Nike Zeus
Much like the NIKE air defense systems that preceded it, the ABM system evolved through many stages. The same Bell Labs that produced NIKE AJAX and NIKE HERCULES spearheaded the ABM effort, although many more subcontractors were involved.
America's ABM system was the result of a research and development effort started in 1956. It began with the Army's NIKE ZEUS system, a concept very similar to the other NIKE systems. ZEUS had radars to acquire and track the target and also a radar to track the intercepting missile, as well as a computer. Another radar not found in other NIKE systems was a discrimination radar used to determine which objects being tracked were threatening, because of decoys being mixed with incoming warheads. However, this system suffered from the same problem as other NIKE systems and the HAWK system: it could track and intercept only one target at a time.
In January 1961 ARGMA submitted “NIKE-ZEUS Defense Production Plan” to the Chief of Ordnance. The plan provided for the production and deployment, over an eight-year period, of 29 defense centers, 70 batteries and supporting equipment and 3,160 missiles. Plan approved by Secretary of the Army and forwarded to Secretary of Defense. NIKE ZEUS system is composed of a ZEUS Acquisition Radar, two Target Track Radars, one Discrimination Radar, three Missile Track Radars, battery control equipment, target interceptor computer and four ZEUS launch cells. By June 1961 the entire NIKE-ZEUS system (4 launch cells, 7 radars and battery control equipment and target intercept computer) had been installed on Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR) for testing.
The system demonstrated its ability to intercept single objects successfully with its first live intercept at Kwajalein in July 1962.
ZEUS was severely limited by several factors that made its operational deployment impractical. Decoys, chaff, balloons and other means of confusing such an elementary system were conceived or developed. It was limited by its low traffic handling capability. Exoatmospheric discrimination of the incoming objects was impossible and atmospheric discrimination resulted in commitment altitudes that were too low for practical use. These disadvantages were so serious that in January 1961 the Nike Zeus program was canceled and a new development, NIKE X, begun.
Draft Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Kennedy, dated September 30, 1961, summarizes the various factors that were considered in reaching a decision to recommend a program for deployment of Nike Zeus. The recommended program was 6 Zeus Defense Centers, each with a Zeus Acquisition Radar, and 12 Nike-Zeus batteries, each with one discrimination radar, 6 target track radars, 12 missile track radars, and 96 missiles. The mission of the system, which would take 6 years to complete installation from the time of a decision to construct it, was to defend 6 cities and "about 39 million people."
"A recent technical analysis has confirmed that Nike Zeus will not provide soft targets an effective defense against large scale or sophisticated ICBM attacks. A purely technical appraisal would not lead to a recommendation for deployment of a weapon system with so limited an operational effectiveness. This has been the conclusion of past technical evaluations; the current review has revealed no important new technical factors.
"The existence of a deployed defense may substantially increase the degree of uncertainty at the Soviet decision-making level. The offense will find it more difficult to be certain that weaknesses do not exist which may have been discovered by the defense. Recent evidence indicates that existing warheads on our ballistic missiles are subject to destruction at fairly large distances by nuclear detonations. Though this would not in fact make Nike Zeus effective against planned U.S. missile systems, it is an example of the unpredictable elements involved.
"Some counter may be desirable against future Soviet claims to a successful anti-missile system. Soviet efforts in the field of ballistic missile defense appear to be more ambitious than our own efforts. Even if U.S. scientists can offer claims of a U.S. capability to counter completely the USSR defense, this will not cancel out the psychological advantage gained by the USSR in announcing or demonstrating an ICBM defense capability.
"It should be recognized that deployment of any active city defense (including Nike Zeus) presupposes a system of civilian fall-out shelters. There is at least one danger in deployment of a defense system of doubtful effectiveness such as Nike Zeus: the Executive Branch of the government, the Congress, and the people may develop an unwarranted faith in its capability to deter a Soviet attack or to mitigate its consequences if full-scale nuclear warfare is initiated."
