PGM-11 Redstone

SSM-A-14/M8/PGM-11 Redstone[1]
Redstone No. CC-56, Cape Canaveral, Florida, 17 September 1958
Type
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1958–1964, 1966-7
Used byUnited States, Australia
Production history
DesignerArmy Ballistic Missile Agency
Designed1950–1952
ManufacturerChrysler Corporation
Produced1952–1961
No. built
  • 128 (ABMA: 27, Chrysler: 101)
  • (85 production models)
VariantsBlock I, Block II
Specifications
Mass61,207 pounds (27,763 kg) at ignition
Length69.3 feet (21.1 m)
Diameter5.83 feet (1.8 m)

Blast yieldW39 warhead, 3.75 megatons of TNT (15.7 PJ)

EngineRocketdyne North American Aviation 75–110 A-7
78,000 pounds-force (350 kN) thrust at sea level for 121 seconds
Payload capacity6,305 pounds (2,860 kg)
Propellant
  • ethyl alcohol
  • liquid oxygen
Fuel capacity
  • alcohol: 11,135 pounds (5,051 kg)
  • liquid oxygen: 25,280 pounds (11,470 kg)
  • hydrogen peroxide: 790 pounds (360 kg)
Operational
range
57.5 to 201 miles
92.5 to 323.5 kilometres
Flight altitude28.4 to 58.7 miles
45.7 to 94.5 kilometres
Boost time97 seconds to 155 seconds
Maximum speed Mach 5 – Mach 6 (6,100–7,400 km/h; 3,800–4,600 mph; 1.7–2.0 km/s) maximum at re-entry interface
Guidance
system
Ford Instrument Company ST-80 inertial guidance
Steering
system
Carbon jet vanes, air rudders, spatial air jet nozzles, air vanes
Accuracy300 metres (980 ft) CEP
Launch
platform
guided missile platform launcher M74[citation needed]

The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test Hardtack Teak.[2]

The Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket, developed primarily by a team of German rocket engineers brought to the United States after World War II. The design used an upgraded engine from Rocketdyne that allowed the missile to carry the 6,900 lb (3,100 kg) W39 and its reentry vehicle to a range of about 175 miles (282 km). Redstone's prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation.[3]

The Redstone spawned the Redstone rocket family which holds a number of firsts in the US space program, notably launching the first US astronaut. It was retired by the Army in 1964 and replaced by the solid-fueled MGM-31 Pershing. Surplus missiles were widely used for test missions and space launches, including the first US man in space, and in 1967 the launch of Australia's first satellite.

  1. ^ "Redstone".
  2. ^ Redstone Rocket, Hardtack-Teak Test, August 1958 (in French). August 1958. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "Redgap, Curtis The Chrysler Corporation Missile Division and the Redstone missiles, 2008 Orlando, Florida. Retrieved Oct 8 2010". Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.

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