If you're gonna make a great missle, it should not only BE one but LOOK like one too! The Nike Hercules was tested about 500 times and is the first AAM to take out another missle in flight (not it's original designed mission!). It has greater range than any deployed interceptor missle made up till recently (sorry Patriot fans, the Navy's SM-3 holds that distinction). It would've been very interesting to have compared the Herc and Pat in action during the 1st Gulf War!!

The Nike Hercules defended major U.S. target areas against aircraft attack from 1958 to 1974. It had an effective range of over 75 miles and a speed of mach 3.6.

South Korea has/had(?) over 200 of these missiles, with associated radars and guidance systems, in service. I hope they still do.

A Herc flight:
If the Hercules missile was launched 0.4 seconds ago, it is now accelerating at 25 times the force of earth's gravity, has risen 60 feet, and it is going 210 miles per hour.

Four seconds from launch the missile will be going 1,700 miles per hour straight up. Soon separated from the booster, turning towards the intercept point with the target, it is starting the sustainer rocket engine to reach 2,700 miles per hour. If the target is 90 miles away approaching at mach 1.5, the Herc will meet the target 60 miles away in 90 seconds.

Great NIKE footage - showcases air defense during the cold war.
See more history on the NIKE system at Southwest Museum Of Engineering, Communication and Computations goto http://www.smecc.org/nike_sites1.htm

We have links to some other NIKE Footage, oral histories and photographs. Please feel free to let us know if you would like to be interviewed on NIKE or would like to assist in running a section of the site at www.smecc.org

Many thanks Ed Sharpe Archivist For SMECC