Alpha Draco
Encyclopedia
The Alpha Draco missile, also known as Weapons System 199D (WS-199D), was an experimental missile developed by McDonnell Aircraft
McDonnell Aircraft
The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 16, 1939 by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II, and manned spacecraft including the Mercury capsule...

 in the late 1950s to investigate boost-glide reentry
Reentry
Reentry can have several meanings:* Atmospheric reentry, the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a planet from outer space** Ballistic reentry** Skip reentry...

. Three test flights were conducted in 1959, of which two were successful.

Design and development

As part of the WS-199
WS-199
Weapons System 199 was a weapons development program conducted by the United States Air Force to research and develop new strategic weapons systems for Strategic Air Command...

 project to develop new strategic weapons for the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

's Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

, McDonnell Aircraft developed the Alpha Draco missile between 1957 and 1959. The purpose of the rocket was to establish whether a strategic missile using the "boost-glide" principle of propulsion could be practically used.

The Alpha Draco missile was a two-stage vehicle, the first stage comprising a Thiokol
Thiokol
Thiokol is a U.S. corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems...

 TX-20 solid-fuel rocket of the type used in the MGM-29 Sergeant
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Activated by the US Army in 1962 to replace the MGM-5 Corporal it was deployed overseas by 1963, carrying the W52 nuclear warhead or alternatively one of high explosives...

 theatre ballistic missile
Theatre ballistic missile
A theatre ballistic missile is any ballistic missile with a range between and , used against targets "in-theatre". Its range is thus between that of tactical and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The term is a relatively new one, encompassing the former categories of short-range ballistic...

, and the second stage using a Thiokol TX-30 solid-fuel rocket. The payload vehicle was aerodynamically shaped, using the lifting body
Lifting body
A lifting body is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration in which the body itself produces lift. In contrast to a flying wing, which is a wing with minimal or no conventional fuselage, a lifting body can be thought of as a fuselage with little or no conventional wing...

 principle to provide aerodynamic lift; following burnout of the first stage, the vehicle would coast for a short time before ignition of the second stage, burnout of the second stage was followed by the vehicle entering the glide phase of flight, which would be terminated by a dive upon the target.

Operational history

Three test launches of the Alpha Draco vehicle were conducted during 1959, the missile being launched from a land-based gantry. The initial flight, on February 16, was successful; the second flight, one month later, also fulfilled its test goals. The final launch of the Alpha Draco on April 30, however, suffered a flight-control failure and was destroyed by range safety
Range safety
In rocketry, range safety is assured by the systems which protect people and assets on the rocket range in cases when a launch vehicle might endanger them. Range safety is usually the responsibility of a Range Safety Officer...

 command. With the expenditure of the third and final vehicle, the program came to a halt, the project's cost having come to a total of approximately $5 million USD, the knowledge gained in the project proving invaluable to the development of re-entry vehicles for future intercontinental ballistic missiles.

See also

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