Pershing

Pershing was the first and only solid-fueled medium range ballistic missile deployed by the U.S. Army. Named for General of the Armies John J. ("Black Jack") Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, it replaced the Army's Redstone missile. Pershing was a two-stage solid-fueled rocket with an all-inertial guidance system, fired from a tracked mobile launcher that enabled a "shoot and scoot" operating principle. It was both ground and air transportable, nuclear-capable, and equipped with a high-speed reentry vehicle. Initial feasibility studies began in late 1956, and the first Pershing I was launched on February 25, 1960. A second generation system, the Pershing 1a, began replacing the Pershing I in 1969. It used faster ground support vehicles, a wheeled erector-launcher, and new solid-state electronics, and replaced the Pershing I's analog guidance computer with a digital version, making the system more reliable and flexible, easier to maintain, cheaper to operate, and faster. Production of the Pershing 1a began in 1967, and by 1970 it had replaced all original Pershing I systems in U.S. Army service. In 1976, further improvements were fielded with the sequential launch adapter and the automatic reference system. The sequential launch adapter allowed a Pershing 1a platoon to fire its three missiles in quick succession, and the automatic reference system, essentially a ground based inertial unit, eliminated the need to survey the launch site before firing, making on-the-spot launches possible. About 750 Pershing I and 1a missiles were built, with an operational deployment level of 108 missiles in Europe. On August 9, 1963, the first complete Pershing was launched from McGregor Range with impact on White Sands Missile Range. A total of 230 were launched off-range from Fort Wingate, New Mexico, and Green River, Utah, to White Sands Missile Range. Pershing was 35 feet long, 40 inches in diameter, weighed 10,000 pounds, used solid propellant, and had a range of 100 to 400 miles.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States