Specifications
| Missile | Nike Ajax | Nike Hercules | Nike Zeus A | Nike Zeus B (XLIM-49A) | Spartan (LIM-49A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m) overall 21 ft 0 in (6.41 m)second stage |
41 ft 1 in (12.53 m) overall 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m) second stage |
44 ft 3 in (13.5 m) | 48 ft 3 in (14.7 m) | 55 ft 1 in (16.8 m) |
| Diameter | 1 ft 0 in (0.30 m) | 2 ft 7 in (0.80 m) booster 1 ft 9 in (0.53 m) second stage |
3 ft 0 in (0.91 m) | 3 ft 0 in (0.91 m) | 3 ft 7 in (1.09 m) |
| Fin span | 4 ft 0 in (1.22 m) | 11 ft 6 in (3.50 m) booster 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) second stage |
9 ft 9 in (2.98 m) | 8 ft 0 in (2.44 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.98 m) |
| Mass | 2,460 lb (1,116 kg) at launch 1,150 lb (523 kg) second stage |
10,700 lb (4,850 kg) at launch 5,520 lb (2,505 kg) second stage |
11,000 lb (4,980 kg) | 23,000 lb (10,300 kg) | 29,000 lb (13,100 kg) |
| Maximum speed | Mach 2.25 (ca. 1485 mph true airspeed @ 50k ft; 2390 km/h) | Mach 3.65 (ca. 2094 mph true airspeed @ 65k ft; 3877 km/h) | Mach 4 > (ca. 2800+ mph; 4,900 km/h arbitrary) | ||
| Range | 25 mi (40 km) | 87 mi (140 km) | 200 mi (320 km) | 250 mi (400 km) | 460 mi (740 km) |
| Ceiling | 69,900 ft (21,300 m) | 149,900 ft (45,700 m) | ? | 170 mi (280 km) | 350 mi (560 km) |
| First stage | Solid-fuel (59,000 lbf or 263 kN static thrust for 2.5 seconds) |
Hercules M42 solid-fueled rocket cluster (4x M5E1 Nike boosters) 220,000 lbf (978 kN) total |
Thiokol TX-135 400,000 lbf (1,800 kN) |
Thiokol TX-135 450,000 lbf (2,000 kN) |
Thiokol TX-500 500,000 lbf (2,200 kN) |
| Second stage | Liquid-fuel (2,600 lbf or 11.6 kN static thrust for 21 seconds) |
Thiokol M30 solid-fueled rocket 10,000 lbf (44.4 kN) |
? | Thiokol TX-238 | Thiokol TX-454 |
| Third stage | None | None | None | Thiokol TX-239 | Thiokol TX-239 |
| Warhead conventional | 3 warheads each surrounded with 2 layers of 1⁄4 in (6 mm) hardened steel cubes Nose: M2: 4.5 lb (2.0 kg) Composition B 12 lb (5.4 kg) total Mid-body: M3: 92 lb (42 kg) Comp. B, 176.8 lb (80.2 kg) total Aft: M4: 59 lb (27 kg) Comp B, 121.3 lb (55.0 kg) total |
T-45 HE warhead weighed 1106 lb (500 kg) and contained 600 lb (272 kg) of HBX-6 M17 blast-fragmentation |
Nuclear warhead only | Nuclear warhead only | Nuclear warhead only |
| Warhead nuclear | Conventional warhead only | W-31 nuclear 20 kt (M-22) | W-31 nuclear | W50 (400 kt) thermonuclear |
W71 (5 Mt) thermonuclear |
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