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Three stage vehicle consisting of 1 x TX-500 + 1 x TX-454 + 1 x TX-239 Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch Western Electric/McDonnell-Douglas LIM-49 Nike Zeus/SpartanOn 18 September 1967, the Nike-X was cancelled and replaced by a system called Sentinel, which was to be a much thinner (and therefore cheaper!) ABM defense shield. At the same time, Nike Zeus EX was renamed Spartan, and the prime contract was now shared between Western Electric and McDonnell-Douglas. The Spartan missile received the designation LIM-49A. The short-range, endo-atmospheric missile component of Sentinel was the Martin Orlando Sprint. The LIM-49A Spartan was stored in and launched from underground silos, and the first Spartan launch occured in March 1968. In August 1970, an LGM-30 Minuteman RV was intercepted for the first time. In 1969, however, the Sentinel system had been cancelled, and replaced by Safeguard, an ABM system planned to defend only SAC's ICBM bases, and not the cities of the United States. The SALT I treaty of 1972, and a 1974 addendum, limited even this to one site with 100 ABMs. On 1 October 1975, the U.S.'s one and only Safeguard ABM site became operational with 30 Spartan and 70 Sprint missiles. However, because the very limited defense offered by a single ABM site did not warrant the costs, the site was deactivated by Congress the next day. The designations of the various Nike Zeus, Nike-X and Spartan missiles are a bit confusing. Many sources say that the Nike Zeus A received the designation XLIM-49A in 1963, although development had stopped in 1960, and Nike Zeus B became XLIM-49B, although it had almost nothing in common with the XLIM-49A. However, the Department of Defense document [3], which is the "official" list of DOD aircraft and missile designators, describes the XLIM-49A as a three-stage intercept missile. Unfortunately, the name is given as Nike Zeus, without an A or B suffix, but "three-stage" clearly points to the Nike Zeus B. If this is true (and why shouldn't it), the designation LIM-49A for the Spartan would make a lot more sense, because Spartan was indeed a modified/improved Zeus B, but had nothing in common with the Nike Zeus A. Zeus A itself had received no designation in this case, which is quite logical, because it didn't exist anymore in 1963. Further adding to the ABM designation confusion is that all my sources say the short-range Sprint did not receive any LIM-n designation, and the existence of the very little-known XLIM-99A and XLIM-100A designations, allocated by the U.S. Army in 1972. Whether one or both of the LIM-99/100 designators is related to the Spartan and/or Sprint missiles, I don't know. SpecificationsNote: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate! Data for Nike Zeus A/B and LIM-49A:
[1] James N. Gibson: "Nuclear Weapons of the United States", Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1996 Manufacturer: Western Electric. Launches: 42. Failures: 7. Success Rate: 83.33%. First Launch Date: 1968-03-30. Last Launch Date: 1975-04-17. Launch data is: complete. Apogee: 560 km (340 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 2,000.000 kN (449,600 lbf). Total Mass: 12,995 kg (28,649 lb). Core Diameter: 1.07 m (3.51 ft). Total Length: 16.83 m (55.21 ft). Span: 2.99 m (9.80 ft). Standard warhead mass: 2,270 kg (5,000 lb). Maximum range: 740 km (450 mi). Number Standard Warheads: 1. Standard warhead: W71. Standard warhead yield: 5,000 KT. Boost Propulsion: Solid rocket. Cruise Propulsion: Solid rocket. Guidance: Command Link. Development Cost $: 322.000 million. in: 1969 average dollars. Recurring Price $: 18.007 million. Total Number Built: 55. Total Development Built: 25. Total Production Built: 30. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 3.000 million. in: 1969 unit dollars.
Spartan Chronology 1968 March 30 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800003 KT-1 Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1968 May 22 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800004 KT-2 Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1968 August 7 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800005 KT-3 Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1968 September 16 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800007 FAILURE: Failure. KT-4 Agency: USA. Apogee: 2.00 km (1.20 mi). 1968 November 21 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800006 FAILURE: Failure. KT-5 Agency: USA. Apogee: 2.00 km (1.20 mi). 1969 February 6 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800008 KT-6 Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1969 April 25 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800010 KT-7 Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1969 May 18 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800009 KT-8 Agency: USA. Apogee: 400 km (240 mi). 1969 June 4 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800011 FAILURE: Failure. KT-9 Agency: USA. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). 1969 July 16 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800013 KT-10 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1969 July 31 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800014 KT-11 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1969 August 13 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800012 FAILURE: Failure. KT-12 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). 1969 October 17 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800016 KT-13 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1969 November 25 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800015 KT-14 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1969 December 15 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800017 KT-15 test Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1970 April 14 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800018 FAILURE: Failure. Safeguard M1-1 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1970 June 24 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800019 Safeguard M1-1A Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1970 August 28 - Kwajalein Meck. Safeguard M1-4 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1970 October 3 - Kwajalein Meck. Safeguard M1-27 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1971 January 11 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800024 SAFEGUARD M1-30 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1971 January 11 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800021 SAFEGUARD M1-30 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1971 April 21 - Kwajalein Meck. Safeguard M1-7A Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1971 August 27 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800031 Safeguard M2-1 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 123 km (76 mi). 1971 September 23 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800032 FAILURE: Failure. Safeguard M1-14A Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 10 km (6 mi). 1971 December 8 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800027 Safeguard M2-3 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 148 km (91 mi). 1972 January 20 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800030 Safeguard M2-6 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 88 km (54 mi). 1972 March 30 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800033 Safeguard M2-9 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 130 km (80 mi). 1972 June 9 - Kwajalein Meck. Isolated Rail test Agency: USA. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). 1972 June 23 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800026 Safeguard M2-19 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 70 km (43 mi). 1972 August 3 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800029 Safeguard M2-34 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1972 October 26 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800037 Safeguard M2-12 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1972 November 3 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800036 Safeguard M2-40 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi). 1973 January 25 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800039 Safeguard M2-26 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). 1973 February 3 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800035 Safeguard M2-43 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1973 June 22 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-01 SAFEGUARD M2-45 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 347 km (215 mi). 1973 June 22 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM 800038 SAFEGUARD M2-45 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 340 km (210 mi). 1974 January 22 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-02 FAILURE: Failure. Safeguard M2-245 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi). 1974 July 18 - Kwajalein Meck. Safeguard TRM-133 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1974 September 20 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-02A Safeguard M2-245A Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1974 November 1 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-3 Safeguard M2-445 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1975 April 3 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-4 Safeguard M2-345 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). 1975 April 17 - Kwajalein Meck. Spartan ABM PFT-5 Safeguard M2-545 Interceptor mission Agency: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Bibliography:
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