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| LIM-49 Spartan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Anti-ballistic missile |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1975-1976 |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Western Electric & McDonnell Douglas |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 29,000 lb (13,100 kg) |
| Length | 55 ft 2 in (16.8 m) |
| Diameter | 3 ft 7 in (1.08 m) |
| Wingspan | 9 ft 9.6 in (2.98 m) |
| Warhead | W71 nuclear; 5 megatonnes of TNT (21 PJ) |
| Engine | 1st Stage: Thiokol TX-500 (2200 kN); 2nd Stage: Thiokol TX-454; 3rd Stage: Thiokol TX-239 |
| Propellant | Solid fuel |
Operational range | 460 mi (740 km) |
| Flight altitude | 350 mi (560 km) |
| Maximum speed | >Mach 3-4 |
Guidance system | Radio command |
Launch platform | Silo |
The LIM-49 Spartan was a United States Army anti-ballistic missile, designed to intercept attacking nuclear warheads from intercontinental ballistic missiles at long range and while still outside the atmosphere. For actual deployment, a five-megaton thermonuclear warhead was planned to destroy the incoming ICBM warheads.[1] It was part of the Safeguard Program.
The Spartan was the latest and, as it turned out, final development in a long series of missile designs from the team of Bell Laboratories and Douglas Aircraft Company that started in the 1940s with the Nike. Spartan was developed directly from the preceding LIM-49 Nike Zeus, retaining the same tri-service identifier, but growing larger and longer ranged, from the Zeus' 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) to approximately 450 nautical miles (830 km; 520 mi).
The Spartan was superseded by the Nike-X project, later becoming the Sentinel Program. This was eventually cancelled and replaced with the much smaller Safeguard Program. Spartans were deployed as part of the Safeguard system from October 1975 to early 1976.