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Pershing 1a

Pershing 1
missile erect and prepared for launch while missile is launching in background
Pershing round 32 launched from Hueco Range, Texas by A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 44th Field Artillery, targeted for White Sands Missile Range on 20 August 1963
Type Surface-to-surface guided missile
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1962–1969
Used by
Production history
Designer The Martin Company
Designed 1958–1960
Manufacturer

The Martin Company

Martin Marietta
Produced 1960–1969
No. built 754 MGM-31A missiles
Specifications
Weight 10,275 pounds (4,661 kg)
Length 34.6 feet (10.5 m)
Diameter 40 inches (1 m)
Blast yield
  • W50 nuclear warhead
  • 60 kilotons of TNT (0.25 PJ)
  • 200 kilotons of TNT (0.84 PJ)
  • 400 kilotons of TNT (1.7 PJ)

Engine
  • First stage: Thiokol TX-174
  • 25,900 pounds-force (115 kN) 38.3 s
  • Second stage: Thiokol TX-175
  • 19,100 pounds-force (85 kN) 39 s
Operational
range
460 miles (740 km)
Boost time 77.3 seconds
Speed Mach 8
Guidance
system
Eclipse-Pioneer ST-120 inertial guidance
Steering
system
Jet vanes, air vanes
Accuracy 1,310 feet (400 m) circular error probable
Launch
platform
M474 transporter erector launcher
Pershing 1a
missile launching, missile in foreground prepared for launch
Pershing 1a launched from the Eastern Range, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 16 by C Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Field Artillery on 26 October 1976
Type Surface-to-surface guided missile
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1969–1991
Used by
Production history
Designer Martin Marietta
Designed 1965–1969
Manufacturer Martin Marietta
Produced 1969
No. built 754 MGM-31A missiles
Specifications
Weight 10,275 pounds (4,661 kg)
Length 34.6 feet (10.5 m)
Diameter 40 inches (1 m)
Blast yield
  • W50 nuclear warhead
  • 60 kilotons of TNT (0.25 PJ)
  • 200 kilotons of TNT (0.84 PJ)
  • 400 kilotons of TNT (1.7 PJ)

Engine
  • First stage: Thiokol TX-174
  • 25,900 pounds-force (115 kN) 38.3 s
  • Second stage: Thiokol TX-175
  • 19,100 pounds-force (85 kN) 39 s
Operational
range
460 miles (740 km)
Boost time 77.3 seconds
Speed Mach 8
Guidance
system
Eclipse-Pioneer ST-120 inertial guidance
Steering
system
Jet vanes, air vanes
Accuracy 1,310 feet (400 m) circular error probable
Launch
platform
M790 erector launcher
Transport M757 5-ton tractor

The MGM-31A Pershing was the missile used in the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a field artillery missile systems. It was a solid-fueled two-stage ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon of the United States Army and replaced the MGM-1 Matador cruise missiles operated by the German Air Force. Pershing later replaced the European-based MGM-13 Mace cruise missiles deployed by the United States Air Force and the German Air Force. Development began in 1958, with the first test missile fired in 1960, the Pershing 1 system deployed in 1963 and the improved Pershing 1a deployed in 1969. The U.S. Army replaced the Pershing 1a with the Pershing II Weapon System in 1983 while the German Air Force retained Pershing 1a until all Pershings were eliminated in 1991. The U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) managed the development and improvements while the Field Artillery Branch deployed the systems and developed tactical doctrine.

The Martin Company

George Bunker, president of the Martin Company, paid a courtesy call on General John Medaris, USA, of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama in 1956 . Medaris noted that it would be helpful to the Army if there was a missile plant near the Air Force Missile Test Center (present day Cape Canaveral Air Force Station) in Florida. The Martin Company subsequently began construction of their Sand Lake facility in Orlando, Florida which opened in late 1957. Edward Uhl, the co-inventor of the bazooka, was the vice-president and general manager of the new factory, which continues to operate today as the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control facility.


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