Unknown(?) U.S. MIRVed missile

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JK-SETI

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From DefenseImagery.mil, if you search 'MIRV', it comes out as the last result:
(I think it is upside down, so here is the 'corrected' one:)

It says

A view of a multiple independently-targetable re-entry vheicle (MIRV).

Photographer's Name: AFSC
Location: UNKNOWN


Date Shot: 11/23/1981
Date Posted: unknown
VIRIN: DF-ST-83-02541

==================

The missile is small, and the supporting structure on the bus is new to me....
Any info?
 

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Almost has to be Minuteman-III related I'd think, given that there are three MIRVs. Midgetman had a single warhead, and Peacekeeper had a much larger warhead bus.
 
sorry guys, but i get only two death links at first post

so i can't see the picture
 
Polaris, US SLBM's to save space and keep fuel had the third stage extend into the warhead bus called the through deck motor. See attached image.
 

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Whilst certainly the case for Trident was this actually done on Polaris? Certainly looking at the UK Cheveline warhead it does not seem to have been the case.

In fact, for A3T, see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ea/Polaris_A3T_missile_PNG.png
 
sealordlawrence said:
Whilst certainly the case for Trident was this actually done on Polaris? Certainly looking at the UK Cheveline warhead it does not seem to have been the case.

In fact, for A3T, see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ea/Polaris_A3T_missile_PNG.png
Click to expand...

Hmm, curiouser and curiouser! The photographer is referred to as AFSC - Air Force Space Command? So if an Air Force missile did they try and fit 3 warheads on a Midgetman? Or an Minuteman II?

Although scale is hard to tell from the picture it sure looks like a pretty small diameter missile. When the Air Force was researching and developing a "small" missile did they experiment with warhead bus configurations to see if they could "upload" warheads if the Cold War got warmer?
 
bobbymike said:
Hmm, curiouser and curiouser! The photographer is referred to as AFSC - Air Force Space Command? So if an Air Force missile did they try and fit 3 warheads on a Midgetman? Or an Minuteman II?
Click to expand...

AFSC was Air Force Systems Command.
 
Polaris A3 bus (note RV design) and MMIII bus.
 

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From the Polaris drawing above :-

'Laminated spruce nose cap'

First reaction - WTF!!!!!!!!!! :eek: ???

Second reaction - is this the fastest wooden aerostructure ever made ???


cheers,
Robin.
 
If it was a Minuteman III but, were those W78/MK12A? It seems to me that those warheads are smaller than W78 (They allowed that supporting structure in the middle), or W62?

The question came from the supporting structure (not a motor) in the middle of that 3 warheads, since never saw a MM III has the same configuration.

Other missiles? MGM-134 Midgetman (there was some talkings about a MIRVed Midgeman)?
 
robunos said:
Second reaction - is this the fastest wooden aerostructure ever made ???
Click to expand...

Nope. IIRC, the Chinese had a recoverable satellite that used a wood re-entry heat shield. Oak, if fuzzy memory serves.

Some woods are *great* for this sort of thing. Cheap, repeatable, non-toxic, cheap, readily avaialble, with distinct mechanical and thermal properties based upon grain direction and cheap.
 
Oak, exactly. I even have postfligt photo of reentry capsule somewhere.
 
flateric said:
Oak, exactly.
Click to expand...

Never underestimate the utility of organic structural materials. Silk, balsa and bamboo could be used to make one hell of a glider, for example. For another, a few years back I was fooling around with making fiberglass laminate panels with various lightweight cores ... and the best strength/weight test panel I made had a core of *bread.* I've seen perfectly servicable knives with blades made out of ironwood and tigerwood; can't shave with them, but you could certainly get all stabby with them.

Certain woods have excellent char properties, making them perfect for expendable one-shot aerothermally heated structures.
 
Certain woods have excellent char properties, making them perfect for expendable one-shot aerothermally heated structures.
Click to expand...

Many building codes specify wood doors for this very reason -- superior burn/heat transfer resistance in a fire.
 
the Chinese had a recoverable satellite that used a wood re-entry heat shield. Oak, if fuzzy memory serves.
Click to expand...



cheers,
Robin.
 

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JK-SETI said:
==================

The missile is small, and the supporting structure on the bus is new to me....
Any info?
Click to expand...

Some sort of Electronic Warfare related experiment?
 
Fen Osler Hampson's book "Unguided Missiles" does make mention of a triple MIRVed version of Midgetman (page 147), although it would mean enlarging the missile and its mobile launcher and would probably have exceeded the missile weight limit of 30,000 lbs. that congress had imposed on it (to prevent the Air Force from putting MIRVs on it). It would be interesting to know what the nuclear yield of such small warheads would be.
 
Ply wood nose cones were used on Poseidon and Trident C4 as well. Don't know about D5.

It because ply has superior radar transparency than GRP. The 150lb nose cone is ejected about 150-200 kft, and if tracked would provide a vertical fall line calibration which could be used to accurately refine the missiles climb angle.........thus compromising the launch location.
 

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