https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSM-N-8_Regulus
The SSM-N-8A Regulus or the Regulus I was a United States Navy-developed
ship-and-submarine-launched, nuclear-capable turbojet-powered second generation
cruise missile, deployed from 1955 to 1964. Its development was an outgrowth of
U.S. Navy tests conducted with the German V-1 missile at Naval Air Station Point
Mugu in California.[1] Its barrel-shaped fuselage resembled that of numerous
fighter aircraft designs of the era, but without a cockpit. Test articles of the
Regulus were equipped with landing gear and could take off and land like an
airplane.[2] When the missiles were deployed they were launched from a rail
launcher, and equipped with a pair of Aerojet JATO bottles on the aft end of the
fuselage.
Regulus was designed to be 30 feet (9.1 m) long, 10 feet (3.0 m) in wingspan, 4
feet (1.2 m) in diameter, and would weigh between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds
(4,500 and 5,400 kg). The missile resembled an F-84 fighter aircraft, but
without a cockpit, and test versions were equipped with landing gear so that
they could be recovered and re-used.[5] After launch, Regulus would be guided
toward its target by control stations, typically by submarines or surface ships
equipped with guidance equipment. It could also be flown remotely by chase
aircraft.[6] (Later, with the "Trounce" system (Tactical Radar Omnidirectional
Underwater Navigational Control Equipment), one submarine could guide it).[7]
Army-Navy competition complicated both the Matador's and the Regulus'
developments. The missiles looked alike and used the same engine. They had
nearly identical performances, schedules, and costs. Under pressure to reduce
defense spending, the United States Department of Defense ordered the Navy to
determine if Matador could be adapted for their use. The Navy concluded that the
Navy's Regulus could perform the Navy mission better.
Regulus had some advantages over Matador. It required only two guidance stations
while Matador required three. It could also be launched quicker, as Matador's
boosters had to be fitted while the missile was on the launcher while Regulus
was stowed with its boosters attached. Finally, Chance Vought built a
recoverable version of the missile, designated KDU-1 and also used as a target
drone, so that even though a Regulus test vehicle was more expensive to build,
Regulus was cheaper to use over a series of tests. The Navy program continued,
and the first Regulus flew in March 1951.
Type
Cruise missile
Place of origin
United States
Service history
In service
1955-64
Used by
United States Navy
Production history
Manufacturer
Chance Vought
Produced
March 1951
The first launch from a submarine occurred in July 1953 from the deck of USS
Tunny, a World War II fleet boat modified to carry Regulus. Tunny and her sister
boat USS Barbero were the United States's first nuclear deterrent patrol
submarines. They were joined in 1958 by two purpose-built Regulus submarines,
USS Grayback[11] and USS Growler,[12] and, later, by the nuclear-powered USS
Halibut.[13] The USS Halibut, with its extremely large internal hangar could
carry five missiles and was intended to be the prototype of a whole new class of
cruise missile firing SSG-N submarines.[14]
The Navy strategy called for four Regulus missiles to be at sea at any given
time. Thus, Barbero and Tunny, each of which carried two Regulus missiles,
patrolled simultaneously. Growler and Grayback, with four missiles each, or
Halibut, with five, could patrol alone. Operating from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the
five Regulus submarines made 40 nuclear deterrent patrols in the Northern
Pacific Ocean between October 1959 and July 1964, including during the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962. According to the documentary "Regulus: The First Nuclear
Missile Submarines" by Nick T. Spark, their primary task in the event of a
nuclear exchange would be to eliminate the Soviet naval base at
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. These deterrent patrols represented the first ever in
the history of the submarine Navy and preceded those made by the Polaris missile
firing submarines.
Regulus II
A second generation supersonic Vought SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile with a
range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km) and a speed of Mach 2 was developed and
successfully tested, including a test launch from the USS Grayback, but the
program was canceled in favor of the UGM-27 Polaris nuclear ballistic missile.
The Regulus II missile was a completely new design with improved guidance and
double the range, and was intended to replace the Regulus I missile. Regulus
II-equipped submarines and ships would have been fitted with the Ships Inertial
Navigation System (SINS), allowing the missiles to be aligned accurately before
take-off.
Forty-eight test flights of Regulus II prototypes were carried out, 30 of which
were successful, 14 partially successful and four failures. A production
contract was signed in January 1958 and the only submarine launch was carried
out from the USS Grayback in September 1958.
Due to the high cost of the Regulus II (approximately one million dollars each),
budgetary pressure, and the emergence of the UGM-27 Polaris SLBM
(submarine-launched ballistic missile), the Regulus II program was canceled on
18 December 1958. At the time of cancellation Vought had completed 20 Regulus II
missiles with 27 more on the production line. Production of Regulus I missiles
continued until January 1959 with delivery of the 514th missile, and it was
withdrawn from service in August 1964.
Both Regulus I and Regulus II were used as target drones after 1964.
Specifications
Mass
13,685 pounds (6,207 kg)
Length
32 feet 2 inches (9.80 m)
Diameter
4 feet 8.5 inches (1.435 m)
Warhead
3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) such as the W5 warhead or the W27 warhead
Engine
Allison J33-A-14 turbojet 4,600 lbf (20 kN)
Wingspan
21 feet (6.4 m) extended
9 feet 10.5 inches (3.010 m) folded
Operational
range
500 nautical miles (926 km)
Speed
Subsonic
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