AIR-2 Genie

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AIR-2 Genie
Solid fuel
Operational
range
6 miles (9.7 km)
Maximum speed Mach 3.3

The

Air Command 1968–1984)[2] during the Cold War
. Production ended in 1962 after over 3,000 were made, with some related training and test derivatives being produced later.

Development

A Convair F-106 of the California Air National Guard fires an inert version of the Genie
Yucca Flats, Nevada Test Site
at an altitude of ~15,000 ft (4.5 km).

The interception of

atomic bomb
in 1949, produced considerable anxiety.

The

Douglas Aircraft
began a program to investigate the possibility of a nuclear-armed air-to-air weapon. To ensure simplicity and reliability, the weapon would be unguided, since the large blast radius made precise accuracy unnecessary.

The then top-secret project had various code names, such as Bird Dog, Ding Dong, and High Card. Full-scale development began in 1955, with test firing of inert warhead rockets commencing in early 1956. The final design carried a 1.5-

W25 nuclear warhead and was powered by a Thiokol SR49-TC-1 solid-fuel rocket engine of 162 kN (36,000 lbf) thrust, sufficient to accelerate the rocket to Mach 3.3 during its two-second burn. Total flight time was about 12 seconds, during which time the rocket covered 10 km (6.2 mi). Targeting, arming, and firing of the weapon were coordinated by the launch aircraft's fire-control system. Detonation was by time-delay fuze, although the fuzing mechanism would not arm the warhead until engine burn-out, to give the launch aircraft sufficient time to turn and escape. However, there was no mechanism for disarming the warhead after launch. Lethal radius of the blast was estimated to be about 300 metres (980 ft). Once fired, the Genie's short flight-time and large blast radius made it virtually impossible for a bomber to avoid destruction.[3]

The new rocket entered service with the designation MB-1 Genie in 1957. The first interceptor squadrons to carry the MB-1 declared initial operational capability on 1 Jan. 1957, when a handful of rockets and 15

Hamilton Air Force Base outside of San Francisco. By the next year, 268 F-89s had received the necessary wing pylon and fire-control system modifications to carry the weapon. While officially known as the MB-1 Genie, the rocket was often nicknamed "Ding-Dong" by crews and pilots. About 3,150 Genie rockets were produced before production ended in 1963. In 1962 the weapon was redesignated AIR-2A Genie. Many rounds were upgraded with improved, longer-duration rocket motors; the upgraded weapons sometimes known (apparently only semi-officially) as AIR-2B. An inert training round, originally MB-1-T and later ATR-2A, was also produced in small numbers – the training version was known to Canadian crews as the "dum-dum".[4]

F-89 Scorpion
firing the live Genie used in the Plumbbob John test

A live Genie was detonated only once, in

Yucca Flats. Sources vary as to the height of the blast, but it was between 18,500 and 20,000 ft (5,600 and 6,100 m) above mean sea level.[5] A group of five USAF officers volunteered to stand uncovered in their light summer uniforms underneath the blast to prove that the weapon was safe for use over populated areas. They were photographed by Department of Defense photographer George Yoshitake who stood there with them.[6] Gamma and neutron doses received by observers on the ground were negligible. Doses received by aircrew were highest for the fliers assigned to penetrate the airburst cloud ten minutes after explosion.[7][8]

The Montana Air National Guard F-89J that launched the live Genie.

While in service with the U.S. Air Force, the Genie was carried operationally on the

F-102 Delta Dagger
that would have been Genie-capable, but it too was not adopted. Operational use of the Genie was discontinued in 1988 with the retirement of the F-106 interceptor.

The only other Genie user was Canada, whose

RAF briefly considered the missile for use on the English Electric Lightning
.

Safety features included final arming by detecting the acceleration and deceleration of a fast aircraft at high altitude. The weapon was built too early to use a permissive action link security device.[2]

The F-89J that was used to launch the only live test is on static display at the Montana Air National Guard in Great Falls, Montana.

Operators

Canadian Forces
firing a Genie in 1982
 Canada
  • Canadian Forces Air Command
 United States

Surviving examples

Below is a list of museums which have a Genie rocket in their collection:

On 31 January 2024 a dilapidated old rocket, later found to be an inert AIR-2 Genie, was reported to police in the city of Bellevue, Washington after being offered as a donation to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.[11][12]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AIR-2 Genie.
  1. ^ "Historical Snapshot: MB-1/AIR-2 Genie Missile". Boeing. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  2. ^
    OCLC 244771111
    .
  3. ^ Parsch, Andreas (2002). "Douglas AIR-2 Genie". Designation-Systems.Net.
  4. OCLC 17550154
    .
  5. ^ SHOTS DIABLO TO FRANKLIN PRIME The Mid-Series Tests of the PLUMBBOB Series 15 JULY – 30 AUGUST 1957 Archived 16 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. CTBTO
    . 19 July 1957. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  7. ^ Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Public Affairs. Factsheet. Operation Plumbbob. Archived 22 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Attachment 12. Preliminary report. Operation Plumbbob. Nevada Test Site, May-September 1957. Project 2.9 NUCLEAR RADIATION RECEIVED BY AIRCREWS FIRING THE MB-1 ROCKET.
  9. ^ Museum of Aviation Website Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "McDonnell Douglas Air-2A Genie Rocket." National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved: 9 August 2015.
  11. ^ Matza, Max (3 February 2024). "Inert nuclear missile found in US man's garage". BBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  12. ^ Blatchford, Taylor (2 February 2024). "Police investigate military-grade rocket in Bellevue garage". Seattle Times. Retrieved 3 February 2024.

External links

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