Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semi-active radar homing (SARH) for terminal guidance. The four antennas surrounding the nose were SARH receivers, which functioned as a continuous wave interferometer . A solid rocket booster provided thrust for launch and a Bendix ramjet powered its flight to the target, with the warhead serving as the ramjet's compressor.
33-585: Talos was the end product of Operation Bumblebee , the Navy's 16-year surface-to-air missile development program for protection against guided anti-ship missiles like Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs , Fritz X , and kamikaze aircraft. The Talos was the primary effort behind the Bumblebee project but was not the first missile the program developed; the RIM-2 Terrier was the first to enter service. The Talos
66-452: A nuclear warhead ; terminal guidance was judged unnecessary for a nuclear warhead, so the SARH antenna was omitted. The SAM-N-6b1/RIM-8C was introduced in 1960 and had double the range and a more effective conventional continuous-rod warhead . The RIM-8D was the nuclear-warhead version of the -8C. The SAM-N-6c/RIM-8E "Unified Talos" had a warhead that could be swapped while embarked, eliminating
99-503: A horizontal range of 10 miles and 30,000 ft (9,100 m) altitude, with a 300 to 600 lb (140 to 270 kg) warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. Heavy shipping losses to kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for missile development. This role was not as demanding as the attacking weapon was much larger, but there was a desire for long range and rapid deployment. This led to
132-512: A long-range kill on a MiG. The Talos missile also had surface-to-surface capabilities. The RGM-8H Talos-ARM was a dedicated anti-radar homing missile for use against shore-based radar stations. Initial testing of the RGM-8H was performed in 1965, and soon after, it was deployed in Vietnam on Chicago , Oklahoma City , and Long Beach , attacking North Vietnamese SAM radars. Oklahoma City fired
165-446: A result of the research effort on ramjets and surface-to-air missiles which took place on Topsail Island from 1946 to 1948, as part of Operation Bumblebee . Operation Bumblebee Operation Bumblebee was a US Navy effort to develop surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to provide a mid-range layer of anti-aircraft defense between anti-aircraft guns in the short range and fighter aircraft operating at long range. A major reason for
198-559: A second concept, the SAM-N-2 Lark , a subsonic missile intended to provide a middle layer of defense between the long-range combat air patrols and short-range anti-aircraft artillery . With the ending of the war, and the introduction of jet-powered bombers with significantly higher performance, interest in Lark ended in favor of the Bumblebee efforts, and the prototype examples were used as test vehicles. In addition to initial tests at
231-517: A short-range missile system for smaller ships, entering service in 1963 as the RIM-24 Tartar . Together, the three missiles were known as the "3 Ts". Bumblebee was not the only early Navy SAM project; the SAM-N-2 Lark was rushed into production as a short-range counter to the Kamikaze threat. However, it never matured into an operational weapon. The RIM-50 Typhon was developed to replace
264-400: A storage area above the main deck. Nuclear-powered USS Long Beach and three Albany -class cruisers (converted Baltimore -class heavy cruisers ) carried Mark 12 Guided Missile Launching Systems fed from a 52-round magazine below the main deck. The initial SAM-N-6b/RIM-8A had an effective range of about 50 nmi and a conventional warhead . The SAM-N-6bW/RIM-8B was a RIM-8A with
297-477: A total of four MiGs being shot down by USS Chicago and Long Beach . On May 23, 1968, a Talos fired from Long Beach shot down a Vietnamese MiG at a range of about 65 miles. This was the first downing of a hostile aircraft by a missile fired from a ship. The hit also destroyed a second MiG which flew through the debris. In September 1968, Long Beach scored another MiG destroyed at a range of 61 miles. On May 9, 1972, Chicago ' s forward Talos battery scored
330-706: Is a new generation of Standard extended range missiles, which became operational in 2013. During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) the United States deployed Standard missiles to protect its navy, as well as other ships in the Persian Gulf from the threat of Iranian attacks. According to the Iranian Air Force , its F-4 Phantom IIs were engaged by SM-2ERs but managed to evade them, with one aircraft sustaining non-fatal damage due to shrapnel. During
363-734: Is on display at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia . A Talos missile is on display at The US Navy's Guided Missile School at Dam Neck, in Virginia Beach, Virginia , just outside of the main building of the NAVGMSCOL. Two Talos missiles are on display, in launch position, on the stern of USS Little Rock at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park located in Buffalo, New York . A Talos missile and booster were on display at Rita Blanca Park (home of
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#1732776074490396-695: The Island Beach, New Jersey , and Fort Miles , Delaware , temporary sites, Camp Davis , North Carolina , was used for Operation Bumblebee from 1 June 1946 to 28 July 1948. Topsail Island , North Carolina , became the permanent Bumblebee testing and launch facility in March 1947. The Topsail Historical Society hosts the Missiles and More Museum at the site. Testing was transferred to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and then to White Sands Missile Range in 1951, where USS Desert Ship (LLS-1)
429-470: The RIM-8 Talos , which entered service on 28 May 1958 aboard the light cruiser USS Galveston . As part of the development program, several other vehicles were also developed. One of these developed into the RIM-2 Terrier , which entered operational status on 15 June 1956, two years before Talos; Terrier was first installed aboard the heavy cruiser USS Canberra . The Terrier was later modified as
462-511: The United States Navy (USN). The RIM-67 was developed as a replacement for the RIM-8 Talos , a 1950s system deployed on a variety of USN ships, and eventually replaced the RIM-2 Terrier as well, since it was of a similar size and fitted existing Terrier launchers and magazines. The RIM-66 Standard MR was essentially the same missile without the booster stage, designed to replace the RIM-24 Tartar . The RIM-66/67 series thus became
495-744: The XIT Rodeo & Reunion ) in Dalhart, Texas, at least from 1981 or earlier, but as of 2017 had been removed. A Talos missile is on display in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the Washington Dulles International Airport . A Talos missile is on outdoor display in front of the Missiles and More Museum on Topsail Island , NC. Notably, this location is also the birthplace of the RIM-8 Talos missile, having been
528-576: The 3 Ts but was cancelled during development. The 3 Ts were ultimately replaced by the RIM-66 Standard , a development of the Tartar. Navy ships were hit by air-launched Henschel Hs 293 and Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X anti-ship guided bombs in 1943. A ramjet-powered anti-aircraft missile was proposed to destroy aircraft launching such weapons while remaining beyond the range of shipboard artillery. Initial performance goals were target intercept at
561-462: The Bumblebee efforts was the need to engage bombers before they could launch standoff anti-shipping weapons, as these aircraft might never enter the range of the shipboard guns. Bumblebee originally concentrated on a ramjet -powered design, and the initial Applied Physics Lab PTV-N-4 Cobra /BTV (Propulsion Test Vehicle/Burner Test Vehicle) was flown in October 1945. Cobra eventually emerged as
594-642: The Iranian ship's superstructure but did not sink it. RIM-67 Standard was deployed on ships of the following classes, replacing the RIM-2 Terrier, and it never was VLS-capable. All of the ships used the AN/SPG-55 for guidance. The Mk10 guided missile launching system was used as the launching system. New Threat Upgrade equipped vessels operated the RIM-67B which used inertial guidance for every phase of
627-738: The Manufacturing Victory exhibit at The History Museum in South Bend. After the exhibit closed, the missile did not return to the airport. Another example can be seen at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum , located at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina . A Talos Missile can also be seen on display at the Muskogee War Memorial Park located in Muskogee, Oklahoma . A Talos missile
660-722: The New Threat Upgrade were refit to operate the RIM-67B (SM-2ER Block II) missile. The RIM-156A Standard SM-2ER Block IV with the Mk 72 booster was developed to compensate for the lack of a long range SAM for the Ticonderoga class of Aegis cruisers . The Mk72 booster allows the RIM-156A to fit into the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System . This configuration can also be used for Terminal phase Ballistic Missile Defense. There
693-670: The RIM-2 Terrier to the RIM-67A were still referred to as Terrier ships even though they were equipped with the newer missile. The second generation of Standard missile, the Standard Missile 2, was developed for the Aegis Combat System , and the New Threat Upgrade (NTU) program that was planned for existing Terrier and Tartar ships. The destroyer USS Mahan served as the test platform for
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#1732776074490726-613: The US Navy's universal SAM system, hence the designation "Standard Missile". The RIM-67A (SM-1ER Block I) was the Navy's replacement for RIM-8 Talos missile. Improved technology allowed the RIM-67 to be reduced to the size of the earlier RIM-2 Terrier missile. Existing ships with the Mk86 guided missile fire control system, or "Terrier" were adapted to employ the new missile in place of the older RIM-2 Terrier missile. Ships that switched from
759-635: The development of the XB-70 Valkyrie and the SR-71 Blackbird . Solid fuel boosters developed to bring the ramjet to operational velocity formed the basis for larger solid fuel rocket motors for ICBMs , satellite launch vehicles, and the Space Shuttle . RIM-67 Standard The RIM-67 Standard ER (SM-1ER/SM-2ER) is an extended range surface-to-air missile (SAM) with a secondary anti-ship capability, originally developed for
792-503: The development of the CG/SM-2 (ER) missile program project. The principal change over the Standard Missile 1 is the introduction of inertial guidance for each phase of the missile's flight except the terminal phase where semi-active homing was retained. This design change was made so that missiles could time share illumination radars and enable equipped ships to defend against saturation missile attacks. Terrier ships reequipped as part of
825-544: The first successful RGM-8H combat shot in US Navy history in early 1972. It was also the first combat surface-to-surface missile shot in US Navy history. Long Beach had her Talos launcher removed in 1978. Talos was phased out of fleet service with the decommissioning of USS Oklahoma City in 1979, though the Albany -class ships carrying the system soldiered on a few more years with the launchers left in place until they were retired in 1980. After 21 years of fleet service,
858-627: The intercept except for the terminal phase where the AN/SPG-55 radar illuminates the target. The RIM-156 Standard Block IV, is a version that has been developed for the Aegis Combat System it has a smaller compact sized booster stage for firing from the Mk41 Vertical Launching System. Like the earlier RIM-67B it employs inertial/command guidance with terminal semi-active homing. (ex-RIM-67E) Cancelled as
891-559: The large missiles with the AN/SPW-2 missile guidance radar and the AN/SPG-49 target illumination and tracking radar. The 9.9-meter-long, 3½-ton missile was comparable in size to a small fighter aircraft . The Talos Mark 7 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) was installed in three Galveston -class cruisers (converted Cleveland -class light cruisers ) with 16 missiles in a ready-service magazine and up to 30 missiles and boosters in
924-726: The missile was replaced by the RIM-67 Standard missile, which was fired from the smaller Mk10 launcher. Two Talos missiles are on display at the Military Honor Park located near the entrance of the South Bend International Airport in South Bend, Indiana. A Talos missile was displayed in the atrium of the South Bend Regional Airport (historically known as Bendix Field), but was removed in 2021 to be displayed in
957-441: The need to waste magazine capacity carrying dedicated nuclear-tipped variants. The RIM-8E also carried an improved continuous-wave terminal homing seeker and had a higher ceiling reach-out. Some RIM-8Cs were retrofitted with the new seeker and designated RIM-8F. The RIM-8G and RIM-8J had further radar homing improvements and a new fuel that extended the range to 130 nm. The surface-to-air versions also saw action in Vietnam, with
990-510: The same war the United States Navy mistakenly shot down an Iranian civilian airliner, Iran Air Flight 655 using two SM-2 missiles. On April 18, 1988, during Operation Praying Mantis , the frigate USS Simpson fired four RIM-66 Standard missiles and the cruiser USS Wainwright fired two RIM-67 Standard missiles at Joshan , an Iranian Kaman -class (La Combattante II type) missile boat. The attacks destroyed
1023-484: Was a plan to build a nuclear armed standard missile mounting a W81 nuclear warhead as a replacement for the earlier Nuclear Terrier missile (RIM-2D). The USN rescinded the requirement for the nuclear armed missile in the 1980s, and the project was canceled. The Standard can also be used against ships, either at line-of-sight range using its semi-active homing mode, or over the horizon using inertial guidance and terminal infrared homing. RIM-174 Standard Missile 6 ERAM
RIM-8 Talos - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-523: Was built as a prototype Talos launch facility. The RIM-2 Terrier , devised as a test vehicle, became operational as a fleet anti-aircraft missile aboard USS Boston in 1955 and evolved into the RIM-66 Standard . Talos became operational with the fleet aboard USS Galveston in February 1959 and saw combat use during the Vietnam War . Ramjet knowledge acquired during the program aided
1089-597: Was originally designated SAM-N-6 and was redesignated RIM-8 in 1963. The airframe was manufactured by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis ; final assembly was by Bendix Missile Systems in Mishawaka, Indiana . The first production versions of the missile cost about $ 155,000 in 1955 ($ 1,793,335 in 2022 dollars); however, the price would drop as Bendix increased production. The Talos saw relatively limited use due to its large size and dual radar antenna system; few ships could accommodate
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