The following is a list of Nike missile sites operated by the United States Army. This article lists sites in the United States, most responsible to Army Air Defense Command; however, the Army also deployed Nike missiles to Europe as part of the NATO alliance, with sites being operated by both American and European military forces. U.S. Army Nike sites were also operational in South Korea, Japan and were sold to Taiwan.[1]
Leftover traces of the approximately 265[2] Nike missile bases can still be seen around cities across the United States. As the sites were decommissioned, they were first offered to federal agencies. Many were already on Army National Guard bases who continued to use the property. Others were offered to state and local governments, while others were sold to school districts. The leftovers were offered to private individuals. Many Nike sites are now municipal yards, communications, and FAA facilities, probation camps, and even renovated for use as airsoft gaming and military simulation training complexes. Several were obliterated and turned into parks. Some are now private residences. Only a few are intact and preserve the history of the Nike project.
Belgium
General Belgian Nike info: The Nike missile system was operational in the Belgian airforce from 1959 until 1990. It was organized into a Missile Group (the overall staffing); a Support Wing (tech and log support), and 2 (9th and 13th) Missile Wings, each with 4 subordinate units. All Belgian Nike sites were in the 2 ATAF part of then West-Germany. Their defending area was the industrial Ruhr area.
Blankenheim in the federal state of Nordrhein Westfalen (NRW). Unit: 13th Missile Wing, 51st (B) Squadron 1961–1989. Operating 36x Nike Herc. (10x Nuclear armed) US custodians: 43rd (B) USAAD. Former IFC at 50°26'45"N 06°40'27"E. Former LA at 50°26'29"N 6°41'52"E. Unit disbanded and site closed.
Düren in NRW. Units: Hq 13th Missile Wing; Missile Support Wing; Group Operations Center and 50th (A) Squadron 1959–1990. Former combined IFC/LA location at 50°41'20"N 06°30'13" E when operating 12 x Nike Ajax missiles. This became the IFC when 50th Sq started Nike Herc ops. 36x Nike Herc. (10x Nuclear-armed) US Custodians: 43rd (C) USAAD. LA then moved to 50°42'44" N 6°32'3"E. Unit disbanded, and the site closed.
Erle[de] in NRW.[3][4] Unit: 13th Missile Wing, 57th (D) Squadron 1974–1984. Note: The site was taken over from the Netherlands air force in 1974, becoming ops in 1975 as 13th Missile Wing/57 Sq operating 36x Nike Herc conventional role. The unit was later reassigned to the 9th Missile Wing/57th Sq as it was the most Northern Belgian site. Former IFC demolished. Former LA at 51°44'21"N 6°53'53"E. Unit disbanded, closing the site.
Euskirchen in NRW. Unit: 13th Missile Wing, 52nd (C) Squadron 1959–1986. Operating 36 x Nike Herc (10x nuclear-armed) US custodians: 43rd (A) USAAD. Former IFC at 50°37'20"N 06°44'37"E. Former LA at 50°37'36" N 6°45'38" E. Unit disbanded, and the site closed.
Grefrath in NRW. Units: Belgian Group Missiles 1959–1990; staffing and liaison element between the Nike Wings and the Belgian air force staff. Family lodging was at nearby Kempen; Hq 9th Missile Wing; Group Operations Center; 56th Squadron 51°20'56"N 6°20'02"E.
Hinsbeck in NRW. 9th Missile Wing, 56th (C) Squadron 1962–1989. Operating 36x Nike Herc (10x Nuclear-armed) US custodians: B team 507th USAAD. Former IFC demolished. Former LA at 51°21'56"N 6°17'25" E. Unit disbanded, closing the site.
Hombroich in NRW. 9th Missile Wing, 55th (B) Squadron 1962–1985. Operating 36x Nike Herc (10x Nuclear-armed) US custodians: C team 507th USAAD. Former IFC at 51°8'27.30"N 6°37'26.49"E. Former LA at 51°9'6"N 6°38'35"E is now a modern art museum. Military family housing 53rd and 55th Squadrons were nearby Grevenbroich. The unit disbanded, and the site closed.
Kaster in NRW. 9th Missile Wing, 53rd (D) Squadron 1959–1978. Reassigned 13th Missile Wing / 56th Sq 1979–1985. Operating 36x Nike Herc missiles (10x Nuclear-armed) US custodians: 43rd (A) USAAD. Former IFC at 51°01'25"N 06°58'36" E. Former LA at 51°1'24"N 6°29'49"E. Unit disbanded, and the site closed.
Xanten in NRW. 9th Missile Wing, 54th (A) Squadron 1971–1989. Operating 36x Nike Herc (10x Nuclear-armed) US custodians: A team 507th USAAD. The former basecamp at 51°38'50"N 06°26'31" E was rebuilt into an automotive area. Former IFC at 51°38'30"N 06°22'34" E. Former LA at 51°38'48"N 6°24'33"E. Unit disbanded, and the site closed.
Denmark
Greenland Defense Area (Danish sovereignty): Thule US Airbase was defended by 4 Nike batteries constructed in 1957–1958. Initially, these sites were considered part of the former Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) as they were intended to defend the Continental United States. Due to Greenland's climate, the missiles had been stored in underground magazines with a 10-missile capacity. Each battery had 4 magazines, and each magazine 2 missile elevators. 4th Battalion 55th Artillery ceased operations in May 1965, thus ending the Nike missile defense of Thule airbase. The sites have been disused for many years now but the remains are still clearly visible.
A battery at grid 76°34'6"N 68°49'2"W
B battery at grid 76°34'23"N 68°38'34"W
IFC at grid 76°33'32"N 68°43'21"W
C battery at grid 76°30'7"N 68°32'13"W
D battery at grid 76°30'40"N 68°53'49"W
As Greenland is Danish and that country refused to host foreign military and nuclear weapons, a bilateral agreement was signed allowing access for all US forces and weaponry in Greenland. This way all Thule batteries could yet be nuclear armed.
Copenhagen Defense Area: Copenhagen was defended by a ring of 4 Nike batteries. At first under Army command but as of 1964 under Air Force command and the batteries redesignated as squadrons 531/2/3/4. Initially Nike Ajax and Hercules operated but later on (1973) only Nike Hercules. All Danish Nike squadrons were operating in conventional role only.
Hq Nike Group and staffing was located at the Avedøre camp, at grid 55°37'59"N 12°26'55"E. Nike Group Operations Control was at the Vestvolden, a fortification at grid 55°41'23"N 12°26'11"E connected with the Karup Air Force Headquarters
NIKE sites around the danish capital of Copenhagen Missile site, Radar site and Air stations Missile launch control center Staf/HQ, training and maintenance
Germany
94th ADA Group, headquartered in Kaiserslautern for most of the Nike-Hercules period had four battalions as follows, with locations:
2/1 ADA headquartered at Wiesbaden Air Base
- A Battery: Wackernheim
- B Battery: Dexheim
- C Battery: Quirnheim
- D Battery: Dichtelbach
5/6 ADA headquartered in Neubruecke
- A Battery: Schoenborn
- B Battery: Wueschheim
- C Battery: Baumholder
- D Battery: Hontheim
2/56 ADA headquartered in Pirmasens
- A Battery: Geinsheim
- B Battery: Landau
- C Battery: Salzwoog
- D Battery: Oberauerbach
3/71 ADA headquartered in Ludwigsburg
- A Battery: Dallau
- B Battery: Grosssachsenheim
- C Battery: Hardheim
- D Battery: Pforzheim
- In Pforzheim (Hagenschieß/Wurmberg), in Baden-Württemberg there is a missile launch site operated by the US-Army until April 1985.
It was part of the Nike-Belt, a defense system which was created to defend Europe against the then newly invented jets. The site fired Nike missiles at potentially incoming jets as part of the Project Nike.
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Greece
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Italy
As of 1959 the Italian commanding unit was: Prima Aerobrigata Intercettori Teleguidati ( 1st Guided Missile Brigade) at Padua overseeing the sites:
Bovolone (Verona) 72 Gruppo at grid 45°16'12"N 11°8'29"E Custodians: Team 2–47th US Army Artillery Detachment
Ceggia (Venice) 57 Gruppo at grid 45°40'22"N 12°40'15"E Custodians: Hq and Team 1–34th USAAD
Chioggia (Venice) 81 Gruppo at grid 45°10'1"N 12°13'43"E Custodians: Team 3–34th USAAD
Conselve (Padua) 80 Gruppo at grid 45°9'35"N 11°54'49"E Custodians: Team 2–34th USAAD
Cordovado (Pordenone) 58 Gruppo at grid 45°49'36"N 12°54'46"E Custodians: Team 4–34th USAAD
Ca' Tron (Venice) 56 Gruppo at grid 45°34'48"N 12°27'29"E Custodians: 87th USAAD (not activated)
Zelo (Rovigo) 79 Gruppo at grid 45°2'2"N 11°23'43"E Custodians: Team 3–47th USAAD
Montichiari (Brescia) 65 Gruppo at grid 45°25'27"N 10°20'43"E
Monte Toraro (Vicenza) 66 Gruppo at grid 45°52'18"N 11°13'57"E
Monte Grappa (Prealpi venete) 64 Gruppo at grid 45°52'12"N 11°48'6"E
Monte Calvarina (Verona) 67 Gruppo at grid 45°30'34"N 11°16'53"E Custodians: Hq and Team 1–47th USAAD
Monte Pizzoc (Treviso) 59 Gruppo at grid 46°2'30"N 12°20'43"E
The Italian Nike units were initially combined Nike Ajax and Hercules equipped but switched completely over to Nike Hercules in the mid 1970s.
Each site with a US Custodial Team had an on-site load of 10 nuclear warheads ready to be launched at very short notice. The sites were using mixed warheads; meaning always 2 sections nuclear-capable (W31 selectable 20 or 2 kiloton yield) and 1 section only conventional (T-45 High Explosive) armed.[5]
Another 60 spare W31's had been kept in permanent storage at grid 45°28'46"N 11°35'57"E Longare. These were supposed to be airlifted to certain Nike sites in case of deterioration of the international political situation in the world. The logistics train was airlifting by US CH-47's within 6 hrs after receipt of a coded message.
This event actually took place in October 1962[6] during the Cuban missile crisis when NATO came on full alert.
Japan
On Okinawa, the 30th ADA Brigade was on Okinawa. On Reversion Day, May 15, 1972, all Nike Hercules missile sites were handed over to the JASDF. Battery B,8th Battalion,3rd Air Defense Brigade was located on the Chinen peninsula in southern part of the island. The U.S. reverted the islands to Japan on May 15, 1972, setting back a Ryūkyū independence movement that had emerged.
Netherlands
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Norway
Oslo Air Defense: Its regional missile air defense was composed of:
These were covering the Norwegian capital, the former Kolsås HQ Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH), the Rygge and Gardermoen airbases and the naval base Karljohansvern.
Construction of the Nike batteries started in 1959; becoming limited operational in 1960 and fully operational in 1961.
Initially operating both Nike Ajax and Hercules but later on only Nike Hercules, the Norwegian Nikes were only conventional armed with the T-45 High Explosive warhead.
HQ Nike Battalion at Linderud at grid 59°56'49"N 10°50'37"E
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Turkey
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Taiwan
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United States
This list is sorted by state. The "Missile type" code indicates the numbers and types of missiles and other installation details. For example, "2AK/18L-H" means the site contained two Nike Ajax magazines (A), located above ground (K), with eight launchers (8L) being converted to Nike Hercules (H). Many listings will have "FDS" following either the control site or launch site heading, which means that the site has gone through the "Formerly-Used Defense Site" program and has been transferred from DoD control to another party. With the exception of Alaska, in which sites were given a specific name, Nike missile sites were designated by a coding system of the Defense Area Name abbreviation; a two-digit number representing the degree from north converted to a number between 01 and 99 (North being 01; East being 25; South being 50; West being 75), and a letter, L = launch site, C = IFC (Integrated Fire Control) site. The Formerly Used Defense Sites (FDS) program processed many former sites and then transferred them out of Defense Department control.[7]
Alaska
The Alaska Nike sites were under the control of United States Army Alaska (USARAK), rather than Army Air Defense Command.
Anchorage Defense Area: Sites were located around Anchorage to defend the city of Anchorage, Fort Richardson, and Elmendorf AFB. Situated at Fort Richardson near Anchorage, the Command Post hosted the regional air defense command and control facility. Manned by the 4th Missile Battalion (redesignated 1st Missile Battalion), 43d Air Defense Artillery in 1972). Site Point was a dual site, having two complete and independent firing systems (Two fire control systems and four launcher sections each having four launchers each and about 28 Hercules missiles) The damage caused by the Good Friday earthquake in 1964 caused one half of the site to be permanently out of action. The other firing system was restored to active duty and remained so, and was in fact the last Nike site in North America to be closed.
Air Defense Command/NORAD radar sites at Fire Island AFS (F-1) and King Salmon AFS (F-3) AK were integrated into the Army Nike operations. Radars used at Fire Island were CPS-6B, FPS-8, CPS-4, FPS-20A, FPS-6B. Nike missile operations continued there until 1979 when the site was closed. Afterwards, the Army Air Defense Command Post was moved to King Salmon. Radars were FPS-93A and in 1982 the FPS-117 was installed. King Salmon Long Range Radar Site is still in use.
Fairbanks Defense Area: Sites were installed to replace Anti-Aircraft guns defending the Fairbanks area, which included Fort Wainwright and Eielson AFB. Manned by the 2nd Missile Battalion, 562d Air Defense Artillery. The sites around Fairbanks were inactivated in 1970 and 1971.
The USAF radar site at Murphy Dome AFS, AK (F-2) was shared with the Army for Nike missile-defense system. The CPS-6B radar was removed in July 1958, FPS-8 removed 4Q 1960 until the Nike sites were inactivated in 1971.
The IFC is mostly burned (prior to the fire, the IFC was used as a minimum security prison). Part of the concrete structures and the bases of the radar towers are still standing, and used for paintball wars by the local youth. Buildings are mostly gone, or only standing walls remain. 61°23′53″N149°51′55″W / 61.39806°N 149.86528°W / 61.39806; -149.86528 (Bay-CS)
Abandoned. Buildings torn down, launch pads consist of concrete slabs and bunkers. Land was transferred to the Municipality of Anchorage, and has been converted to a park. One of the Launch Bunkers has been converted to a Cross Country Ski Chalet with a large parking lot, and the other three Launch Bunkers are used for storage. 61°09′31″N150°02′07″W / 61.15861°N 150.03528°W / 61.15861; -150.03528 (Point-LS)
Intact Army ownership, best preserved Alaskan Site. It has been in use as a secured communications site for various federal agencies, including BLM, FAA, FCC, FBI, IRS, and others. It is also used occasionally for communications exercises supporting various US Army operations. There are two adjacent ski recreation areas. Under restoration since 2009. Guided public tours are available June–September through a local non-profit organization. Site Summit is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[8] 61°15′29″N149°31′42″W / 61.25806°N 149.52833°W / 61.25806; -149.52833 (Summit-CS)
Los Angeles Defense Area (LA): Los Angeles was defended by a ring of 16 Nuclear sites. Headquarters sites were located at Signal Hill, Long Beach, Fort MacArthur, and at the Birmingham Army Hospital. As indicated by the number of sites, Los Angeles, with its aerospace industries, received extensive air defenses. Initially manned by the 1st Missile Battalion, 56th Artillery, later by the 4th Missile Battalion, 65th Artillery. Beginning in the fall of 1958, the LA-40 and LA-43 Nike sites were manned by the 720th AAA Missile Battalion of the California Army National Guard. Eventually, California National Guard units assumed responsibilities for manning the other sites. In 1968, the Army deactivated LA-94. LA-29 closed 3 years later.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) LA-45DC was established at San Pedro Hill AFS, CA in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was initially an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. It was later equipped with the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system.
San Francisco Defense Area (SF): San Francisco was defended by 12 Nike sites: SF-08, SF-09, SF-25, SF-31, SF-37, SF-51, SF-59, SF-87, SF-88, SF-89, SF-91 and SF-93.[9] Its defenders included both Regular Army and National Guard units. Sites SF-87 and SF-93 were deactivated in 1971. Three years later, the U.S. Army Air Defense Command deactivated the remaining missile batteries. When the Army abandoned the launch area of SF-88 at Fort Barry in 1974, the National Park Service assumed custody of the site, incorporating it into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Through the efforts of various volunteer groups, as of 1995, this is the only Nike site in the country that has been preserved and is open for public viewing.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) SF-90DC was established at Mill Valley AFS, CA in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Travis AFB Defense Area (T): Established to defend the USAF Strategic Air Command, later Military Airlift Command base. The 436th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion was active by 1955. The 436th AAAB was redesignated as an antiaircraft artillery missile battalion on 5 January 1957 and subsequently occupied four Nike Ajax sites, which went to 1st Missile Battalion, 61st Artillery on 1 September 1958. Controlling the SAMs was the 29th Artillery Group (Air Defense).[10] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Travis battalion assumed responsibility for the remaining active batteries guarding the entire San Francisco region. Inactivated by 1974.
Private ownership, fenced. Launch site abandoned, appears to be above-ground site with launchers located within berms. Concrete foundations badly deteriorated, only some building foundations remain. Much broken concrete lying around site. Large number of commercial bee hives. 33°57′34″N117°53′10″W / 33.95944°N 117.88611°W / 33.95944; -117.88611 (LA-29-LS)
Double-battery Nike. Concrete launcher foundations partially intact, Microwave/Communication Facility. Launchers probably intact. The former crew barracks are now used for county fire station personnel and the old launch bays appear to be used for storage. 34°03′35″N118°38′46″W / 34.05972°N 118.64611°W / 34.05972; -118.64611 (LA-78-LS)
Partially intact, administration buildings at entrance standing, with what appear to be military radio towers. Most buildings razed and rebuilt as a Relay site. Many foundations remain with broken concrete spread around area, roads in deteriorating condition. 34°19′35″N118°35′13″W / 34.32639°N 118.58694°W / 34.32639; -118.58694 (LA-88-CS)
Double-battery Nike launch area on top of tall ridge. Is fenced in, with a "No Trespassing" sign, guard shack and many buildings in good repair. Now US Forest Service facility. Magazines probably in good condition, launch area being used for trailer and outside storage. 34°20′55″N118°24′29″W / 34.34861°N 118.40806°W / 34.34861; -118.40806 (LA-94-LS)
In highly urban area. After being closed by the Army it was established as an Air Force installation, the Sepulveda Air National Guard Station. On that date, jurisdiction, control, and authority was transferred to the California Air National Guard. A section of the launch area is used by the CAANG, 261st Combat Communication Squadron. The site also hosts Squadron 3 of the Civil Air Patrol's California Wing. Concrete launch pads still visible. 34°11′06″N118°28′56″W / 34.18500°N 118.48222°W / 34.18500; -118.48222 (LA-96-LS)
Obliterated, Coyote Hills Regional Park. Launch site buildings bulldozed, dumped into the magazines, magazines sealed shut, soiled over & the whole area re-graded in the early 1970s to make it look like a natural area again, and they did a very thorough job. 37°33′32″N122°05′46″W / 37.55889°N 122.09611°W / 37.55889; -122.09611 (SF-37-LS)
Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area) across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, has been preserved as a Nike museum, complete with missiles (inert). This site was given intact to the National Park Service in 1974 after it was decommissioned for use as a legacy of the Nike program. It is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays from 12:30 to 3:30 pm. The first Saturday of every month is an "open house" with veterans of the NIKE program at the site. The SF-88L site has been restored by volunteers and National Park Service employees to the condition it was during the 1960s, complete with signage and various pieces of equipment such as the radars and control vans that would have been stationed on hills overlooking the site. One of the two missile magazines has been restored and has a working elevator and launch rail for the inert missiles. Site SF-88 is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Fort Barry Historic District.[15] 37°49′36″N122°31′39″W / 37.82667°N 122.52750°W / 37.82667; -122.52750 (SF-88-LS)
Intact, NPS-GGNRA, Angel Island State Park. Three launch areas. This is an early Ajax-only site that was never converted to Hercules. The mountain between the launcher and the IFC was "notched" in three places to allow the Missile Tracking Radar to acquire the missile while sitting on the launcher. The three underground magazines are existent and in reasonably good condition. The area is off-limits to visitors at Angel Island State Park. 37°51′23″N122°25′21″W / 37.85639°N 122.42250°W / 37.85639; -122.42250 (SF-91-LS)
The property was transferred from the Army to the Air Force on 31 Jul 1964. On that date, it was designated as Potrero Hills Storage Annex; and jurisdiction, control, and accountability were assigned to Travis AFB. Now under private ownership, Explosives Technology. Launch doors are probably sealed shut but visible along with Nike concrete launching pads. 38°12′10″N121°56′08″W / 38.20278°N 121.93556°W / 38.20278; -121.93556 (T-53-LS)
Bridgeport Defense Area (BR): Regular Army units manned these sites after initial activation during 1956 and 1957, with the Guard assuming duties in the waning years. Headquarters facilities were located in Bridgeport. Only site BR-04 was converted from Nike Ajax to Hercules. This battery would become integrated into the New England Defense Area before deactivating in 1971.
Hartford Defense Area (HA): Operational in 1956, these sites were first manned by Regular Army and later by Guard Units. Units from the Bridgeport Defense Area assisted in operating the Plainville site. Sites HA-48 and HA-08 were converted to fire the Nike Hercules missile and remained operational until 1968 and 1971, respectively.
Both defense areas appear to have been manned by 2nd Battalion, 55th Artillery (Air Defense) at times between 1958 and 1964.[16]
US Forest Service Insect & Disease Lab. Some buildings remain in use, most razed along with radar towers. In single-family home subdivision built since inactivation of Nike Fire Control Site. Some old roads still exist in the abandoned part of the facility, but no evidence of radar towers. 41°20′23″N073°02′42″W / 41.33972°N 73.04500°W / 41.33972; -73.04500 (BR-04-CS)
Town of Westport, Westport/Weston Health District, Bayberry. Some IFC buildings still in-use, part of site also used by "Rolnick Observatory" also using old IFC buildings. Two radar towers still standing and evident, one of which now functions as the base for the Rolnick Observatory telescope. Much of site overgrown with vegetation. 41°10′16″N073°19′43″W / 41.17111°N 73.32861°W / 41.17111; -73.32861 (BR-73-CS)
Now owned by Jones Family Farm and used in their wine production. In what turned out to be an ironic twist, the land was initially commandeered by the Army — and then was bought back by the family after the Joneses won a competitive bid against developers when the Army no longer needed the site.[17] 41°19′40″N073°11′01″W / 41.32778°N 73.18361°W / 41.32778; -73.18361 (BR-94-CS)
Overgrown and abandoned. Quite a few of the buildings, except for a metal structure on the north-east corner, are still standing. They are cement-block shells. Totally obliterated, nothing left.
Homestead–Miami Defense Area (HM): Despite the undetected arrival of a defecting CubanB-26 Invader at Daytona Beach Airport in January 1959, the vulnerability of America's southern frontier was not apparent until the Cuban Missile Crisis. As part of America's posturing against the Soviet Union over the issue of missiles in Cuba, a rapid buildup of forces occurred in Florida. Part of this buildup included antiaircraft missile batteries. Command of the arriving missile units was assumed by the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 13th Artillery Group, formerly of Fort Stewart, Georgia, which arrived at Homestead AFB on October 30, 1962. By November 8, this command unit moved 4 miles north to a location at Princeton. Initially deploying MIM-23 Hawk mobile batteries, once it became evident that the missile deployment would be long-term, the batteries were repositioned and permanent structures were built which employed above-ground Nike-Hercules missiles. Hawk missile batteries in southern Florida, manned by 6-65 Artillery (1962–71); 6-65 ADA (1971–72); and 1st Battalion, 65th ADA (13 September 1972 – June 1979)[19] continued on active duty until 1979, well beyond the 1975 demise of Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM).
Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) HM-01DC was established at Naval Air Station Richmond, FL 25°37′24″N080°24′16″W / 25.62333°N 80.40444°W / 25.62333; -80.40444 (HM-101DC) in 1961 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. Site equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system. In 1965, upgraded to the AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. One height-finder radar was later removed and remaining set modified to an AN/FPS-116 c. 1977.
Originally HM-01, Re-designated HM-03 Opa-locka Airport. Admin and IFC facility was located northwest of the intersection of NW 186 St and present-day NW 62 Ave. Razed shortly after closure in 1979 and transferred to US Navy for a Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center. Now Navy Operational Support Center Miami and Marine Corps Reserve Center Miami. 25°56′22″N080°17′56″W / 25.93944°N 80.29889°W / 25.93944; -80.29889 (HM-01/03-CS)
Above-ground launch site. Transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1981. In 1982, the Navy transferred 4.2 acres in fee land to the U.S. Air Force, which operated a radio beacon annex from 1983 until at least 1996, first as an off-base installation of Homestead AFB, then as a detached installation. Dates of inactivation and disposal not known. Now mostly overgrown with vegetation. All buildings at the launch site have been torn down. Missile buildings have been completely removed, to include 3 foot thick concrete foundations. Missile maintenance/assembly building is only one still standing. 25°15′42″N080°18′50″W / 25.26167°N 80.31389°W / 25.26167; -80.31389 (HM-40-LS)
Originally HM-65, redesignated HM-66. Constructed during the Cuban Missile Crisis [October 1962]. In a two-week period, 24 hours a day, the Army Corps of Engineers literally built an island in the swamp by bringing in thousands of truck loads of earth fill to build an elevated land surface for the missiles and radars which would keep the equipment elevated above the Everglades water level. Site and unit moved to HM-40, with this site abandoned in June 1965. Buildings vacant, but given the remoteness of this facility appear to be in decent shape. No radar towers. Later re-used as an Aerojet facility but now abandoned. 25°21′43″N080°33′42″W / 25.36194°N 80.56167°W / 25.36194; -80.56167 (HM-65/66-CS)
South Florida Natural Resources Center in Everglades National Park, under control of National Park Service. Now open to the public for tours by National Park Service staff. Exterior of the administration building and launch area can be viewed during the tour. Visitors are also allowed access to one of the sections barn's. Buildings in use, no radar towers. 25°23′17″N080°40′59″W / 25.38806°N 80.68306°W / 25.38806; -80.68306 (HM-69-CS)
The Robins AFB Defense Area (R) and Turner AFB Defense Area (TU) were established when the USAF Strategic Air Command based B-52 Stratofortress intercontinental bombers at Robins and Turner Air Force Bases in 1959. Two Nike-Hercules batteries provided air defense for each base and were manned by Regular Army units. These above-ground sites remained active from November 1960 until March 1966.
Above ground site with launchers protected by berms. FDS, now private ownership, fenced, restricted access. Appears to be light industrial estate. Many parked cars on site, probably employees. Berms around missile launch sites now around buildings erected in former missile sites. Many tractor trailers and new small business or manufacturing buildings on the site. 32°40′20″N083°47′09″W / 32.67222°N 83.78583°W / 32.67222; -83.78583 (R-88-LS)
Former above-ground site with berms protecting launchers. FDS. Private property, with locked fence access. In aerial imagery, launch site appears to be abandoned and overgrown with trees and other vegetation. Difficult to tell with all wild vegetation status of launch site, no buildings appear to be standing, probably earthen berms exist under vegetation canopy. 32°37′42″N083°21′05″W / 32.62833°N 83.35139°W / 32.62833; -83.35139 (R-28-LS)
Oahu Defense Area (OA): Originally, the United States Army Pacific planned to build eight batteries at six sites around the island. Eventually this plan was scaled back to four. The antiaircraft command post was at Wahiawa and Headquarters facilities were located at Fort Ruger. Unlike many of the stateside sites that housed missiles in underground magazines, these sites were simply open-air launchers mounted on concrete pads surrounded by earthen berms. The sites were deactivated in 1970.
On top of mountain ridge, under US Army control. Abandoned and overgrown. Buildings under vegetation, two large radio towers fallen on side visible . Probably facility is complete within the trees and wild underbrush. Access road to site overgrown with vegetation, inaccessible. 21°40′1″N157°59′59″W / 21.66694°N 157.99972°W / 21.66694; -157.99972 (OA-17-CS)
On top of mountain ridge, under US Army control. Two Integrated Fire Control (IFC) sites service the launch site, which contained twice the normal number of batteries. On 18 Sep 1968, IFC-2 was designated the Palehua AF Solar Observatory Research Site, activated, and assigned to Military Airlift Command with jurisdiction and operational control assigned to Air Weather Service. Part of this property (Control Site 5, from the Nike layout) had an even earlier use by the Army Air Forces. The Puu Manawahua Radar Station and Base Camp was a W.W.II Aircraft Warning Station, and continued to list in 1947 and 1948 USAF Installation Directories. Several Buildings standing also some radar towers. Access road to upper control site (IFC-1) inaccessible due to decades of vegetation growth taking back the road up to the top. Lower site (IFC-2) used as a state conservation baseyard. 21°23′10″N158°06′19″W / 21.38611°N 158.10528°W / 21.38611; -158.10528 (OA-63-CS-1) 21°22′38″N158°06′43″W / 21.37722°N 158.11194°W / 21.37722; -158.11194 (OA-63-CS-2)
Double above-ground magazines, on top of mountain ridge, under US Army control, Both Nike launch facilities overgrown with vegetation, abandoned. Berms still quite visible under vegetation. concrete pad inside berms partially clear. Access road also overgrown with vegetation, inaccessible. 21°21′51″N158°06′45″W / 21.36417°N 158.11250°W / 21.36417; -158.11250 (OA-63-LS)
Chicago–Gary Defense Area (C): Site (C-98) Fort Sheridan hosted the headquarters of the Fifth Army Air Defense Command. Other regional command facilities were located at the Museum of Science and Industry, site (C-51) Orland Park, and site (C-80) Arlington Heights. Nike Hercules bases remained in operation at C49/50, C-72, and C-93 as well as at sites C-46 and C-47 in northern Indiana, until 1974.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) C-80DC established at Arlington Heights AI, IL in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was initially an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. It was later upgraded to the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system.
C-80DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site RP-31 / Z-31. The Air Force ceased radar operations on 30 Sep 1969, and the AADCP was inactivated on 1 Sep 1974.
Fenced and behind a locked gate, largely intact. Privately owned, abandoned and overgrown, surrounded on north and east by a new subdivision. Concrete pad still visible. Launch site buildings still have doors and window glass. Magazine launch doors removed; site appears to be filled in, with vegetation covering fill sites. One of the ready buildings on the south end of the site was sold independently of the main parcel, and is now a private residence 41°37′55″N087°04′28″W / 41.63194°N 87.07444°W / 41.63194; -87.07444 (C-32-LS)
FDS. The administrative, housing, and launch complex area was located just west of South Lake Shore Drive, between the 59th St Harbor and Hayes Dr. The launch batteries and magazines were on the east edge of the Jackson Park Lagoons (facing east), about 3/4 mile away from the IFC radar site.[21] The site has been totally obliterated; now part of the Bobolink Meadow and a golf driving range facility. 41°47′03″N87°34′49″W / 41.784142°N 87.580163°W / 41.784142; -87.580163 (C-41-LS)
FDS. Abandoned and overgrown site at the south end of lake/state recreation area. Appears to be largely intact underneath vegetation overgrowth; old access road entrance at Ave J & 133 Street largely obliterated. This area is within the SRA on the southern shore of the lake. 41°39′27″N087°31′55″W / 41.65750°N 87.53194°W / 41.65750; -87.53194 (C-44-CS)
FDS. Abandoned site at the north end of the SRA/north shore of the lake, where S. Wolf lake Blvd. becomes S. State Line Rd. Roads in very poor condition, main access road overgrown by vegetation. Buildings have been razed but foundations remain; double-Nike-Ajax magazines badly cracked with wild vegetation overgrowing. 41°40′34″N087°31′40″W / 41.67611°N 87.52778°W / 41.67611; -87.52778 (C-44-LS)
Currently a paintball site under the name Blast Camp; site is in the middle of farm fields. Locked gate and fence; however, launch facility is abandoned and deteriorating – all buildings are standing, but they are in bad shape. Launch area concrete badly cracked, doors rusting, all of the magazines are filled to surface level with groundwater due to the high water table in the area. The Buildings and radar installations are fenced off as part of the paintball area, but the launch site is situated a quarter mile away, and on farm land. The launch site itself is not part of the paintball area. 41°31′59″N087°10′01″W / 41.53306°N 87.16694°W / 41.53306; -87.16694 (C-47-LS)
The radar and control facility was located on the west side of Forest Way Drive two blocks north of Tower Road. This was a very compact facility. Cleared land, no evidence except a few pipes emerging from below ground; apron off Forest Way still visible. The site today is on the North Branch Trail on a leveled-off hill. 42°07′13″N087°46′09″W / 42.12028°N 87.76917°W / 42.12028; -87.76917 (C-93-CS)
The missile launchers were in a large bermed compound on the other side of the lagoons adjoining the Edens Expressway, about a quarter of a mile south of Dundee Road. Land cleared and being redeveloped into forested area. Launch area now fenced off and used as a dumping ground for dredging operations and is not open to the public, complex perimeter can be viewed from the bicycle trail. Minor remnants are still visible in the NE corner. Portion of the bike trail from Tower Road to the launch complex was original road used to access the base. 42°07′36″N087°46′56″W / 42.12667°N 87.78222°W / 42.12667; -87.78222 (C-93-LS)
Schilling AFB Defense Area (SC): Two sites began construction in April 1960, but never made operational. Construction halted in June 1960 and land sold off to private owners.
Above-ground Nike-Hercules site. Never operational. Private ownership, berm and assembly building exits. Other buildings erected and still appear to be in use. Site appears to have been leveled, graded and fenced. Outline of fence evident in aerial photography. 39°00′20″N097°36′32″W / 39.00556°N 97.60889°W / 39.00556; -97.60889 (SC-01-LS)
Site was never operational. Never completed. Site guard shack and owner' house is a reconstructed Crew quarters. The launcher Area has about 7 launch pads with 3 underground bunkers and 1 barn with rails, about 80% finished when construction halted. 38°38′55″N097°43′06″W / 38.64861°N 97.71833°W / 38.64861; -97.71833 (SC-50-LS)
Louisiana
Barksdale AFB Defense Area (BD): Two Nike Hercules sites, BD-10 at Bellevue and BD-50 northeast of Stonewall, were
Loring AFB Defense Area (L): Four Nike Ajax sites were placed around Loring Air Force Base for protection of the USAF Strategic Air CommandB-52 Stratofortresses. Headquarters facilities were located at Loring Air Force Base. Manned by the Regular Army 3rd Missile Battalion, 61st Air Defense Artillery, these sites provided defense for Loring and the northeastern approaches to the United States. In 1960, sites L-13 and L-58 underwent conversion from Ajax to Hercules missiles. These sites remained operational until 1966.
An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Caswell AFS, ME in 1957 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. It was designed for manual operations, using plexiglass plotting boards and telephonic inputs. The AADCP was later integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site P-80 with FPS-10 (2); FPS-8/GPS-3; FPS-7C and FPS-6A radars. The AADCP inactivated in 1966.
L-13's housing area was taken over by the Air Force after the IFC was closed by the Army, and was redesignated as Loring Family Housing Annex #2. It was inactivated on 1 Oct 1980, declared excess on 15 Dec 1980, then reactivated on 12 May 1981 and remained in use until the closure of Loring Air Force Base in 1995. Now well-preserved in private ownership. Buildings standing, several radar towers. 47°02′07″N067°49′06″W / 47.03528°N 67.81833°W / 47.03528; -67.81833 (L-13-CS)
L-31's housing area was taken over by the Air Force after the IFC was closed by the Army, and was redesignated as Loring Family Housing Annex #5. It was inactivated on 1 Oct 1980, declared excess on 15 Dec 1980, then reactivated on 12 May 1981 and remained in use until the closure of Loring Air Force Base in 1995. Now into multiple-family housing. Site obliterated, little evidence of IFC, overgrown. May be a radar platform in SE corner near "Nike Road". 46°55′37″N067°47′47″W / 46.92694°N 67.79639°W / 46.92694; -67.79639 (L-31-CS)
FDS. Partially intact. After the Nike-Hercules site was inactivated in 1966, used by the Air Force until Loring's inactivation in the early 1990s as part of SAC's GCCS (Global Command & Control System. L-58's housing area was taken over by the Air Force after the IFC was closed by the Army, and was redesignated as Loring Family Housing Annex #2. It was inactivated on 1 Oct 1980, declared excess on 15 Dec 1980, then reactivated on 12 May 1981 and remained in use until the closure of Loring Air Force Base in 1995. Now L-58C is used as a Long Range Radar (LRR) site by the FAA, designated "J-63" equipped with ARSR-4 Radar. Also used by the Air Force as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS) for NORAD. 46°53′10″N067°58′13″W / 46.88611°N 67.97028°W / 46.88611; -67.97028 (L-58-CS)
FDS. Well-preserved in private ownership. After the Nike site was closed in 1966, was taken over by the Air Force which used it as a communications facility and satellite tracking site. Closed in 1993 with the inactivation of Loring Air Force Base. Radar towers removed. L-85's housing area was taken over by the Air Force after the IFC was closed by the Army, and was redesignated as Loring Family Housing Annex #3. It was inactivated on 1 Oct 1980, declared excess on 15 Dec 1980, then reactivated on 12 May 1981 and remained in use until the closure of Loring Air Force Base in 1995. 47°00′05″N068°00′11″W / 47.00139°N 68.00306°W / 47.00139; -68.00306 (L-85-CS)
Washington–Baltimore Defense Area (BA, W): Numerous Nike installations were built in Maryland to defend Baltimore and the nation's capital. Several also were built in the northern suburbs of Virginia. Baltimore Area Headquarters facilities were located at Towson, Fort Smallwood, Edgewood Arsenal, and Owings Mills. Headquarters facilities on the Maryland side of Washington's defenses were located at Fort Meade and Suitland. During the 1950s, Fort Meade also hosted the Headquarters, 2nd Region, Army Air Defense Command. All but W-44 remained active until 1974.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) W-13DC established at Fort Meade, MD in 1957 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. Site was both an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master and later AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE Radar Direction Center. W-13DC was the first Missile-Master DC to become operational.
FDS In private ownership, the barracks north of the launch area were demolished in 2010 but were previously used as the Jacksonville Senior Center. The Launch Area is still fenced in, although the access road to the magazine area leads to a storage yard and Commercial Driver Training course. Most structures are still present but have been repurposed as storage buildings. A new structure adjacent to "A" Section houses offices formerly used by the Baltimore County Fire Department Rescue Academy but now houses the Baltimore County Department of Public Works Safety Office and Training Academy. Magazines are intact, per Baltimore County personnel, are locked and dry, and are used for Confined Space Entry and Rescue Training. 39°30′59″N076°34′11″W / 39.51639°N 76.56972°W / 39.51639; -76.56972 (BA-03-LS)
After being inactivated by the Army, BA-09C was taken over by the Air Force sometime before 15 September 1967. It was used until 15 December 1975 for Civil Air Patrol use, being called Fork CAP Annex. Redeveloped into single-family housing. The Integrated Firing Control Site buildings & radars (formerly located at the end of Hutschenreuter Road in Fork were removed sometime in the early 1980s, and the property is now in private hands. Manning was by D/54th (11/55-9/58), D/4/1st (9/58-9/59) and MDArNG D/1/70th (9/59-12/62) 39°26′55″N076°27′41″W / 39.44861°N 76.46139°W / 39.44861; -76.46139 (BA-09-CS)
Launch site with three intact missile pits located at the end of Stocksdale Road in Kingsville, MD. Assembly buildings are still standing but now in private hands. The entrance road has many abandoned trailers and also much junk along the sides. The Magazine area is overgrown with vegetation and appears abandoned. Buildings were torn down.[26] Magazine area looks like a storage/junkyard, concrete badly cracked. Launch doors are visible, probably welded shut more junk lying around as well. 39°26′49″N076°26′52″W / 39.44694°N 76.44778°W / 39.44694; -76.44778 (BA-09-LS)
FDS. Barracks buildings in use, double magazine site. Facility fenced but appears to be open. Roads in fair condition, both magazines appear to be concreted over, large gravel pile on them, generally badly deteriorated. Remaining buildings in deteriorated condition. 39°12′14″N076°14′12″W / 39.20389°N 76.23667°W / 39.20389; -76.23667 (BA-30/31-LS)
FDS. Obliterated. Concrete slabs and some wooden curb stops remain, but all buildings have been removed. Some roads still exist as unconnected concrete. Formerly manned by the A/54th (12/54-8/56), A/602nd (8/56-9/58), A/4/5th (9/58-8/60), B/4/1st (8/60-12/62), MDArNG A/2/70th (12/62-3/63), HHB 1/70th (10/62-8/74) and B/1/70th (12/62-4/74) 39°20′45″N076°51′23″W / 39.34583°N 76.85639°W / 39.34583; -76.85639 (BA-79-CS)
FDS. Double magazine in good shape. Most buildings being used by the Maryland Wing, Civil Air Patrol with small area used by the Maryland State Police K-9 Division. Thoroughly fenced in. Launch area well maintained shows both Ajax and Hercules elevators, and per Maryland State Police are welded shut. Site leased in about 2014 and is now Wing Headquarters for the Maryland Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Site is actively being restored by volunteers of Maryland Wing, Civil Air Patrol.[27]
Mostly sold off. Small part US Army Reserve center. The buildings are all new; the motor pool, up a rise slightly, has a couple of older structures, but the place otherwise has been cleaned off. Units assigned are the 2071st USAR School, 326th Maintenance Battalion and 214th MI Company. Little evidence of IFC site remains. Formerly manned by the B/54th (12/54-9/58), B/4/1st (9/58-9/59) and MDArNG D/2/70th (9/59-9/53) 39°27′24″N076°43′44″W / 39.45667°N 76.72889°W / 39.45667; -76.72889 (BA-92-CS)
Private ownership, complete and buildings look in good shape. No towers. After the Army closed the Nike facility, It was gained as an off-base installation of Andrews AFB on 21 Feb 1975, under Headquarters Command. At some later time it transferred to Military Airlift Command, and on 1 Jun 1992 transferred to Air Mobility Command. Closed by 1997. Units assigned: B/36th 96/55-9/58), B/1/562nd (9/58-12/62), B/1/71st (12/62-/65), B/4/1st (/65-11/68) and MDArNG A/1/70th (11/68-4/74). 38°54′12″N076°39′07″W / 38.90333°N 76.65194°W / 38.90333; -76.65194 (W-25-CS)
Former twin magazine site, intact, now Anne Arundel County Police Training Academy. Some construction on launching area, launch doors concreted over, but one of the two magazines had been converted into a gym. As of 2019, entire launch site covered by new police academy. Some administration buildings still stand. 38°54′09″N076°38′28″W / 38.90250°N 76.64111°W / 38.90250; -76.64111 (W-25-LS)
FDS. Partial remains. Launch site now the parking lot for the Children's Theatre of Annapolis and athletic fields. The generator building, guard house and warheading building are present and largely intact. The northern missile magazine is still exposed but has been fenced off and is modified into an underground machine shop. The elevator is present but the hydraulics have been removed. This magazine is currently abandoned and is flooded to a depth of several inches. The other magazines are buried beneath a modern parking lot and have been filled with soil. 39°01′39″N076°25′42″W / 39.02750°N 76.42833°W / 39.02750; -76.42833 (W-26-LS)
FDS Redeveloped into Croom Vocational High School, the launch site is identified as the auto, building trades, and grounds keeping school. Ajax launch covers visible, some obscured by buildings, two launch doors for Hercules, probably welded shut.
The housing area in Brandywine, Maryland, supported Washington Nike Site W-36 from approximately 1957 – 1961. It was transferred from the Army to the Air Force (Headquarters Command) on 10 Jun 1963. At that time it was redesignated; and Jurisdiction, Control, and Accountability assigned to Andrews AFB. At some later time it transferred to Military Airlift Command, and on 1 Jun 1992 transferred to Air Mobility Command. Current status is unknown.[28] The IFC is now abandoned. Most buildings in deteriorated state, large amount of vegetation overgrowth. Radar towers appear overgrown also. Manned by D/75th (11/54-9/58) and D/3/562nd (9/58-12/61). 38°42′38″N076°46′14″W / 38.71056°N 76.77056°W / 38.71056; -76.77056 (W-36-CS)
FDS. Launch site relatively intact, magazines visible however appears launch doors concreted over. Perimeter fencing is intact and sturdy. Site was formerly the Naval Research Lab-Field Site lower Waldorf; the small observatory on the barracks associated with this usage has been removed. Signage indicates that it is being redeveloped as residential housing. 38°38′37″N077°00′55″W / 38.64361°N 77.01528°W / 38.64361; -77.01528 (W-45-LS)
This site was co-located with the now closed Lorton Reformatory. Now the site of South County Middle School. Units assigned were C/71st (7/54-9/58), C/1/71st (9/58-8/63), VAArNG A/1/280th (9/59-3/63) and VAArNG A/4/111th (8/63-4/74).
Launch area obliterated, owned by Fairfax County and repurposed as Popes Head Park; a marker close the site, Virginia Historic marker E98 states:
"During the Cold War a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites defended the nation's capital, reminiscent of the perimeter of forts that protected it during the Civil War. Just east of here was located the launch control equipment for one of the three Nike complexes in Fairfax County. To the west stood the missiles, poised on above-ground launchers. The U.S. Army (1954–1959) and the Army National Guard (1959–1963) operated this battery. Built to oppose Soviet air attack, this complex and those in Great Falls and Lorton were three of thirteen Nike sites that surrounded Washington and Baltimore."[29]
FDS. Redeveloped into US Consumer Products Safety Commission Engineering Laboratory, awaiting conversion into Pleasant View Park by the City of Gaithersburg. IFC units assigned were A-71st (/54-9/55), D/602nd (9/55-9/58), D/4/5th (9/58-8/60), D/1/71st (8/60-/65) and A/4/1st (/65-4/74)[31] 39°06′23″N077°13′23″W / 39.10639°N 77.22306°W / 39.10639; -77.22306 (W-92-CS)
Formerly under US government control, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Remains in secure area, used as a storage area by NIST, but awaiting rezoning for residential development. Magazines were electrified under NIST control and used for covered underground storage. The elevator still works in one magazine and is used at times to move the larger equipment. 39°07′01″N077°13′11″W / 39.11694°N 77.21972°W / 39.11694; -77.21972 (W-92-LS)
Part of Army Reserve Center, in back of facility. Used as a storage yard/junkyard. Former Ajax installation with 12 launchers. Magazines were sealed during environmental hazards assessment in the 1990s but were then opened and badly vandalized. They have since been demolished to build a training facility. The land at 770 Muddy Branch Road (Excess Land Sale Only) is one of fourteen federal properties listed for disposal by the Public Buildings Reform Board in their 2019 recommendations.[32] The battery was manned by C/602nd (9/55-9/58), C/4/5th (9/58-6/60) and MDArNG C/2/70th (6/60-3/63) 39°10′51.1″N077°10′35.5″W / 39.180861°N 77.176528°W / 39.180861; -77.176528 (W-94-CS)
Massachusetts
Boston Defense Area (B or BO): Boston's Nike Batteries were manned initially by Regular Army troops. In 1959, National Guard units assumed control of B-03, B-15, B-55, and B-63. In 1964, the Army turned sites B-36 and B-73 over to the Guard. After the phase-out of the Nike Ajax system, sites B-05, B-36, and B-73 remained supplied with Hercules missiles.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) B-21DC established at Fort Heath, MA in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. In early 1965 the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system was installed. B-21DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site MM-1.
The Boston Defense Area merged with Hartford & Providence Defense Areas in 1962, becoming the New England Defense Area. Air Force operations at the site ended in 1962, and Nike operations were inactivated in 1974.
After being closed in 1961, the lease for this former Nike IFC site was transferred to the Air Force in 1965. Used as the Bedford Electronics Research Annex. The Air Force used the property until 1976. Today, partially Intact, Private ownership. Redeveloped into single-family housing. 42°29′29″N071°18′13″W / 42.49139°N 71.30361°W / 42.49139; -71.30361 (B-85-CS)
Detroit Defense Area (D): Built during the mid-1950. Headquarters facilities were posted at Selfridge AFB as well as the Detroit Artillery Armory. Between 1958 and 1961, the Army converted sites (D-06, D-16, D- 26, D-58, D-61, and D-87) from Nike Ajax to Nike Hercules. 3rd Battalion, 55th Artillery (Air Defense) helped man these sites. The Michigan National Guard assumed manning responsibilities for many of the sites in the 1960s. Sites D-06, D-58, and D-87 Hercules batteries remained active until 1974.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) D-15DC established at Selfridge AFB, MI in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was initially an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. It was later upgraded to the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system.
D-15DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site P-20 / Z-20 The Air Force ceased radar operations when the Army no longer needed radar support and the AADCP was inactivated 1 Sep 1974.
FDS. The launcher area is now a public park with a Nike-Hercules missile and a plaque dedicating the site. The pits are still there, under the park, behind the fire station. There is one original building left near the launch site, which has been refurbished and turned into a hall to host Cub Scout events and such. 42°10′28″N083°11′49″W / 42.17444°N 83.19694°W / 42.17444; -83.19694 (D-54-LS)
Minneapolis–St.Paul Defense Area (MS): In operation from 1959 until 1971, the following four Nike Hercules batteries guarded the approaches to the Twin Cities. The Birdie command and control facility, located at Snelling Air Force Station, provided target designation information to the batteries. Headquarters facilities were also located at Snelling.
Is on County Road 80S in Castle Rock, Minnesota. Used to be well preserved for its years of age and disuse, but the underground batteries were demolished and filled in 2001. It was formerly under private ownership, used as an Airsoft gaming facility, most notably by the Minnesota Airsoft Association. The owner had planned to use it as a Law Enforcement Training facility, however, after rejecting a bid submitted by a construction company owned by the Planning Commission Chairman, the owners requests for permits were rejected. The site is currently for sale. It is home to a MNDOT radio tower. It is also a safe haven for deer chased by hunters in the area, as it is completely fenced in. 44°34′17″N093°04′37″W / 44.57139°N 93.07694°W / 44.57139; -93.07694 (MS-40-LS)
Kansas City Defense Area (KC): Two Nike Hercules batteries, dubbed Lawson and Lone Jack, guarded the eastern approaches to Kansas City. The Corps of Engineers Kansas City District commenced work on these sites in late spring 1958. Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) KC-65DC was established at Olathe AFS, KS in 1959 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
St. Louis Defense Area (SL): The Chicago District of the Corps of Engineers oversaw the design and construction. Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) SL-47DC was established at Belleville AFS, IL in 1959 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Private Ownership. Three well preserved buildings are in good shape, and several others deteriorated; sidewalks between buildings exist as also the base of the flagpole. Several radar towers standing, several buildings in radar area deteriorating, and some loose concrete on site. Area fenced and gated. 39°24′55″N094°10′24″W / 39.41528°N 94.17333°W / 39.41528; -94.17333 (KC-10-CS)
Private ownership. Buildings deteriorated but intact. Concreted areas cracked and in poor condition. Magazine area appears to be an auto junkyard, although intact, appears to be a large garage, auto dismantling building erected over the magazine. 39°26′06″N094°10′22″W / 39.43500°N 94.17278°W / 39.43500; -94.17278 (KC-10-LS)
Intact appears to be in private hands. Buildings were torn down, some new structures erected, and a bunch of old boats and trucks stored on site; may be a junkyard. Concrete around magazines severely cracked both Ajax and Hercules doors. Bay doors and elevators still work and are still in use by owners. 38°48′59″N094°09′22″W / 38.81639°N 94.15611°W / 38.81639; -94.15611 (KC-30-LS)
Mix of new and old buildings. Currently used as the Rod & Gun Club and the 35th Infantry Division (Mech) motor pool/maintenance facility. The vehicle park is on top of the three magazines. Large number of cars, boats, large RVs. Doors probably welded shut. 39°21′42″N094°56′24″W / 39.36167°N 94.94000°W / 39.36167; -94.94000 (KC-80-LS)
Access road to highway 4 only remnants of IFC site. Contaminated soil remediated on site. The village has constructed wastewater treatment lagoons on 1/3 of the site. The rest of the site is used by farmers. Fenced.
Private ownership, now MPL Industries. On "Nike Base Road". Mostly redeveloped, many buildings remain in good shape, sidewalks still connecting buildings. Troop barracks are used for storage for Nike Elementary School in the Meramec Valley R-3 school district. Air strip is now part of Evergreen Lakes subdivision. 38°24′30″N090°45′16″W / 38.40833°N 90.75444°W / 38.40833; -90.75444 (SL-60-CS)
Lincoln AFB Defense Area (LI): The missiles provided defense for SAC B-47 bombers and Atlas missiles stationed at and around Lincoln AFB between 1960 and 1966.
Offutt AFB Defense Area (OF): Provided a Nike Hercules defense for Omaha's Offutt AFB, which was the Headquarters of the Strategic Air Command. Offutt also hosted SAC tankers and Atlas missiles were deployed around the area in the early 1960s. An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Omaha AFS, NE in 1959 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Walker AFB Defense Area (W): As a Strategic Air Command base, it was determined that Walker should be defended by a Nike Hercules battalion. The 6/2d was activated at Walker on 20 April 1960; it was then inactivated on 25 June 1960, without ever being declared operational, the construction then subsequently abandoned.
Niagara Falls–Buffalo Defense Area (NF, BU): Buffalo and Niagara Falls were separate Defense Areas until their merger in December 1961. Before consolidation, the Niagara Falls Defense Area was commanded from historic Fort Niagara. Both Regular Army and Army National Guard Units operated these batteries. The Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) NF-17DC established at Lockport AFS, NY in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center.
New York Defense Area (NY): Combined with the sites located in New Jersey, the New York sites composed one of the largest defensive nets in the nation. Headquarters facilities were located at Tappan, Fort Totten, Fort Wadsworth, and Roslyn. Initially, New York's air defenses had been manually coordinated from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Later, Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) NY-55DC was established at Highlands AFS, NJ in June 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. Later the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system was installed.
NY-55DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site P-9 / Z-9 Air Force operations at the site ended on 1 July 1966, and Nike operations were inactivated on 31 Oct 1974.
As in several other states, during the 1960s the National Guard assumed a greater role in operating the sites.
Niagara Falls–Buffalo Defense Area New York Defense Area
FDS. Appears in good condition, buildings in use. Magazine area used by construction company for equipment repair/storage. Electrified with working elevators.
FDS. Largely obliterated. Buildings at beginning of entrance road, former underground double magazine. Aerial image shows faint evidence of launcher area appears to be covered with soil.
FDS. Abandoned IFC site. Porter Center Road divides site into west and east sections. Buildings exist on east side of road, appear to be in poor condition and overgrown. West side of site largely forested with little evidence of use.
FDS. Former double-magazine site abandoned and mostly overgrown with vegetation. The launcher site was acquired by the USAF in 1965 and become the Youngstown Test Site. This site was the western end of a test range under the jurisdiction of Griffiss AFB. Closed at an unknown date. Today, a few foundations of buildings visible, launch area exists, condition unknown probably filled with water. 43°13′43″N078°57′46″W / 43.22861°N 78.96278°W / 43.22861; -78.96278 (NF-03-LS)
Private ownership. Is now known as Nike Base Town Park; as such, it hosts Grand Island's Senior Citizen Center, a town-sponsored safe hangout for teens known as Reality Cafe, and space for group meetings. A few military buildings still in use, new construction.
Is now used as the Grand Island Central School District's Eco Island Ecology Reserve. Former triple-magazine site now abandoned. Large piles of earth on top of magazines, some vehicles parked in magazine area visible in aerial images. LC buildings along Staley road still in use.
Magazine remains, concreted over. Owned by the Nassau Board of Cooperative Education, which uses the site as the Brookville Nature Park and Outdoor Education Center.
Mostly cleared land, some roads of IFC remain but that's about it. Perimeter fence appears to be still standing, taken over by vegetation, however outline is clear in aerial imagery. Housing area intact, in private ownership. Former access road to IFC remains, highly deteriorated and partially taken over by vegetation. Part of the IFC has been redeveloped into unorganized sports facility.
Cincinnati–Dayton Defense Area (CD): The sites became operational in 1960 to defend the industrial centers of the upper Ohio River Valley. A "BIRDIE" site collocated at C-27 hosted missile command and control functions for the region. The sites remained active until 1970–1971.
Cleveland Defense Area (CL): Headquarters facilities were located at the Shaker Heights Armory and in Cleveland. Sites CL-02, CL-ll, and CL-69 were converted to fire Nike Hercules missiles. In 1968, the Cleveland Defense Area merged with Detroit's. In June 1971, the three remaining Nike Hercules batteries were deactivated.
Cincinnati–Dayton Defense Area Cleveland Defense Area
Philadelphia Defense Area (PH): In the mid-1950s, the Philadelphia District of the Corps of Engineers supervised the construction of a circle of 12 Nike Ajax sites averaging 25 miles from center city. Nike Ajax sites were deactivated from 1961 to 1963. Site PH-75 was deactivated in 1968; PH-99 stayed on duty until 1971. These batteries were manned by both Regular Army and Pennsylvania Army National Guard units.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) PH-64DC established at Gibbsboro AFS, NJ in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. On 1 May 1961 PH-64DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site RP-63/Z-63 Nike operations were inactivated on 30 Sep 1966
Pittsburgh Defense Area (PI): At first, three active Army battalions manned the ring around "Steel City". Later manning responsibilities would eventually be supplied by one active duty unit (3rd Missile Battalion, 1st Artillery) and one Pennsylvania Army National Guard battalion (The Duquesne Greys-2nd Missile Battalion, 176th Artillery). Operations at five of these Nike Hercules sites lasted until 1974.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) PI-70DC established at Oakdale AI, PA in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was initially an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. It was later upgraded to the AN/TSQ-51 "Missile Mentor" solid-state computer system. PI-70DC was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site RP-62 / Z-62. Air Force operations ended 31 Dec 1969. The AADCP inactivated on 1 Sep 1974.
The site was purchased by a developer who intended to split the property, with the new Spring Run neighborhood to be built on the control area. In the mid-1990s, the site was sold to another developer who turned the control area into the Briarwood development. 39°52′21″N074°53′41″W / 39.87250°N 74.89472°W / 39.87250; -74.89472 (PH-32-CS)
PH-32 is a former Nike missile launch site in Evesham Township, New Jersey, United States. The 35-acre (140,000m2) base was opened on July 1, 1955 as part of a ring of 12 Nike sites intended to protect the population and military installations of the Philadelphia area during the Cold War from attack by Soviet bomber aircraft. During its operation, it had two magazines armed with Nike-Ajax missiles. At different periods in the base's history, it contained between 16 and 20 missiles.
In 1963, the more advanced Nike-Hercules missile was distributed to some Nike bases. Because of this new missile, fewer sites were needed and PH-32, along with 7 other Philadelphia region bases, was shut down. After deactivation, PH-32 was sold to Burlington County for $32,000 and was used as the Burlington County Civil Defense Center. Its new role was meant to be a coordination center for civil defense in the event of attack, but it ended up being used as storage. Different parts of the site also took on various roles including a fire and police academy, school, and target range.
The site was purchased by a developer with a school built on the launch area. While the project was approved, the development was never built. All buildings at the site were demolished in 1977. In the 1980s, water contamination near the base was found to be a health hazard. In 2002, Evesham Township had the launch area cleared of illegal dumps and demolition debris left from the buildings. During the cleanup, the magazine elevator doors were sealed with asphalt for safety reasons. 39°52′16″N074°52′53″W / 39.87111°N 74.88139°W / 39.87111; -74.88139 (PH-32-LS)
After being closed by the Army in 1974, in 1976 the housing part of PH-41/43 was transferred to the Air Force for use by Gibbsboro AFS, New Jersey. It was designated as Gibbsboro Family Housing Annex. At some later time, probably about 1984, it was transferred back to the Army and assigned to Fort Dix. It was subsequently closed by 1990. Purchased by Gloucester Township and designated as a redevelopment site.[39] 39°45′04″N074°59′58″W / 39.75111°N 74.99944°W / 39.75111; -74.99944 (PH-41/43-CS)
Providence Defense Area (PR): Sites located in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts for the defense of Rhode Island's capital city. From 1959 through 1960, sites PR-38 and PR-99 were upgraded to launch Nike Hercules missiles.
Site PR-79 at Foster was preserved, to be used as a State Police facility. Site PR-99 at North Smithfield stayed in operation until 1971 while PR-38 at Bristol held on until 1974.
After its closure by the Army, on 25 Sep 1975 the control site property was designated the Coventry ANG Station, Air National Guard. It was assigned to the United States Property and Fiscal Officer, State of Rhode Island for real property jurisdiction and control. Formerly used by the RIANG, 281st CCG, 282d CBCS. Off "Nike Site Road" 41°43′15″N071°35′51″W / 41.72083°N 71.59750°W / 41.72083; -71.59750 (PR-69-CS)
Ellsworth AFB Defense Area (E): Four Nike Ajax batteries were positioned around Ellsworth AFB in 1957. E-01 was north, E-20 was east-northeast, E-40 was south-southeast, and E-70 was west-southwest. Headquarters facilities were located at Ellsworth. In 1958, batteries E-20, E-40, and E-70 were removed from service and E-01 was converted to fire Nike Hercules missiles. This battery remained in service until 1961.[citation needed]
An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Ellsworth AFB, SD in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. It was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system. The post was integrated with the USAFAir Defense Command/NORADSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense radar network as Site M-97. The radar site ceased all operations on 15 August 1962.[citation needed]
Abandoned. On or about 30 Dec 1963 the housing area next to the Launch Site was designated Ellsworth Family Housing Annex No 1, activated, and assigned to Ellsworth AFB. It was inactivated on 4 Nov 1970. Today, the housing is abandoned and the homes had been removed, leaving the basements exposed. Magazine visible, covered with vegetation and refuse. 44°12′15″N103°05′52″W / 44.20417°N 103.09778°W / 44.20417; -103.09778 (E-01-LS)
E-20
Nike 1B, 2C/30A/12L-A
Ellsworth
5.3 miles ENE Ellsworth AFB
1957–1958
The IFC was assigned as an off-base installation to Ellsworth AFB on 25 May 1961. The Army housing was commonly referred to as East Nike Housing Area, and was controlled by Ellsworth AFB until about 2000. Today, the site is in use, some buildings still standing. No radar towers. 44°09′31″N102°58′52″W / 44.15861°N 102.98111°W / 44.15861; -102.98111 (E-20-CS)
After the Nike base was closed, it was gained by Ellsworth AFB on 30 Sep 1963, as Ellsworth Academic Annex (also referred to as South Nike Education Annex). As of Nov 1999, it was still on the Ellsworth AFB real property books, excess and awaiting disposition. Today, most buildings had recently been demolished. Magazine now an auto junkyard. 44°06′13″N103°05′55″W / 44.10361°N 103.09861°W / 44.10361; -103.09861 (E-40-LS)
E-70
Nike 1B, 2C/30A/12L-A
Ellsworth
4.9 miles WSW Ellsworth AFB
1957–1958
The IFC was assigned as an off-base installation to Ellsworth AFB on 25 May 1961. The Army housing was commonly referred to as West Nike Housing Area, and was controlled by Ellsworth AFB until about 2000. Today, the buildings are still in use, some buildings still standing. No radar towers. 44°09′29″N103°12′29″W / 44.15806°N 103.20806°W / 44.15806; -103.20806 (E-70-CS)
Bergstrom AFB Defense Area (BG): Headquartered at Bergstrom AFB, Army units defended this Strategic Air Command
Base and the Austin region from two Nike Hercules sites between 1960 and 1966.
Dallas–Fort Worth Defense Area (DF): For air defense of Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. These Nike Hercules sites were manned by Regular Army and National Guard units and operated from 1960 to 1968. Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) DF-30DC was established at Duncanville AFS, TX in 1959 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Dyess AFB Defense Area (DY): Installed to defend the SAC bombers and Atlas F missile silos stationed at and around Dyess AFB. Site DY-10, located at Fort Phantom Hill and site DY-50, located southwest of Abilene, remained operational from 1960 until 1966.
An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Sweetwater AFS, TX in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Intact, located off North Locust Street just north of Denton, Texas was converted for use as an astronomical observatory of the University of North Texas after decommissioning. Aside from its use as a laboratory for the school's astronomy program, the site has been used for storage, research and experimentation. The transmitter tower for UNT's campus radio station is also located on site. The site's housing and administrative complex was sold to a private owner and is currently being used as a residence. Has radar towers. 33°16′28″N097°07′55″W / 33.27444°N 97.13194°W / 33.27444; -97.13194 (DF-01-CS)
Originally established during World War II as Camp Wolters. On 6 Mar 1951 it was redesignated Wolters Air Force Base. On 15 Dec 1956 jurisdiction, control, and accountability transferred back to the Army. Still in use, with a few buildings, one radar tower, TXArNG training. 32°50′48″N098°02′42″W / 32.84667°N 98.04500°W / 32.84667; -98.04500 (DF-70-CS)
Norfolk Defense Area (N): Headquarters facilities were located at Fort Monroe, Ballantine School in Norfolk, Reedsville/South Norfolk, Craddock Branch/Portsmouth, and Newport News. The world's largest naval complex received an extensive air defense network. Sites N-25, N-52, and N-85 were modernized to fire the Nike Hercules missile. Site N-63 was the last to operate Nike Ajax, being deactivated in November 1964. Both Regular Army and Virginia Army National Guard units contributed to the manning of the sites.[42] Sites at (N-52) Deep Creek/Portsmouth and (N-85) Denbigh/Patrick Henry remained active until April 1974.
An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Cape Charles AFS, VA in 1958 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Fairchild AFB Defense Area (F): Four sites initially protected the Spokane region and the Strategic Air Command Base at Fairchild. Medical Lake was converted to Hercules missiles in 1960 and 1961. Headquarters facilities were located at Fairchild AFB. The Army deactivated the Nike Ajax batteries in 1960. An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Mica Peak AFS in 1958 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Hanford Defense Area (H): Nike missiles replaced and augmented gun batteries that had been previously installed to defend this nuclear industrial complex. Headquarters facilities were located at Camp Hanford. Three sites were deactivated in December 1958 as only Saddle Mountain was converted to the new Nike Hercules. Upon deactivation of this Hercules battery in 1960, the equipment was forwarded to the Norfolk site at Deep Creek/Portsmouth.
Seattle Defense Area (S): Home of Boeing Aircraft Company and military installations, Seattle was ringed with defenses manned by both Regular Army and Washington National Guard units. Nike Ajax sites were phased out from 1960 to 1963. Sites at (S-13) Redmond, (S-61) Vashon Island, and (S-92) Bainbridge Island were upgraded to launch Nike Hercules missiles and survived until 1974.
Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) S-90DC established at Fort Lawton AFS, WA in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was initially an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center. It was later equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system.
Was acquired by the United States Air Force during 1963 to be used as one of the command readout stations for the DMSP mission. It was operated by Detachment 1, 4000 Aerospace Applications Group, which was later designated as Detachment 1, 1000th Satellite Operations Group, and later the 5th Satellite Control Squadron part of the 50th Space Wing. It was later converted to the Fairchild Satellite Operations Center to support MILSTAR/GPS and other programs under Air Force Space Command.[43] Some IFC buildings still in use. 47°42′10″N117°34′39″W / 47.70278°N 117.57750°W / 47.70278; -117.57750 (F-07-CS)
Now Grandview Off Leash Dog Park. City of SeaTac WA Parks Dept. Grounds intact. Three magazines in place but buried. Elevators cemented over. Six inch top soil cover. The roof of the magazines make up the "Upper Field" of the dog park. Dormitory, office spaces and missile maintenance shed were intact and operated by Kent Schools as the Mountain View Academy until their demolition in July 2019 to make room for River Ridge Elementary.[45] 47°23′51″N122°17′08″W / 47.39750°N 122.28556°W / 47.39750; -122.28556 (S-43-LS)
The Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of North America. In addition to being the first operational long-range SAM and the first operational pulse doppler aviation radar, it was the only SAM deployed by the United States Air Force.
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC), the latter serving as the host unit.
Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. It is the home of the 341st Missile Wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Malmstrom Air Force Base as a census-designated place (CDP). It had a population of 3,472 at the 2010 census.
Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: RDR, ICAO: KRDR, FAA LID: RDR) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles (26 km) west of Grand Forks.
Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, just north of the town of Box Elder.
Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953. A great number of the technologies and rocket systems used for developing the Nike Ajax were re-used for a number of functions, many of which were given the "Nike" name . The missile's first-stage solid rocket booster became the basis for many types of rocket including the Nike Hercules missile and NASA's Nike Smoke rocket, used for upper-atmosphere research.
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity test site lay at the northern end of the Range, in Socorro County near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio. It then became the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945.
The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, but could also be fitted with a conventional warhead for export use. Its warhead also allowed it to be used in a secondary surface-to-surface role, and the system also demonstrated its ability to hit other short-range missiles in flight.
Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and 150 miles (240 km) west of Fort Worth, Texas.
Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917.
Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative annex of Los Angeles Air Force Base. The fort is named after Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur. His son, Douglas MacArthur, would later command American forces in the Pacific during World War II.
The Nike Missile Site HM-69 is a former Nike-Hercules missile base, now listed as a historic site west of Homestead, Florida, United States. It is located on Long Pine Key Road in the Everglades National Park. The site with 22 buildings opened in 1964 and closed in 1979 when it was turned over to the National Park Service.
Fort Tilden, also known as Fort Tilden Historic District, is a former United States Army installation on the coast in the New York City borough of Queens. Fort Tilden now forms part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is administered by the National Park Service.
The 30th Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. In 1985 the squadron was formed by combining three United States Air Force and Army Air Forces units that had served in World War II and the Cold War into a single unit with a common heritage. However, the combined unit has not since been active.
The Selfridge AFB radar station is a United States military facility in Michigan. It began operations in 1949 with a Bendix AN/CPS-5 Radar test that tracked aircraft at 210 mi (340 km). A height finder MIT AN/CPS-4 Radar was added by March 9, 1950; and the station was site L-17 of the Lashup Radar Network and site LP-17 of the subsequent network during construction of the Air Defense Command permanent network. The 661st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Selfridge in 1951, and with a pair of General Electric AN/CPS-6 Radars, the station became site LP-20 of the permanent ADC network in 1952. In 1957 the station added a height finder General Electric AN/FPS-6 Radar. The station became part of the Semi Automatic Ground Environment radar network in 1959, supplying radar tracks to SAGE data center DC-06 at Custer Air Force Station, Michigan, for directing interceptor aircraft and CIM-10 Bomarc air defense missiles.
Second Allied Tactical Air Force was a NATO military formation under Allied Air Forces Central Europe tasked with providing air support to NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). 2 ATAF commanded all flying units based within its sector and all reinforcements flying into its sector, as well as ground-based radar systems and stations, air defense units and the airfields in its sector.
The Western Electric System 1393 Radar Course Directing Central (RCDC) was a Cold War complex of radar/computer systems within the overall Improved Nike Hercules Air Defense Guided Missile System. The RCDC was installed at the "battery control areas" of ~5 hectares each which was for commanding a nearby missile Launching Area (LA), firing a missile from the LA, and guiding a launched missile to a burst point near an enemy aircraft.
The Arlington Heights Army Air Defense Site was a Project Nike Missile Master site near Chicago, Illinois. It operated from 1960 until 1968.
The Nike Ajax was an American guided surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed by Bell Labs for the United States Army. The world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile, the Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes above 50,000 feet (15 km). Nike entered service in 1954 and was initially deployed within the United States to defend against potential Soviet bomber attacks, though it was later deployed overseas to protect US military bases, and was also sold to various allied militaries. Some examples remained in use until the 1970s.
The Nike Site Summit is a historic military installation of the United States Army in Anchorage Borough, Alaska. The site, located in the Chugach Mountains overlooking Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, is the location of one of the best-preserved surviving Nike-Hercules missile installations in the state. The site's structures include a battery control area, a missile launch area, and several magazines. Units of the 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, USARAL Artillery Group, United States Army Alaska, would have garrisoned the site. The site was built in 1957-58 and equipped with missiles in 1959. The site was in active service defending the United States from the threat of Soviet air strikes until it was decommissioned in 1979, after which sensitive militarily equipment was removed. The U.S. Army maintained the site into the 1980s before abandoning it. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. A local non-profit group, Friends of Nike Site Summit, is actively attempting to preserve the site.
1 2 3 4 "Air Defense Command in Area Reorganized"(Google News Archive). The Milwaukee Journal. August 24, 1961. Retrieved 2012-04-18. Milwaukee air defense…consists of…three Nike Hercules missile batteries and two national guard Nike Ajax missile batteries. The Nike Hercules batteries are at Maitland airstrip…Brown Deer rd., River Hills, and on Davidson rd. near Waukesha county trunk Y … Ajax batteries are at Martin rd. east[sic] of Little Muskego lake and at 4828 W. Silver Spring dr. … air defense command [post] 4828 W. Silver Spring dr.
John C. Lonnquest; David F. Winkler (November 1996). To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program (USA-CERL Special Report, 97/01). US Army. ISBN99961-75-71-5.
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PH-75 missile Launch area in 1965
PH-75 Nike Missile Control Area in 1965
CD-78 Nike Missile Launch area in 1965
CD-78 Nike Missile control area in 1959
