Mace

The Mace was an Air Force surface-to-surface, winged cruise missile about the same size and weight as a small jet fighter. It was launched from a mobile trailer or from a bomb-proof shelter by a booster rocket that dropped away after launch, after which a J33 jet engine propelled it to the target. It could carry either a conventional or nuclear warhead. Its guidance system, ATRAN (Automatic Terrain Recognition And Navigation), matched radar returns from the surface to pre-programmed radar maps carried on board and corrected the flight path if it deviated from the map. The system was fully autonomous and resistant to jamming, though it depended on obtaining radar images of potential target areas, which was difficult in the 1950's. Development began in 1954, and the Air Force deployed it in Europe in 1959. A later version, the Mace "B," remained operational in Europe and the Pacific until the early 1970s. At White Sands Missile Range, it was first tested in 1959, when 46 were launched, and between 1959 and 1963, 72 were flown there. In 1965, the Army's Pershing missile replaced the Air Force's Mace because of Pershing's high-speed launch ability. By 1966, Mace had been withdrawn, and by 1971 it was no longer in active service. The remaining missiles were then used as full-size target drones because their size and performance characteristics resembled those of manned aircraft.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States