but test flights in 1934 and 1936 only reached an altitude of 500 metres (1,600 ft). In 1944, during World War II , Germany deployed
4884-649: The United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called the Kettering Bug . Germany had also flown trials with remote-controlled aerial gliders ( Torpedogleiter ) built by Siemens-Schuckert beginning in 1916. In the Interwar Period, Britain's Royal Aircraft Establishment developed the Larynx (Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine) , which underwent a few flight tests in the 1920s. In
5016-409: The air-launched Ra'ad-I and its enhanced version Ra'ad-II ; the ground and submarine launched Babur ; ship-launched Harbah missile and surface launched Zarb missile . Both, Ra'ad and Babur , can carry nuclear warheads between 10 and 25 kt, and deliver them to targets at a range of up to 300 km (190 mi) and 450 km (280 mi) respectively. Babur has been in service with
5148-470: The "master" station. The difference between the reception of the signals from any given pair indicated how far the missile was from the desired measure - a delay of zero meant it was exactly on course. The difference was calculated and the required updates were periodically sent to the missile's autopilot. In December 1950 a new system was introduced, MARC. This was an adaptation of the AN/MSQ-1 used during
5280-750: The Americans as the Republic-Ford JB-2 cruise missile. Immediately after the war, the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects, including would-be cruise missiles. All but four were cancelled by 1948: the Air Materiel Command Banshee, the SM-62 Snark , the SM-64 Navaho , and the MGM-1 Matador. The Banshee design was similar to Operation Aphrodite ; like Aphrodite, it failed, and
5412-513: The Atlantic and Caribbean transmitters on 31 December 1980. Several foreign chains in both the Pacific and Atlantic followed suit, and by 1985 most of the original chains were no longer operational. Japanese systems remained on the air longer, until 1991, serving their fishing fleet. Chinese systems were active into the 1990s before their replacement with more modern systems, and their nine chains were still listed as active in Volume 6 (2000 edition) of
MGM-1 Matador - Misplaced Pages Continue
5544-612: The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the United States naval arsenal. It gives ships and submarines a somewhat accurate, long-range, conventional land attack weapon. Each costs about US$ 1.99 million. Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm . On 7 April 2017, during the Syrian Civil War , U.S. warships fired more than 50 cruise missiles into
5676-574: The Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched, and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched version was operational as of late 2007. The Brahmos have the capability to attack targets on land. Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles: the SS-N-12 Sandbox , SS-N-19 Shipwreck , SS-N-22 Sunburn and SS-N-25 Switchblade . Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has made
5808-603: The British 1909 film The Airship Destroyer in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London . In 1916, the American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane , a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments,
5940-572: The Glenn L. Martin factory and Lowry AFB , both in Denver Colorado, while the launch training was at Orlando Air Force Base , Florida (later transferred to the U.S. Navy and renamed Naval Training Center Orlando ) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , Florida. When the Tainan squadrons were inactivated, the airframes were made unflyable by chopping out the attachment points in the bulkheads of
6072-672: The Matador was powered by a small turbojet engine in place of the V-1's much less efficient pulsejet . Matador was armed with the W5 nuclear warhead , essentially an improved version of the Fat Man design that was lighter and had a smaller cross section. A single U.S. Air Force group, 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron , was armed with the weapon, keeping them on alert with a six-minute launch time. It could be easily retargeted, unlike weapons using inertial guidance systems . Accuracy at maximum range
6204-470: The Project 3 team also found that Gee was almost identical to their own system in concept and desired performance. Unlike their system, Gee had largely completed development and was proceeding to production. The decision was made to abandon the current efforts, use Gee on their own aircraft, and re-develop their system for the long-range role instead. The decision to switch to the long-range role meant that
6336-672: The RN in 1999, during the Kosovo War (the United States fired cruise missiles in 1991). The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Typhoon and previously its Tornado GR4 aircraft. It is also used by France, where it is known as SCALP EG, and carried by the Armée de l'Air 's Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft. India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos . There are three versions of
6468-549: The Soviet Union began to work on air-launched cruise missiles as well ( ALCM ). These ACLM missiles were typically delivered via bombers designated as "Blinders" or "Backfire". The missiles in this configuration were called the AS-1, and AS-2 with eventual new variants with more development time. The main purpose of Soviet-based cruise missiles was to have defense and offensive mechanisms against enemy ships; in other words, most of
6600-407: The Soviet Union was working on nearly ten different types of cruise missiles. However, due to resources, most of the initial types of cruise missiles developed by the Soviet Union were Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles or Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles ( SLCMs ). The SS-N-1 cruise missile was developed to have different configurations to be fired from a submarine or a ship. However, as time progressed,
6732-486: The Soviet cruise missiles were anti-ship missiles. In the 1980s the Soviet Union had developed an arsenal of cruise missiles nearing 600 platforms which consisted of land, sea, and air delivery systems. The United States has deployed nine nuclear cruise missiles at one time or another. Currently, cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this
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#17327801076416864-684: The Tu-95, 12 for the Tu-160, and 4 for the Tu-22M. A stealth version of the missile, the Kh-101 is in development. It has similar qualities as the Kh-55, except that its range has been extended to 5,000 km, is equipped with a 1,000 kg conventional warhead, and has stealth features which reduce its probability of intercept. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most recent cruise missile developed
6996-542: The U.S. Coast Guard in 1958. At that time, the original LORAN became Loran-A or standard LORAN , and the new system became Loran-C . In spite of the greatly increased accuracy and ease-of-use of Loran-C, Loran-A remained in widespread use. This was due largely to two important factors. One was that the electronics needed to read a Loran-C signal were complex, and in the era of tube-based electronics, physically very large, generally fragile, and expensive. Further, as military ships and aircraft moved from Loran-A to Loran-C,
7128-695: The U.S. and Canadian east coast were installed through October, and the system was declared operational in early 1943. By the end of that year additional stations had been installed in Greenland , Iceland , the Faroe Islands and the Hebrides , offering continuous coverage across the North Atlantic. RAF Coastal Command had another station installed in Shetland , offering coverage over Norway,
7260-567: The United States Navy submarine missile project was the SSM-N-8 Regulus missile, based upon the V-1 but powered by an Allison J33 jet engine. The Regulus entered service but was phased out with the advent of submarine launched ballistic missiles that did not require the submarine to surface in order to launch the missile and guide it to its target. The United States Air Force's first operational surface-to-surface missile
7392-496: The capabilities. Nevertheless, the three transmitters were re-installed in northern Canada and Alaska for experiments in polar navigation, and ran for three years until shutting down again in March 1950. These experiments demonstrated accuracy on the order of 0.15 microseconds, or about 50 metres (0.031 miles), a great advance over LORAN. Maximum usable range was 1,000 miles (1,600 km) over land and 1,500 miles (2,400 km) on
7524-745: The concept was proven sound and the 500-megawatt (670,000 hp) engine finished a successful test run in 1961, no airworthy device was ever completed. The project was finally abandoned in favor of ICBM development. While ballistic missiles were the preferred weapons for land targets, heavy nuclear and conventional weapon tipped cruise missiles were seen by the USSR as a primary weapon to destroy United States naval carrier battle groups . Large submarines (for example, Echo and Oscar classes) were developed to carry these weapons and shadow United States battle groups at sea, and large bombers (for example, Backfire , Bear , and Blackjack models) were equipped with
7656-408: The concept. Nevertheless, they continued experimentation with the equipment after adapting it to work on LF LORAN frequencies and renaming it "Cyclan", lowering accuracy compared to the original, but providing reasonable accuracy on the order of a mile at greatly increased distances. The Navy had also been experimenting with a similar concept during this period, but using a different method to extract
7788-468: The control of the guidance crews. This gave the guidance crews practice controlling a missile in flight, as well as giving squadron officers some flight time. The Matador flight profile was very simple and predictable, which no doubt contributed to its demise. When the launch officer pressed the two launch switches, the JATO bottle fired, accelerating the missile to 250 mph (400 km/h; 220 kn) in
7920-433: The crew chief were usually airman second class (E-3) or airman (E-2) on their first enlistment, though there were sometimes staff sergeants (E-5) or even technical sergeants who had already served multiple enlistments. In addition, there were similarly-sized guidance crews on remote sites, and a maintenance staff for the missiles, the guidance equipment, and the vehicles. Because of the number of people required to support
8052-523: The day, and 2 MHz at night. Initial tests were carried out in May 1944 between Chatham, Massachusetts , and Fernandina, Florida , and a second set between Hobe Sound, Florida , and Point Chinato, Puerto Rico , in December–January 1945–46. The system was not put into operation, due to a lack of suitable frequency allocations. LORAN was a simple system that compared the arrival times of pulses to make
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#17327801076418184-496: The diameter of the tube, while the J-scope presents this as the angle around the cathode ray tube 's face. This increases the amount of room on the scale by a factor of π for any given display size, improving accuracy. In spite of using the J-scope, and adopting the lower frequency change for more stability, the team found accurate measurements of range quite difficult. At the time, the procedure for generating sharp pulses of signals
8316-453: The difference between the missile's current position and desired flight path, and sent signals to the autopilot encoded in the radar signals. Guidance tests at Cape Canaveral quickly demonstrated the MARC system to be superior, and the first two production units were set up in September 1951. MARC's line-of-sight communications limited the guided range to about 400 km (250 mi). MARC
8448-516: The expensive portions of the system at the few broadcast stations, the Decca Navigation System using this technique went active in 1944, offering accuracy similar to Gee but using low-cost mechanical displays which were also much easier to use. The downside to the phase comparison system is that it is not possible to know from a continuous wave signal, like Decca's, which part of the signal you are measuring. You could be comparing
8580-413: The first operational cruise missiles. The V-1 , often called a flying bomb , contained a gyroscope guidance system and was propelled by a simple pulsejet engine, the sound of which gave it the nickname of "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug". Accuracy was sufficient only for use against very large targets (the general area of a city), while the range of 250 km (160 mi) was significantly lower than that of
8712-414: The first waveform from one station to the first from another, but the second waveform looks identical and the operator may line up those two waves instead. This leads to a problem where the operator can generate an accurate measurement, but the actual fix might be at a wide variety of locations. These locations are separated radially around the station, meaning a fix might be within a given radial direction or
8844-455: The fuselage sections with axes, and were sold locally as scrap after having the warheads removed. Most of the support vehicles, consisting mainly of 2½ and 5-ton trucks, were disposed of on the local market. Presumably, the other sites similarly disposed of their missiles and equipment. The system was initially designed to use the SHANICLE (Short Range Navigation Vehicle) guidance system. This
8976-528: The guidance officer. [REDACTED] United States : The United States Air Force [REDACTED] Germany: Bundeswehr Below is a list of museums with a Matador missile in their collection: Germany United States Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission
9108-511: The high accuracy of the Gee system was not needed, which greatly reduced the need to address the timing problems. This change in purpose also demanded the use of even lower frequencies, which could reflect off the ionosphere at night and thus provide over-the-horizon operation. Two frequency bands were initially selected, 1.85 and 1.95 MHz for nighttime use (160 meters), and 7.5 MHz (40 meters). The 7.5 MHz, labeled "HF" on early receivers,
9240-411: The intended target, the guidance crews sent the "dump" signal, which caused the missile to nose over into what was called the "terminal dive". This dive was near vertical, continuing until the missile reached the preset detonation altitude as determined by the radio altimeter, at which point the weapon exploded. Should the radio altimeter fail, a backup barometric detonator was used; should that fail, there
9372-404: The intensity and focus controls to fine tune the signal and provide a sharp display. At the lowest sweep speed, the system also produced a local signal that was fed into the display and produced a sharply defined "pedestal", a rectangular shape displayed along the two traces. The amplified signal from the stations would also appear on the display, highly compressed in time so that it displayed as
9504-691: The matter with the husband, a third visitor arrived and he offered the men cigarettes. They refused, and the hostess then asked if they drank. When they said they did not, the land was quickly secured. LORAN was soon ready for deployment, and the first chain went live in June 1942 at Montauk and Fenwick. This was joined shortly thereafter by two stations in Newfoundland , at Bonavista and Battle Harbour , and then by two stations in Nova Scotia, at Baccaro and Deming Island. Additional stations all along
9636-526: The maximum flight range of the missile to about 620 miles (1,000 km). The Shanicle system was soon discontinued on operational missiles. By the late 1950s, all were using the MSQ-1 (called "MisCue-1" by the crews) ground-based guidance system. A unique identifying feature of the TM-61C variant was the raised rear section of the fuselage above the jet exhaust, called the "doghouse" by those who were assigned to
9768-438: The missile squadrons. This had originally housed the SHANICLE electronics, but was retained when those systems were removed. The "doghouse" had no access panels or doors and was an aerodynamic structural component added to TM-61C and TM-76A to prevent missile "shudder" and breakup during terminal dive. It contained no functional components. The operational Matadors were zinc chromate green in their final versions, but this doghouse
9900-459: The missile, a "mobile" Matador squadron with five launch crews could grow quite cumbersome. As a result, the squadrons were soon deployed at fixed sites and the idea of a mobile missile was abandoned. An individual Matador missile was shipped from the Martin plant to its unit in seven wooden crates. A single Matador missile required many vehicles to move it and its associated support equipment. There
10032-483: The missiles were under the control of the 6555th Guided Missile Squadron, for climatic testing, although instrumentation and pre-test check-outs kept the actual cold-weather tests from the beginning until November. At the end of 1953 the first squadron was operational, but not deployed until 1954, as the 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron , Bitburg Air Base , Germany with the B-61A armed with the W5 nuclear warhead . The missile
10164-511: The older receivers were made surplus. These older units were snapped up by commercial fishermen and other users, keeping it in widespread service. Loran-A continued to improve as the receivers were transistorized and then automated using microcontroller -based systems that decoded the location directly. By the early 1970s such units were relatively common, although they remained relatively expensive compared to devices like radio direction finders . The improvement of electronics through this period
10296-426: The on-duty launch crew. According to the book, this required 15 minutes to do, but some crews could accomplish it in slightly more than 6 minutes. The site usually had a backup pad, on which was a missile which would require somewhat more effort to get it launched. This pad was manned by the standby crew, and if they were on site, could usually be ready to launch in 20–30 minutes. If there was a third pad, it may not have
10428-407: The operator would see a string of sharp "blips", first the primary, then one of the secondaries, the primary again, and then the other secondary. Gee CRTs were built to be able to display two traces, and by tuning several delay circuits, the operator could make the first primary-secondary signal appear on the upper display and the second on the lower. They could then take a measurement of both delays at
10560-541: The order of a few tens of feet, but ran into significant technical problems. The U.S. Air Force worked on a different concept, Cyclan, which the Navy took over as Loran-C , which offered longer range than LORAN and accuracy of hundreds of feet. The U.S. Coast Guard took over operations of both systems in 1958. In spite of the dramatically improved performance of Loran-C, LORAN, now known as Loran-A (or "Standard LORAN"), would become much more popular during this period. This
10692-403: The other two (primary and the third station) used repetition rate 1. The PRF could be adjusted from 25 to 25 and 7/16th for Low, and 33 1/3 to 34 1/9th for High. This system shared the middle tower, which broadcast on both frequencies. In the case of Gee, signals were direct from the transmitter to receiver, producing a clean signal that was easy to interpret. If displayed on a single CRT trace,
10824-486: The other, 150 km from one and 300 from the other, and so on. When plotted on a chart, the collection of possible locations for any given time difference forms a hyperbolic curve. The collection of curves for all possible measured delays forms a set of curved radiating lines, centered on the line between the two stations, known as the "baseline". In order to take a fix, the receiver takes two measurements based on two different primary/secondary pairs. The intersections of
10956-421: The primary arrive, it triggers its own transmitter. This ensures that the primary and secondary send out signals precisely 1 ms apart, without the secondary needing an accurate timer of its own or to synchronize its clock with the primary. In practice, a fixed time is added to account for delays in the receiver electronics. A receiver listening for these signals and displaying them on an oscilloscope will see
11088-523: The pulses as a whole, and the waves within them. These concepts led to experiments with Low Frequency LORAN in 1945, using a much lower frequency of 180 kHz. A system with three transmitters was set up on the US east coast using long antennas supported by balloons. The experiments demonstrated that the inaccuracy inherent to the design while working at such low frequencies was simply too great to be useful; operational factors introduced errors that overwhelmed
11220-414: The radio signal from one will take 1 millisecond to reach the other. One of these stations is equipped with an electronic clock that periodically sends out a trigger signal. When the signal is sent, this station, the "primary", sends out its transmission. 1 ms later that signal arrives at the second station, the "secondary". This station is equipped with a receiver, and when it sees the signal from
11352-426: The range. Thus at short distances the lines cross at angles close to 90 degrees, and this angle steadily reduces with range. Because the accuracy of the fix depends on the crossing angle, all hyperbolic navigation systems grow increasingly inaccurate with increasing range. Moreover, the complex series of received signals considerably confused the reading of the LORAN signal, requiring some interpretation. Accuracy
11484-539: The receiver unit. This would prove extremely useful; RAF Transport Command aircraft could swap their receivers when moving to or from the Australian theatre. Dippy also designed the ground station timing equipment. It was around this time that the project was joined by both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy . The project was still top secret at this time, and little actual information
11616-457: The rest of the world until 1985. A Japanese chain remained on the air until 9 May 1997, and a Chinese chain was still listed as active as of 2000 . Loran-A used two frequency bands, at 1.85 and 1.95 MHz. These same frequencies were used by radio amateurs , in the amateur radio 160-meter band , and amateur operators were under strict rules to operate at reduced power levels to avoid interference; depending on their location and distance to
11748-590: The same argument applies to other types of UAVs : they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account, not to mention the risk of loss of personnel. As demonstrated in Libya in 2011 and prior conflicts, cruise missiles are much more difficult to detect and intercept than other aerial assets (reduced radar cross-section, infrared and visual signature due to smaller size), suiting them to attacks against static air defense systems. LORAN LORAN ( Long Range Navigation )
11880-456: The same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category. Guidance systems vary. Examples: These are subsonic missiles that weigh around 500 kilograms (1,102 lb) and have a range of up to 300 km (190 mi). Examples: The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high-value targets such as ships, command bunkers, bridges and dams. Modern guidance systems permit accurate attacks. As of 2001 ,
12012-402: The same time. In comparison, LORAN was deliberately designed to allow skywaves to be used, and the resulting received signal was far more complex. The groundwave remained fairly sharp, but could be received only at shorter distances and was primarily used during the day. At night, as many as thirty different skywaves might be received from a single transmitter, often overlapped in time, creating
12144-415: The sea. Using cycle matching, the system demonstrated an accuracy of 160 feet (49 m) at 750 miles (1,210 km). But it was also discovered that the system was very difficult to use and the measurements remained subject to confusion over which cycles to match. During this same period, the U.S. Army Air Force became interested in a very-high accuracy system for bombing pinpoint targets. Raytheon won
12276-402: The secondary on the second, allowing the complex patterns to be compared. This meant that only one primary/secondary measurement could be made at once; to produce a "fix", the entire measurement procedure had to be repeated a second time using a different set of stations. Measurement times on the order of three to five minutes were typical, requiring the navigator to take into account the motion of
12408-476: The ships and aircraft operating in the Pacific theater during World War II. LORAN, in its original form, was an expensive system to implement, requiring a cathode ray tube (CRT) display. This limited use to the military and large commercial users. Automated receivers became available in the 1950s, but the same improved electronics also opened the possibility of new systems with higher accuracy. The U.S. Navy began development of Loran-B , which offered accuracy on
12540-414: The shore, U.S. operators were limited to maximums of 200 to 500 watts during the day and 50 to 200 watts at night. The "National Timing Resilience and Security Act" of 2017, proposed repurposing LORAN real estate and radio spectrum for a new terrestrial navigation system as a backup for the United States in case of a GPS outage caused by space weather or attack. eLoran has been proposed as
12672-424: The signals inverted and running at a lower sweep speed so that multiple repetitions of the signal appear on the traces. Mixed into the signal is an electronic scale produced in a time base generator , causing a series of small pips to appear over the now-inverted original signals. At setting 5, the pips on the scale represent differences of 10 microseconds, and the operator measures the distance between positions. This
12804-421: The signals were so much longer and more complex than Gee that direct measurement of the two signals was simply not possible. Even the initial signal from the primary station was spread out in time with the initial groundwave signal being sharp (if received), while the skywave receptions could appear anywhere on the display. Accordingly, the LORAN operator set the delays so the primary signal appeared on one trace and
12936-418: The skywaves became useful for measurements, which extended the effective range to 1,200–1,400 nautical miles (2,200–2,600 km). At long ranges the hyperbolic lines approximate straight lines radiating from the center of the baseline. When two such signals from a single chain are considered, the resulting pattern of lines becomes increasingly parallel as the baseline distance becomes smaller in comparison to
13068-465: The space of two and a half seconds. At this point the JATO bottle fell away and the missile continued on a preset heading and rate of climb until it was acquired by the guidance crews and their equipment. The missile had no altitude or speed control, continuing to fly as fast as possible, climbing as the fuel load was burned off, until it reached its maximum altitude. At a point about 6 miles (10 km) from
13200-600: The system provided coverage anywhere south of Scotland and as far east as Poland with an average accuracy of one mile. The system was used operationally in October 1944, and by 1945 it was universally installed in No. 5 Group RAF . The same basic concept was also tested post-war by the Coast Guard in a system known as "Skywave Long Baseline LORAN". The only difference was the selection of different frequencies, 10.585 MHz in
13332-486: The team instead settled on two abandoned Coast Guard stations at Montauk Point , New York, and Fenwick Island, Delaware . On the receiving end, a station wagon was fitted with a simple receiver and sent around the country looking for solid signals, which were found as far away as Springfield, Missouri . For a production system, the team began working with a system using a circular J-scope display for improved accuracy. The more common A-scope represents distances across
13464-455: The time needed to get the missiles away. Often, these drills were accompanied by a flyover of a T-33 aircraft on which was mounted the MSQ-1 guidance system. ( F-100 Super Sabres from the 36th and 50th TFWs were normally used for launch simulation exercises in Europe). This aircraft would fly over the launch pad at very low altitude and then simulate the flight profile of the missile under
13596-529: The timing. This system, later known as Loran-B , ran into significant problems (as did another Air Force system, Whyn and a similar British system, POPI ). In 1953 the Navy took over the Cyclan system and began a wide series of studies ranging as far away as Brazil, demonstrating accuracy to about 100 meters (330 ft). The system was declared operational in 1957, and operations of LORAN and Cyclan were handed to
13728-504: The two sets of curves normally result in two possible locations. Using some other form of navigation, dead reckoning for instance, one of these possible positions can be eliminated, thus providing an exact fix. LORAN stations were built in chains, one primary and two secondaries (minimally, some chains were constituted of as many as five stations) typically separated by about 600 miles (970 km). Each pair broadcast on one of four frequencies, 1.75, 1.85, 1.9 or 1.95 MHz (as well as
13860-760: The ultimate end of the Chinese Communist Revolution , and these stations remained on the air at least into the 1990s. A final major expansion took place in Portugal and the Azores in 1965, offering additional coverage to the mid-Atlantic. During early experiments with LORAN's skywaves, Jack Pierce noticed that at night the reflective layer in the ionosphere was quite stable. This led to the possibility that two LORAN stations could be synchronized using skywave signals, at least at night, allowing them to be separated over much greater distances. Accuracy of
13992-409: The unused 7.5 MHz). In any given location it was common to be able to receive more than three stations at a time, so some other means of identifying the pairs was needed. LORAN adopted the use of varying the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for this task, with each station sending out a string of 40 pulses at either 33.3 or 25 pulses per second. Stations were identified with a simple code, with
14124-400: The upper pedestal until one of the signal spikes was centred within it, and then moved the pedestal on the lower trace to center a second signal using coarse and fine delay controls. Once this was done, the system was set to sweep speed 2, which sped up the traces so that the section outlined by the pedestals filled the entire trace. This process was repeated at sweep speed 3, at which point only
14256-478: The vehicle during this time. The original airborne receiver unit was AN/APN-4 unit of 1943. It was physically identical to the UK's two-piece Gee set, and could be easily interchanged with these units. The main unit with the display also housed most of the controls. General operation started by selecting one of nine stations, labeled 0 to 8, and setting the sweep speed to 1, the lowest setting. The operator would then use
14388-519: The weapons in their air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) configuration. Cruise missiles can be categorized by payload/warhead size, speed, range, and launch platform. Often variants of the same missile are produced for different launch platforms (for instance, air- and submarine-launched versions). Guidance systems can vary across missiles. Some missiles can be fitted with any of a variety of navigation systems ( Inertial navigation , TERCOM , or satellite navigation ). Larger cruise missiles can carry either
14520-537: Was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II . It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range up to 1,500 miles (2,400 km) with an accuracy of tens of miles. It was first used for ship convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and then by long-range patrol aircraft, but found its main use on
14652-408: Was a transport vehicle, which was a short wheelbase semi-trailer truck which carried the missile with the wings removed and attached alongside the fuselage, a launcher, which was a semi-trailer more than 40 feet (12 m) long weighing more than 30,000 lb (14 t). There was a target selection van, a warhead van, a 60 kW diesel generator, a tug, a hydraulic unit, a mobile blockhouse, and
14784-587: Was about 1 mile (1.6 km), which allowed it to be used against any large target like troop concentrations or armored spearheads. First flown in 1949, Matador entered service in 1952 and left service in 1962. Matador carried several designations during its lifetime, originally known under the War Department's system as SSM-A-1 . By the time it was introduced to service, the Air Force had been created, and they referred to them as bombers and assigned it
14916-599: Was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the USAF and Navy. The truck-launched versions, and also the Pershing II and SS-20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, were later destroyed under the bilateral INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the USSR. The British Royal Navy (RN) also operates cruise missiles, specifically the U.S.-made Tomahawk, used by the RN's nuclear submarine fleet. UK conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by
15048-542: Was also at the 20 December meeting. He stated that he was aware of similar work in the UK, but didn't know enough about it to offer any suggestions. Project 3 moved to the newly formed Radiation Laboratory 's Navigation Group in 1941. Early systems operated around 30 MHz, but it was later decided to try experiments with different equipment that could be tuned from 3 to 8 MHz. These lower frequency systems were found to be much more stable electronically. After first considering setting up transmitters on mountain peaks,
15180-451: Was an impact detonator. As with all missiles and bombers of the day, accuracy was not good in today's terms. Anything within a mile was considered a hit. Even though the missile was classified as a "tactical" weapon, in fact it was not technically capable of hitting individual targets, so it was likely targeted at cities near which a military installation such as an airfield existed. Actual targets were classified, and kept from everyone except
15312-639: Was canceled in April 1949. Concurrently, the US Navy's Operation Bumblebee , was conducted at Topsail Island , North Carolina , from c. 1 June 1946, to 28 July 1948. Bumblebee produced proof-of-concept technologies that influenced the US military's other missile projects. During the Cold War , both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept, of deploying early cruise missiles from land, submarines, and aircraft. The main outcome of
15444-569: Was capable of carrying a 2,000 lb (910 kg) conventional warhead, but it is unknown if any of these were actually deployed. By the late 1950s at least, all Matadors carried the nuclear warhead. Glenn L. Martin Company , the designer and manufacturer of both the Matador and the tri-jet Martin XB-51 , proposed using the XB-51 in order to carry two of the Matador winged missiles, one on each wingtip, "selling two products at one time." The XB-51
15576-406: Was definitely possible, leading to some interest by the U.S. Army Air Force . The Navy was unhappy about this turn of events. Dippy also instituted a number of simple changes that would prove extremely useful in practice. Among these, he outright demanded that the airborne LORAN receivers be built physically similar to the Gee receivers, so that they could be swapped out in service simply by replacing
15708-477: Was due largely to the large numbers of surplus Loran-A units released from the Navy as ships and aircraft replaced their sets with Loran-C. The widespread introduction of inexpensive microelectronics during the 1960s caused Loran-C receivers to drop in price dramatically, and Loran-A use began to rapidly decline. Loran-A was dismantled starting in the 1970s; it remained active in North America until 1980 and
15840-452: Was essentially an adaptation of the LORAN hyperbolic navigation system to microwave frequencies to make it smaller and more accurate. A total of four stations were required per missile; two were used to produce a signal defining a line passing over the target, and a second pair defined the range. The missile's transponders rebroadcast these signals where they were picked up by receivers as
15972-465: Was in its infancy, and their signals were considerably spread out in time, making measurements difficult. By this time the team had become aware of the UK's Gee efforts, and were aware that Gee used a system of electronically generated strobes that produced pips on the display that were accurately aligned with system timing. They sent a team to the UK to learn about the strobe concept, and immediately adopted it for their work. As part of this exchange,
16104-530: Was in response to the crisis posed by the Soviet attack on Hungary which suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Between 1957 and 1961 the United States followed an ambitious and well-funded program to develop a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM). It was designed to fly below the enemy's radar at speeds above Mach 3 and carry hydrogen bombs that it would drop along its path over enemy territory. Although
16236-485: Was initially envisioned to consist of a network of ground stations that would hand-off guidance of a missile between stations as it flew toward its target. In practice that was rarely successful, and deployed missiles did not attempt it. As with all radio communications it was also prone to enemy radio jamming . In 1954, the USAF started to develop the YTM-61C version with SHANICLE. It became operational in 1957, extending
16368-668: Was instead turned down and the U.S. Air Force decided to go with the Martin B-57 Canberra , a licensed version of the British English Electric Canberra . The last Matadors were removed from active service in 1962, with a total of 1200 missiles produced. At that time, they were deployed in squadrons at Bitburg AB , West Germany, in Tainan, Taiwan, and in various locations in South Korea. The specific maintenance training schools were in at
16500-428: Was more a matter of signal quality and operator experience than any fundamental limit of the equipment or signals. The only way to express the accuracy was to measure it in practice; average accuracy on the route from Japan to Tinian, a distance of 1,400 miles (2,300 km), was 28 miles (45 km), 2% of range. AT LORAN, for "Air Transportable", was a lightweight LORAN transmitter set that could be rapidly set up as
16632-582: Was never used operationally. In mid-1942, Robert Dippy , the lead developer of the Gee system at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) in the UK, was sent to the US for eight months to help with LORAN development. At the time the project was being driven primarily by Captain Harding of the U.S. Navy, and they were concentrating entirely on a shipboard system. Dippy convinced them that an airborne version
16764-462: Was quickly supplanted by the AN/APN-9 of 1945, an all-in-one unit combining the receiver and display of greatly reduced weight. During the day the ionosphere only weakly reflects shortwave signals, and LORAN was usable at 500–700 nautical miles (930–1,300 km) using the groundwaves. At night these signals were suppressed and the range dropped to 350–500 nautical miles (650–930 km). At night
16896-402: Was quite often left natural aluminum , as were the wings and tail group. The MSQ guidance vans required to guide the Matador were removed from Germany after September 1962 when the last Matador operational units were inactivated. The Matador launch crew consisted of eleven members. One launch officer, who was usually a 1st lieutenant (O-2) or a junior captain (O-3), one crew chief, usually
17028-622: Was shared, especially with the Coast Guard. The Canadian liaison was required, as ideal siting for the stations would require several stations in various locations in the Canadian Maritime Provinces . One site in Nova Scotia proved to be a battle; the site was owned by a fisherman whose domineering teetotaler wife was dead set against having anything to do with the sinful Navy men. When the site selection committee of J.A. Waldschmitt and Lt. Cdmr. Argyle were discussing
17160-419: Was so rapid that it was only a few years before Loran-C units of similar size and cost were available. This led to the decision to open Loran-C to civilian use in 1974. By the late 1970s, the Coast Guard was in the midst of phasing out Loran-A in favor of additional Loran-C chains. The Aleutian and Hawaii chains shut down on 1 July 1979, the remaining Alaska and West Coast chains on 31 December 1979, followed by
17292-727: Was the Kalibr missile which entered production in the early 1990s and was officially inducted into the Russian arsenal in 1994. However, it only saw its combat debut on 7 October 2015, in Syria as a part of the Russian military campaign in Syria . The missile has been used 14 more times in combat operations in Syria since its debut. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union was attempting to develop cruise missiles. In this short time frame,
17424-562: Was the winged, mobile, nuclear-capable MGM-1 Matador , also similar in concept to the V-1. Deployment overseas began in 1954, first to West Germany and later to the Republic of China and South Korea. On 7 November 1956, the U.S. Air Force deployed Matador units in West Germany, whose missiles were capable of striking targets in the Warsaw Pact , from their fixed day-to-day sites to unannounced dispersed launch locations. This alert
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