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Three types of Nike Missiles were developed, however, only two were deployed: The Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules. The third type was called Nike Zeus. The first Nike Missile, the Ajax type, was developed after World War Two in an effort to prepare for possible attack by (then) high altitude high speed bombers. Conventional anti-aircraft guns were believed inadequet, and the U.S. had just aquired the remains of the German V-2 project.
Applying rocket technology gained from the Germans combined with our radar and computer technology, we had an operational antiaircraft missile by 1952, which was deployed in 1954. The Nike Ajax Missile used a solid propellant booster to achieve supersonic speed, then a liquid fuel sustainer to close in on the target aircraft. Once the missile was close to the aircraft, the three high explosive warheads inside would be detonated, destroying the aircraft with a vicious shower of shrapnel. The Ajax, pictured below on a launcher, was over 32 feet long and weighed more than a ton.
Four years after the Nike Ajax Missiles were deployed, a new missile, the Nike Hercules, began to replace it. The Ajax system could not be counted on to work properly against formations of bomber aircraft, but the Hercules, which used a small nuclear warhead, could destroy an entire formation with a single missile. A substantial piece of hardware, the Hercules outweighed its predecessor by nearly four and a half tons(10,700lbs.total) and was about 40 feet long.
Another problem with the Ajax was the liquid fuel. A highly dangerous mixture of red fuming nitric acid, Unsymmetrical dimethyl-hydrazine(UDMH), and JP-4 jet fuel, cumbersome suits had to be worn while the missile was being fueled, and large berms were placed around the fueling area to reduce damage from an explosion. The Hercules used a solid fuel sustainer, so maintenance became much safer. By 1964, nearly all active batteries had been converted to Hercules.
A Nike Hercules Missile. (Redstone Arsenal)
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