U.S. Guided Missiles: The definitive reference guide, by Bill Yenne

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gatoraptor

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Although this book was discussed in the thread http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,11218.0.html, now that it has been published, I think that it deserves its own thread. Here are scans of the actual covers:

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My first impressions are quite positive. The book rather resembles other Specialty Press titles (for whom it was first intended) rather than other Crecy titles, but that is fine.

Basically, it lists every missile that ever got an M-for-Missile designation in the post-1962 system, from the MGM-1 Matador through the MQM-175, with every number accounted for. The entries range from half a column to several pages, depending on the subject, with a specification table and at least one photo for every type that was actually built. The text will list previous designations, for which some missiles had several.

There are several addenda and appendices that list some selected earlier missiles that never got a post-1962 designation, as well as describing some of the earlier designation systems. Since the missiles are listed numerically instead of by type, the index does a good job of solving that problem.

A first go-through has revealed a few typos, but nothing too serious. Frankly, there are many missiles here for which I never knew the numerical designation, so for that this book is most welcome.
 
nugo said:
Hi All!
gatoraptor, if it is possible show of Index.
Click to expand...
A reasonable request, and I doubt if the publisher will object to this. Here is page 1 of the index, which runs nearly 9 pages, to show the content.

As an example, the Matador was referred to at one time or another as the SSM-A-1, B-61, TM-61 and MGM-1, and all of these are included in the index. And as you can see, all of the missiles of the same type, such as the AGMs, are listed together, of course.

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What about unbuilt projects, are there included or not?.

I'm interested in the book but only if unbuilt projects are included. Writing a compilation of series produced US missiles is not really a problem to me ::)
 
Hi All!
Thank you gatoraptor!
What about unbuilt projects, are there pictures and technical data these proposals?
MX-772, MX-773, MX-777, MX-778, MX-779, MX-791, MX-794, MX-795, MX-800, MX-801 and MX-802.
In book are tell of following competitions and of competitors of these competitions?
WS-131B (Hound Dog)
WS-133A (Minuteman)
Advance thank you very much!
 
The only unbuilt projects in the book are a few which were assigned M-for-Missile numbers but were cancelled before any hardware was built. None of the other projects mentioned is listed. And I need to correct myself: some of the lesser missiles actually built are not illustrated, but every entry does have a specification table.
 
AMERICAN MISSILES: The Complete Smithsonian Field Guide

Hoping to get this in the mail soon.
 
bobbymike said:
AMERICAN MISSILES: The Complete Smithsonian Field Guide

Hoping to get this in the mail soon.
Click to expand...

Received the above (it is 1962 to today) and appears more complete than the Yenne book over the period examined. I recommend.
 
Bobbymike,

Does the Smithsonian guide include drawings as well as photos?

Thanks

Chris
 
nugo said:
What about unbuilt projects, are there pictures and technical data these proposals?
MX-772, MX-773, MX-777, MX-778, MX-779, MX-791, MX-794, MX-795, MX-800, MX-801 and MX-802.
Click to expand...
No.
In book are tell of following competitions and of competitors of these competitions?
WS-131B (Hound Dog)
WS-133A (Minuteman)
Click to expand...
No.

I'll be blunt ... except for more up-to-date information (from the last 3 years or so) on some on-going or new missile programs, Bill Yenne's book contains more or less similar or identical information as this website ;) :

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/index.html

The covered missile program are by definition exactly the same - those with a number in the post-1963 designation system. Adding to this, Yenne discusses a few "prominent" older programs (Snark, Rascal, Navaho) and some undesignated anti-missile interceptors (Sprint, GBI, THAAD).

pometablava said:
Writing a compilation of series produced US missiles is not really a problem to me ::)
Click to expand...
See link above :) .

Anyway, I'm still happy that Bill Yenne wrote this book and had it published. It's an excellent reference work on a subject, which has been largely ignored in the "popular" aviation/military literature.
 
Bought it. Andreas' site is more informative. (Now if we could convince him to keep updating it. ;) ) I noticed several errors in the book, but also information I hadn't heard before.
 

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