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| Manufacturer | Martin Marietta |
| First stage | Hercules X-265 2900 kN (650,000 lbf) |
| Second stage | Hercules X-271 |
| Length | 8.20 m overall |
| Diameter | 1.35 m |
| Wingspan | |
| Mass | 3500 kg |
| Range | 40 km |
| Ceiling | 30 km |
| Max Speed | >Mach 10 (7500 mph) |
| Typical battery crew | |
| Guidance system | Radio Command |
| Warhead | W-66 nuclear low Kt, enhanced radiation |
| Firing modes: | |
| Magazine capacity: | |
| Rate of fire: | |
| Introduction date: | IOC:1972 |
The Sprint was a two-stage, solid-fuel anti-ballistic missile, armed with a W66 enhanced radiation thermonuclear warhead. It was designed as the short-range high-speed counterpart to the longer-range LIM-49 Spartan as part of the Sentinel program. Sentinel never became operational, but the technology was deployed briefly in a downsized version called the Safeguard program. The Sprint, like the Spartan, was in operational service for only a few months in the Safeguard program, from October 1975 to early 1976. A combination of high costs, congressional opposition, and questionable efficacy resulted in a very short operational period.
The Sprint accelerated at 100 g, reaching a speed of Mach 10 in 5 seconds. It was designed for close-in defense against incoming nuclear weapons. As the last line of defense it was to intercept the reentry vehicles that had not been destroyed by the Spartan, with which it was deployed.
The Sprint was stored in and launched from a silo. To make the launch as quick as possible, the cover was blown off the silo by explosive charges; Then the missile was ejected by an explosive-driven piston. As the missile cleared the silo, the first stage fired and the missile was tilted toward its target. The first stage was exhausted after only 1.2 seconds, but produced 2900 kN (650,000 lbf) of thrust. The second stage fired within 1 - 2 seconds of launch. Interception at an altitude of 1500 m to 30000 m took at most 15 seconds.
The Sprint was controlled by ground-based radio command, which tracked the incoming reentry vehicles with phased-array radar and guided the missile to its target.
The Sprint was armed with an enhanced radiation nuclear warhead with a yield reportedly of a few kilotons, though the exact number has not been declassified. The warhead was intended to destroy the incoming reentry vehicle primarily by neutron flux.
See also
- Anti-ballistic missile
- Surface-to-air missile
- LIM-49 Spartan
- Nike-Hercules missile
- Project Nike
- Safeguard Program
References
- Sprint
- Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles
- Terminal defense using the Sprint
- Sprint missile launch
- Nike Sprint dual launch during a salvo test at Kwajalein Atoll test range
- Video of Nike Sprint launch (2 MB .mpg)
- Encyclopedia Astronautica - Sprint
- Chapter 9: Sprint Missile Subsystem from ABM Research and development at Bell Labs
- Nike Sprint and Spartan Photo Gallery
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