The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960

Washington DC: United States Air Force, Office of Air Force History, 1990. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xiii, [3], 409, [1] pages. Photographs. Charts. Tables. Appendices. Notes. Glossary. Bibliographic Notes. Index. DJ, is in a plastic sleeve, is taped around the boards, and has slight wear, soiling and small edge tear. This is one of the Air Force's General Histories series. Jacob "Jack" Neufeld was the Director of the Air Force Historical Studies Office. He previously served as Senior Historian and was the Director of the Center for Air Force History. Mr. Neufeld was also the editor of Air Power History, the quarterly journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at the New York University and did doctoral studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The author was the Chief of the Headquarters USAF Branch, Office of Air Force History. He became an Air Force historian in 1967 starting with the Eighth Air Force. Throughout his varied assignments in the Office of Air Force History, he has specialized in the history of aerospace technology, Following World War II, the onset of nuclear weapons, long-range jet bombers, and ballistic missiles radically changed American foreign policy and military strategy. The United States Air Force, led by men of far-sighted vision and uncommon dedication, accepted the challenge of organizing and leading a massive research and development effort to build ballistic missiles. In the quarter of the century since, these weapons have constituted one of the tree legs of the strategic triad, the basis of America's strategy of deterring nuclear war, yet they have received less attention from the public and within the Air Force than the more glamorous manned bombers of the Strategic Air Command or the missile-launching submarines of the U.S. Navy. This volume attempts to correct the imbalance by telling the story of development of Air Force ballistic Missiles. It concentrates on the first generation of ballistic missiles: the intercontinental Atlas and Titan, and the intermediate range Thor. Although the effort to develop rockets has a longer history than commonly assumed, the modern history spans the relatively short era from 1945 to 1960. During this brief interval, missiles advanced from drawing board to alert status, where the next generation now remains poised to deter war.

A ballistic missile follows a ballistic trajectory to deliver one or more warheads on a predetermined target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the Earth's atmosphere, while intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are launched on a sub-orbital trajectory. These weapons are in a distinct category from cruise missiles, which are aerodynamically guided in powered flight.

The earliest form of ballistic missiles dates from the 13th century with its use derived from the history of rockets. In the 14th century, the Ming Chinese navy used an early form of a ballistic cruise missile weapon called the Huo long chu shui in naval battles against enemy ships. A modern pioneer ballistic missile was the A-4, commonly known as the V-2 developed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of Wernher von Braun. The first successful launch of a V-2 was on October 3, 1942, and it began operation on September 6, 1944, against Paris, followed by an attack on London two days later. By the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, more than 3,000 V-2s had been launched.

The course taken by ballistic missiles has two significant desirable properties. First, ballistic missiles that fly above the atmosphere have a much longer range than would be possible for cruise missiles of the same size. Powered rocket flight through thousands of kilometers of air would require vastly greater amounts of fuel, making the launch vehicles larger and easier to detect and intercept. Powered missiles that can cover similar ranges, such as cruise missiles, do not use rocket motors for the majority of their flight, but instead use more economical jet engines. However, cruise missiles have not made ballistic missiles obsolete, due to the second major advantage: ballistic missiles can travel extremely quickly along their flight path. An ICBM can strike a target within a 10,000 km range in about 30 to 35 minutes.[citation needed] With terminal speeds of over 5,000 m/s, ballistic missiles are much harder to intercept than cruise missiles, due to the much shorter time available. Therefore, ballistic missiles are some of the most feared weapons available, despite the fact that cruise missiles are cheaper, more mobile, and more versatile. The R-7 Semyorka was the first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Condition: Good / Good.

Keywords: Ballistic Missiles, Pilotless Aircraft, Guided Missiles, Atomic-equiped, Project MX-2593, Atlas Rocket, ICBM, Initial Operational Capability, Flight Testing, Aerospace, Minuteman, Thor, Jupiter, Titan. Teapot Committee, USAF, Air Force, Consolidated

ISBN: 0912799625

[Book #79450]

Price: $75.00

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