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Sprint (missile)
Encyclopedia
| Manufacturer | Martin Marietta Martin Marietta Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of The Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. The combined company became a leader in chemicals, aerospace, and electronics. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. The... |
| First stage | Hercules X-265 2,900 kN (650,000 lbf) |
| Second stage | Hercules X-271 |
| Length | 8.20 m overall |
| Diameter | 1.35 m |
| Wingspan | |
| Mass | 3500 kg |
| Range | 40 km |
| Ceiling | 30 km |
| Max Speed | >Mach Mach number Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure... 10 (7,500 mph) |
| Typical battery crew | |
| Guidance system | Radio Command |
| Warhead | W66 W66 The W66 thermonuclear warhead was used on the Sprint anti-ballistic missile system, designed to be a short range interceptor to shoot down incoming ICBM warheads.... nuclear low kt, enhanced radiaton Neutron bomb A neutron bomb or enhanced radiation weapon or weapon of reinforced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy... |
| Firing modes: | |
| Magazine capacity: | |
| Rate of fire: | |
| Introduction date: | IOC:1972 |
The Sprint was a two-stage, solid-fuel anti-ballistic missile
Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
, armed with a W66
W66
The W66 thermonuclear warhead was used on the Sprint anti-ballistic missile system, designed to be a short range interceptor to shoot down incoming ICBM warheads....
enhanced radiation
Neutron bomb
A neutron bomb or enhanced radiation weapon or weapon of reinforced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy...
thermonuclear warhead
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. It was designed as the short-range high-speed counterpart to the longer-range LIM-49 Spartan as part of the Sentinel program. Sentinel never became operational, but the technology was deployed briefly in a downsized version called the Safeguard program
Safeguard Program
The Safeguard Program was a United States Army anti-ballistic missile system developed during the late 1960s. Safeguard was designed to protect U.S. ICBM missile sites from counterforce attack, thus preserving the option of an unimpeded retaliatory strike. Safeguard used much of the same technology...
. The Sprint, like the Spartan, was in operational service for only a few months in the Safeguard program, from October 1975 to early 1976. A combination of high costs, congressional opposition, and questionable efficacy resulted in a very short operational period.
The Sprint accelerated at 100 g
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
, reaching a speed of Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
10 in 5 seconds. It was designed for close-in defense against incoming nuclear weapons. As the last line of defense it was to intercept the reentry vehicles that had not been destroyed by the Spartan, with which it was deployed.
The Sprint was stored in and launched from a silo. To make the launch as quick as possible, the cover was blown off the silo by explosive charges, then the missile was ejected by an explosive-driven piston. As the missile cleared the silo, the first stage fired and the missile was tilted toward its target. The first stage was exhausted after only 1.2 seconds, but produced 2,900 kN (650,000 lbf) of thrust. The second stage fired within 1 - 2 seconds of launch. Interception at an altitude of 1,500 m to 30,000 m took at most 15 seconds.
The Sprint was controlled by ground-based radio command, which tracked the incoming reentry vehicles with phased-array
Phased array
In wave theory, a phased array is an array of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions.An antenna array...
radar and guided the missile to its target.
The Sprint was armed with an enhanced radiation
Neutron bomb
A neutron bomb or enhanced radiation weapon or weapon of reinforced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy...
nuclear warhead with a yield reportedly of a few kilotons, though the exact number has not been declassified. The warhead was intended to destroy the incoming reentry vehicle primarily by neutron flux
Neutron flux
The neutron flux is a quantity used in reactor physics corresponding to the total length travelled by all neutrons per unit time and volume . The neutron fluence is defined as the neutron flux integrated over a certain time period....
.
Survivors
- A Sprint missile is on display at the Air Defense Artillery Museum in Fort BlissFort BlissFort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
, Texas.
See also
- 53T653T653T6 is a Russian anti-ballistic missile based upon the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system. It was designed in early 1980s and put in service in 1995....
- Anti-ballistic missileAnti-ballistic missileAn anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
- Surface-to-air missileSurface-to-air missileA surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
- LIM-49 Spartan
- Nike-Hercules missile
- Project Nike
- Safeguard ProgramSafeguard ProgramThe Safeguard Program was a United States Army anti-ballistic missile system developed during the late 1960s. Safeguard was designed to protect U.S. ICBM missile sites from counterforce attack, thus preserving the option of an unimpeded retaliatory strike. Safeguard used much of the same technology...