Ed Thelen's Nike Missile Web Site

Ed Thelen at Nike missile site

Library of Nike Hercules History and Technical Information


Site locations, technical manuals, and historical accounts of our nation's first-generation missile defense system.

Ed-Thelen.org is a long-standing reference website dedicated to the history, technology, and operational context of the U.S. Army Nike Hercules air defense missile system and related Nike missile programs.

The site contains historical research, technical information, photographs, documents, and personal recollections intended to support study, education, and historical preservation.

Since its creation, the website has served historians, veterans, researchers, students, and the general public seeking reliable information about Cold War era air defense systems.

About the Founder

This website was created and developed by Ed Thelen, who devoted many years to researching and documenting the Nike missile program.

Ed Thelen passed away after establishing this site as one of the most comprehensive publicly accessible resources on the Nike Hercules missile system.

Stewardship and Continuity

Following the passing of the site's founder in 2024, responsibility for Ed-Thelen.org has been assumed by a new steward, Greg Brown, Nike Veteran and (retired) 20 year NPS SF-88 Docent Volunteer

Click here to read our Stewardship and Content Preservation policy for Ed-Thelen.org

BC Van Crew Launcher Guard

Questions or Comments ? Contact us at, ed [at] ed-thelen.org

In case you didn't know, [at] = @

Ajax Fueling

Ajax Refueling from Lt.Col Gordon Lunn, SF-88 Volunteer

A typical Organizational Readiness Evaluation (ORE) at a Nike missile site under U.S. Army Air Defense Command in the 1960s

was designed to feel as close to real combat as possible. Fast, stressful, and often without warning.

Read further about Organizational Readiness Evaluations at a typical Nike Battery ORE

Lt. Susan P. Cheney - The first female Executive Officer at SF-88

Lt. Susan P. Cheney served as Executive Officer (XO) at SF-88 during the early 1970s. She was on duty during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, when the site was placed on heightened operational status. Lt. Cheney later attained the rank of Colonel.

Learn more about Lt. Susan P. Cheney {Click Here }
On May 22, 1958 the accidental explosion of several Nike Ajax missiles at the Leonardo, NJ Nike Site (NY-53) claimed the lives of six Army and four civilian ordnance personnel.

To view more of the story and pictures { Click Here }

To honor the memory of those who gave their lives for the defense of our country

View a Nike Missile Guidance Circuit Board - Radar Van Chassis and Power Panels

Nike System Pictures-Click Here!

Visiting again? - updates

Table of Contents. This site presents a great deal of Nike Hercules historical, technical and operational information and provides extensive links to Nike related books, documents, museums and to other Nike related web sites. This site also provides a photographic tour of Nike site SF-88 (being restored), location and status of Nike sites, and a List of Nike People, some on-line documents, a bulletin board, a search, a Photo Exchange, an FAQ, and a variety of other features.
    2019, the Russians are playing "games" again.

Table of Contents

The Web This web site

Gotta have a little fun !


Remember Payphones ?
Customer Service
Men Today
Comments on today's world Why I like retirement
to help ex-President Obama as he ponders terror, FBI, Harry Truman
Civil Asset Forfeiture, A little Bit of Reality, Commentary, the NFL, 9/11
Reagan's Soviet Jokes, We Forgot!, Senate Testimony
"Carbon Footprint" - 2021 Steel production, China produces 52.8% of the world's crude steel.
     12.0 times the U.S. steel production, which is less than either India or Japan.
    "Green" California buys most of the steel for its bridges and structures from China!
Thomas Sowell, Cancel Culture Comes to France, Another election year Political Cartoons
My Friend Ed - Story by Greg Brown
Maybe we are getting the quality of government we pay for?? - as of June 2026
  1. Senior software engineers in San Jose, CA get an average of $197.975 (indeed.com)
        (and can live at home)
  2. Senators and House Representatives get $193,400 per year.
        (and need to live in near Washington DC and in their home district!)
    - My "liberal" friends point out that they also get free haircuts and other "benefits" -
  3. Senior Major League Baseball umpires can earn 150,000 - 450,000 per year.
  4. The president of the U.S. gets $400,000 plus free haircuts ;--)
    - and either protection or abuse from "the media", depending -
  5. Nancy Farber, CEO of our local hospital, got $1,29 Million in 2026
    - I drive extra miles to avoid that screwed up place
  6. Rafael Devers, a SF Giants baseball player, got $27,000,000/year.
    - Enough to pay the salaries of 127 members of Congress
    - In 2026, Roger Goodell (NFL) was slated to make $64 million
!! Disinformation from Copernicus !!
Consensus of philosophers agree with Aristotle.
Disagreeing with Aristotle, Copernicus claims:
    a) The earth turns around once a day.
    b) The earth goes around the sun once a year.
    c) The earth is not the center of the universe.
To halt spread of the above disinformation:
    a) Copernicus book is on the Forbidden List.
    b) Giordano Bruno didn't recant - burned alive.
    c) Galileo recanted - permanent house arrest.
Stamp Out Disinformation and Copernicus 		Is the DGB
Disinformation Governance Board
replacing the
Roman Inquisition ??

Sounds like Vladimir Putin's
previous employer - the KGB.
The same KGB of Stalin fame.

"Peace in our time"?? - Russia invades Ukraine, China threatens Taiwan.
United Nations Security Council, the 5 members with veto power
    include Russia & China
Russia is attacking Ukraine, Ukraine is so desirable
USA Please send us your HAWKS--HAWK Missiles are defending Ukraine
China threatens Taiwan, Taiwan has TSMC
    The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC),
    is the world's largest, best, and most valuable semiconductor manufacturer.
China makes 12 times more steel and burns 7 times as much coal than the U.S.
If the U.S. gets into a serious war, it will have to import more steel from China.
The US Navy's shrinking fleet
China surpasses our Navy with 400 Ships--US Navy 296 Ships
Trump-pledges-to-resurrect-shipbuilding-as-china-seen-outpacing-us-

Introduction

What Nike is all about

Created in 2021, an excellent 13 minute Youtube by Scott Manley
Oddly, I can find nothing to quibble about! Very unusual -
Sott also mentions the WWII German AA rocket, the Wasserfall, hand guided, never fielded/used.

Nike Hercules Missile Q5 High Altitude Intercept - 1.5 minutes

This three minute video is a (successful :-) test of an early Nike Ajax destroying a radio controlled WW-II B-17. Later tests verified that the Nike Ajax was also a killer of higher flying sub and supersonic jets such as used by the Soviet Union. The next generation was the Nike Hercules which was faster, longer range, and could carry nuclear warheads to destroy multiple targets.
    The "plotting room" equipment shown in this video must have been an engineering prototype - Things were much more crowded when installed in the two vans - among other things, the plotting boards here are horizontal, in the BC van, they are vertical. The analog computer operational amplifiers are different, big tubes here, in the vans they were "miniature" tubes, and on and on - the zero set switches (the round spinning things in the analog computer) were a little different style -
    I think you could say that this equipment was "re-packaged" for field use.

This site has become a cooperative effort as more than 350 people have contributed text, stories, ideas, information, and corrections.

The Nike surface to air missile system was named after the winged goddess of victory in Greek mythology. Two versions of this system defended the U.S. and other places from hostile aircraft.

The 1st version, the Nike Ajax, was deployed in the U.S. from 1954 to the early 1960s. It had an effective range of 25 miles.

The 2nd version, the Nike Hercules, was developed which was faster, had a range of over 75 miles, and had nuclear capability. The Hercules was deployed starting in 1958. In 1963, there were 134 Nike Hercules and 77 Nike Ajax batteries defending the U. S. - as per "Rings of Supersonic Steel".

Both versions above are made light and transportable by wheeled vehicles, transportable in cargo planes for "easy" mobility. With practice and preparation, a site could be moved in a long, hard day. As many parts as practical are made of aluminum or magnesium, the standard power frequency is 400 Hertz (cycles per second) saving iron and weight in transformers and motors as in aircraft.

The Nike Hercules sites in the continental United States mostly closed around 1974, with the exception of Alaska and Florida, which were closed around 1979.
Our NATO Allies continued to utilize the Nike Hercules Air Defense system until early 2000's.(with an improved digital computer and all internal electronics upgraded to solid state electronics)
Our NATO allies de-commissioned the Nike Hercules in Taiwan 2002, Italy 2008, Greece and Turkey 2010.
The Patriot Missile System MM-104 Replaced the Nike Hercules system in 1981.
The Patriot system had better mobile "Shoot and Scoot" capabilities, and was more of a battlefield weapon
In 2008 The US Army placed in service the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) Mobile Anti-Ballistic Missile System, with a 120 mile range and carries no warhead, uses impact to destroy.

This web site does not present photos, histories, nor detailed status of most NIKE sites. I link to other web sites take up that interesting challenge.

Almost all Nike Hercules related information has been declassified - the only exceptions are some IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) information, some flight characteristics, and some nuclear warhead information. This site has a little information on the Nike Ajax, and no information on Nike Zeus (external link), also youtube A 20-year History of Antiballistic Missile Systems.

I installed and maintained Nike Ajax fire control equipment (radars & computer) at Chicago site C-41 during 1955-1957. Maybe "we" deterred "them". I have served as a volunteer helping restore an old Nike site (SF-88) near San Francisco for the National Park Service.

About submitting photos to this web site.

Two "action" pictures and four movies

Hercules Night Launch,
(17 K bytes)
[Herc night launch]
From previous army pictures at
http://www.redstone.army.mil/
history/archives/nike_017.jpg.
Nike Site Photo Shoot SF-88L
[Nike Slo motion]
Click on link below - then click on the box with arrows symbol to expand picture to full screen
Photo tour SF88L Nike Missile site
Huell Howser TV visit to SF-88 on June 2 2008
If you grew up near a Nike site, and ever wondered what went on inside, this 15 minute Television Show can give you a good idea of what it was. There just was a lot more of it.
Huell Howser episode #159 Nike Site SF-88

Lanci Missili - Italian Airforce Nike Missile Launch.

HD video - 2 March 2005 - the best video of a Nike Launch that I have ever seen.

Click Here to view
Hercules Day Launch,
(from NAMFI, 32 K bytes)
[Herc day NAMFI launch]
From Rolf Dieter G?rigk
On-Line Movies
Nike Ajax Intercept - 1 minute, Internet Archive
Nike Hercules Intercept - 1.5 min, Internet Archive
Hercules Launchs - 6 min, YouTube

Nike Hercules night launch


The missile (with booster) was launched 0.4 seconds ago, is accelerating at 25 times the force of earth's gravity, has risen 60 feet, and it is now going 210 miles per hour.

Four seconds from now, the missile will be:

  • going 1,700 miles per hour straight up,
  • separated from the booster, (the black flaming thing with the white fins),
  • turning (diving) towards the intercept point with the target,
  • starting the sustainer rocket engine to reach 2,700 miles per hour.
If the target is 90 miles approaching at mach 1.5, the missile will meet the target 60 miles away in 90 seconds.

The Nike Hercules shown here defended major U.S. target areas against aircraft attack from 1958 to 1974. It had an effective range of over 75 miles and a speed of mach 3.6. South Korea has over 200 of these missiles, with associated radars and guidance systems, currently in service.

Its predecessor, the smaller Nike Ajax, was in service from 1954 through about 1965. It had a range of 25 miles and a speed of mach 2.5.

... ...
Click here for expanded graphics scanned by Pete Wurzbach C/4/562 Alvarado, Texas


2.3 MBytes A short easy introduction to the Nike Anti-Aircraft system from Michael Keller

Posted May 3, 2013 Click on image to download the .pdf

"Camp Sarafi", South Korea
from Al Dietz ... I believe the balloon antennas are left to right: TTR, TRR, and MTR. The LOPAR acquisition radar is behind the building.
I don't normally post pictures of individual sites (too many), but isn't this bleak ?? Gads - imagine winter ?

A Great Photo Study of an abandoned Nike site - by Rich Lewis

Lumberton, New Jersey PH23/25, Rich Lewis photo study
A local HTML version, (I worry about "good stuff" going away.)

Intercept - A little more technical ;-))

This is a plot of a Nike Hercules intercepting a target flying at 52,000 feet.
The vertical scale is altitude in feet. (max 100,000 feet)
    The left trace is the Nike missile, the right is the target.
The horizonal scale is computed time to intercept, in seconds.
    The middle is time zero, intercept.
Note: Against high flying targets such as this, the Hercules does not necessarily go above the target.
from TM9-1400-250-10/2 page 36, Manual

Cold War in South Florida, ... Study available free online - posted Mar 4, 2010


3 MBytes 		Click on image to download the .pdf
Good news. The Cold War Study of Nike Hercules in South Florida ($19.95 plus shipping) has been re-released in pdf format as a public domain document.

The tours of HM-69 has been overwhelming at Everglades National Park for the second year. Tours will be conducted through the end of March.

Charles D. Carter

Fort Bliss Pictures
Excellent pictures of Ft. Bliss, Juarez and El Paso, courtesy of Butchijo

Alaska Nike Veteran Reunion A-2-562 information Help is needed to sponsor Nike Reunions

The Cuban Missile Crisis by James Whitaker (Nike, South Florida)

The Cold War is an Electronic War (Soviets shot down 23 of our ELINT Planes) 36 minutes through 44 minutes

Michael Keller wrote (Feb 2009) & (Dec 2010) & (Aug 2011) & (Dec 2012)

Cover of 2 MByte brochure. Just found this nice piece on Ebay. Printing Date is 10-15-56.

"The purpose of this booklet is to inform high-school graduates and their parents of the matchless opportunities that lie within the Army Antiaircraft Command."

Well, most of the once-addressed kids will be retired by now, but maybe they remember this booklet.

It's a 3 page folder, size 500mm x 100mm. (Yes I prefer metric 🙂)

But look on the front cover: seems that track LIMA296 has slipped through!!

It has a beautiful painting inside and a funny 70's scene on the backside.

It contains the original Team Nike decal and a small brochure. Both items came together with the MISSILE MASTER booklet [600 KB].

The diameter of the decal is 4.06 inch (103 mm).

With kind regards from Germany.

A recruiting brochure featuring the Nike Hercules, "Now making its appearance on-site."

What is a Radar Mile?

12.36 Microseconds
The time it takes for a radio signal to hit an object one nautical mile distant and reflect back.
Radio waves travel at the speed of light, 186,000 miles a second or 300000 Km.

Who Invented the first working radar system ?

The English like to take credit for radar, but a German inventor named Christian Hulsmeyer from Dusseldorf Germany invented the first working radar system for boats on the Rhine River in 1904.
He thought it would be a success and all the shipping companies would want to buy it.
Instead, they thought it was a useless contraption, even though it was well designed and worked perfectly.
35 years later, when Germany began bombing Britian, the radar concept gained new interest.
The English scientist Sir Robert Watson Watt can take credit for perfecting the first working radar system for detecting aircraft in flight.
The predecessor was invented 35 years earlier by the German Inventor for detection of moving ships and had several patents.

Nike in Overall Air Defense


TU-4 "Bull" Bomber
photo credit Wikipedia
TU-95 "Bear" Bomber
Wikipedia

TU-22M "Backfire" Bomber
photo credit Wikipedia
?Soviet Airfield?
A response

Nike Missile Batteries and Community Service

This circa-1966 letter from the Battalion Commander of the Los Angeles Defense Area reflects the often-overlooked civic role of Nike missile units.

Beyond their Cold War mission, soldiers assigned to Nike Site LA-78 in Malibu actively supported local organizations and contributed significantly to the regional economy through their payroll and daily presence in the community.

Lt. Colonel John L.Armstrong Battalion Commander, 4th BN (HERC) 65th ARTY Los Angeles, July 1964-February 1966

Click Here to read story



Nike Missile Museums, US, Alaska, and Italy

Sandy Hook NJ NY-56 Tour Info
Site Summit Anchorage AK More Info
Everglades Miami-Dade Florida HM-69 History Info
Baltimore MD BA-79 Project Info

More on BA-79

Sausalito CA NPS SF-88 Nike Missile Museum Museum Info
Base Tuono - Folgaria-Coe Italy
(Sister site to SF-88 by proclaimation of the Mayor of Folgaria)
 Site Info


More detailed museum information is available on this Link; Click for more museum information

Nike Cajun - Sweden 1962

 I have never heard of a Nike Cajun, until I recently received an email from Professor Thomas Lindblad from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

So I Googled it and there it was !

Nike Cajun - Air and Space Museum

It appears to be a Nike Ajax booster with a unique sustainer motor and front nose section. It was used in atmospheric testing in the upper atmosphere. The Nike Cajun could reach a maximum altitude of 120 km (394,000 ft).

The maximum speed of the Nike-Cajun was 6,760 km/h (1,880 m/s; 4,200 mph).

Much faster than the Mach 2.25 or 1669 MPH of the Nike Ajax.

The Cajun stage of this rocket was named for the Cajun people of South Louisiana because one of the rocket's designers, J. G. Thibodaux, was a Cajun.

Read more about the Nike Cajun and its 17-year-old launch crewman, Professor Thomas Lindblad

Click to read about Nike Cajun

Nike History

  • 416L is the name of the North American air defense system. ( 28 page, 3.3 MByte .pdf document )
  • DEW Line Distant Early Warning Line - more
  • Pine Tree Line (with techie error about how radar cooks)
  • Some info on Texas Towers 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, AirForce, ...
  • SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment)
  • MIT - Lincoln Laboratory - SAGE

    • Nike Site Technical information

    Nike Operational information

    Support for Nike Field Batteries (and museums)

    On-Line documents - Longer range radars another site
    - Un-Numbered Documents
    - Numbered Documents

  • Numbered Documents - sorted
    - Two lists of Nike Documents, List-Nike-Technical-Manuals.pdf and GOGA-List-of-Manuals.pdf from Charles D. Carter
    - Eight of the GOGA scanned manuals size reduced by https://www.ilovepdf.com/compress_pdf

    Places to visit, physical and on-line

    People and Trip Reports

    Stories, Questions

    Other -

    Formal Names

    Formal identifications (as per Ron Parshall).
    Nike Ajax
  • TARGET TRACKING OA-858/MPA-4
  • Missile Tracking Radar OA-859 MPA-4

    • About photo submission

    New policy: I am introducing a Photo Exchange so that those who wish to share can, and those who wish, can ask. I hope this works better than my previous "no photos" policy. You are still invited to look up web sites who specialize in a particular area, and offer there.

    Thank you

    Ed Thelen

    Good news ;-)) Nike not considered obsolete. ;-))

    Return to Technical

    Subject: Status updat of my FOIA to Redstone Arsenal for the history of the Nike Hercules weapons system by Mary T Cagle
    From: James Newman < jamesnewman1976 @ yahoo . com >
    Date: Mon, July 17, 2017

    Dear Ed,
    I just got my FOIA to Redstone Arsenal US Army Material Command denied. I am going to appeal within the 60 day time limit. This document was denied under Executive order 13526 section 3.3 Section 4 "For State of the art technology" the document will remain classified for 50 years from its creation date until 2023. Vacuum tube technology of the early to mid-1950s is not state of the art technology. This system went defunct in 1980 when the last Nikes were decommissioned in Florida and Alaska.

    Cory Newman

    General diagram of a Nike Hercules site.

    Figure from FM 44-1-2 ADA Reference Handbook, 15 June 1984, as found on page 20 of "Rings of Supersonic Steel".

    If you have comments or suggestions, Send e-mail to Ed Thelen (ed@ed-thelen.org)
    Some     flattering pictures of Ed, a short bio.


    The rest of this web site is being enhanced frequently.

    - - - - - - - - More Topics - - - - - - - - -

    A ABC-Computer Allen Telescope Array, AnalogDiscovery, Ancient Earth, (Antikythera Mechanism Lecture, Nature), Antonov AN 124, Apollo Guidance Computer, Apple Crash, Ardenwood Volunteer N Navy Seal Team 6, NCRR Train-of-Lights, NORAD, the NFL is NFG, Nuclear Fusion Is Already Facing a Fuel Crisis, Nuclear Engineering & Ionizing Radiation Course OnLine - MIT
    B Baby Birds, Babbage Difference Engine, 2nd Babbage Machine, Beale Tour "Pave Paws", Bletchley Park - 1998, Burroughs/Electrodata docs, Buying a Car, O Obama, Mystery Man, Old FAA Radio and Beacon Navigation Aids, Old Folks Jokes, Oil - Shallow Oil Wells-Ferdig, Oil - Museum Of Offshore Operations Oscillator, Sulzer
    C ChatGPT, China Trips 1996 & 2009, Chronic Venous Disease - a & b, Computational Mathematics, Computer-History, Control Data Experience, Crazyfornia, Crete Nike Firing - 1998, P Pave Paws, Pi, Pi (serious), Plutonium, Primate, Edgar, Leakey pre-publication versions of Scientific Papers available
    and the press, Adventures with the press, Bull Crap Journalism, Puzzlement,
    D Deutsches Museum Dimensions, Troublesome Q Quantum mechanics ?? ;-),
    E Eclipse1999&2017, Ed's Biography, Einstein, Relativity Electrified CVCC, Electron-CryoTomography On-line classes, Energy, ERMA - 1950's B of A automation, R Radiation, Ionizing, RAMAC Project, , Robo-AO,
    F Ford Model-T Auto, Fortran Histories, Fujitsu SV600, Feynman "Lectures on Physics" 3 vols. S Safer Human-Computer Interfaces, SALT telescope, Scientific Data Management System, Amateur Seismology, Siesta Lovers, Software Defigned Radio, Point Reyes, Solyndra-bankrupt, StarLink, techie stuff
    G G.E. Computer Dept, Good Ole Daize, Google Books - local copy, Gout diet recommendations, Gravitational Waves, Green Bank Radio Telescope, Gyroscope, T Thelen 1940s, Teletype Mod 28 Maintenance, TESS follow-on to Kepler Mission, Taiwan vs Wuhan virus, Tulare 2012 Antique Farm Equipment, 3 Doors Problem
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    Some of my favorite videos

    - George S. Patton: American Ajax
    - from Neil Shubin & PBS, "Your Inner Fish, Reptile, Monkey
    - Prof Richard Muller: Former Climate Change Skeptic
          (For those who were appalled by the East Anglia College methods)
    - Richard Muller: Physics for Future Presidents
    - Lucky Luckadoo B-17, 100 years old
    - Secret History of Silicon Valley, Steve Blank
    - Synthetic Aperture Radar, Scott Manley
    - Abandoned Nuclear Antiballistic Missile Base A 20-year History of Antiballistic Missile Systems
    - The Insane Engineering of the X-15,
    - "Colors" and "Rainbows, for physics teachers" - (my titles ;--) - by Walter Lewin, MIT
    - Hubble seminar, a techie delight
    - parallel projections and the Radon transform
    - The Applications of Matrices | What I wish my teachers told me way earlier, & 3Blue1Brown
    - The Astonishing Simplicity of Everything
    - Mathematics Gives You Wings
    - Distant Early Warning Radar: "The DEW Line Story" 1958 AT&T - Western Electric
    - Transistor Full Documentary
    - Nuclear 101: How Nuclear Bombs Work, Part 1, Part 2 Nuclear Accidents: Lessons Learned (Dr. Brian Sheron)