Project Emily

Project Emily
Thor missile launch, code name "Bean Ball", Vandenberg AFB, 3 August 1959. The third of 21 Thor missiles launched by RAF crews
Commercial?	No
Type of project	Missile deployments
Country	United Kingdom
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Key people	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Established	1959
Disestablished	1963

Project Emily was the deployment of American-built PGM-17 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the United Kingdom between 1959 and 1963.

Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command operated 60 Douglas Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, dispersed to 20 RAF air stations, as part of the UK nuclear deterrent force.

Due to concerns over the buildup of Soviet missiles, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower met Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in Bermuda in March 1957 to explore the possibility of short-term deployment on UK soil, until more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles were deployed.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, 59 of the RAF missiles, with their W49 1.44 megaton thermonuclear warheads, were brought to operational readiness.

Intended to remain in place until 1968, the missile force was disbanded in 1963, and the missiles were returned to the U.S., most for eventual use in developing hardware and techniques as part of the space race.

Originally conceived as a four-squadron deployment, with each squadron controlling five "flights" of three missiles each, these flights were subsequently reconfigured into separate squadrons. For example, on 22 July 1959, C Flight of No. 77 Squadron was redesignated No. 107 Squadron.

The subsequent deployment was based on 4 "Strategic Missile Groups", each comprising five squadrons, and each squadron being equipped with three missiles.

The groups were based at RAF stations at Driffield, Feltwell, Hemswell and North Luffenham, with their satellite bases in close proximity:

North Luffenham and Feltwell came under No. 3 Group RAF, Air Vice-Marshal Michael Harington Dwyer Air Officer Commanding. Feltwell was also home to Bomber Command Strategic Missile School.