Nike Ajax Missile

[fuckobama4]

That was great

[ben6001yahoo]

Clip is from the beginning of the first introduction 16mm film vintage 1953 shown to all new trainees at The Air Defense Artillery School Fort Bliss Texas, The missile transporter is at Redstone Arsenal very early in the Nike Ajax project. This crude launch was solely to see if the guidance system could engage the target: a B17 WWII bomber. Nike Ajax was not deployed with this crude launcher. Launch trajectory when deployed was 88.5 degrees vertical to 93,000 ft then guided to the

target

[rocksmeller99]

the music is amazing

[BUNGLEJYME]

That's kind of creepy watching that B-17 get hit like that.

[Afterburner8004]

No kidding. What kind of remote guidance did they have back then? None? >_>;;;;

[zeke1312]

@Afterburner8004 Radar..missile tracking, target tracking and acquisition radar. Look it up before you open your trap.

[roguespear91]

@Afterburner8004 It sucked to have to fly the target planes back in the 60s. That's why so many test pilots died.

[MondoMedia7]

They should have tested it on one of those "Firebee" or "Quail" drones to see if it could have hit such a small target accurately!

[DrOlds7298]

My Father was in the Army 34 yrs,most of it was with the Nike system,I spent my childhood back & forth between Redstone Arsenal and sites in West Germany. Seen these things in person. If he were still living,I think he'd really enjoy this clip.

[Tumbleweed1954]

I remember seeing these launched at Fort Bliss. You blink and it's gone!

[machbaby]

I guess you could say that was a successful intercept...

[nwcafesurfer]

Woah! At the very end did you see the motor that tore off the wing

[Gruntol5]

Bugger it, they destroyed a B-17. Bastards!

[jackjohnbob]

second that!!

[Gromit801]

Yeah. Back in the 50's when B-17's we're still a dime a dozen. Too bad they couldn't have found an alternative though.

[Fridomfry]

Destroying a flying fortress ! These missile nerds had no respect for anything just remember that most of this missile technology came from Germany

[sgtdanz]

that was bell lab technology

[Fridomfry]

Yes, but Bell Labs and others got loads of German patents, engineers and devices after 1945 (so did other allies).