MILITARY · HISTORICAL MARKER
The “Honest John” Rocket
Military
1
The M50 Honest John was the U.S. Army’s first nuclear-armed surface-to-surface rocket. It was an unguided 762mm artillery rocket powered by an M6 solid-fuel rocket engine. Developed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1950, it was first fired at White Sands Missile Range in 1951. Later versions carried a high-explosive warhead instead of an atomic payload. The Honest John weighed 5,800 pounds and had a range of 25 miles. Production ended in 1965 after more than 7,000 rockets had been built, and it was replaced by the MGM-52 Lance in 1973.
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