ROCKETRY—COX AND STOIKO 283 
been traced to failure in the propellant feed system. Finally, on 
December 17, 1957, the third Atlas test vehicle was successfully 
launched and guided several hundred miles downrange to a pre- 
scribed target area. 
The Titan, currently a backup to the Atlas project, is a more 
sophisticated approach to the ICBM design. The Titan is a two- 
stage “tandem” vehicle with an estimated length of over 100 feet 
and diameter of 10 feet. The vehicle weighs more than 200,000 
pounds at takeoff. The propulsion system is believed to have 300,000 
pounds of thrust in the first stage and 60,000 pounds of thrust in 
the second. The missile is currently in the development phase— 
and Air Force officials have said that they are pleased with the 
progress. 
The missile arsenal would be incomplete without mention of the 
surface-to-surface, air-breathing, pilotless aircraft missiles. 
Currently, there are four surface-to-surface pilotless aircraft. 
There are the Navy’s Triton and Regulus II and the Air Force’s 
Snark and Matador. The propulsion for these vehicles is either 
turbojet or ramjet, and the ranges vary from the Matador’s me- 
dium range of 600 miles to the Triton and Regulus with a range 
from 1,000 to 1,500 miles. The Snark can claim a range of over 
5,000 miles. All vehicles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. 
The prime difference between these vehicles is that the Navy vehicles 
are launched from submarines whereas the Air Force vehicles are 
launched conventionally. 
The antiaircraft, air-breathing missiles are the well-known Navy 
Talos and the Air Force Bomare. As is characteristic with all air- 
breathing engines, there are operational limits in both speed and 
altitude. 
The Air Force’s Bomare, because of its long-range capabilities, is 
known as an “area” antiaircraft defense missile, as opposed to the 
Army’s Nike “point defense” missile. The Bomare is almost 47 feet 
long and 3 feet in diameter. Speeds and altitudes have not been offi- 
cially released; however, some of the earlier test vehicles achieved 
velocities of over 1,500 miles and altitudes of over 60,000 feet. The 
range is given as 200 to 300 miles. The vehicle is boosted by a liquid 
rocket and sustained by two ramjet engines. The range of the missile 
is greater than the other missiles of this category. On May 16, 1957, 
the Bomare was awarded an initial production contract. It is ex- 
pected that as soon as the Bomarc becomes available in quantity, it 
will be operated by the Air Defense Command in the more strategic 
areas. 
We have summarized the state of missile development today among 
nations. It must be noted that we have only touched on the highlights 
