HGM-25A Titan I

Titan I

Launch of a Titan I ICBM from Cape Canaveral
Function	ICBM
Manufacturer	Martin Company
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	$1.5m (USD)
Cost per year	1962
Size
Height	31 m
Diameter	3.05 m
Mass	105,140 kg
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO	1,800 (Never used as a launch vehicle)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-15, LC-16, LC-19 & LC-20 Vandenberg AFB OSTF SLTF LC-395
Total launches	70
Success(es)	53
Failure(s)	17
First flight	6 February 1959
Last flight	5 March 1965
First stage
Engines	2 LR-87
Thrust	1 900 kN (430 000 lbf)
Specific impulse	290 seconds
Burn time	140 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Engines	1 LR-91
Thrust	356 kN (80 000 lbf)
Specific impulse	308 sec
Burn time	155 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX

The Titan I was the United States' first true multistage ICBM. It was the first in a series of Titan rockets, but was unique among them in that it used LOX and RP-1 as its propellants, while the later Titan versions all used storeable fuels instead.

The program began in January 1955 and took shape in parallel with the Atlas (SM-65/HGM-16) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Air Force's goal in launching the Titan program was twofold: one, to serve as a backup should Atlas fail; and two, to develop a large, two-stage missile with a longer range and bigger payload that also could serve as a booster for space flights.

The Titan I HGM-25A, initially called the SM-68 - originally it was the XB-68 before the Air Force began designating missiles as SM for strategic missile and TM for tactical missiles. The XB-68 designation was originally assigned to a Martin supersonic bomber concept that was canceled during the design phase.

Produced by the Glenn L. Martin Company (which became "The Martin Company" in 1957), Titan I was a two-stage, liquid-fueled missile. The first stage delivered 300,000 pounds thrust (1,330 kN) of thrust, the second stage 80,000 pounds thrust (356 kN). The fact that Titan I, like Atlas, burned RP-1 and LOX meant that the oxidizer had to be loaded onto the missile just before launch from the underground storage tank, and the missile raised above ground on the enormous elevator system, exposing the missile for some time before launch. The complexity of the system combined with its relatively slow reaction time - fifteen minutes to load, raise and launch the first missile, made it a less effective weapon system.

Titan I utilized radio command guidance. The inertial guidance system originally intended for the missile was instead eventually deployed in the Atlas E missile. (The Atlas series was intended to be the first generation of American ICBMs and Titan II (as opposed to Titan I) was to be the second generation deployed). An inertial guidance system would have allowed Titan I, once launched, to guide itself independently to a pre-programmed target. It would not have relied upon continuous radio command signals from a ground location, or upon the ability to receive and react to such signals.

Titan I also was the first true multi-stage (two or more stages) design. Whereas in Atlas, all rocket engines were ignited at launch (including two small thrust vernier engines) due to the unreliable nature of the engines, Titan I’s second stage engines were reliable enough to be ignited at altitude, after separation from the first stage booster; and its fuel tanks, engines, launch interface equipment, and launch pad thrust ring. Titan I’s ability to jettison this mass prior to the ignition of the second stage, meant that Titan I had a much greater total range (and a greater range per pound of second stage fuel) than Atlas, even if the total fuel load of Atlas had been greater.

Each Titan I missile squadron was composed of three extensive underground launch complexes. these were composed of a control center, powerhouse, and two antenna silos for the ATHENA guidance radars. There were three missile silos, each of which had a propellant terminal and equipment terminal nearby. All these facilities were underground, and connected by tunnels. The distance between the antenna silos and the most distant missile silo was between 1,000 and 1,300 feet. These were by far the most complex, extensive and expensive missile launch facilities ever deployed by the USAF. Launching a missile required fueling it in its silo, and then raising the launcher and missile out of the silo on a massive elevator. Before each launch the guidance radar had to be calibrated by acquiring a special target at a precisely known range and bearing. When the missile was launched, the guidance radar tracked the missile and supplied precise velocity range and azimuth data to the missile's guidance system. Because of this the complex could only launch and track one missile at a time. The Titan I had an effective range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km). When the first stage had finished consuming its propellant, it dropped away, thereby decreasing the mass of the vehicle. That made for a more efficient missile, which resulted in increased range and enabled a larger payload.

The warhead of the Titan I was an AVCO Mk 4 re-entry vehicle containing a W38 thermonuclear bomb with a yield of 3.75 megatons which was fuzed for either air burst or contact burst. The Mk 4 RV also deployed penetration aids in the form of mylar balloons which replicated the radar signature of the Mk 4 RV.

When the storable-fueled Titan II and the solid-fueled Minuteman I were deployed in 1963, the Titan I and Atlas missiles became obsolete. They were retired from service as ICBMs in early 1965. The Titan II remained in service until the 1980s however, as it carried a much larger payload (a multi-megaton hydrogen warhead) that could be used as an effective "city buster".

Titan 1 Specifications

• Liftoff thrust: 1,296 kN Total mass: 105,142 kg
• Core diameter: 3.1 m. Total length: 31.0 m
• Development cost: $1,643,300,000 in 1960 dollars.
• Flyaway cost: $1,500,000 each, in 1962 dollars.
• Total development missiles built: 47. Total missiles fired: 68.
• Total production missiles built: 108. Total deployed missiles: 54.

Titan 1 First Stage:

• Gross mass: 76,203 kg
• Empty mass: 4,000 kg
• Thrust (vac): 1,467 kN
• Isp (vac): 290 s (2.84 kN·s/kg)
• Isp (sea level): 256 s (2.51 kN·s/kg)
• Burn time: 138 s
• Diameter: 3.1 m
• Span: 3.1 m
• Length: 16.0 m
• Propellants: liquid oxygen (LOX)/kerosene
• Number of engines: Two - Aerojet LR-87-3

Titan 1 Second Stage:

• Gross mass: 28,939 kg
• Empty mass: 1,725 kg
• Thrust (vac):356 kN
• Isp (vac): 308 s (3.02 kN·s/kg)
• Isp (sea level): 210 s (2.06 kN·s/kg)
• Burn time: 225 s
• Diameter: 2.3 m
• Span: 2.3 m
• Length: 9.8 m
• Propellants: liquid oxygen (LOX)/kerosene
• Number of engines: One - Aerojet LR-91-3

Service history

The number of Titan I missiles in service, by year:

• 1961 - 1
• 1962 - 62
• 1963 - 63
• 1964 - 56

Operational units

Each squadron was deployed in a 3x3 configuration, which meant a total of nine missiles were divided into three launch sites. Each missile site had three Titan I ICBM missiles ready to launch at any given time. See squadron article for location of launch sites.

• 568th Strategic Missile Squadron April 1961-March 1965

Larson AFB, Washington

• 569th Strategic Missile Squadron June 1961-March 1965

Mountain Home AFB, Idaho

• 724th Strategic Missile Squadron April 1961-June 1965

Lowry AFB, Colorado

• 850th Strategic Missile Squadron June 1960-March 1965

Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota

• 851st Strategic Missile Squadron February 1961-March 1965

Beale AFB, California

Survivors

Below is a list of museums which have a Titan I missile in their collection:

• Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
• Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
• NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California
• Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 395-C, Lompoc, California
• City of Lompoc, Lompoc, California
• U.S. Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio
• South Dakota Air & Space Museum, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
• Florence Regional Airport, Florence, South Carolina

While not a museum, a Titan 1 missile is on display in Cordele, Georgia, adjacent to I-75, at exit 101. It is in a parking lot between a Chevron filling station and a Krystal restaurant.
Google Street View

External links

• Tri-City Herald article by Kristin Alexander about Titan 1 complexes in Washington State
• Information on "Northern California Triad" of Titan missile bases in Lincoln, California; Chico, California and Live Oak, Sutter County, California (Sutter Buttes)

See also

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of missiles