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| 01 Nike Hercules Missile | 02 Nike Missile |
Nike Hercules Missile Specifications:
Nike Missiles at other Aviation Museums in the Northeast |
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| Nike Missile at the Quonset Air Museum in North Kingston, RI | Nike Missile at the American Air Power Museum in Farmingdale, NY |
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| A Nike Hercules missile at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park in Buffalo, NY | Nike Missile at the American Armored Foundation Tank Museum in Danville, VA |
Length: 41 Feet
Width: 11 Feet 5 inches
Crew:
Weight: 10,600lbs
Speed: 2,730mph
Range: 86 miles
Armament:
1,000lb HE Fragmentation Warhead or up to 42 Kiloton Yeild Nuclear Warhead. High explosive warheads would have been used against single bombers. Nuclear warheads would have been used against multiple bombers.
Entered Service: 1958
Unit Cost: $55,000
Neal Pritchett of Wisconsin has an excellent page on Nike Missile launch sites and their deployment:
http://www.notpurfect.com/travel/nuke/nike.html
There's an excellent diagram of the tracking and deployment of Nike Missiles against enemy Soviet bombers. Also Neal has photos of the remains of a Nike Missile base in Waukesha Wisconsin. Some of the buildings and radar platforms are still intact and of course the concrete launch pads are still in place.
Ed Thalen has created a very comprehensive site on Nike Missile sites and and the missiles themselves. His Nike Herculese Missile Overview gives a good visual presentation on the relationships between the missile launchers, tracking control radar, and targets.