RIM-2 Terrier

RIM-2 Terrier
RIM-2 Terrier on board USS Boston (CAG-1)
Type	Medium Range Surface-to-air missile
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States Navy, and others.
Production history
Manufacturer	Convair - Pomona, California Division
Specifications
Weight	3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) missile: 1,180 pounds (540 kg), booster: 1,820 pounds (830 kg)
Length	27 feet (8.2 m)
Diameter	13.5 inches (34 cm)
Warhead	218 pounds (99 kg) controlled-fragmentation or 1kT W45 nuclear warhead
Engine	solid fuel rocket
Propellant	solid rocket fuel
Operational range	17.3 nautical miles (32.0 km)
Flight ceiling	80,000 feet (24,000 m)
Speed	Mach 3.0
Guidance system	Semi-active radar homing
Launch platform	Surface ship

The Convair RIM-2 Terrier was a two-stage medium-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. It underwent significant upgrades while in service, starting with a beam-riding system with 10 nautical miles (19 km) range at a speed of Mach 1.8, and ending as a semi-active radar homing system with a range of 40 nautical miles (74 km) at speeds as high as Mach 3. It was replaced in service by the RIM-67 Standard ER (SM-1ER).

Terrier has also been used as a sounding rocket.

The Terrier was a development of the Bumblebee Project, the Navy's effort to develop a surface-to-air missile to provide a middle layer of defense against air attack (between carrier fighters and antiaircraft guns). It was test launched from USS Mississippi (AG-128) ex (BB-41) on January 28, 1953, and first deployed operationally on the Boston-class cruisers, USS Boston (CAG-1) and USS Canberra (CAG-2) in the mid-1950s, with Canberra being the first to achieve operational status June 15, 1956. Its US Navy designation was SAM-N-7 until 1963 when it was re-designated RIM-2.

For a brief time during the mid-1950s the USMC had two Terrier battalions equipped with specially modified twin sea launchers for land use that fired the SAM-N-7. The Terrier was the first surface-to-air missile operational with the USMC. The launchers were reloaded by a special vehicle that carried two Terrier reloads.

Initially, the Terrier used radar beam-riding guidance, forward aerodynamic controls, and a conventional warhead. It had a top speed of only Mach 1.8, a range of only 10 nautical miles (19 km), and was only useful against subsonic targets. Originally, the Terrier had a launch thrust of 23 kN (5,200 lbf), and weight of 1,392 kilograms (3,069 lb). Its original dimensions were a diameter of 340 mm, a length of 8.08 m, and a fin span of 1.59 m. Cost per missile in 1957 was an estimated $60,000.