Pershing System
Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico: Defense Atomic Support Agency, Field Command, Nuclear Training Directorate, 1969. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Wraps. Three-hole punched and stapled at left side. iv, 22 pages. Illustrated front cover. Illustrations. Cover has some wear. The Table of Contents has an introduction and sections on: Pershing Organization, Characteristics, Pershing Missile, Ground Support Equipment, Trajectory Theory, Flight Sequence, and Summary. The fifteen illustrations are: Pershing 1a System, Missile Structures, Battery Control Central, Erector-Launcher and M757 Tractor, Programer-Test Station and Power Station Vehicle, Radio Terminal Set AN/TRC-80, Missile Section Containers, Pershing Trajectory, First-Stage Ignition, Coast Period, First-State Separation and Second-Stage Ignition, Thrust Termination and Warhead Separation, Case Venting, Warhead Reentry, and Detonation. In order to improve Pershing's performance in the quick reaction alert role, Pershing 1a was developed. Ground support equipment was designed for maximum tactical and strategic mobility, electronic computation of firing data, and automatic test and checkout equipment. The Pershing 1a also had a specially designed communications set that allowed extremely reliable communications over great distances (99.9-percent reliability at 160 kilometers). This publication was intended for home study and reference by students attending the Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Course, Army Weapons Division, Nuclear Training Directorate, Field Command. An understanding of the facts herein was deemed essential for the proper comprehension of classroom instruction in these courses. 1964 a series of operational tests and follow-on tests were performed to determine Pershing reliability. The Secretary of Defense then requested that the Army define the modifications required to make Pershing suitable for the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role. The Pershing 1a development program was approved in 1965, the original Pershing renamed to Pershing 1 and Martin Marietta received the Pershing 1a production contract in 1967. Project SWAP replaced all the Pershing equipment in Germany by mid-1970 and the first units quickly achieved QRA status. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara directed that the U.S. Air Force's MGM-13 Mace missile would be replaced by the Pershing 1a in 1965. Pershing 1a was a Quick Reaction Alert system and so had faster vehicles, launch times and newer electronics. The total number of launchers increased from 8 to 36 per battalion. Production of the Pershing 1a missile ended in 1975 and reopened in 1977 to replace missiles expended in training. Pershing 1a was further improved in 1971 with the Pershing Missile and Power Station Development Program. A total of 754 MGM-31A missiles were built. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Pershing Weapon, Pershing 1a, Pershing Missile, Battery Control, Erector-Launcher, M757 Tractor, Power Station Vehicles, AN/TRC-80, First-Stage Ignition, Warhead Reentry, Detonation, Case Venting, Strategic Mobility
[Book #82559]
Price: $100.00