Matador
The first successful surface-to-surface, pilotless, tactical weapon developed
for the United States Air Force. The Matador B-61A "pilotless bomber" was
a highly mobile system designed to deliver a warhead on tactical missions
in support of ground troops for a distance of up to 960 km. It was designed
as a 650-mph winged tactical missile built to carry a 3000-lb conventional
or nuclear warhead a distance of approximately 500 miles. The Matador utilized
a solid propellant rocket bottle as a Rocket Assisted Takeoff (RATO) system
to lift itself into the air from a "roadable" zero-length launcher. After
the rocket burned out and dropped off, the Matador was powered to its target
by an Allison J-33 turbojet engine. Tests in the early 1950s included the
development of two different guidance systems: the Matador Automatic Radar
Command (MARC) system and the Short Range Navigation Vehicle (SHANICLE)
microwave system. Both systems required ground stations to control the missile's
airborne guidance hardware. While the early test version of the missile
measured 34 ft. 7 in. long and had a wing span of 23 ft. 4 in., the production
models were 39.6 ft. long and measured 28.7 ft. from wing-tip to wing-tip.
The Matador project began shortly after the end of World War II. Test firings
took began in 1949 in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and by January 1951, the Matador
was in production.
Related categories
• ROCKETS,
MISSILES, AND LAUNCH VEHICLES
• HISTORY
OF ROCKETRY
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